87. Volt. Are you on the fence about buying surge protection

[cbshoestring]

I was told A/C could not be used, and friends who have stayed by the lake warned it was a single receptacle. Still, I paid for electric, I hoped I could at least make coffee.

87 volts when it first cycled, 94 by the time I took the pic, then rolled up my power cord

I guess we will run the fridge on propane, limit our battery use. I plugged Mr Coffee directly into the pole. Better a $20
00 coffee pot..inverters are expensive.

I guess I can re-hook to the truck for a daily "recharge".

[img][/img]

[wa8yxm]

I know a campground like that.. I park there (normally) about half the summer.

Pulled in one day, voltages down in the 80s and 80's per neighbor's surge supressor... My wife told me YOu wont' like it here the woman says her voltmeter is always in the RED" I had nice solid green meters.

I also have a Hughes Autoformer

That last line is important.. NOTE: Some parks prohibit these devices.. Mine is installed. out of sight, out of mind, Park managers won't see it, Sticky fingers won't stick to it,, Only I know where to find it (Wife is deceased now)

So My readings were nice and GREEN.

[pianotuna]

Hi CA Traveler,

Do these calculations include overhead from the boost device?

CA Traveler wrote:
And with a 85V loaded voltage the maximum amps available with a boost transformer is 21A for a 30A plug and 14A for a 20A plug.

[pianotuna]

Does the PI ems solves the low voltage issue? Oh, no, it doesn't, it simply shuts down the power. Then it may as well be garbage in this particular instance.

SMK makes a couple of good points--the battery charger, and leaving the RV plugged in to take advantage of high voltage transients when ever they occur.

Here is the boost/buck table that would at least allow everything in the RV except the air conditioner to function normally:

SoundGuy wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
EMS is garbage for the OP. All it would do is cut him off.

"Garbage"?! Now that we've figured out the OP really wasn't talking about a "surge protector" only but rather a Progressive Industries EMS it did exactly what it was designed to do - not connect out of spec power to his trailer. :B How in the world is that "garbage"? :h

[2oldman]

myredracer wrote:
The solution would be to use 2 or 3 autoformers in series!! .

Excellent. Just way expensive!

[myredracer]

The solution would be to use 2 or 3 autoformers in series!! By boosting 10 percent each time, 85 volts would become 93.5 volts, which would become 103 and then finally 113 volts. Sometimes you've gotta think outside the box... :B:B Sure, you could fry some wires somewhere from the increased current, but you might at least get enough time for your morning coffee to brew. 😉

85 volts is seriously low and well below utility company requirements (ANSI C84.1), NEMA standards or NEC min. requirements. The reason for low voltage lies with the CG/RV park and when it was built, plus the increasing power demands of RVs and the NEC (National Electrical Code) requirements that applied at the time.

Min. quantities of 50, 30 & 20 amp receptacle has changed a lot over the years along with a change in demand factors. In the 1996 NEC for example, only 5 percent of pedestals in RV parks had to be 50 amps. Today it is 20 percent. In recent years, the numbers of 50 amp RVs has substantially increased putting a much higher strain on CG wiring than it was originally designed for, resulting in issues like low voltage. 30 amp RVs can draw more power than compared to 20,30 or 40 years ago which adds to the problem. The methods used for running wiring in older CGs is different than today as well. Older CGs are more likely to have voltage problems as a result, and the older one is, the worse it can be. Some rainy day I plan to do a history of the NEC changes for CG wiring and how the wiring methods have changed.

One thing to note about electrical appliances and products that are resistive (toasters, coffee makers, heaters, hair dryers, etc.) is that output varies as the square of the voltage. 85 volts will result in a 50% output of it's rating (85/120 x 85/240). A 1,000 watt coffee maker for ex. would give you 500 watts and take a lot longer to work, if at all.

If the 85 volts is caused by the CG wiring I wouls go into dry camp mode. Or use a gen. if you have one. Low volts could possibly be due to a bad pedestal recept. or shore power cord plug. If a 30 amp pedestal has low voltage, the 20 amp receptacle will be low too. You *might* try plugging your coffee maker directly into the 20 amp recept. and if lucky might get a few more volts. Sometimes a section in a CG can be low compared to other sections.

We were at a CG this past weekend that had 108 without much running. Recently bought a Hughes autoformer and got to try it out for the first time. Maintained the volts up around 118-120 and saved us... The CG was nearly 100% full for the Independence Day holiday weekend and the power demands would have been way above what the place was originally designed to.

[time2roll]

If my solar did not keep up I would still plug in. Usage may drop overnight allowing the EMS to connect and charge the battery. Then it just cuts out in the morning. Nothing lost if it just stays off.

[SoundGuy]

CA Traveler wrote:
If I saw 85 unloaded volts I would not plug in until the situation was fixed, boost transformer or not. Why invite trouble?

Most likely the utility is delivering in spec power which is 120V +-10 percent or a low of 108V.

I'm not so sure. That's what the spec dictates but I've run into so many situations where the voltage can't even make the minimal, most often during the hot summer months when the campground is full and it's power system (and the one feeding it) is loaded to the max with everyone running A/C. IAMICHABOD makes a good point (thanks BTW :B ) - if I continue to first check power with my Prime Products line meter dongle and do find a problem it certainly saves me the hassle of even bothering to drag out the main service cable and any necessary extensions - no sense if I'm not going to use it. :R My Progressive unit is calibrated to cut off incoming power to the trailer at 104 vac but personally I really start paying attention anytime it drops below ~ 110 vac because with my own load added that voltage could easily trigger my EMS's low cutoff voltage threshold of 104 vac. Just 85 vac is a non-starter as that's a sure sign the system is already stressed well beyond it's limits ... no way, no how would I ever consider plugging in at all. :E

[CA_Traveler]

And with a 85V loaded voltage the maximum amps available with a boost transformer is 21A for a 30A plug and 14A for a 20A plug.

[CA_Traveler]

2oldman wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
That's why I want the Sola Basic. It can deal with 85 volts.

Cool. How does power get that low?

Basically it doesn't except in rare cases like at the OPs lake site.

If I saw 85 unloaded volts I would not plug in until the situation was fixed, boost transformer or not. Why invite trouble?

Most likely the utility is delivering in spec power which is 120V +-10 percent or a low of 108V.

[2oldman]

pianotuna wrote:
That's why I want the Sola Basic. It can deal with 85 volts.

Cool. How does power get that low?

[IAMICHABOD]

smkettner wrote:
I stopped pre-checking the pedestal after getting my PI EMS.

Old habits are hard to break,this way if the pedestal is no good it saved me from dragging that umbilical out and finding it being of no use,then having to put it away.

[SoundGuy]

smkettner wrote:
I stopped pre-checking the pedestal after getting my PI EMS.

Old habits are hard to break :R ... that's why even though I now have a hard wire Progressive EMS-HW30C installed in my trailer I'm still in the habit of pre-checking the campsite power source before plugging in with my DIY dongle which is based on a Prime Products voltage meter that also checks for common line errors as well.

[SoundGuy]

pianotuna wrote:
EMS is garbage for the OP. All it would do is cut him off.

"Garbage"?! Now that we've figured out the OP really wasn't talking about a "surge protector" only but rather a Progressive Industries EMS it did exactly what it was designed to do - not connect out of spec power to his trailer. :B How in the world is that "garbage"? :h

[time2roll]

I stopped pre-checking the pedestal after getting my PI EMS.

[IAMICHABOD]

colliehauler wrote:
Good idea of checking campground voltage. A lot of people ruin their equipment on low voltage.

That is why I use my homemade pedestal checker before hooking up to my PI EMS Protected RV.