Electrical - High Voltage

Old-Biscuit wrote:

smkettner wrote:
If all is good and still have the voltage drop the wire is probably inadequate even for 30 amp.

Wire is inadequate for 15A.........measuring only 104V prior to voltage booster installation.

Electrician did OP wrong.

Umm.. no, not really. Per the OP's FIRST POST..

This is our issue:

The Lodge is parked next to a barn that is a ways from the main house. We had an electrician review the layout with the purpose of installing a 50 AMP plug inside the barn so we could hook up. The electrician informed us that there was not sufficient power going into the barn for a 50 AMP plug, but that he could set up a 30 AMP plug. We understood and agreed to this since it is unlikely that we will need the full 50 AMP service while parked at the property.

#1 Barn is a distance away from the main house.

#2 Barn already HAS ELECTRIC SERVICE.

#3 Electrician STATED that the existing feed to the barn is not sufficient to support OPs request of 50A.

#4 Electrician offered optional plan of 30A 120V.

#5 OP agreed and understood the optional plan of 30A 120V instead of 50A 120/240V

#6 OP figured in the end they would most likely NOT NEED full 50A 120/240V.

#7 OP tried running AC but voltage was too low for the EMS to allow power to the trailer.

#8 Electrician installed a boost transformer which corrected the low voltage but over corrected to over voltage.

The only thing I see that the electrician may have "done wrong" is to NOT recommend UPGRADING the electrical service to the barn INSTEAD of adding a boost transformer (for all we know the electrician MAY have suggested this but OP went with a boost transformer as a lower cost route).

However, we do not know where the barn is getting the power (IE direct from power co with separate meter or from house a long distance from the barn) nor do we know the actual line voltage which is coming into the OPs house, nor do we know what gauge and length the wire feeding the barn is.

It is entirely possible the existing wire would support 30A 120V in a barn but yet if the voltage supplied by the power company is a BIT low (say 110-115V) then the voltage at the barn will also be even lower due to line loses to the barn.

True story, Years ago I ran into a problem when I upgraded my sat system.. Every time the whole house A/C kicked on the new sat receiver would shut down..

I put my meter on the incoming line and found the voltage from the power co was dipping to 105/210V under the A/C start up surge. No surge voltage was 108/216V.

Looked at the sat receiver electrical specs and it required a MIN of 108V!

Keep in mind that when I bought the house I upgraded the electrical service from 60A to 200A.. so the problem was not on my end..

Called the electric co, they sent out a tech, the tech verified my findings then went out to the power pole and measured the voltage to the input of their transformer on the pole and found their line voltage was too low.

They declared that over the years many more homes have been built in my area but the lines have not been upgraded and are dropping too much voltage.

Their fix was to install three phase boost transformers 2 miles upstream from my house.

It fixed my sat problems!

They as of yet have still never upgraded the lines.