Hopefully the link to these videos work, don't want to type this out.
Basically showing voltage drop as I bring different breakers online.
Microsoft services (https://1drv.ms/v/s!ApiXgan5g2FagvAEuGkduqrU7BhUEA)
Microsoft services (https://1drv.ms/v/s!ApiXgan5g2FagvAF50qIriMV8a1hBw)
Give us more information. What/where are you plugged in at? Do you have surge protector/voltage checker plugged in before your coach at the pedestal that is showing the voltage out there?
Yup, we need to know what you are plugged into-- voltage drops can be due to CG side supply issues as well as coach issues.
I am confused by the "line monitor" feed from both main breaker panel (understood-- one from L1, one from L2) AND FROM
the sub panel supplied by the inverter/charger.
What happens when you turn off the line monitor feed from main panel and turn on feed from sub-panel?
Voltage coming in is good, have a 50 amp power watch dog surge protector and manually checked with volt meter
Voltage coming in is good, have a 50 amp power watch dog surge protector and manually checked with volt meter
Sub panel does not energize unless main panel is hot, so not sure why it's labeled with "line monitor" also...that breaker does produce the most line voltage drop when switched on though.
Actually, sub panel SHOULD be hot if main panel off AND inverter ON (120 VAC power supplied by inverter). What confuses me is that the monitor is being fed by BOTH main and sub panel when on shore power.
Just to clarify, my inverter is off. Not sure if that matters.
Here's what's coming out of my plug at the house.10 guage 50' cord connected to a 12 guage 50'
So when you are seeing the voltage drop in the coach your Hughes is still showing 124 volts?
How is your power cord connected to the coach? Cord reel? Where is your Hughes located in your system? When the gauges are showing the low voltage do you have a volt meter that you can plug into an outlet to verify that the coach meters are working correctly?
Just got to watch the video all the way through.
How far from your dryer plug to the coach?
What are you using as a cord to go from dryer to coach?
You said you have 124v and 240v. In the pictures you posted I do not see where it shows 240V? Are you positive you have 240 volts going to the coach.
Every thing you are showing looks like you are on a small 20 amp120V circuit with a long cord and it is being split coming into the coach so both sides are showing 120 but if you were to check with a volt meter you would be showing 0 (zero) between the two legs.
You also have an inverter/charger It is one item that can do two different things. When you do not have shore power or generator is not running the inverter will take the 12v from you house battery and convert to 120V. It would then be powering the panel you have on the right with 1 main breaker and the 3 circuit breakers. The other part of this device is the charger. When you have shore power or the generator is running the inverter will go into standby mode and the charger will come on to bring your batteries back to full. This is based on both parts are turned on. Not sure exactly which unit you have but most can let you turn on or off either the invertor or charger.
Just to update, I went away to another project for about an hour came back turned on the sub panel breakers and now it's reading 123 on both lines. Charger is pulling two amps charging the batteries and then there's another one amp of AC load somewhere. I guess I'll just have to monitor this situation. We are going camping this weekend and the park has full hookups, so I'll keep an eye out on the situation. Thanks to all of you who replied and I'll keep you posted.
If it were me, the first thing to know is how much power is coming in. Unplug the shore power cable from the watchdog and measure from each leg (left and right side) to the neutral (bottom). From your watchdog, it looks to be 124V on each leg. Is that right? When you measure from the left to the right (leg 1 to leg 2) do you have 240V?
Next, if you are comfortable working around this power, find the transfer switch box in the basement, that the shore power cable is wired to. There's a picture of mine in below, but yours may be different. Based on wire color, you can see the two legs of power (black and red), and the neutral is white. Measure from black to white, red to white, and red to black on the IN side of the transfer switch. What do you have there? Different voltage or the same?
Now measure the same things on the output side. What do you have there? In my coach, this is where the line monitor gets it's readings from. In the picture below, you can see the little gray box to the right of the ATS box (with the cover off) that has the gray stripe on it...that's the line monitor.
I checked voltage, this plug may be wired wrong for my RV but when I checked voltage here I'm getting 120v phase to ground and 240 phase to phase. I use this plug to heat up the panel with a generator when power is out.
That sounds right. Check here for how your socket/outlet should be wired for 50A.
The 50-amp 120/240-volt 3 pole 4 (http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/50amp_Service.htm)
First, let's verify how your coach is wired. Some coaches use the ATS internal to the inverter/ charger to supply the sub panel. Some have a SECOND ATS. Do you have two ATS's?
Still trying to wrap my head around two different sources for power to the monitors-- one from main breaker panel, one from sub panel. Can think of no reason to have the one from the main panel. Whether on shore power or generator, the sub panel would have power-- either from "pass through" feature of the inverter/charger OR through a second ATS. And, if inverter is on, it would provide 120 VAC to the monitor.
So, please try this: Main breaker panel all on except the two that are marked monitor. Does the monitor still read (through the connection on the sub panel? Now, unplug shore power, generator off. Turn on inverter. Does the monitor still read?
By far, electrical is not my strong suit by any means, but first thing I would do is unplug from house and fire up the generator and see what your voltage is on the panel. You should be reading at least 120 on both legs and if so, this will tell you all is good in the coach, but your issue is at the hookup. Just a thought...............
There's your problem. Or maybe not.
10 gauge is rated for 30A and 12 gauge is rated for 20A
Chris
I agree that you have way to long and to small extension cords.
You think so? Pretty beefy cords and I'm not pulling many amps...
Just an update...been at a park with a 30 amp connection with no issues and reading 120v on both lines and both panels on. Everything has been working great since my update post at 5:12 pm on march 9th. It may be just a bad connection somewhere. When I get home I plan on ordering a new isolator and disconnect & clean all connectors i can get too.
Yep sounds like too small on the cords. Distance from the panel to your outlet through your cords to your 50' cord reel in the MH, and all the connections in between at least 150' + not going to carry much load voltage drop will be an issue
Don't forget about voltage drop because of distance of extension cord !!
The lower the voltage the higher the amps with same wattage.
Just my two cents
Ron
30-amp RV plugs have a
single 120-volt hot pin, a flat neutral, and a round ground pin. How is it your reading power on both legs and panels?
Because, the 50 to 30 amp adapter ties both legs together
Yup, with the single hot in 30 amp service, both monitor legs SHOULD read the same. Do they?
And, when you get a chance, you might circle back to post #14 (the two separate feeds for the monitor) and update us.
And a very simple thing to do, first, if you have a power cord reel, is to move the cord, by pulling and changing the contact points inside. A visiting neighbor had an issue and the service tech asked about his storage barn parking. The owner said it is an easy plug in, and he only pulls out 6' of cord at home. And there we all were, looking at about 6' pulled out at the park. He moved the cord in and out, and everything worked for the rest of his visit.
And now the owner also has a spare transfer switch he thought he needed, as he was dropping one leg of 50 amp.
Yes, reading 120v on both lines.
I was going to do that this morning and report back, trying not to tinker too much while we're camping and irritate wifey 😛
Interesting...at my house I didn't have the power cord pulled out at all. Maybe the contact points were the issue. After the comments about length and gauge of my extension cords I'm going to pull out reel far enough to connect to the 50' 10 gauge and eliminate the 50' 12 gauge just to be safe. I just buried the conduit last week to install a 50 amp box right next to the coach, so hopefully get that done in a couple weeks.
Take care when that new plug is installed. I have now run across 2 newly installed by master electricians, that were not done as a RV plugs should be installed. One had to argue with me and the homeowner, did not like the drawing I pulled up on line, and then just left. I just changed both to the correct RV needs.
50 amp is pretty hard to mess up:
The two outer straights are the hots (L1 and L2)
The center straight is neutral
The center round is ground.
Exactly the same as a home 50 amp appliance.
Yes, 30 amp CAN be messed up, as there are both 30 amp 120 VAC and 30 amp 240 VAC. The 30 amp 240 would "let the smoke out" of most all appliances in your coach.
And yes, it would seem hard to mess up, and that amazed me. And the 30 amp was also wrong for the other new guest as well.
Always best to check before plugging in anything. As once you "let the smoke out" it's bad.
Be careful when you purchase replacement smoke. Some chassis electrics are positive ground. This won't work in a negative ground chassis.
Brett,
Finally got around to this. I'm back home now plugged into both cords like before just to see if I would have an issue again. So far reading 123v on both lines even with the 10g and 12g extension cords plugged in. Maybe it was the cord reel contacts like someone mentioned earlier 🤷
When plugged in and breakers on main panel marked Line Monitor turned OFF there is no reading on the line monitor.
When inverter on and unplugged from shore, not getting a reading on line monitor, though now that I think about it I thought I used to. All outlets and appliances still work though when inverter is on. Shouldnt the line monitor show voltage when inverter is on without shore power?
Attached some pics of the labels on both panels. Could the Line Monitor label on the sub panel be a mistake?
Also took a picture of my Outback Monitor screen and was wondering if it matters if Cord or Gen are selected? It doesn't seem to matter which one is selected so I just keep it on Cord even though the Genny still provides power to the coach even when Cord is selected.
My 2001 U320 should be like dlkj07's. The power from those two 120v circuit breakers (each powered by one line or the other) goes to a pair of duplex outlets behind the panel, one is line 1 and the other is line 2. Your panel that shows the 124v for each leg has two cords with plugs that plug into these outlets.
My panel has 2 digital volt meters connected to the two outlets, a Victron CCGX display, 2 Victron BMV battery monitors and the remote display for my Sterling B2B charger. The panel is mounted with velcro, easy to remove unlike the OEM panel.
When I am plugged to the landline (or on generator) the AC voltages on both legs are shown. In the second picture while connected to the land line with the inverter/charger on both line voltages show. The charger is charging as is solar and my smaller charger. The differences in leg voltages are due to differences in loads.
When connected to the landline with the inverter/charger off, both line voltage show. The solar and small charger are charging. Cloudy day, limited solar.
With the landline disconnected, the inverter comes on providing 190 watts of AC. Neither line voltage are shown. House batteries are at 13.34v, solar is providing 69 watts, DC loads are 89 watts. It is taking 201 net watts to make 190 watts for the AC loads, 11 watts to power the Victron MultiPlus, just what the specs say.
I really do not know why the inverter powered circuit that provided power to one of the two lines does not show up on one of the volt meters. It seems like it should based on the AC wiring diagrams. When on the inverter the circuit is powered but the line monitor outlet is not.
Bottom line (for whatever reason) the voltages for the two lines show when on land line or generator but not when on the inverter in my 2001 U320. Yours may be different.