3 weekends in a row, EMS tripped each time
Installed a PI EMS unit (30 amps) in our 2014 TT when we bought it. Last time it tripped was 3 seasons ago. On each of the 3 last weekend outings the EMS has tripped! Twice on open ground and once on reverse polarity.
One of the pedestals also had a defective breaker and in that case the maintenance guy replaced the complete front on the pedestal with an old one from their "stock" of old ones from another nearby CG. The other CG had just completed a major electrical upgrade so they got all the old pedestals.
This past weekend was an odd one. Their maintenance guy recognized me from the previous weekend trip and didn't even ask me why I thought there was a problem. He installed a brand new 30 amp receptacle and a "new" old breaker that was allegedly in good shape. Every time he turned the breaker on, after about 10 seconds there was a faint puff/buzz sound and power went out in our TT. Breaker handle didn't trip. He pulled things apart 5 or 6 times to check and same thing happened each time. It made no sense and kept doing even after redoing and tightening connections. No evidence of carbon tracking.
I've never heard of that happening before. He said he thought it might have been due to the blades on our 30 amp plug (Marinco) being slightly too short but that makes no sense either. Each time power was lost there was no load from our TT except for the converter and each time it took about the same 10 seconds to lose power. Maybe it was a bad breaker?
Then we plugged our 30 amp cord into the 20 amp recept. with an adapter and it worked fine so we spent the weekend running on 20 amps without issue. The "interesting" part was when the maintenance guy went to put the lower cover back on the pedestal and shorted it to one of the live 150 amp lugs and sent sparks a-flying.
All I can say is I sure am glad we have an EMS. Open grounds and reverse polarity are potentially dangerous and even lethal. If you haven't got one, go order one today because you just never know...
FWIW, CGs are something else when it comes to electrical. I've seen so many pedestals and panels in CGs that are in frightening condition and even some exposed wires that should even be condemned in some cases. Then you've got non-licensed untrained people doing electrical work that just don't know what they're doing.
One of the pedestals also had a defective breaker and in that case the maintenance guy replaced the complete front on the pedestal with an old one from their "stock" of old ones from another nearby CG. The other CG had just completed a major electrical upgrade so they got all the old pedestals.
This past weekend was an odd one. Their maintenance guy recognized me from the previous weekend trip and didn't even ask me why I thought there was a problem. He installed a brand new 30 amp receptacle and a "new" old breaker that was allegedly in good shape. Every time he turned the breaker on, after about 10 seconds there was a faint puff/buzz sound and power went out in our TT. Breaker handle didn't trip. He pulled things apart 5 or 6 times to check and same thing happened each time. It made no sense and kept doing even after redoing and tightening connections. No evidence of carbon tracking.
I've never heard of that happening before. He said he thought it might have been due to the blades on our 30 amp plug (Marinco) being slightly too short but that makes no sense either. Each time power was lost there was no load from our TT except for the converter and each time it took about the same 10 seconds to lose power. Maybe it was a bad breaker?
Then we plugged our 30 amp cord into the 20 amp recept. with an adapter and it worked fine so we spent the weekend running on 20 amps without issue. The "interesting" part was when the maintenance guy went to put the lower cover back on the pedestal and shorted it to one of the live 150 amp lugs and sent sparks a-flying.
All I can say is I sure am glad we have an EMS. Open grounds and reverse polarity are potentially dangerous and even lethal. If you haven't got one, go order one today because you just never know...
FWIW, CGs are something else when it comes to electrical. I've seen so many pedestals and panels in CGs that are in frightening condition and even some exposed wires that should even be condemned in some cases. Then you've got non-licensed untrained people doing electrical work that just don't know what they're doing.
