Foretravel Owners' Forum

**** Solved - bottom post has details with photos ****

Help - no shore power into coach

Troubleshooting so far: 

- Breakers under bed ok - reset them anyway

- Generator passes power into coach through the progressive EMS, no shore power into Progressive EMS

 - No lights on the factory line monitor from shore power

- Shore worked in last campground yesterday - no power this campground 3 pedestals, 50 amp nor 30 amp.
  -- My volt meter says all 3 pedestals had good power

- Pulled the shore power cord reel out, drilled out rivets on cover.
  -- Good power at output side of shore power reel - reinstalled it

- Checked the ATS switch in basement same compartment where air compressor and invertor are
  -- Gen voltage ok input and output side of the ATS
  -- Zero shore power voltage input and output side of the ATS (this turned out to NOT be correct)

- Where the shore power cable power reel is, the output side is a black cord disappearing into the basement out of view
  -- But the shore power input into the ATS in the basement is a white cord.
- The output of the power cable reel (with good voltage) somewhere junctions to a white cable into the ATS.  Any idea of where?

Recap: Shore power voltage good at pedestal and output side of the  power reel voltage is good.  ATS in basement voltage good in and out for generator.  No lights on the factory power line monitor.  Gen and invertor power circuits in coach.

In Big Springs Nebraska tonight, Cheyenne WY tomorrow night. Destination is Deer Lodge Montana just west of Butte.

Dan,

Is there a metal box on the floor under the stack of kitchen drawers? In my 2002 there is a 120 volt relay there that in 2003 coaches might be controlled by the power monitor. The 2002 coaches had a power monitor that did not control that relay. Hope that helps.

Looking at the monitor above the sink, thinking of tying together the small 3 color wires on input and output (color for color) as a test.

You are brave!

Decided it would not do any good, as there is no voltage on either side. 

And after looking it over it is simply a display monitor with no control capability.  Plugged into 2 110 volt outlets, one for line 1 one for line 2.

So somewhere past the shore power reel and the basement ATS it is curtailing power.  Perhaps the factory surge guard which I need to look for in daylight.  (and it is now raining here).

I have not checked the ATS under the bed yet.  I made a assumption that the one in the basement is first in the line from shore.  That may be a bad assumption, so in day light and with no rain I need to check for power on the  ATS  under the bed.

Edit: I have only one ATS under the bed, and it switched with the generator on.  Before that the Progressive EMS had already  lit up (with volts, then amps after switch).  So it does appear that the ATS in the basement switches gen/shore, and the one under the switches invertor and power from either gen or shore.

The ATS under the bed is operational.

You might just find a white w.cable going into it

Looks like either junction box, or factory over/under voltage or surge protection.

Anyone know location of junction box?  Raining and dark now The over/under surge protection is  right on the ATS.

Mine is in the fresh water tank overhead, above the tank on the ceiling. My electric hose reel is just aft of that on drivers side.

Thanks, I'll have some panel dis assembly if I need to check it.

The more I look, the more I think it is the factory over/under voltage protection or factory surge protection.  I'll see if it works in the next campground, and if not try and bypass those components.

My volt meter shows voltage OK  but the next campground will show if it is something the device does not like.

Wiring diagram on cover of the basement ATS in the pic.

Dan, I replaced my high/low voltage monitor relay 18 months ago for the same symptom you're describing.  Bought it here for about $35.00 more than they're advertising now.

70225630 at Allied Electronics & Automation, Inc (https://www.alliedelec.com/view/search?keyword=70225630)

Good luck.

My 2003 has a Maverick voltage monitor next to that basement ATS. Over or under voltage will shut off shore power. There are ways to bypass it. Check that your pedestal voltage is within normal limits. I know from experience mine drops out above 129 volts. Don't know for sure the low limit. I believe there is some info on the Beamalarm site. 

With my inexpensive volt meter I was reading 126 volts at the pedestal and output side of the power cord reel when I pulled it out to check it.

The high/low voltage monitor is adjustable for both high and low.  It could be only a couple of volts too low or too high and can be adjusted to address the issue.

Hughes told me their auto shutoff for Power Watchdog is 104 and 132v.  After 90 seconds of correct voltage it reconnects.
Have used in park that had low voltage only once every few days.  Park could not find issue over several months.  Power company  even replaced pole transformer.  My portable Hughes with bluetooth and auto shutoff worked flawlessly, turning power off and then back on, thus letting me know of this temporary voltage drop, without damaging any appliance. It did this before allowing my Progressive Dynamics unit to ever trip. I have the Progressive Dynamics EMS hard wired between gen/shore power and breaker box.

Because of the bluetooth phone app, the auto reconnect after 90 seconds of proper voltage, and my experience, I highly recommend anyone installing or replacing a EMS, to consider either their portable or hard wired Power Watchdog with auto disconnect and reconnect.

So as T-Man advised, and Tom Lang mentioned, it was the high/low voltage module in the basement under the relay#1 automatic transfer case lid.

And last night I was wrong, because there WAS voltage at the input side of the ATS on the bottom module labeled shore power  (left side is input).  I must have failed to get a good connection with my volt meter last night.

So power was on the input  side, but ATS relay was not clicking to let power through.  The reason the relay would not engage was the orange hi/low voltage relay in the picture attached.  A slight adjustment on the high voltage pot (right side of the orange module) allowed the ATS relay to engage.

With power now in the coach, the factory power line monitor shows 125 volts leg one, 124 leg 2. 
The progressive industries EMS monitor shows 126 leg one, 127 leg two, so close on both.

When the ATS relay first kicked on I was seeing 130 volts on leg 2 on the progressive monitor.

Thank you all for the help.  And now I am more educated on how everything works and how power flows.

The Progressive EMS is so much nicer as the monitor shows error codes when it does not let power in.  The voltage parameters on it are shut off below 104 volts, and above 132 volts.

Looking at those diagrams of the electrical pathways for the generator and shore power makes me glad that I have a manual transfer switch instead of all those electronic ones. Yeah sure it means that I have to go to the bed and flip a switch from off to shore, or off to generator and back again when I unplug. But in the end it seems like a much simpler, easier, and less expensive way of doing it. I have all the old transfer switches in my garage, so if I ever do change my mind or a new owner does they could use them. But I sure do prefer it this way. I've never seen a sailboat with automatic transfer switches. They all have the blue sea systems manual switch like I have. I'm not sure if a previous owner did that or am solar did it when they installed the lithium system, but I'm sure glad that it's there.
with that said I'm sure glad you did figure out what your issue was and got it corrected.

Yup, most old sailors adhere to KISS theory!  I agree.

We were in a state campground in western Nebraska with our 03 u320 and had an issue with no power. I called maverick and he told me that I could adjust for a higher voltage. The voltage was 130. Later the power stopped again and I checked at the pedestal and it was 134. So I unplugged and ran the generator as it was mid summer. So the maverick was doing its job.

Is this the Maverick doing it's job or the CR2 by Diversified Electronics?  Who makes or made the Maverick ATS?

This was in reply to a post that has since been deleted and moved to a new post.  No Shore Power / ATS issue? (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=47481)

Have you read voltage on input side of the ATS and output side of the ATS (white box in reply 15 above)?  What voltage?

With your progressive EMS, is it on the shore outlet before the power cord, or hardwired inside after the Maverick system?  If the ems is external does it show voltage displays?

If your coach ATS white box in reply 15 has acceptable voltage power on input but none at all on output, I would try marking both orange boxes with current setting, then try adjusting both the hi and low pots (once again).

Does a light rap on the ATS have any affect?  In other words, could the ATS itself be sticking with nothing to do with the 2 orange boxes.

All wiring on ATS and orange boxes tight and well connected?


As you know, when working with live  power use insulated  tools, no rings on, and careful placement of hands/tools.

Your progressive ems and the 2 orange boxes have the same task of only letting acceptable voltage into the coach so are redundant. (With the progressive also having other capabilities beyond just voltage).

I hope not to derail the topic, but since it's been resolved maybe it's ok? 

What's the upper limit you'd be comfortable with?  What's the risk (how does it manifest)?

108 VAC low, 132 VAC high (120 +/- 10% is the standard)

Low voltage causes damage to motors and windings.  Running roof air conditioners especially should not be done below 108 VAC since it can damage compressors and motor windings.  Ditto any residential fridge that doesn't condition the power going to the compressor.  You can run other things down to around 104 VAC, but you need to be careful since lower voltage means higher current to get the same watts of power.

High voltage can also cause premature failure in motors, 120V bulbs, resistance-based devices like coffee makers, hair dryers, and electronic devices designed for the standard.  Anything above 132 VAC and especially 135 VAC and higher is not a good idea, especially in resistance-based devices (things with windings, heaters, and filaments).

Just a start, but here's a paper describing how both low and high voltage can cause damage.  Note that the author is not in the RV industry.

Advice: Effects of High or Low Voltage on Motor Performance - RV News (https://www.rvnews.com/advice-effects-of-high-or-low-voltage-on-motor-performance/)