Power conditioner at koa campground
Hello all. We're staying at a koa in Seattle Tacoma. Running the a/c and microwave simultaneously makes the $250 power conditioner turn off. Upon inspection, the power level shows 109 or 105...
Forum Discussion
motorcycle jack wrote:
For those who are recommending a power booster: Nothing is free, i.e. increasing the voltage INCREASES the current load on the power pole. P=IE that is power (watts) is the voltage multiplied by the current. E=IR, so the voltage is the current times the resistance on the line. If you want to increase E, voltage using a fixed resistance (your AC and the microwave) then the current goes UP. Now the E has gone up so Power goes up or current increases - you will trip the PMS system much quicker this way so he won't gain a thing!
He certainly will gain something! If the voltage at the pedestal is within 5-10 volts of the PMS low voltage limit, it will gain him enough head room to run one A/C and a few basics without tripping the 30 amp breaker. You are correct if he is trying to run 3600 watts of appliances but if he can manage with 3000 watts the Autoformer will allow him to do so at a reasonably safe voltage level.
It's also a fallacy that 50 amp service seldom has a low voltage problem. Lots of older campgrounds installed 50 amp service "on the cheap" and have the same issues described here.
