Power Problems at Campground

[pbastedo]

This past weekend my power cut out several times. It is a 30amp hookup and I used a Camco 30 amp surge protector. When the power cut out it did not restart. I had to go to the campground box and switch the power off and on again. This could last 3 hours before it would happen again. The campground found a faulty breaker and replaced it but it happen d again after 6 hours. Could the problem be with my 2 year old travel trailer or is it most likely a problem with the campground electrical. I did not run any heavy water electrical. Should I have my rig checked out? Thanks for any input.

[Rover_Bill]

tagretired wrote:
I used my 50amp-30amp adapter and switched to the 50 amp outlet on the post. Problem solved. I called the CG office and reported to them the issue the 30 amp breaker.

I had the same power issue at a few CG last summer. The 50 to 30 adapter solution worked for me too.

[joebedford]

^^ what he said

[tagretired]

Sounds just like a problem I had in February 2018 when were staying a couple of days near Epcot. It was unseaonably hot and humid in Florida for February. We had the 1 A/C running in the late afternoon after got settled in. The CG 30 amp breaker kept tripping when we would run the microwave or TV. I was pretty sure all was ok with my 2017 Class C as we had been out to NM, AZ and NV and never had a problem with the A/C. Since we were going to be at Epcot all day the next day and leave our dog in side, I wanted to be sure the A/C stayed on. I used my 50amp-30amp adapter and switched to the 50 amp outlet on the post. Problem solved. I called the CG office and reported to them the issue the 30 amp breaker.

[DrewE]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

Breaker tripping in ped. , replaced with new by camp, still tripped., but not in camper main panel. Thats amperage overload that could be caused by poor connections or undersized wiring downstream of the breaker. Assuming your cable to the rig is a 10/2 in good condition then it may be poor connections in the ped between the breaker and outlet, or in your rig where your shore cable connects into your panel or junction box.

Poor connections will heat, which causes resistance, resulting in low voltage. As the result, amperage increases to supply the wattage demand. Its why welding cables are so big.

The magnitude of the current flowing through the campground breaker and the RV main breaker is identical, as they're in series and Kirchhoff's current law applies. (I guess technically in this case the surge protector unit would consume a milliamp or so that would not go through the RV breaker, but it's not enough to matter in the grand scheme of things.)

Poor connections are high resistance connections, and the comparatively high resistance is what causes the localized heating--the resistance dissipates power. Some loads in an RV do have increased current due to decreased voltage, but certainly not all. Purely resistive loads will have lower current consumption. It doesn't really matter where the voltage drop is for those effects to occur.

At any rate, I do wholeheartedly agree that checking for and fixing bad connections is a very wise step to take, as is keeping tabs on one's power consumption.

[SDcampowneroper]

30A power outlets are not gfci, only 20A and less. Thats not it.

Breaker tripping in ped. , replaced with new by camp, still tripped., but not in camper main panel. Thats amperage overload that could be caused by poor connections or undersized wiring downstream of the breaker. Assuming your cable to the rig is a 10/2 in good condition then it may be poor connections in the ped between the breaker and outlet, or in your rig where your shore cable connects into your panel or junction box.

Poor connections will heat, which causes resistance, resulting in low voltage. As the result, amperage increases to supply the wattage demand. Its why welding cables are so big.

Several times we have had connections on our side overheat, its age and corrosion due to weather in outdoor environment. We fix it right away, its not something that can be a preventative maintenance issue. Inspection yesterday, cannot see a problem tomorrow. Its like a car, it ran fine this morning, broken down now.
. A few times we have found a heated weak connection in someones camper. Inspect your connections ,cable , junctions, then have the camp inspect and verify adequate sizing, sound connections.
Knowledge of wattage of your load to keep you below the threshold of your available amperage would help you convince others that the problem is not yours. And add to your safety.

[Bill_Satellite]

If the breaker is tripping you might simply be using too much power. It's pretty easy to do. 30 amps is not much power if you have 1 A/C running.

[SoundGuy]

pbastedo wrote:
I am using the Power Grip - Voltage Protector - 30Amp. It does not show the voltage, only lights to indicate an issue.

So it's this Camco 55301 Voltage Defender EMS ... an example why a model with voltage display is more useful. Low voltage threshold is 102 vac for this model and I'd suspect it's just doing what it's designed to do - disconnect power to the RV whenever the supply voltage drops below 102 vac. Without voltage monitoring though you're just guessing so I'd suggest you invest in an inexpensive DVM so you will know what that incoming source voltage is.

[ScottG]

What have you got running? Sounds like you may be overloading the 30A circuit.

[imgoin4it]

I had similar problems this spring with 50 amp surge guard. Would shut me off sometimes immediately, sometimes intermittent. Tested every power pedestal and all checked out good but still had the problem. In three different cases, three different parks I moved to a pedestal on a different circuit and problem disappeared. Any kind of fault will cause that to happen. In my case the voltage was never too high or low. It was detecting some kind of fault . In my case I think the surge guard was doing its job even though I think the coach would have been fine on the same power with out the guard. Mine is permantly installed

[pbastedo]

I am using the Power Grip - Voltage Protector - 30Amp. It does not show the voltage, only lights to indicate an issue. I have used it many times at various campground with A/C on and had no problem. The campground power at my site only, cut off and I had to reset by turning power off and on again at the pedestal. I will try this again at another campground in a few weeks, just want to make sure my rig is ok before a long summer trip. I think it was a problem with the campground pedestal but want to be sure. Thanks for all you suggestion, I will check them out.

[time2roll]

Any chance it is a GFCI breaker?

How much power are you using? Put the fridge and water on propane only.

[enblethen]

I would do some minor maintenance.
Disconnect from shore power, remove cover from 120 volt AC power panel. Inspect and tighten all the electrical connections paying attention to the white neutral connections. Look for wrinkled or melted insulation on the wires.
Is this what you have?
Camco Surge Protector

[trailerbikecamp]

Does this happen at other plug ins, at home for example? What was the weather looks? Was it dry, or have recent wet weather? With wet weather, the rain may have seeped into somewhere. If its dry, or happens at other locations, it may be your cord or trailer.

[SoundGuy]

pbastedo wrote:
It is a 30amp hookup and I used a Camco 30 amp surge protector.

Surge protector only or an EMS w/surge protection? What model? What was the voltage when you lost power? If what you have is actually an EMS then perhaps the source voltage fell below the low voltage threshold and the EMS did exactly what it was designed to do - disconnect power to the trailer.