Electrical Flucuations


ARCHER

Senior Member
Easy question. My electrical power to motorhome runs about 120 volts (on plug in gage) except when A/C is running, coffee maker is turned on, micro-wave is running, etc., and then the power can go all the way down to around 100-110 or so. I realize that there are flucuations due to usage and that some are temp (like coffee maker or microwave) but when A/C is on, compressor is running) power will stay outside of green area on gage. Will this hurt anything else in MH, like FRidge, etc.???? Is there anything I can do to correct this possible problem? I use a 30 amp service. There are over 50 units in RV park I am in for winter and I have only heard people say, only run certain things while other things are turned off, etc.
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
Re: Electrical Flucuations

One little trick that I've used is to use a 50amp to 30amp adapter and plug into the 50 amp receptacle. Some parks use heavier wiring (and have fewer connections) on the 50 amp side.

I also use a Hughes transformer that will boost the voltage if the park line goes low.

Yours could be "overload" for the size of wire in your pigtail to the park box. The more current you put through that wire; the more voltage drop there is across it. Obviously, you are not really overloading, because you don't blow a breaker, but you are up there at the maximum.

Then, you could actually have a "less-than-tight" connection somewhere. That is dangerous, because it acts just like you have a smaller wire at the connection and can get really hot. There would be a larger than normal voltage drop across that connection.
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: Electrical Flucuations

Tks for the info. Just defrosted fridge today and recooling right now. A/C is running right now and voltage is showing between 110 and 115 so I'm not really concerned right now. Wife does pop a circuit breaker once in a while when she hooks up electric skillet, turns on micro-wave and has coffee brewing. Keep telling her to do them in different order, but oh well. Never thought of loose connection, but main electrical line to park plug in might be a little loose at the plug, so guess I ought to check that out or replace the plug. My unit is a 89 Winn Cheiftain so things are kind of old (like me), but I always try to make sure things are working properly.
Any other ideas??? ;)
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: Electrical Flucuations

My wife blows breakers also when we use 30 amps. She will have the water heater recovering on elec., coffee maker on, curling iron and TV on and then hits the hair dryer.....POW.

What you have sounds pretty normal to me for 30 amp usage. Like Texas says, you are close to overloading so keep an eye on it. Checking for a not so tight connection would be a good idea.

50 people in the campground, I hope they have a good supply of electricity. One of my employees used to own campground and he had huge problems with his electric company until he proved he did not have enough. They then came out and increased his voltage.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: Electrical Flucuations

You need an Autoformer to hold the voltage in the green. I use a Hughes Autoformer. Works great. It is in reality a step up voltage tranformer. It will allow your appliances to run cooler. Lower voltage causes the current to go up and appliances to run hotter.
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Electrical Flucuations

There is no problem with your power at all as long as it does not fall below 108V for long periods. An ac powered motor will get hot if it is operated with less than 108V for extended periods. Just how hot it will get depends upon how low the voltage falls. Lower voltage means more heat for ac motors. Once you drop to 100V there is a real danger that the motor will fail, but even operation on 105V will slowly shorten the life of the motor. Most other things in the RV will be OK as long as things stay above the 108V most of the time. Your converter changes 120V-ac to 12V-dc but it does assume that the supply will be 120V. As the supply voltage falls, the output also falls at about the same rate. The normal output voltage with 120V supply is usually about 13.5V so when the supply falls to 108V(-10%), that means that you also loose you will have about 12.15V-dc which will supply your 12V appliances but it will not keep your batteries charged. At 100V-ac you will be getting only about 11V from your converter. Most appliances will not be seriously bothered by that unless it is at that level for a very long time.
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: Electrical Flucuations

It could just be that the park does not really have enough power to fully supply all 50 trailers. You could plug a guage into a nearby supply outlet and compare it to the guage in your unit. If yours drops and the other does not, then you might have a loose connection or just are pulling too much power (might want to put a current guage inline to ensure that your breakers are not failing to pop when they should). If they both drop, then the power in the park is inadequate, and the only thing you can do is get an autoformer to compensate (or perhaps complain to the park owner :) ).
 
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