karaokegal wrote:
wow i am very suprised how many people have responded already. first of all this electrician is very familiar with proper RV wiring of 50 amp power. He has wired my my facility when it was new 7 yrs ago and i have done 4 expansions since then and i have never had problems. I suspect it is a problem in the coach but i always give the customer the benefit of the doubt. The area that the person is parked in is a new expansion so this customer is the first to use it. It was working for him for awhile until he complained. He said that everything worked when he ran on generator power. I moved him per his request until it was "fixed". I would leave him there but the plug in on that spot is on the other side of his coach so he requested to move back when plug is "fixed. I suspect something is wrong with his coach. By the way someone mentioned that i didnt know much about electical issues and that is true. i am a female business owner so my electical knowledge is limited. also someone said that the electrician may have fixed something without telling me and i know that is not true because i was with him the hold time as he checked the voltage and he expained to me what the readings should read. He also suggested that the person should get his coach checked. i am going to call the customer and try to get him to stay where he is now,but i bet when he goes on a trip and comes back he may complain again because i suspect moving the coach will jiggle something.thanks everyone
In your original post you asked what could cause a motor home's systems to work at one plug and not at another. If the coach had an energy management system(EMS) it could be reacting to low voltage and shutting down to prevent damage to an appliance. Also if the polarity, ground, or neutral were not wired properly or were loose, the EMS could kick off the system. Now, if your electrician walked around and showed you the voltage at the outlets, that is fine, BUT, it really does not show what the voltage is when an RV is hooked up and drawing a load. This usually causes the voltage to drop, which could be enough to kick out the coach EMS system.
It is good that you trust your electrician, but after being a Commercial Contractor for decades, all I will say is that ALL electricians are not created equal. Like people in any profession, mistakes could have been made. You mentioned that he did the wiring of your facility 7 years ago. Since then you have expanded 4 times. If the source, where the power firsts runs through your electrical meter, is not large enough to handle the additional load from the four expansions, this can cause an unacceptable voltage drop. If the wire gauge used was not large enough to cover the added distance to the power outlets in your 4th expansion is not large enough, this can cause an unacceptable voltage drop. This voltage drop can vary from slight to extreme depending on how many other coaches are also drawing power along that same line. In other words, with a meter the voltage may be fine. Hook up one coach and the voltage may drop, depending on how much current it is using. Hook up a second and third coach and the voltage may drop enough to start kicking of the coaches EMS system.
I have been in RV parks before where the power was fine when I first got there. As the park started to fill, and everyone's AC units started cranking up, the voltage would drop enough to cause some EMS systems to kick off power in a coach.
I still suggest having a different electrician inspect your system. It will not cost that much and would give you not only peace of mind but also more information to provide to your customer if, in fact, the wiring is done properly.
