Is my new Residence wired correctly (Not drawing Amps from L2 of service)

[BritFraggle]

Hi,

We picked up our 2014 Keystone Residence 405FL last Thursday from RV World in Yuma. We'd ordered it back in June and so it's been quite the anticipated pick up :)

Anyway.... we do love it, but we've got a number of issues with it:
Metal particles all over the rig - we've vacuumed a dozen times and still keep finding more
Shower is leaking - looks like they forgot to put sealant between the plastic tub and the metal frame holding the glass, so it's leaking through the screw holes
Water line for the fridge ice-maker was left coiled up behind the fridge - so need to get a plumber to hook it up

But here's the one I'm not sure about:

New to the RV world, so I want to check to see if this is normal or if something is wired wrong:

We're plugged into a 50Amp campground post, using a 50A Surgeguard surge protector.

No matter what we turn on - Front AC, Rear AC, Microwave, things in electrical outlets etc. the surgeguard only ever shows Amps being drawn from L1. L2 is always at zero. I was under the impression that the rear AC is wired for L2 (or at least something should be!).

Set up how it is, we got up to 48A on L1 at on point, with everything turned on, still zero on L2, so naturally I'm a little concerned that our brand new trailer might not have been wired correctly to take full advantage of 50A service.

Anyone know if there is a way to check and to confirm for sure?

Although brand new to the world of RV'ing, back in the UK I got a Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (although YEARS ago!) so I do have an understanding of electrical systems..... so if there is something in the breaker panel I can check I'm fine with that.

Thanks,

Steve

[JRTJH]

Welcome to the forum. As for construction debris, you'll probably still be finding it in nooks and crannies a year from now. We still had some suprises in our Springdale when it was 3 years old LOL

Now, about your L1/L2 problem. Your circuit breaker panel is arranged like the one in your house. There are two legs of power and the circuit breakes for each leg are under that side. The two rows of circuit breakers each are "driven" by the leg (L1 or L2) that they are under. So, if the A/C 1 and the A/C 2 breakers are both on the "left side" or the "right side" of the panel, they are on the same leg. If, however, they are one on the left and one on the right, they are on different legs.

I'm not familiar with your power protection device, so I can't address the issue of 0 amps on the LED readout, but you can easily tell if the circuit breakers are on the same leg simply by looking at them.

I hope this helps some :)

[BritFraggle]

Thanks for explaining it John.

So I checked out the box and now it makes sense. I have:

Left side:
12v converter
2nd a/c unit
Receptacles
Microwave
GFI
1st a/c unit

Right side:
Slide out
Fan
Washer Dryer
Water Heater
Furnace


Now when I turn on the ceiling fans, electric water heater and kick the furnace on I do see a current draw on L2 of the 50A service, so it looks like it is wired to utilize both legs - although it seems odd to me that both a/c units are on the same side, especially since the microwave is on the same side also. I'd have swapped one of the a/c units on L1 with the furnace on L2.

Steve

[JRTJH]

Steve,

Try it like it's wired for the winter, it won't make much difference now anyway. Next spring when you start running the A/C's, if you have any issues, you can easily swap one of the A/C circuit breakers to the other leg. Just unplug from shore power so you don't hurt yourself and pull two breakers, one from an A/C and one of the other breakers (from the other leg). reinsert them on the "other leg" and you've moved one A/C to Line 2.

Hope you're better assured both legs are working now :)

Have a great one,

[BritFraggle]

Yeah that's what the service tech at the dealer said to do (when they eventually got back to me). He's offered to send out a tech free to swap them over too if I want.

Thanks again! :)