I told you I would be back with more questions!
We had a little electrical issue during our last night staying in our coach, in that some of the 110 VAC plugs lost power. For the first 5 days, everything worked fine but on our last evening there some 110 plugs had no power. I checked and flipped all the breakers on the end of the bed, but still no 110 power on most of the outlets. The plugs in the bedroom had power, the air conditioner worked, and the microwave had power, but no 110 power to any of the other plugs. An extension cord from a bedroom plug got the coffee pot working, so I figured I could work on it when I went home the next day.
Now, while out there trying to find my Aquahot mixing valve I discovered that the AC wasn't working. Further checking shows no power to the microwave or any of the 110 plugs, even those in the bedroom that had power the previous night. There is no 110 VAC power in my coach.
None of the breakers on the end of the bed are tripped. The power monitor shows 125 volts from my 50 amp shore power. I even tried the generator searching for a clue.
Is there some other breaker that I haven't found?
I just remembered, and want to add it in case it may be significant. Our spot had only 30 amp power, and the combination of one air conditioner, a microwave and a hair dryer tripped the breaker on the pole. This was during the evening of our final day. I reset the breaker and explained the concept of energy management to the coach occupants. We may or may not have lost power to some of the plugs at that time, and just not noticed it until a few hours later when we came in for the night.
Glen
Check gfi outlet in bathroom first and see if tripped
Hi Glen,
Did you check the GFI on the bathroom outlet. Several outlets are on that circuit.
Jim
X3 for GFI - it has caught me off guard several times, causing much consternation, until I remember to reset it.
Also, If you don't already have one, I would strongly recommend the purchase of a quality "power protection" device. There are several good ones available - search this Forum for recommendations and user reviews. We use the EMS-PT50C (link below). The initial cost will seem high, but once you have read about the extensive damage that can be done to your coach by a faulty camp ground power pedestal, you might change your mind. We consider it cheap insurance, and "Never Leave Home Without It".
PS: They also make a "hard-wired" model.
Progressive Industries RV Surge and Electrical Protection industry lea (http://www.progressiveindustries.net/#!ems-pt50c/c1ma0)
We installed one in our "old" LazyDaze class C Wouldn't leave home without it. Now we need to put one in our "new" 2002 Foretravel
I tried resetting the GFI. No dice. Still no power anywhere. However, I made a mistake in my original post. The Zone 2 air conditioner does operate. I had checked just the Zone 1 originally, and it didn't operate. I didn't try the Zone 2 AC. However, I did check Zone 2 a few minutes ago before I reset the GFI's, and the AC worked. Resetting the GFI had no effect on any of the plugs.
Thanks for the quick replies, people. This forum, and the members herein, are a prime reason why a Foretravel was pretty much the only coach under consideration when I was looking.
Glen
OK, Zone 1 air and Zone 2 air are each going to be on a separate leg of your 50A, so at least you have power on one leg.
Do you have the schematics for your coach? Can you check to see if those things that are working are all on one leg and those that are not working are all on the other leg?
Have you tried flipping off and back on the main breakers at the foot of the bed, one for each leg? In fact, flip off and back on each breaker, one at a time. The 20 amp breakers DO get weak. We have replaced 3 or 4 of ours due to them eventually tripping off just from vibration of rolling down the road.
Are you currently on 50 amp and both legs of Powerline are showing voltage readings?
Trying to figure out if maybe one of your main breakers isn't passing power or if your transfer switch is acting up.
I believe there are some breakers by the inverter my be worth a try.
It sounds like your transfer relay contacts could be dirty and not conducting properly. There might have been some arcing when the power pole breaker tripped. This might sound crazy, but turn off all loads and try plugging/unplugging the main power cable slowly (plug in for 5 seconds, unplug for 5 seconds) for say 10 cycles. You should hear the relay clicking. Relay contacts have a swiping action and will self clean. Worth a try, and it doesn't cost anything.
Just thought of another possibility, you mentioned using a 30A pedestal, it could be your dogbone adapter has an open leg.
Just to clarify, when unplugged and on the generator, are the outlets still dead? This will help eliminate your dogbone and power cable as the source of the problem.
If you were drawing enough amps to trip through breaker.. :)) The dog bone may have suffered.. I melted one.. BE Careful checking it.. As others have suggested.. main breaker.. at the pole and your coach main.. flip and reset.. simple idea..
I concur with joeszeidel.........it is probably the breakers on the inverter.
Does this coach have a voltage sensing relay as part of the transfer switch ?
If you symptoms are the same on generator and plugged in I would suspect a breaker(s). Even if they all look and feel like they are on, turn them all off and then back on, one at a time like Michelle suggested. I was stumped one day because the breaker was tripped but didn't look or feel tripped.
Also note, if your power monitor is like the one in the pic, it only tells you what's happening on one leg. The other could be dead and you wouldn't know it by looking at the meter.
With a volt meter, check the female 50 amp end of your 30 to 50 amp adapter. Center long to side long and then center long to other side long connector. Adapter takes the single 30-amp male hot and connects it the each of the 50-amp female hots. Both 50 amps should read the same. You can do your voltage test touching probes to the coach male prongs when parlty pullout out of the 50-amp socket.
OK, I'm back with some good news. I still have some issues, but not nearly as many as I had. I appreciate all the help and advice.
I'll begin by saying that I need to be more clear when stating my problems so that the readers don't have to guess. Sorry for the confusion. When my problems began I was at the campground on a 30 amp plug. That's when we overloaded the pole breaker and apparently tripped a few coach breakers.
I brought it home the next day and plugged it into my RV shed's 50 amp service. I also plugged in the SurgeGuard 34750 surge protector. I wish I had remembered to take this surge protector with me to the COE park in the first place and perhaps I would not be writing this. I agree with cajk in that I've read about the dangers of not using a surge protector, so I had bought one for my former U240. I had merely forgotten to pack it in the U320.
So my problems began when I was plugged into 30 amp service, but continued even after I was home and plugged into 50 amp power. I have never had any issues with my 50 amp power. It has always worked perfectly. After church today I had a chance to go try some of the suggestions. I first tried the trick of unplugging and plugging the power cord 10 times to wipe the contacts. It was worth a shot, but it didn't work. I tried resetting the GFI again. I ran the generator again, but still no luck. I then went to the inverter and found a switch that I guess is the breaker. I turned it on and went back inside. NOW I could reset the GFI, and suddenly I had power to the 110 VAC outlets. The GFI would not reset until I reset the inverter. Thanks to y'all for pointing me in the right direction I now have at least one air conditioner and power to all my 110 VAC outlets.
I still have only Zone 2 air while plugged into shore power even though the SurgeGuard display shows 125 volts on each line. It shows that L2 is pulling 17 amps when the AC is on, but zero amps on L1. When the generator is running I can run both air conditioners. The fact that both AC's run with the generator but not with shore power would seem to indicate that there is an issue with my 50 amp shore power, but the SurgeGuard tells me that each leg of my shore power is supplying 125 volts. I'm not an electrician, so I guess I'll take the coach to another 50 amp service and see if both ACs will operate on another 50 amp pole. If not, that will tell me the problem lies in my coach. Since only the Zone 2 AC will operate on shore power would seem to indicate a problem with the L1 connection to the coach.
Am I correct in my thinking in this last paragraph?
Glen,
With the info you have just posted I would think that you have a stuck contact or burnt contact on one of your transfer switches.
Pamela & Mike
I'm thinking your shore power is ok based on the SurgeGuard voltages. Both A/Cs run when the genny is on. Do you have any way to try another shore cord, maybe borrow one? We should eliminate that variable.
Peter has a good idea with the cord. Look closely at the prongs where your cord plugs into your coach. If you have a cord reel you may have to check the brushes and commentator ring for a bad connection.
Pamela & Mike
I had some 110 electrical problems that seemed to make no sense. I did some reading and ended up "rebooting" the inverter. That is to unplug shore power, disconnect negative cable at inverter from batteries, and switch from by-pass on to by-pass (on the inverter prosine 2500) yours may be different. Wait a couple of minutes and reverse the procedure. I thought something was wrong with one or two of the transfer switches, but the problem was at the inverter. I don't fully understand it, but everything worked after rebooting. I too had used too much power (load) to cause the problem.
OK, problem is solved. Brett (Amos.Harrison) came over from Livingston to help me troubleshoot issues with my coach, as I explained in the thread "Why is my water hot?". It took only a short time to figure out the hot water problem, so we then turned to the electrical issues. There were enough weird issues going on with the electrical system that it was difficult to diagnose, but in the end he pretty well narrowed the main problem to be in the power cord hose reel. I had full power at my 50 amp shoreline pedestal but had power to only one incoming side of the transfer switch.
So, I called MOT to make an appointment. They told me to bring it in the next day if possible. When I arrived (ready to leave it with them) Keith Risch checked it and agreed that it was a faulty power cord reel. I balked when I found that a new replacement reel would be over $1000. Allen in Parts said they had a used reel from a customer who had replaced their spring reel with a an electrically-powered reel, and I could have it for $200. SOLD! As a bonus, Keith said that if I could stick around a couple of hours they would install it right away.
When they removed the old reel the problem was obvious. The red hot wire had burned itself in two about a foot upstream of the actual coach connection. They cleaned the area and replaced the reel, and now all is well with my electrical system.
I theorize that the overload on the 30 amp pedestal caused momentary low voltage, which in turn caused very high temperatures in the power line. Perhaps the old original cord had a weak spot which just couldn't take the heat.
Anyway, it's all good. I can't say enough good things about Brett for his willingness to help a total stranger. Also, many kudos to MOT for their very quick response to my problem. I told them I was in no particular hurry and could leave the coach, but they said that for something like this they would rather "geterdone".
Glen
Glen,
You didn't mention that the hot cold water problem was caused by a faulty basement thermostat. Did MOT replace that as well?
He did and they did - see the other topic Why is my cold water hot? (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=24773.msg195528#msg195528)
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