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Old 10-08-2020, 04:50 AM   #21
ChuckS
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Dear OP...

Please heed the valuable advice you’ve been given by several folks on this forum that know what their talking about.. I too have over 45 years experience in electrical circuits and have seen first hand what can sneak up afterwards and BITE you if not correctly inspected and repaired by a licensed repairman...

You’ve done an admirable job of trying to diagnose and repair yourself but I’ve reread some of your verbiage and from what I’ve read ... I’m concerned for yours and others safety in that RV..

Just saying
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Old 10-08-2020, 08:02 AM   #22
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One thing that we have failed to mention I think (this is from memory; I just scanned all the responses quickly) is that this all could have been prevented in the first place with the use of an EMS. I would suggest you spend the money, today, to get a good one and plug it in before you plug in the trailer....every time.
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:18 AM   #23
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Another thing that bothered me was how the heck do you plug a 30A RV plug into a 220V outlet as they have completely different conformations.
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:29 AM   #24
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Another thing that bothered me was how the heck do you plug a 30A RV plug into a 220V outlet as they have completely different conformations.
There are a lot of cloths dryers that are wired for 220/240 volts via an RV 30 amp style plug. By code, they are required to have a separate ground from the outlet box to the dryer frame r cabinet. Very common in older homes.
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:42 AM   #25
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I think this advice is not so good. Having the OP get into the converter and "test" seems a sure way for getting him fired. I believe he should hire someone that knows that they are doing (bona fide RV tech).
Perhaps I should have stated the obvious, which is that you do this while off shore power.

Once you pop a breaker out of the box with a simple pull on plastic, it's no longer connected to power. The black wire is likewise dead -- modulo any cross-melting in the walls that may have occurred due to an overload, which is why in this case you go off shore power.

My point here is that having him prove to himself that his breaker hasn't "failed partially on" will reinforce the reality of cross-circuit issues that need to be dealt with.
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:45 AM   #26
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One thing that we have failed to mention I think (this is from memory; I just scanned all the responses quickly) is that this all could have been prevented in the first place with the use of an EMS. I would suggest you spend the money, today, to get a good one and plug it in before you plug in the trailer....every time.
The problem is that few newbies know about EMSes, and once damage occurs past the converter, adding an EMS does nothing to protect or correct those problems, they have to be ferreted out by hand.
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:52 AM   #27
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The problem is that few newbies know about EMSes, and once damage occurs past the converter, adding an EMS does nothing to protect or correct those problems, they have to be ferreted out by hand.


I agree that it doesn't help with the troubleshooting of current issues. I was more stressing the importance of having the EMS and using it every time (after, hopefully, a qualified individual repairs the issues) to avoid this scenario in the future.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:07 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by flybouy View Post
There are a lot of cloths dryers that are wired for 220/240 volts via an RV 30 amp style plug. By code, they are required to have a separate ground from the outlet box to the dryer frame r cabinet. Very common in older homes.

Darn, that is good to know. Never heard of this. And the pins are oriented the same as the RV 30A... gessh, two hot legs and a neutral ground and the junction box ground tied to the dryer... sounds sketchy some how.
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Old 10-08-2020, 02:49 PM   #29
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Yup my neighbor did this a few months ago with his unit.. he had what he thought was 30 amp 120 plug when it was actually 240 30 amp plug in his work shack...

Luckily all he smoked was converter and microwave since they are powered up all the time ...
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Old 10-08-2020, 03:00 PM   #30
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Yup my neighbor did this a few months ago with his unit.. he had what he thought was 30 amp 120 plug when it was actually 240 30 amp plug in his work shack...

Luckily all he smoked was converter and microwave since they are powered up all the time ...
Yup, lots of welders in shops wired the same way.
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Old 10-08-2020, 04:38 PM   #31
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reading thru this thread is scary... unless there are some serious financial issues for NOT getting this looked at by a qualified RV electrician/tech, I don't think I'd be "living" in it in the meantime... I'm not an expert on any of this but sounds like playing Russian roulette to me... JMHO...
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Old 10-08-2020, 08:59 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by sourdough View Post
One thing that we have failed to mention I think (this is from memory; I just scanned all the responses quickly) is that this all could have been prevented in the first place with the use of an EMS. I would suggest you spend the money, today, to get a good one and plug it in before you plug in the trailer....every time.
Thanks. Is that necessary even if the only power I will plug into in the future is my generator?
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Old 10-08-2020, 09:06 PM   #33
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Thank you for all the advice everyone. I am a newb with all this RV stuff and the electrical stuff too. I didn't think trying to live out of an RV would come with as many problems as it has and that I would be dedicating weeks of studying to learn how electricity works. lol.

Unfortunately the cost of getting someone out here is really high and I don't have a lot of money. I'm going to call around tomorrow though and also see if this would potentially be covered under my good sam's insurance since we do have that coverage. It's a $500 deductible but you guys have made me understand that it's important to get this addressed.

Tomorrow I'll also be speaking with someone from tech support for my WFCO converter and hear what he has to say on the matter. I will also head to Home Depot to replace the breakers and study up on how to do the Ohms test (with the shore power off).

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Old 10-09-2020, 06:33 AM   #34
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I have a 240 volt outlet in my garage that was installed for a welder (I assume) and the plug required for this receptacle has two vertical positive spades and a half-round ground. The OP stated that they adapted the cable end and I am thinking that the receptacle was that type. They know that was a big mistake NOW.

They also got some advice that the converter wouldn’t charge a “24 volt” battery system. They won’t. But the will charge two 12 volt batteries in parallel. Perhaps they need check the battery cables out!

I am thinking that because the refrigerator works off of gas, maybe the circuit Board just needs to be replaced AFTER the electrical gets sorted out.

Yes, they are over their heads with what they have done. Get help. I would if I pulled a boner like that.
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Old 10-09-2020, 06:54 AM   #35
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One more thing. Running a lot of current through an under rated extension cord will drop the voltage to unacceptable levels (like as you say 77 volts) and you could damage electrical devices like TV, AC, Fridge, etc.
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Old 10-09-2020, 10:18 AM   #36
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Thanks. Is that necessary even if the only power I will plug into in the future is my generator?
An EMS disconnects your rig on undervoltage and overvoltage conditions, also frequency variation over certain margins. A generator running out of fuel can exhibit some of these, depending on how it is engineered.
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Old 10-09-2020, 10:21 AM   #37
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Darn, that is good to know. Never heard of this. And the pins are oriented the same as the RV 30A... gessh, two hot legs and a neutral ground and the junction box ground tied to the dryer... sounds sketchy some how.
Many of us are old enough to have grown up in pre-60s homes with the two-prong ungrounded outlets. This is how 220V dryers were wired back in the ungrounded era.
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Old 10-09-2020, 10:59 AM   #38
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Thank you for all the advice everyone. I am a newb with all this RV stuff and the electrical stuff too. I didn't think trying to live out of an RV would come with as many problems as it has and that I would be dedicating weeks of studying to learn how electricity works. lol.

Unfortunately the cost of getting someone out here is really high and I don't have a lot of money. I'm going to call around tomorrow though and also see if this would potentially be covered under my good sam's insurance since we do have that coverage. It's a $500 deductible but you guys have made me understand that it's important to get this addressed.

Tomorrow I'll also be speaking with someone from tech support for my WFCO converter and hear what he has to say on the matter. I will also head to Home Depot to replace the breakers and study up on how to do the Ohms test (with the shore power off).

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.
Just want to give you a visual of what can happen when line voltage is grounded out by either the ground or neutral coming into contact with the "hot" wire.

When your camper was plugged into a 220 volt circuit there were two "hot" lines coming into the camper. One of those lines had to enter via the neutral (white wire) or the ground (green wire). Both of those wires are connected to the breaker panel box and also to every appliance and outlet as they are all grounded.

The pictures I'm attaching were what happened inside my 30 Amp plug and receptacle on the side of my camper when it shorted out.It was wired and plugged in correctly but apparently overheated due to a poor connection and melee causing it to short out. I have an EMS mounted permanently inside the camper so that prevented any damage beyond the plug.

So look at what happened and the damage that resulted. Electrical connections and repairs are not a good idea for "first timers" just cutting their teeth on diagnosing and repairing high voltage circuits.
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Old 10-09-2020, 03:52 PM   #39
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Plasma (what ever that is), intense heat, flying molten copper!
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Old 10-09-2020, 04:59 PM   #40
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Plasma (what ever that is), intense heat, flying molten copper!
^^^^Haaa! Reading this reminds me of an incident (sorry );

We were visiting my uncle once upon a time and he was having electrical issues. I was pretty young (late 20s) but had been to numerous electrical training classes so figured I would help out. His house was really old and had the old screw in glass fuses. There were a couple of issues within that old fuse box so I told him I would work on it....hot. Well, as I was working and prying with a screwdriver in that rusted mess - it slipped. The words above reminded me of that "plasma, intense heat, flying molten copper"! That screwdriver slipped off, became a welding rod between the grd and positive lead, big flash, the screwdriver felt welded for a moment but then let go. I was showered with molten metal. Burned little holes in my shirt, the end of the screwdriver had just melted off, AND I had pits all in the lenses of my glasses! Thought I could wipe them off but no...burned the glass. Later found out if I had plastic lenses it wouldn't do that. Ahhh, young and crazy and.....plasma and flying molten copper!

Sorry for the misdirection it just came upon me.
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