Some Outlets, appliances, and one light NOT working (bad ground(?) at converter)

[gregbyst]

Originally Posted by skids

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.

I'll be having a 24 volt battery bank for my solar set up and my inverter will be an inverter/charger so I won't have to worry about the converter anymore thankfully.

I will look into replacing the circuit board afterwards- thanks. Any helpful video/article you could link me to ?

[gregbyst]

Originally Posted by flybouy

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.

Woah! I'm glad nothing I've seen looks anything like that. I've seen wires on the underside of our fifth wheel (from fixing a holding tank leak) and from replacing the power converter panel. Everything looked nice and clean. I'm working on a getting a mechanic out here though.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by sourdough

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.

I'm dubious, I'd expect even deeper pits. The men in my family have an unfortunate history of catching things with their eyes. My dad, a flying nail; my uncle, a lawn-mower rock. This is why I've never even considered contacts or lasik. I've already had an eye saved from a fragmenting logger's wedge (had to dig a piece out of my lip, tho).

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by LHaven

I'm dubious, I'd expect even deeper pits. The men in my family have an unfortunate history of catching things with their eyes. My dad, a flying nail; my uncle, a lawn-mower rock. This is why I've never even considered contacts or lasik. I've already had an eye saved from a fragmenting logger's wedge (had to dig a piece out of my lip, tho).

I'm with you. I was shocked but it was an ophthalmologist that said that so I took it at face value. Yep, eyes need to be taken care of; the older you get the more you understand that.

[Rinsrig]

Send me a private message, and I will try to help you get everything figured out, I am an RV technician and I work extensively with RV electronics and solar.
I will do the best I can to help you get everything back up and running.

[flookk]

Originally Posted by flybouy

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.

I'm with wiredgeorge on this. I was wondering the same. I know there is a "dogbone" adaptor to allow a 50amp to plug in to a 30amp post but how does one do the reverse? Thanks for the explanation flybuoy that is a very important piece of information!

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by flookk

I'm with wiredgeorge on this. I was wondering the same. I know there is a "dogbone" adaptor to allow a 50amp to plug in to a 30amp post but how does one do the reverse? Thanks for the explanation flybuoy that is a very important piece of information!

There are dog bone connectors to in either direction. If you're asking about an adapter to plug a 30 Amp RV plug into a miswired , 220 volt 30 amp outlet or one wired many decades ago there is no "adapter".

If you don't know how to test it with a meter then I'd suggest taking a 30amp male to 15 Amp female adapter and plug an outlet tester to the adapter. If the outlet is wired correctly the LED lights will reflect that. If the outlet is not wired correctly then the combination of the LEDs that are illuminated will indicate that.

[firestation12]

You may be lucky with the refrigerator issue. Start by removing the exterior cover exposing the cooling paraphernalia. Unplug the 120 volt cord from the outlet. Insert either a tester or something that runs on 120 volts, to determine if the outlet is still serviceable. If the outlet is ok, the next step is to check the electrical heating element. There should be 2 larger gauge wires leading from the circuit board to the heating element. With the inside fridge set to electric operation, then 120 volts should be present between the 2 heavy gauge wires leading to the element. It is, but the element is not producing heat, the heating element needs to be replaced. If no voltage is present, the relay on the circuit board is damaged. Another method for checking the element is to measure the ohms of resistance Of the electric heating element. This might be beyond your expertise to do.