Low Power

[txsparky]

I am new to 5th wheel game. Anyway I am keeping a 36' RV with dual RV's in South Texas. Last time I was there it was about 100 degree heat and my a/c's were not cooling. It was 90 in the trailer. The other campers said the power was bad (low power) and that compressors were not kicking on just the fans.
The wiring to the plug look a little small but i can't tell

I saw a Hughes or Franks power booster for sale . Would that help?
any ideas?

also the refrigerator was not working either. The freezer gradually worked. I thought about replacing it with an electric a/c refrigerator. any thoughts

[valhalla360]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Volts x Amps = Watts (or close enough for our purposes).

If you have low volts, it's going to take more amps. If voltage is low, it tends to draw more amps and overheats. If it's a little, it will cause damage over weeks or months. If it's really bad, it could fry your air/con in seconds.

A transformer helps but as someone else pointed out, it's not a cure all by any stetch. In order to boost the voltage, it needs either more amps on the input side or fewer amps on the output side. Since the air/con needs a certain amount of amps, that means it needs to draw more amps from the campground system.

If the power is so bad that compressors aren't kicking over, it's probably too low for a transformer to help.

I guess you did not read this. Right from Hughes web site.

"The Autoformer DOES NOT take power from the park.

It does not affect the park or input voltage, or make electricity.

What it is doing is changing the voltage – amperage relationship, lowering the amperage and raising the voltage. Since appliances run better on higher voltage, lower amperage, less overall power is used from the park, and better service is enjoyed from your RV

An Autoformer running at full output (50amps) will use 1 amp, but will cause appliances to cycle more often and run cooler. This will use less total power from the park."

Unless they've found a way to break the laws of physics, it does exactly what I said.

If it takes 10amps at 120v to run the air/con, if the transformer is to produce that from 100v power source, it needs to draw 12amps at the pedestal (probably slightly more as it's not 100% efficent).

The alternative is if it can only draw 10amps, when you raise the voltage there won't be enough amps to run the air/con.

The marketing mumbo-jumbo takes a tiny bit of truth and mixes it with a huge dose of falsehood. Low voltage at campgrounds is typically associated with hot days when everyone is running thier air/cons and they don't cycle on and off. If there is enough voltage, they run 100% of the time. So any benefits of reduced run times don't exist.

(FYI - As stated earlier, it's not going to bump the voltage up by 20% but it makes the math in my example much simpler to understand)

[Cummins12V98]

valhalla360 wrote:
Volts x Amps = Watts (or close enough for our purposes).

If you have low volts, it's going to take more amps. If voltage is low, it tends to draw more amps and overheats. If it's a little, it will cause damage over weeks or months. If it's really bad, it could fry your air/con in seconds.

A transformer helps but as someone else pointed out, it's not a cure all by any stetch. In order to boost the voltage, it needs either more amps on the input side or fewer amps on the output side. Since the air/con needs a certain amount of amps, that means it needs to draw more amps from the campground system.

If the power is so bad that compressors aren't kicking over, it's probably too low for a transformer to help.

I guess you did not read this. Right from Hughes web site.

"The Autoformer DOES NOT take power from the park.

It does not affect the park or input voltage, or make electricity.

What it is doing is changing the voltage – amperage relationship, lowering the amperage and raising the voltage. Since appliances run better on higher voltage, lower amperage, less overall power is used from the park, and better service is enjoyed from your RV

An Autoformer running at full output (50amps) will use 1 amp, but will cause appliances to cycle more often and run cooler. This will use less total power from the park."

[valhalla360]

Volts x Amps = Watts (or close enough for our purposes).

If you have low volts, it's going to take more amps. If voltage is low, it tends to draw more amps and overheats. If it's a little, it will cause damage over weeks or months. If it's really bad, it could fry your air/con in seconds.

A transformer helps but as someone else pointed out, it's not a cure all by any stetch. In order to boost the voltage, it needs either more amps on the input side or fewer amps on the output side. Since the air/con needs a certain amount of amps, that means it needs to draw more amps from the campground system.

If the power is so bad that compressors aren't kicking over, it's probably too low for a transformer to help.

[waltbennett]

All I can add is that the BEST temperature drop we've been able to get is 20 degrees (on a 114 degree day) and that's with double layer mylar coated bubble insulation in all the windows, awning out for shade, plugs in every vent, and all doors closed. We've also converted all lighting to LED, and use as little as possible. This is with a single 15k btu air conditioner. Add a second without blocking every possible way for heat to get in and you won't even get that much. There's only so much insulation manufacturers can put in a one to two inch thick wall or ceiling.

[Old-Biscuit]

Auto transformers (Franks/Hughes Etc.) boost voltage 10% from 95V up to 118V and then just 2% boost when input voltage is 118V to 125V.

So if incoming AC voltage is 95..........output from transformer would be 104.5V
OK for resistive load (water heater element/fridge heat element) not OK for inductive load (motors) (Below 108V I don't run AC motors)

Autoformers HELP. Just depends on how low CG park AC Voltage is.

Knowing/monitoring input voltage is key.

[Johno02]

Refrig AC cooling does run on 110V AC heating unit instead of gas flame. Therefore low voltage will affect it, and does(been there, done that). In worst case, run refeer on gas. It will still use 12V for control circuits, but should cool a lot better. Again, remember that the hotter it is outside, the less efficient cooling you will have. Takes energy to cool when its hot, takes energy to heat when its cold. go somewhere in between to use less. But then, it takes energy to go somewhere else also. Any way, we lose!

[laknox]

txsparky wrote:
yeah I need to check the voltage

Would low power affect the RV refrigerator performance?

would the power booster help if it were low?

Standard RV fridges are 12v, so low 110v power shouldn't affect how it works, provided your batteries are good AND you're running on propane only. If your fridge is set to run on AC, then, yes, you could have a problem. They =can= take a long time to cool down, either way. My normal practice is to turn it on as soon as I leave the storage yard. When I get to the house, I plug in, then load the fridge with a couple dozen (or more) freezer packs that I keep in my spare fridge at home. When loading food, make sure =everything= is either frozen or cold before it goes in. Also, having any sort of small fan to circulate air in the fridge helps, even the little battery operated ones. You also might find that you have to adjust the thermistor on the cooling fins to a different position to help it cool better (do a search here on how do to this). Check the propane flame as it's running to be sure the orifice is clean. If you see a yellow flame, you've got a dirty, inefficient, heater; steady blue flame is what you want to see. Again, search here for tips on cleaning the orifice.

Lyle

[Cummins12V98]

I have wired my 50A unit into the last two RV's with no ill effect and my voltage is always high enough to use.

[Tom_M1]

txsparky wrote:
Would low power affect the RV refrigerator performance?

If you are running refrigerator on AC definitely. It would be better to run it on propane.

[Cummins12V98]

"BUT, to get that boost, it will rob from other campers"

NOT TRUE! Below from Hughes AutoFormer web site.

"The Autoformer DOES NOT take power from the park.

It does not affect the park or input voltage, or make electricity.

What it is doing is changing the voltage – amperage relationship, lowering the amperage and raising the voltage. Since appliances run better on higher voltage, lower amperage, less overall power is used from the park, and better service is enjoyed from your RV

An Autoformer running at full output (50amps) will use 1 amp, but will cause appliances to cycle more often and run cooler. This will use less total power from the park."

[Johno02]

Also, remember that RV A/Cs typically only cool only 20 or so degrees lower that outside. Like 100+ outside, 80+ is what your gonna get inside.

[Leeblev]

You bet it will affect anything you are trying to run. Low power is decidedly dangerous to all of your systems. No, a power booster won't help. Make sure, first, that you are using 50 amps. If not, you gotta turn things off.

[Leeblev]

You should also know that unless you are plugged into 50 amp service, using anything with your AC would cause it to fry. 30 amps are not sufficient for two AC units, nor is it able to run anything else with youAC.

[txsparky]

yeah I need to check the voltage

Would low power affect the RV refrigerator performance?

would the power booster help if it were low?