Advice needed for electric pedestal tester
I want to get a good tester to use before hooking up at a campground. Is there one that will check for the usual stuff like polarity, open ground, etc. - as well as tell the voltage? Thanks for ...
Forum Discussion
j-d wrote:I sure can see the usefulness of a 50 amp pedestal tester in that situation. A guy could park in the driveway, go to his spot, and then test the pedestal before backing or pulling in.
It's clear from the context of the question, and from the responses, that it's 30-Amp service in question. The plug-in using Adapter, Polarity Tester and AC Meter are the way many of us go.
There IS a thread somewhere about a home made 50-Amp tester. It's two of the 30-Amp in most ways, connected to a 50-Amp plug, but with a big difference. This one looks at the polarity of the two 50-Amp legs that make up this service, and verfies there's a Neutral. That's important to anybody who plugs into a 50-Amp outlet. Whether it's a 50-Amp coach, or just the rest of us using a 50-to-30 Adapter.
I don't want to plug in, let alone even back in, till I know that outlet is right! Campground can fix it, move me, or refund me.
We still don't know if a pedestal breaker has "gone soft" but at least we won't burn something out or get shocked, if we lead off with a Tester.
Basically, a 50 amp tester is just a redundancy of the 30 amp tester. I guess a guy could have the two hot legs switched to test that each are functional. A three position switch combining the two legs could give an accurate view of voltage. An alternative would be to have two phase monitors to determine the connectivity of the two legs.
