Shore Power Woes!

[wbaker]

I have 2011 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 30 SFS class A motorhome and I'm having many power outages in my motorhome but no breakers are being tripped on the elec. panel or at the outside pole. This has occurred at four or five campgrounds this summer(2013). Some outage have happened with nothing operating on shore power and HW heater and fridge operating on propane. Other times just a coffee pot with nothing else operating. Many times with the AC running but nothing else. The power goes out and I check the breakers inside and on the pole and nothing has tripped. Please advise! Thanks!

[wa8yxm]

I am fond of saying many RVers have a few screws loose.. Some of the screws I have tightened included.

The screws connecting the wires to the INLET on the side of my coach.

Several screws in the circuit breaker box (power distribution center)

ALL SIX of the six screws in a neighboring RVer's Marinco OUTlET (The end of the cord that plugs onto the "inlet" in the Trailer) YES all six, the dang outlet came off the cord in my hand.

I have not personally tightened screws in the transfer switch, but have read posts from folks who wished they had.

In short, ANY and EVERY screw in the electrical system.

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Page 2: I have not (yet) seen this commented on.

Some RVs (Epically if purchased used) may have an Power line Monitor/surge guard system installed... Now where I am today,,, They mostly do nothing. But where I'll be this time tomorrow, When air conditioners kick in the shore power may drop below 100 volts AC (30 amp service) and when that happens.

Well they usually shut you off around 105 to 110.

[wbaker]

Thanks for all your replies! The problem was a shorted auto transfer switch! Has been repaired under extended warranty.

[wbaker]

The voltage is 115-120V. As I turned things on the voltage dropped below 110. When the HW heater is turned on to electric it may turn off the power without a breaker tripping. The AC does the same thing. The difference is that the power goes out when the AC is running for a long time and the temp. outside the motorhome is excessive with high humidity. Even when the power goes out I have checked the main power panel and no breakers have not tripped. Breaker on power pole still on. The power cord runs into a electrical box inside a storage container and the connections to the RV are all tied together with wire nuts and nothing else! Thanks for all the suggestions.

[rvten]

If turning off and on. Sounds like a surge guard is protecting the system. From low voltage over load.
This is part of what it is suppose to do.
What is the voltage at the shore line conn.?

[punomatic]

I had the same problem. Turned out to be a loose wire in the female end of the power cord (Marinco) that plugs into the motor home. There had been enough arcing that I had to buy a new plug and trim the end of the cord a bit to make a good connection.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Why not turn absolutely EVERYTHING off.

But leave the microwave plugged-in and set the clock as a tattle-tale.

If it goes off in a day or so, then the power comes back on then turn the roof air on.

If the roof air runs OK for while then the power is being TOLD by something to turn off. Much different than a bad connection.

The trick is to find whatever screwball malfunctioning device is attempting to force you to take Prozac. A "smart" (he he he) voltage protection device may be at fault.

[jhilley]

As mentioned above, check that all AC power connections are tight from shore cord plug to main AC distribution center. Also could be faulty Main Breaker, flip it on and off a couple of times.

[wbaker]

Yes the power goes out and comes back on itself! Thanks!

[rvten]

Do you loose power than have it come back on by itself?

[wbaker]

The microwave time went out and the television power indicator also went out

[Teebucket1313]

We just came home from Texas. We stayed at Stone Creek RV park just a few mile from Ceblo Texas. We had three transformers go out within a two week period. I have a on-board surge protector so the motorhome was protected. We had our shore power cable welded to the inlet plug. I didn't know this until it was time to head north. Lucky I used a 90 deg adapter plug into the inlet then plugin the cord. This way I was able to remove the power cable. I had it repaired when I got home and was told this was caused by the transformer surge. I don't know if one of those surge protectors that you plug into the power box would have protected the inlet plug.


Happy Camping, bye Dennis

[Sea_scape]

Information in your first post is confusing to analyse. Two statements;
-coffee pot went off when on shore power indicates incoming ac problem
-outages have occurred with nothing operating on shore power indicates a 12 volt dc problem

Probably I don't fully understand, but how did the outage display itself when nothing was operating on shore power? That might give a clue. Do you have 30 A or 50 A connection. A bad hot incoming would leave some stuff working on 50 A. A bad neutral (white) connection could shut down everything.

If you know how to use a meter, check voltages from the incoming toward the trailer. If a bad neutral, you would see nothing from black to white, but would see about 220 volt from black to black (maybe red).

In my trailer, there was an intermittent caused by a screw not being tightened during manufacture, resulting in a loose connection on the plug on the side of the trailer where the power cord attaches.

[RoyB]

Surge protector does sort of fit you description...

Please check the end of your shore power connection. Note the burn marks on this photo. This is NOT what you are suppose to see... Should be clean as shown in the second photo





Roy Ken

[rvten]

If power is going on/off. As another poster said. Check for a surge protector. You may be haveing a low voltage problem. The surge protector is turning off voltage because of it.