2002 Newmar Kountry Star reoccurring electrical problem

[deebailey1956]

Newmar motor home keeps blowing out 110 appliances. Battery charger, microwave, refrigerator. If I plug in one of these devices, they will be unusable before the day is out. I must run a separate 110 supply to use them. Once I put a protection plugin on my refrigerator and the new evening happen to look up and it was catching on fire. Luckily, I saw it in time to unplug it. Does anyone know what can be done to fix this? Probably replace the charger 6 time on the last 3 years. Now I never plug it into the RV.

[deebailey1956]

Had an electrician come out and they could not find anything wrong. When he looked at the automatic transfer switch he pushed on the contact box on the right and it made a loud clicking noise. We are thinking we should have them replace it. It is a 50amp LYGHT.

[deebailey1956]

Thanks for all the great input!
have a licensed electrician schedule to look into the issue Monday. I’m hopeful he will find an issue with the neutral or something.

[Bobbo]

For testing purposes, plug in using a 30 amp to 50 amp adapter. That puts voltage on both legs, but it is the same phase so there is zero voltage between the two hot wires.

Now, you can look for wherever there is no current/reduced current/low voltage without risking damage to anything plugged in from 240v. A loose neutral under those conditions will just look like an open circuit or loose connection.

[cavie]

You have a loose neutral condition. You are applying 240 volts to 120 volt circuits. This is a VERY unsafe condition and should have been fixed 3 years ago. Call a qualified electrician. he does not need to be an RV tech. Is this happening at home or in a camp ground? Does this happen when on your generator? Please answer these questions.

[enblethen]

You must mean it is a "converter" only.
You must have an energy management system. Look in cabinet above entrance for control. IFf you are connected to 50 amp shore power it should be set as such. Make and model of energy management system. It could be owner's manual.

[deebailey1956]

It is just a charger. I've had all kinds of chargers but right now it is only a 65 amp, have put in 100 amp, 200 amps. One guy thought I needed to up the amps to keep from blowing it out so he said put in the 100amp. There is some kind of regulator in the electrical department that shows the amps on each line. Not sure what its called

[enblethen]

Is the rig setup with an inverter?
Is the appliances with issue connected to inverter?
Is it an inverter/charger? Make and model?

[Flute_Man]

Yes a bad neutral anywhere from the power distribution panel on up to the source can cause high voltage on one of the lines.

[deebailey1956]

Not sure about getting a reliable repair person. At Camping World they just replaced the charger.


At least I have a few suggestions to look into. Thanks for that

[Grit_dog]

You should take this to a repair facility....about 3 years ago.

[time2roll]

Monitor voltage and check for lose connections especially on the neutral. Look for heat related damage such as discolored insulation in the main breaker panel and the transfer switch.

I would test with a resistance load on each side of the panel such as space heater or hair dryer. Monitor voltage at the panel (both sides) as you adjust the heat levels on each side.

Bit of a methodical process to divide, eliminate, and isolate this sort of issue. You may need an electrician.

[CA_Traveler]

Most likely it's a open/partial open neutral on 50A. I got 160V on a 30A pedestal one time.

Beg/borrow/steal/buy a voltmeter and post the AC voltage. If 50A post both hot line voltages. Measure inside the rig as this could be a rig or pedestal problem.

[deebailey1956]

No its 50 amp. When its plugged in to 50amp both ACs work fine. Its like a random surge hits and knocks out the battery charger or what ever is plugged in. I finally learned to not plug anything in

[Chris_Bryant]

Is this plugged in to a home 30 amp outlet? Sounds like a miswired outlet, wired for 240 vac instead of 30 amp 120 vac.