Brother in Law knows everything, now we have a problem

[isellsunshine]

My husband and I stayed on his brothers 40 acre ranch this summer to get out of the Arizona heat. We live full time in a 2007 Bighorn 5th wheel.

From doing research on the web, I've always known RV power is a different than regular house power, but I don't quite have the language to describe the difference.

When we arrived in Minnesota and our BIL proceeded to get the wiring ready for us, I pleased with him to please be careful, I know RV power is a little different, it's more sensitive, etc.

He didn't listen, he's a contractor after all, and how hard could this be to hook up a little ole RV when you hook up entire houses?

He hooked us up and we immediately blew the following four things:

-Fireplace no longer works
-Microwave blew out
-In floor vacuum cleaner system no longer works
-Fridge will only work on propane now, whereas it would switch back and forth between the electric and propane before this.

We live in Arizona most of the year, so I can live with the Fireplace. We bought a new microwave for $99 at Lowe's, so all good there. I hated the in ground vacuum cleaner thingy, so no worries there.

The fridge only working on propane really bothers me though.

I estimate we spend an extra $40 a month on propane due to not being able to run the fridge on electric. That's almost $500 a year. If we stay in the RV 5 years, that's $2,500.

Everything else works just fine.
Outlets, etc, all work throughout the RV.

My husband is a master mechanic so he's very handy but he doesn't know/understand about electrical in an rv either.

I'm wondering if someone can point us in the right direction to help us troubleshoot this?

We are on our way back to Arizona and I'd like to get this fixed once and for all. (and send my BIL the bill) 😉

If I had to guess, some sort of master motherboard thingy burned out when he overshot the power. (see what I mean by I don't have the language for this?)

Really appreciate any/all help.

Susan & Dave,
Currently in Nebraska, headed to Arizona

[TXiceman]

No way the frig will burn $40.00 per month in propane. for just the frig, a 30# bottle should go a couple of months minimum.

[isellsunshine]

Bobbo wrote:
Was there ever a resolution to this? Or at least an explanation of what went wrong?

As the OP, I don't know if we'll ever know exactly what happened.

After reading all the responses, I'm thinking, as was previously suggested, that when BIL went to hook up power, he either did it live and it caused an issue, or he had the wiring wrong re: the neutral, etc.

My guess is he had the wiring wrong, as there was lots of discussion about things as this was happening and they fiddled with some stuff and then the power came on, but not before shortening out the previously mentioned items.

And whoever suggested that we will find there will be more wrong than just those 4 things was also correct. While hooked up to shore power those where the only things we noticed amiss, (fireplace, microwave, in floor vacuum and fridge won't work on electric, only propane).

Once we hit the road we found out that the fuses to our inverter blew, so those had to be replaced.

So far both AC and heat were not effected, thankfully, so we got off amazingly easy it seems.

As far as what we are going to do about it, we just arrived back in the sunshine and once we get settled will probably have someone who knows what they are doing take a look at the fridge and determine what needs to be fixed to make it right again.

I will say this forum is quite an amazing resource for the newbies of the world.

When we got to our lot, which we will call home for next 8 months, the electrical panel is 40 feet away from where I wanted to park the RV. I googled how to extend a 25 foot 50 amp electrical cord and the very first link was also a topic on this very board, and they pointed us, within 5 minutes of reading, to an extension you can buy so I can have my camper exactly where I want it to be.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us. You have no idea how many people you are helping, as that post I read re: extension cord was from 2-3 years ago!

Much appreciated,

Susan and Dave in Sunny, Arizona

[Bobbo]

Was there ever a resolution to this? Or at least an explanation of what went wrong?

[Bobbo]

I installed my own 50/30/20 amp pedestal at home, and STILL checked the voltage before plugging in the first time. I *KNEW* I had it wired right, but still checked. Of course, I DID have it wired right, but I checked anyway.

And, I have the PI EMS-HW30C installed, but I checked anyway.

Always check.

[rockhillmanor]

smkettner wrote:

I am constantly amazed how often this disaster strikes on RVs.

me too. I guess it is because some people "assume" that they know what they are doing? and this is complicated by people not using a multi-function surge protector or even using a volt meter to check out the outlet before plugging in.
bumpy

Gulfcoast wrote:
It's so simple... always check the voltage before plugging in.

I just have to add in my defense to show just HOW it can happen to even a seasoned full time RV'er.

I bought a house on acreage in Florida as a winter base.

Hired AND explained over and over to the electrician about the correct plug and wiring for my MH.

Went on a trip and was excited to return to my own property, RV garage, AND my very own new shore power. It was after midnight when I pulled in.

YES I have a surge protector that for '6 years' I ALWAYS attached to my MH plug BEFORE plugging into any shore power.

This was my new home, MY very own shower power. I just grabbed the MH cord and plugged it in.

No need to check my very own, brand new, RV instructions given and installed by an electrician shore power. Right? :S:S

Who was that said "TRUST NO ONE"? :B

[Gulfcoast]

It's so simple... always check the voltage before plugging in.

[dougrainer]

Bumpyroad wrote:

smkettner wrote:
I am constantly amazed how often this disaster strikes on RVs.

me too. I guess it is because some people "assume" that they know what they are doing? and this is complicated by people not using a multi-function surge protector or even using a volt meter to check out the outlet before plugging in.

bumpy

IMO. the reason this disaster strikes so often(usually 30 amp RV's), is because RV'ers overload the system. NOTHING seems to happen when they pull more current that the 30 amp rating, so they think everything is OK. After years of doing this, the breaker panel connections(120 WIRING) get slightly loose from the constant heat build up and cooling down from overloading. THEN the next time they overload, that loose neutral or hot finally burns and melts and causes the "disaster". Same thing can happen on a 50 amp RV when adapting from 50 to 30 because you do not have 50 available. NOTHING seems to happen when you overload, so you think everything is OK. BUT, look at the 50 to 30 adapter. Usually you will see the 30 amp male end, the prongs are extremely pitted and burnt. Think about WHY this is so. MOST do not. Look at your 30 amp RV 30 amp male plug in end. It will also show pitting and melted blades. WHY? Because you are constantly overloading the System. They NEVER replace the bad connection and then they get upset when "disaster" happens or they blame the OEM. Doug

[Bumpyroad]

smkettner wrote:
I am constantly amazed how often this disaster strikes on RVs.

me too. I guess it is because some people "assume" that they know what they are doing? and this is complicated by people not using a multi-function surge protector or even using a volt meter to check out the outlet before plugging in.

bumpy

[time2roll]

I am constantly amazed how often this disaster strikes on RVs.

[rockhillmanor]

Well you got all the techie electrical info on the how and why I'll just chime in with ALL what has happened to your coach. AND it won't be all apparent right away.

And the BIL? Give him a break.

I Paid and ELECTRICIAN to hook me up a shore station and he wired it wrong!!

I plugged in and heard a strange noise coming from the ac opened the door and in the coach was filled with smoke.

That all said.

AC would come on but when it shut off when it hit the temps set it would not come back on. Micro blew up, fridge would run but would not come back on when it hit the temp set.

The convertor was the culprit for all of the above. It appeared to be working but when I smelling sulfur I found it was frying the batteries. Opened it up and one capacitor was literally blown out from the surge. So fridge and ac was not getting the 12 volt it needed for the thermostats on both to come back on.

AND....pull your GFI's out and REPLACE them. Months later I smelled burning wires and traced it to the GFI wiring. The GFI's continued to work so I had no idea they were starting to smolder.

When the coach took the surge I hit reset and it did, so I thought all was well. Not. the surge heated up the wires inside and over time they were arching inside the wall.




NOTE: When the fridge and ac started acting up no one including 2 repair guys put two and two together that it might be the converter. They tested the converter and when it hit the specs it was supposed to be putting out they took the tester off. 3rd guy left the tester on and it spiked off the charts.

The average cost of a 220 improperly wired surge hit to a MH is around $3,000. I was lucky enough that my ac didn't go up in flames so if cost me less.:W

[coolbreeze01]

Kind of makes me want to hook-up my bil.......No good deed........

[Huntindog]

Ozlander wrote:
No way would your frig use $40 worth of propane a month. Either you have a leak or the furnace is running.

X2. I too would want it fixed, but the fridge uses very little propane.

[NinerBikes]

isellsunshine wrote:
My husband and I stayed on his brothers 40 acre ranch this summer to get out of the Arizona heat. We live full time in a 2007 Bighorn 5th wheel.

From doing research on the web, I've always known RV power is a different than regular house power, but I don't quite have the language to describe the difference.

When we arrived in Minnesota and our BIL proceeded to get the wiring ready for us, I pleased with him to please be careful, I know RV power is a little different, it's more sensitive, etc.

He didn't listen, he's a contractor after all, and how hard could this be to hook up a little ole RV when you hook up entire houses?

He hooked us up and we immediately blew the following four things:

-Fireplace no longer works
-Microwave blew out
-In floor vacuum cleaner system no longer works
-Fridge will only work on propane now, whereas it would switch back and forth between the electric and propane before this.

We live in Arizona most of the year, so I can live with the Fireplace. We bought a new microwave for $99 at Lowe's, so all good there. I hated the in ground vacuum cleaner thingy, so no worries there.

The fridge only working on propane really bothers me though.

I estimate we spend an extra $40 a month on propane due to not being able to run the fridge on electric. That's almost $500 a year. If we stay in the RV 5 years, that's $2,500.

Everything else works just fine.
Outlets, etc, all work throughout the RV.

My husband is a master mechanic so he's very handy but he doesn't know/understand about electrical in an rv either.

I'm wondering if someone can point us in the right direction to help us troubleshoot this?

We are on our way back to Arizona and I'd like to get this fixed once and for all. (and send my BIL the bill) 😉

If I had to guess, some sort of master motherboard thingy burned out when he overshot the power. (see what I mean by I don't have the language for this?)

Really appreciate any/all help.

Susan & Dave,
Currently in Nebraska, headed to Arizona

Prevent this in the future, wire it yourself when you show up at his place... then you have only yourself to blame. Looking the gift horse in the mouth will only cause you grief.

RV power is not any different than house power... It's still 120V per leg at 60 hz. Each leg gives 120V when run to the neutral, white wire. Each leg wire is a different color, usually red and black. Neutral is always white in AC wiring. Ground is always pure copper.

A complete circuit from a colored wire to the neutral wire will give you 120v. A complete circuit from a colored wire to a colored wire with give you 240V, and that's when things get voltage overload in most of your devices in your 5th wheel.

My guess is someone did not look at and read correctly the back of the female receptacle properly for wiring the hot, colored wires, right where you plug in.

Alternately, you could always run a Honda Generator and make your own electricity to avoid this situation, or get enough solar and a inverter to be self sufficient.

That your refrigerator still runs on propane says that the circuit board on the fridge is still good. heater element or fuse to fridge or both may need replacement, check fuse first.

If you paid him to do the wiring and he blew something up on your rig, then the burden is on him to compensate to get it fixed. If he offered to do it for free, well, you get what you paid for.

Trust, but ALWAYS verify.

[wa8yxm]

House power is normally 120/240/120 volt at 100, 150 or 200 amps.
What that 120/250/120 means is you have 3 (+safety ground) wires, I will call them L-1, N and L-2 L-1 to N=120 L-1 to L-2 = 240, N to L-2 is 120 again.


RV power comes basically in two sizes
30 amp: This is 120 volts, at 30 amps Pick an L and Neutral (Plus safety ground) and that's it. only 30 amps though


50 amp is identical to the house, save for the 50 amp breaker.

NORMALLY there is either nothing in the RV that needs 240 volt or just one thing, that one thing is a device that determines (Automatically) if you are on 30 or 50 amp (or at least tries to) it is called an Energy Management System by some companies (Intelletec for example) Other companies use that name for other stuff.

But all it uses the 240 volt is sensing a 50 amp supply. If it does not see that it assumes 30 amps.