Please Don't Kick Me Out For Stupidity

[Trailer Trash]

Hi All,
I have owned a couple 26 - 30 foot cabin cruisers but not a 5th wheel in the past. I purchased a new Cougar 24RDS w/ 400i Solar Flex about a month ago and could not get power out of the inverter outlets (7) (was not on shore power). After 4 weeks and 4 attempts to get a call from the local dealer I got impatient and decided to hook up to my home and because all the shore power plug-ins look like 220 volt I hooked into my 220 volt welder outlet... I heard a "POP" coming out of the inverter and shut everything down and found out Shore Power is 110 volt not 220... Very disgruntled with the dealer I purchased from for not contacting me and not explaining anything to me upon the delivery, I made a nasty call to the General Manager and finally have an appointment to take it in, in about 3 weeks.
Question: I wonder what I have possibly fried??? and what this will cost??? Any thoughts?

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

Your not the first one to do this. Had a general contractor buy a brand new trailer with 50A service. Took a pic of the shore cord end and had his electrician contractor wire service to his brand new pad. Needless to say he did what you did….

Took out the microwave,TV and converter. Luckily the AC and refer were not on. Hopefully that’s all you fried.

As for the outlets marked “inverter” they only work on 12V if you have an inverter installed.

[hankpage]

First thing ... Welcome to the forum

You are not the first person who has done this and I am sure you will not be the last.
Did you check and see if any of the circuit breakers are tripped?
Most likely your converter took the hit ... do you have 12v dc lights?
I am sure others with more knowledge of this problem will chime in soon.

Good luck, Hank

[Trailer Trash]

Thanks for that Hank.
Good question. I have lights, refrigerator, awning, and slide out power (just as before this happened). I do not have television, a/c, 110 volt outlet power same as before this incident. My awning slide out is no longer controlled under the command center under “Awning” but instead is now under the slide out menu (this is new since the incident. It appears the Solar is still charging the batteries.

[sourdough]

It's not the end of the world and has happened before as has been said. Is this a new trailer? If not what year?

Your issue is with the 120vac power for the trailer. Look at your power panel and see if the main, or any, breaker has tripped. If not turn them all off. IMO at that point you should do a quick dive into the power systems of an RV. We can help guide you on what's what and what to look for. You want to have some idea of what you are trying to do when you start troubleshooting.

If you want to proceed right away, first determine what kind of access you have to 120vac. You can plug into a regular 120 volt outlet but will need an adapter (30A? to 20A). You can those at a RV dealership, online or maybe your local Walmart.

Cost? Depends on what got fried so you will need to get some basic stuff together before you jump into this. What is your expertise level with electrical? Do you have a multi meter?

[Trailer Trash]

Thanks for the help Danny. I have not delved into anything yet after that sick feeling came over me. Yes, it is absolutely new. Was delivered 4 weeks ago and not moved an inch since. Was just trying to familiarize myself with it... I did order the 50 amp to household plugin from Amazon and received it yesterday but haven't messed with it yet. I will get a look at the fuses / breakers inside the unit beneath the stove assembly tonight and get back on that. Yes, I do own a multimeter and before this happened had just a little pride in my abilities and understanding of electrical troubleshooting...

MY ADAPTOR:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XTQJVNZ...t_details&th=1

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

Thanks for the help Danny. I have not delved into anything yet after that sick feeling came over me. Yes, it is absolutely new. Was delivered 4 weeks ago and not moved an inch since. Was just trying to familiarize myself with it... I did order the 50 amp to household plugin from Amazon and received it yesterday but haven't messed with it yet. I will get a look at the fuses / breakers inside the unit beneath the stove assembly tonight and get back on that. Yes, I do own a multimeter and before this happened had just a little pride in my abilities and understanding of electrical troubleshooting...

MY ADAPTOR:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XTQJVNZ...t_details&th=1

First thing; suggest you put together a signature with year/make/model of camper and same for truck. You will be having questions and answers will have more context.

Second thing. Hire an electrician and have him install and RV 50A outlet you can plug into so you won't have to use some adapter. The thing you bought won't give you enough power to run much of anything other than keep your battery charged. Once you get your damage repaired from the 240VAC fiasco you should have a good power source on hand to begin to test things properly. You should also purchase an ELECTARICAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. This is NOT a surge protector but a device that will, if you had been using one, would have saved your electrical items from catastrophic damage. There are several; I use a Progressive Industries and it hangs on a pedestal but others have the type that mounts near your power center and can be monitored by your phone.

You will end up having to drag your camper to your dealer OR find a mobile tech but everything needs to be tested before being put into use. You may want to avoid using that adapter thing you bought because the only good it would do is to keep your batteries charged and your converter may be fried so again, get professional help to verify.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

Thanks for the help Danny. I have not delved into anything yet after that sick feeling came over me. Yes, it is absolutely new. Was delivered 4 weeks ago and not moved an inch since. Was just trying to familiarize myself with it... I did order the 50 amp to household plugin from Amazon and received it yesterday but haven't messed with it yet. I will get a look at the fuses / breakers inside the unit beneath the stove assembly tonight and get back on that. Yes, I do own a multimeter and before this happened had just a little pride in my abilities and understanding of electrical troubleshooting...

MY ADAPTOR:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XTQJVNZ...t_details&th=1

That is a 50A/15A adapter. Is your trailer a 50A trailer? Advising the year, brand, model etc. in your signature will help a lot so you can get accurate answers. Go to the user CP tab in the upper left, go to edit signature and fill in the info then save.

As you are now aware a welder outlet will not power an RV. A dedicated 50A RV outlet at home is optimal and useful if you are going to keep the trailer at the house powered up. Mine cost about $1800 a couple of years ago which you may or may not consider prohibitive. Until that time I used the type of adapter you linked for my 50A trailers with no issues. I did not try to USE the RV while at the house, simply keep the batteries charged and the lights on as we either prepared for a trip or unloaded from one. You can use it to troubleshoot most of your electrical circuits. I would only do that after first verifying with a meter on each of those circuits that there wasn't something on the circuit that was going to cause an instant issue.

Personally I would do as much verification personally as I could. The damages will be owner caused and could cost an arm and a leg at a dealership if taken to them with a blank check (plus the lengthy time they will keep it). An option might be insurance if you have it but don't know if it would even be covered, and if so, what the consequences to the policy would be.

[flybouy]

I'm confused. When I read the original post I figured it was a 30 amp trailer. But then I read that the OP bought a 50 amp dogbone adapter. Can you take a picture of the trailer plug and the welder receptical and post it?

[Trailer Trash]

Hi Marshall,
The 5th wheel is a 2022 and is 120 volt and to be used with a 50 amp. service. The 50 amp male plug coming out of the trailer is just as the female end shows in the Amazon "Dogbone". It is what I ordered AFTER the overload debacle after I realized it is 110 volt, not 220 volt. The female plugin that is in my shop is like a 220 volt 3 prong Dryer Plug in.

Hope that makes sense.

[Trailer Trash]

Danny,
Maybe bringing in an outside qualified repair person will be a better choice in the fix of this. I'm sure the dealership will have a hayday charging me for everything whether it was needed or not. Many times techs keep throwing parts at a problem until it is finally fixed whether or not all those parts were needed... (not all techs, sorry).

[gearhead]

When we built this home when I retired in 2008 I had a 240volt outlet installed in the garage. I had a fantasy about welding up a few deer stands for the family.
A couple years later, no deer stands, no welder, but a RV.
I called a local wino who was a retired electrician from somewhere to check out my outlet for RV use. He said it's good. Now wait a minute, it's a 50 amp RV are you sure? Yep I'm sure.
He was.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

Danny,
Maybe bringing in an outside qualified repair person will be a better choice in the fix of this. I'm sure the dealership will have a hayday charging me for everything whether it was needed or not. Many times techs keep throwing parts at a problem until it is finally fixed whether or not all those parts were needed... (not all techs, sorry).

If you are willing to bring in an outside tech there are probably several in your area I would think. Seems my last visit in that neck of the woods there were quite a few RVs scattered all round. Bringing in a mobile tech would probably be far quicker than trying to use the dealership. I would make sure the dealership won't step up for some of it (we don't know the extent of damage yet) since they didn't provide you even the basic information about how to operate the trailer (I would push them hard on that).

Do your due diligence and get a good one (mobile tech) as best you can find if you go that route. Might check references, reviews...whatever you can find. I've seen some really good mobile techs and some really "funky" ones. If you get one stick close to his shoulder and learn what you can as he makes the repairs. Don't let him tell you "I can't see" then cut out one of your basement walls like I saw one do (not my trailer).

Got a good friend that lives in Gold Canyon, bought a new house there a few years back.

[Tom-67X]

Well...it's all a learning process, right- what isn't? Don't beat yourself up too much- you got a bit of that education list checked off!

Just a bit of character building, that's all. Good luck!

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

Hi Marshall,
The 5th wheel is a 2022 and is 120 volt and to be used with a 50 amp. service. The 50 amp male plug coming out of the trailer is just as the female end shows in the Amazon "Dogbone". It is what I ordered AFTER the overload debacle after I realized it is 110 volt, not 220 volt. The female plugin that is in my shop is like a 220 volt 3 prong Dryer Plug in.

Hope that makes sense.

Trying to understand how you plugged a 4 prong 50 amp plug into a 3 connector outlet.

[Trailer Trash]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Trying to understand how you plugged a 4 prong 50 amp plug into a 3 connector outlet.

(Google RV 50 amp female to 30 amp male adapters)

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

(Google RV 50 amp female to 30 amp male adapters)

Ouch!

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Ouch!

I have the “other way” adapter for my welder in the garage. 4 pin male 3 pin female.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Trailer Trash

(Google RV 50 amp female to 30 amp male adapters)

No need to Google, I'm quit familiar so revealing that information is helpful. Just trying to help, good luck.

[GHen]

I agree, sounds like a 30amp (3 prong) and not a 50amp (4 prong).

A 30amp plug miss-wired into a welder outlet seems to the common mistake…