Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #75 – December 24, 2019, 10:22:53 am Quote from: Neal Pillsbury – December 24, 2019, 02:48:24 amGlenn,What riveted junction box are you talking about?What evidence have you come up with that convinces you that the problem is in the power reel?I would agree with taking the power reel junction box apart (is it the end bell that you are talking about?), but only if you can reliably repeat the problem symptoms of good voltages at the utility pole female receptacle while at the same time, the 120 Vac voltages at the ABT shore power/gen set inlet relay (your first ABT in line with shore power) shows bad readings. If you can do that , then the problem is in between those two points, which points strongly to the power reel. Only then would I go to all of the trouble of dismounting and taking the power reel apart to look for anomalies. The power reel connections, inside the end bell, in any power reel that I have ever worked on, are very tightly packed and have little forgiveness regarding lengths and positioning. Also, unless you are very confident in what you are doing, you should not power up the power reel while it is partially disassembled, which would be required if visual inspection does not yield any apparent or real evidence of a problem. I've attached some photos of the inside of my 1998 U270 Power Reel.The female receptacle on the utility pole and the ABT relay terminations, on the other hand, are (usually) much easier to access than the power reel innards are. I'm assuming that your ABT is under the foot of your bed and that you only have one ABT while your second ABT (shore power/inverter ABT) is contained within your Inverter/ChargerHTHNealNeal, are the 2 sets of brushes for redundancy or does it take 8 connections to work? Also is the abt the same as the ats? Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #76 – December 24, 2019, 01:01:05 pm Neil. Thank you for posting great information. I must admit from your photos I have REEL ENVY. What is the normal recommended inspection and preventative maintenance that should be performed on these brushes, slip rings?Thanks Scott Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #77 – December 24, 2019, 02:40:15 pm Since reading Niels post I have been checking all connections etc on incoming lines and found no issues. I was going to run a spare 50amp line to another outlet that shows equal legs on friends CC hook up but thought I would first just connect to the 30amp outlet on this box as we do not need air and extra power so did it and have voltage readings at 113 so am staying this way for a few days to see if this works out. The readings on the other coach hooked up to the box I was thinking of show equal at 123v, so that may have helped me sort some possibilities out. We have solar and lots of sun so do have back up if needed.JohnH Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #78 – December 24, 2019, 02:45:12 pm Parallel brush sets, less current per brush so smaller brushes required. Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #79 – December 24, 2019, 03:03:23 pm The only perfect machine has no moving parts. Hence the cable master cord reel. As time goes on like the steering boxes more and more reel craft cord reel issues will show up. Or you can be proactive and put in the glendinning cable master. Most of the industry changed to no slip rings. Yes you will lose your water hose reel on some models. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #80 – December 24, 2019, 04:47:48 pm Quote from: craneman – December 24, 2019, 10:22:53 amNeal, are the 2 sets of brushes for redundancy or does it take 8 connections to work? Also is the abt the same as the atsChuck,Sorry ABT = ATS.......... Not the same in the Navy and in commercial power, but used interchangeably in our applications:ABT = Automatic Bus Transfer (typically 3 or more switched conductors)ATS = Automatic Transfer Switch (typically just 1 or 2 switched conductors)I don't know why our switch company name is ATS.In actuality, there are 16 brushes. You see 8 in the photos, but there are another 8 that are hidden under the wires and the wire nuts. Each arbor has 8 rockers on it and each rocker has a spring loaded brush on it. You are looking at the reel first with wires showing and then (180 degrees) at the reel with the unobstructed brushes showing. So:4 slip rings (for L1, L2, N and Ground)2 brushes for L1 in (opposite sides of the slip ring), 2 brushes for L2 in, 2 brushes for N in, and 2 brushes for Ground inThen on the other rack (arbor), repeat the same 8 for the "out" wiring As already pointed out, more current paths = smaller conductors and increased reliability.HTH,NealQuote from: dsd – December 24, 2019, 01:01:05 pm..........What is the normal recommended inspection and preventative maintenance that should be performed on these brushes, slip rings?...............Scott,I've never seen any preventative or predictive maintenance recommendations but I have worked on reels that are 30 to 35 years old and they looked just as good as what you see here (the pictures are of a 14 year old reel). What IS key is to NEVER move a reel when there is power applied to it. Moving the reel will cause arcing and burning of both the contact "brushes" and the slip rings. I took these pictures when I was changing the reel from 25' of cable to 40' of cable. OEM by FT was 25', but the cable had a double thick SO outer cable covering. That is great to protect a power cable from abuse. Good for a lot of FT owners, from my experience. But 1/2 that thickness of SO protective cover is fine if treated properly and reasonably. Then one can spool nearly double the length of cable onto the reel and the cable is much easier to handle by hand. I wouldn't have taken the reel apart, if it hadn't been for the cable changeout.HTH,NealQuote from: Caflashbob – December 24, 2019, 03:03:23 pm.................Most of the industry changed to no slip rings. ................?Bob,Agree. Lots of moving parts in the Reelcraft Reels. But used properly, I disagree that they are problematic. I've not experienced one or worked on one that failed due to moving parts. I've worked on a couple of reels that have been abused: Operator didn't stow the cable, drove over the cable and ripped it out of the reel.Operator thought that he was supposed to use the reel like a vacuum cleaner power cable retrieve mechanism (allowed it to free spool into the end stop every time he used it).[/list]The Reelcraft and Glenndinning Cable Master "spooling" concepts have about a 1::4 volume difference: The Glenndinning uses up 3 to 4 times as much volume in a volume limited environment.HTH,Neal Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #81 – December 24, 2019, 07:06:43 pm Never moving reel when power is flowing across brushes can be difficult when even stepping on extended cable can move the reel a small amount, causing a burned brush/commutator. Be nice if reels could be firmly locked before applying power and unlocked only after power is turned off.To bypass reel, removing cable from reel, joining cable-wires with transfer-switch-wires, using wire nuts inside a metal or non-metal electric junction box is just fine. Anchor cable so there is no pulling-stress on wire nut splice.As an option for greater flexibility mounting a permanent male connector and using a female cord end is what non-reel coaches have.For even the BEST by far, use SmartPlug bulkhead male connector with a Smartplug female cable end. Many of us use this setup and will never go back to Hubbell-style twist plugs.Over time many electric reels develop serious problems, sometimes starting with just a small amount of resistance. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #82 – December 24, 2019, 10:27:26 pm Just Googled Smart Plug bulkhead connector....Got a 7 prong looking thingCan you be a little more specific please Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #83 – December 25, 2019, 04:37:23 am RV Smartplug.SmartPlug is the Easiest RV Power System | RV power outlet Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #84 – December 25, 2019, 09:01:36 am I would NOT start buying new pieces until you have identified the failure point. Troubleshooting by throwing parts at it is ............Again, unless wires have been attacked by mice, you only have a couple of possible failure points:Male end of shore power cordReel end of shore power cord to house wiringATS IN sideBecause this does not occur on generator, you can rule out ATS OUT side and further. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #85 – December 25, 2019, 12:25:21 pm Twig and I checked outlets on both inverted and non inverted circuits, behind monitor, at refrigerator and other outlets. All were fine. It is the monitor. I sent Jim a pm, but later read he does not repair them. Someone had posted that there was a place in Canada where it might be done, but offered no specifics. I will not attempt to repair it myself. I WOULD like to get it repaired. If anyone has info they can share, I would appreciate it. Thanks for all the well meant advice. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #86 – December 25, 2019, 12:28:45 pm Reply #46 and #47 for repair. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #87 – December 25, 2019, 01:06:47 pm Oops....Thanks, Craneman. I had written that down a while back....then got sidetracked. Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #88 – December 25, 2019, 01:30:20 pm Glenn,Craneman posted 2 years ago where he sent his monitor to be fixed. Check out the posting.John M.Power Line Moniter Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #89 – December 25, 2019, 01:41:39 pm All Spectrum Electronics - Hobby Kits and Electronics SupplyPower Line Monitor Is On The Fritz reply 13OK, I went out and pulled my monitor out and opened it up.The steps to open it are:1 Remove front panel from electrical box - 4 screws2 Unplug 2 cables from front panel to power supplies3 Remove 4 hex nuts and remove board from front panelThe 4 NE-2G green bulbs are 6 x 12 mm. There are also 2 plain NE-2 (amber) 6 x 12 mm bulbs for the open ground indication. I didn't touch the circuit of these 2 bulbs as they are almost never (hopefully!) lit, and should last forever.I replaced the original series resistors with 470k for long life and not too dim a bulb for the 4 green bulbs. Before you change these resistors, you should follow the traces and verify that your board layout is the same as mine (2000 U-270).The attached photo shows these as well as the adjusting pots to calibrate your volt meters. Just be careful of the high voltage, both as for shorting anything while it is hot, and coming into personal contact with any high voltages!Dick Quote Selected
Re: Voltage problem revisited Reply #90 – December 25, 2019, 05:37:15 pm 5 years ago and still one of the best improvements we have made to our coach.We did the Smartplug install ourselves:SmartPlug 50 Amp Shore Power Cable Installation Quote Selected
Topic: Voltage problem revisited