Do you leave the a/c on?

[rkymntsno]

Do you turn your air conditioner off before leaving the campground? Does it hurt it if you don't? So when you plug back in to shore power, it automatically comes back on. Does this hurt the a/c at all?

[mikensue]

Pretty much runs all the time...takes way too long to cool back down once it hits 80 degrees inside...and I believe the refrigerator has an easier time when is cooler inside

[ALJO]

under normal power condition no, if there is a major fluctuation towards low voltage (if many A/C's draw power in the campsite) Yes. Unless you have EMS for protection.

[RipinSC]

We always leave it on when we get to the camp site. As the previous post stated, it takes to long to get the unit cooled down.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

Do you turn your air conditioner off before leaving the campground?...snip

Do you mean turning off the AC before pulling the trailer out of the campground?

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Do you mean turning off the AC before pulling the trailer out of the campground?

I think that's what he means. I turn everything off prior to campground departure, including the A/C. When I pull into a campsite I plug in the EMS, make sure everything's good then turn on the A/C among other things.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Do you mean turning off the AC before pulling the trailer out of the campground?

Yes, I'm sorry. That's what I mean, shutting it down before pulling out of the campground so the next time you plug in to shore power it doesn't kick on right away. I have been turning it off before closing everything up.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

Yes, I'm sorry. That's what I mean, shutting it down before pulling out of the campground so the next time you plug in to shore power it doesn't kick on right away. I have been turning it off before closing everything up.

We do that, too.

Our standard procedure is to turn the heating/cooling off at the thermostat, turn all the breakers in the trailer off, turn off the breaker at the CG power pole, and then disconnect the 30amp plug. We reverse that when we are connecting at the new site.

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

We do that, too.

Our standard procedure is to turn the heating/cooling off at the thermostat, turn all the breakers in the trailer off, turn off the breaker at the CG power pole, and then disconnect the 30amp plug. We reverse that when we are connecting at the new site.

Just curious why the breakers on the RV panel? After the a/c there is not much draw there besides the water heater and the fridge. We keep the fridge running in transit. Plenty of power from the truck for that to keep the beer and Chardonnay cold.

On arrival, we wait the two minutes for the EMS to give the green light then plug in and then set the thermostat.
-Angus

[Mopar_Earl]

I turn off he AC units and their breakers. I also turn off all breakers but the fridge and converter/charger. I'm only on a 15 amp outlet at home, so I don't want any loads but the fridge and converter. Then I open the breaker on the pedestal and unplug and roll.


Earl

[DonaandDon]

Most damage that may occur would be at the plugging in the power cord. Arcing is possible under loads and loose connections. I have seen power poll plugs that show sufficient wear/burns. So, yea turn those ACs off.

On another note-- I was dumping on a cool day and the furnace came on while flushing at the dump station. If your running a inverter, I would shut off everything but the fridge.

[rkymntsno]

If everything is off in the trailer including hvac, you wouldn't think there would be much draw on power. I notice when I go to the storage lot and hook up my generator so I can run one of the a/c's, you can hear the generator rev up to account for the power draw. Now I think I'm doing it wrong. I shouldn't turn the battery disconnect to battery until after connected to the generator?

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by DonaandDon

Most damage that may occur would be at the plugging in the power cord. Arcing is possible under loads and loose connections. I have seen power poll plugs that show sufficient wear/burns. So, yea turn those ACs off.

On another note-- I was dumping on a cool day and the furnace came on while flushing at the dump station. If your running a inverter, I would shut off everything but the fridge.

If you turn the breaker off at the pedestal before pulling the plug, that eliminates the arcing.


Earl

[RedHorse1]

I’m in the “off” crowd. When setting up I make sure I opened the main house breakers and the pedestal breaker(s) is open before connecting my power cable. Then I close the pedestal breaker and watch the EMS display (Progressive Industry) until it’s run a complete cycle and says it likes the power. Last thing is to close the house mains and let the bride know she can fire up the ACs. Break down is the reverse procedure.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Joan617

Just curious why the breakers on the RV panel? After the a/c there is not much draw there besides the water heater and the fridge. We keep the fridge running in transit. Plenty of power from the truck for that to keep the beer and Chardonnay cold.

On arrival, we wait the two minutes for the EMS to give the green light then plug in and then set the thermostat.
-Angus

Turning all the breakers off when leaving is just our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Is it necessary? No.

It evolved that way because the DW does virtually all the inside stuff (shutting off and stowing) when departing and she does the reverse when we arrive and are setting up. She's a happy camper when the power is connected and she starts flipping breakers and the microwave goes 'beep'.

I omitted using an EMS, but I do plug that in and turn on the breaker for that actually BEFORE much of anything else is done. We learned that lesson (TWICE!) after connecting the EMS after being close to all leveled and setup and then finding a problem with the power.

[BJR]

We never leave the A/C on when disconnecting power.

When I plug/unplug from the pole I try to make sure the breaker is off before plugging in. At home, when we plug into 110v I just try to do it quickly, but A/C is always off. Started out turning off all the breakers every time but it was too much of a pain and not sure a ton of benefit. No EMS here, yet.

[Camper_bob]

We turn both thermostats to the "off" position any time we're plugging. Our coach has a built in power management system (not an EMS to my knowledge, but it directs voltage and will switch what gets powered based on the load) so it won't feed power to the units until there is power to be fed, but I don't like to take chances with that.

Pedestal breaker off, AC units off, plug in power cable, pedestal breaker on, once power is stable, AC units on.

I've been talking about installing an EMS for quite some time, but just haven't done it yet...

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

Do you turn your air conditioner off before leaving the campground? Does it hurt it if you don't? So when you plug back in to shore power, it automatically comes back on. Does this hurt the a/c at all?

When I am in a campground I always leave both of my ACs on, although, I set them at about 78 degrees so they don't run a lot. I run both so they share the load. If an AC malfunctions while you are away, I don't see any risk except that you will waste some electricity and your fan well get some time on it. If the fan were to go, I am not sure if the compressor would continue to run. But if it did and iced up it would probably be OK, as long as you are not away for many days.

As for forgetting to turn off your ACs when disconnecting, it's probably better if your do cut them of first since, when you re-hook up or crank up your auxiliary, it's a little easier on your circuitry to have the ACs off until full power is achieved. But I have forgotten from time to time and the ACs pop on as soon as the power with no problems to date.

[Mr&MrsSmith]

We turn the ACs off at the thermostat as one of the last things we do right before unplugging the shore power.

[Bayoutalker]

I turn the a/c off at the thermostat, turn off the water heater, tv, etc. My fridge is on auto so it goes to propane when power goes off. Then I go to the pole, turn off the breaker on the pole and disconnect the cord. Upon arrival make sure the pole breaker is off and then reverse the rest. I see no reason to turn off the inside breakers. Once the breaker on the pole is off the 120v system is dead.