eyeteeth wrote:
I really hate dealing with Electrical... It's not my strong suit... So, I always dread it. I'm glad this one will work out on the easy scale.
I may not have been clear on the extra breaker... The 120 side has space for three 'normal' house size 'plug in' breakers. One was a 30 amp for the overall house system, which left 2 for the rest of the house. One was a 20 amp GFI for the exterior outlet and the bathroom... the other 20 amp had everything else. When turning on the air conditioner you could hear it starving for power. I found a 'plug in' breaker with 2 20 amp breakers in it. So I now have that in place which allowed me to put the Air Conditioner on it's own 20 Amp Circuit making it much happier when it is turned on. Does that make better sense? I can take a picture for you if you'd like.
To touch base on a few of your other comments... I understand. I do IT for a living. We're often judged by what we know and what we can figure out making it really hard to ask for opinions... especially when it's something simple. I frequently try and break this habit using examples of not being able to see the forest through the trees. Its very common for someone to be so deep in a project or troubleshooting that the answer is several layers back... but it's not on you mind because you're past it. I have many stories on the topic where guys could have saved hours... and even days... by simply asking an outside person for their thoughts. So... lead by example... lol, I ask. :P
Except for our level of experience, you and I aren't very different. I don't relish electrical work ... it requires a lot of attention and care and the result isn't always what I planned (Oops!) ... rebuilding automatic transmissions is easier.
The 30 amp is the main. The other two slots are for branch circuits. (Inside the box, the other two slots are fed by the output from the 30 amp main.)
Removing the GFCI circuit breaker is probably a mistake. Current residential code requires GCFI protection for circuits in bathrooms, laundry rooms, kitchens, garages, and outdoor areas. Minimum requirements is for outlets in those areas to be protected, either by GFCI circuit breakers or individual GFCI outlets. Best practices call for all circuits in those areas to be GFCI, including overhead lights.
Your best option to regain GFCI protection would be to replace the 30 amp main with a 30 amp GFCI breaker. This would provide GFCI protection for your motorhome's entire 120/240VAC system, a good ideas from a safety perspective, given the confined space in a motorhome.
I'm going to take a guess ... your shore power plug has four prongs? On modern systems, four prongs means 240VAC power. (Electric stoves and clothes dryers should have four prong plugs.) Older 240VAC systems may use three prong plug, which should be upgraded to four prongs. Three prong 240VAC probably require an adapter in most commercial campgrounds. (These campgrounds are required to upgrade to four prong outlets.)
On four prong connectors, two of the prongs each carry 120VAC (hot #1 and hot #2 will serve as designation for our purposes), one prong is neutral and the fourth prong is ground. On older three prong connectors, two of prong are still 120VAC "hot," with the neutral and ground tied together on the third prong. (In some cases, the third prong is neutral only, meaning the shore power outlet, plug, cable, and entire motorhome is not grounded ... this possibility is a VERY good reason to upgrade to four wire shore power.)
A three prong plug could indicate 120VAC shore power only. (Unless someone violated long-standing standards, 120VAC and 240VAC three prong plugs had very different configurations, making it impossible to plug one type into the other type outlet.)
Based on what happened to eyeteeth's A/C, I can almost guarantee he has 120/240VAC shore power. Before his change, the A/C was running on 120 volts. His change doubled the power available to A/C, to 240 volts, which definitely make it work better, assuming it's designed for both 120 and 240 operation.
I plan to, eventually, discuss 120/240VAC systems, once I get through a lot of other stuff. (The majority of my outings are the dry camp variety so 120/240VAC systems aren't that important to me unless I'm at home and/or using a generator.)
Leeann and I have already mentioned what happens when you send 240 volts through circuits meant for 120 volts. In my case, an improperly wired outlet was the cause.
(Oh, BTW, Leeann -- 20 degrees (F) above zero is not cold ... it's merely a bit too chilly to wear shorts and t-shirts outside, unless you're a teenager.)
