Low Voltage - Heat Wave

[Lynnmor]

You might want to check your voltage if you are here in the east. My area dipped to 103 volts, that I observed, and it may have been lower. In a campground, with heavy loads, it is probably lower. I contacted the electric company and they said nothing can be done.

As some of you know, voltage below 104 can damage an air conditioner. And no, there is nothing on the news about the problem.

[Lynnmor]

I wonder how the busy campgrounds near my place are doing this holiday with 103 volts going in, they likely are well under a hundred at the campsites.

Voltage in the middle of the night was 123, this morning 117 and now 111 at 1 PM and steady dropping.

We have 2 coal fired, 4 hydroelectric, 2 nuclear, 1 gas turbine and a diesel generator all within 28 miles of here. This area supplies much of the power to the east coast cities and we are left holding the bag.

[time2roll]

TechWriter wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

Personally I wouldn't recommend a (TRC) Southwire Voltage Regulator. 😞 I bought a

used

one a few years ago only to discover when it arrived that it was badly burned inside and completely inoperable.

I contacted TRC, asking for spare parts so I could fix this puppy myself but was told they wouldn't sell me the parts even though I knew exactly what I needed . . .

Kudos for Southwire! I don't want to be camped next to a guy with an auto former he cobbled together.

On the contrary Sound Guy could probably build a more robust and better functioning control board from scratch.
I am always amazed what members of this forum are able to do.

[valhalla360]

It's not just the east coast.

Even if the local grid is in good shape it's not uncommon for the park to have substandard service. Particularly older parks. 40yrs ago, a lot of RV's didn't have air/con or only a single air/con. Now it's rare not to have air/con and 50 amp units using cheater cords to pull from 2 outlets, means the systems are under much more strain when it gets hot out on a busy weekend.

Last week, we dropped below 107v (with the autoformer boosting voltage), so we broke out the genny. The owner came by and had no answer when we told him provide us the 120v-30amp power we contracted for, so he moved on.

[JoeH]

Lynnmor wrote:
You might want to check your voltage if you are here in the east. My area dipped to 103 volts, that I observed, and it may have been lower. In a campground, with heavy loads, it is probably lower. I contacted the electric company and they said nothing can be done.

As some of you know, voltage below 104 can damage an air conditioner. And no, there is nothing on the news about the problem.

That's the situation that prompted me to buy an autoformer 10 years ago. We were in an old,crowded CG in New England on a hot day, voltage was way too low. I ended up moving to another CG, but when I got home, I found an autoformer on Craigslist and snapped it up.

[Ralph_Cramden]

azrving wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

time2roll wrote:
https://hughesautoformers.com/

Or a Southwire Voltage Regulator

You can't do that! You're stealing from others. 🙂

LOL......I was reported for exactly that at a PA state park by a busy body neighbor in a 50 amp class C with two ACs, who could not figure out why they would not run on a 30 amp service.

The Park super, maintenance supervisor, and I all got a good laugh out of it.

[Ralph_Cramden]

TechWriter wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

Personally I wouldn't recommend a (TRC) Southwire Voltage Regulator. 😞 I bought a

used

one a few years ago only to discover when it arrived that it was badly burned inside and completely inoperable.

I contacted TRC, asking for spare parts so I could fix this puppy myself but was told they wouldn't sell me the parts even though I knew exactly what I needed . . .

Kudos for Southwire! I don't want to be camped next to a guy with an auto former he cobbled together.

Hard to believe you'll travel the highways with people who do their own brakes and other maintenance.

[pasusan]

Lynnmor wrote:
You might want to check your voltage if you are here in the east. My area dipped to 103 volts, that I observed, and it may have been lower. In a campground, with heavy loads, it is probably lower. I contacted the electric company and they said nothing can be done.

As some of you know, voltage below 104 can damage an air conditioner. And no, there is nothing on the news about the problem.

Yeah, we've been monitoring our voltage too... The lowest it got was 111 in the hottest part of the day. I thought that was scary - but 103! And I thought it was below 109 that was bad for an AC.

It sure has been fluctuating these last few days...

[TechWriter]

SoundGuy wrote:

Personally I wouldn't recommend a (TRC) Southwire Voltage Regulator. 😞 I bought a

used

one a few years ago only to discover when it arrived that it was badly burned inside and completely inoperable.

I contacted TRC, asking for spare parts so I could fix this puppy myself but was told they wouldn't sell me the parts even though I knew exactly what I needed . . .

Kudos for Southwire! I don't want to be camped next to a guy with an auto former he cobbled together.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I love my Sola Basic 30 amp autoformer. 3 layers of boost, and 1 level of buck.

[Lynnmor]

I recorded the low voltage in my house near the breaker box. An autoformer for a whole house with a heat pump might be rather costly. I was considering moving into the trailer and running my autoformer or a generator, but the voltage is slowly climbing, currently at 115. Yesterday it did much the same so I will monitor carefully each day so that it doesn't destroy my central air.

[azrving]

CA Traveler wrote:
I've got the popcorn out.

We need a list of "trigger topics". I remember the autoformer from early on. Lol

[SoundGuy]

time2roll wrote:
https://hughesautoformers.com/

TechWriter wrote:
Or a Southwire Voltage Regulator

Personally I wouldn't recommend a (TRC) Southwire Voltage Regulator. 😞 I bought a used one a few years ago only to discover when it arrived that it was badly burned inside and completely inoperable. The seller said he had no idea and immediately offered to return my purchase price, which he did a few days later. In the meantime I contacted TRC, asking for spare parts so I could fix this puppy myself but was told they wouldn't sell me the parts even though I knew exactly what I needed, my only recourse being to buy a brand new unit and toss this one. I wasn't a happy camper at all - I mailed the burned circuit boards to the seller so he could see the damage for himself and dumped the remainder in the recycle bin. Not impressed at all with TRC which is now owned by Southwire. :M

[CA_Traveler]

I've got the popcorn out.

[Lwiddis]

“they said nothing can be done.”

Yes it can fixed. “They” just don’t want to spend the money. To heck with your RV damage.

[azrving]

TechWriter wrote:

time2roll wrote:
https://hughesautoformers.com/

Or a Southwire Voltage Regulator

You can't do that! You're stealing from others. 🙂