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profdant139's avatar
profdant139
Explorer II
Jul 29, 2018

How to protect against poor RV park power?

We stopped at an RV park (an old and poorly maintained KOA) in hot weather. Plugged in the 30 amp cord. The power pedestal looked sketchy -- the socket was chipped and improperly mounted.

Fired up the air conditioner. It worked, sort of, but made barely-audible low rumbling sounds and did not put out enough cool air, which is not its usual behavior.

Came back home. Plugged into my 20 amp garage circuit -- the a/c worked just fine. Conclusion -- the power in the RV park was not up to snuff. I don't know the technical term, but it was not enough juice.

Is there a metering device that can be used to avoid or detect this problem? And how common is this in the US? (I know it is an issue in Mexico.)

(Note to moderator: I was going to post this in the Tech forum, but this is a problem that is specific to RV parks, so that is why I posted it here. If it is in the wrong place, please forgive me.)

33 Replies

  • Every summer posts appear concerning low voltage at 30A sites and more so in older or non maintained parks. Not many posts for 50A sites.

    Yes a EMS will detect and shut down with low voltage and no more A/C. Another solution is a autoformer that boots voltage.
  • I suggest you get yourself a Progressive Industries 30 amp EMS. It will drop out (cut off power) if there's anything wrong with the supply. Armed with that information shown on the display, you can inform the park owners, get moved to a different space, or they'll get someone to fix the problem. I did that successfully several times. Even in Mexico.

    But without the EMS, you can usually get a park to let you move.

    The rule of thumb is never operate your A/C when the line voltage is outside the range of 108 to 133 Vac. The lower voltages are bad for the A/C motor especially. You should at least have a line voltage monitor inside your RV where you can glance at it before turning on any heavy draw equipment, like the MW or A/C. If it dips too much when you turn something on, there's a high resistance somewhere.

    I always carry a spare head for my umbilical cord because those can go bad...especially the 30 amp head. I also carried a new receptacle with me in Mexico and would loan it to RV parks when necessary.

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