Polarity and Ground Fault

[lloyd&pamela]

We are in New Orleans and it has rained all night long cats and dogs. About an hour ago the the male voices started repeating:

"Shore cord polarity is reversed" and occasionally "shore cord has faulty ground"

I have the large 50amp box Jon recommends and went out to check and it is showing E-0 (everything is ok) and I plugged in a polarity tester into a socket inside the bus and everything is fine there also.

I reset the voice and it repeats every 15 minutes or so.

Anyone have any ideas, thanks.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Pam, since you did not have this trouble before, it might be due to the rain, which is the added condition affecting your camping. How high is the water:D

Be careful poking around the system with wet feet! :eek:

JIM :)

[lloyd&pamela]

We are on concrete and the plugs are off the ground. The water is not standing on the concrete. Lloyd

[merle&louise]

Lloyd,

If you eat more french bread the problem will go away.:D

Maybe you could try plugging into the site (#35) that we were in and see if the problem follows.

We sure enjoyed the time we had with you guys in the Big Easy. Be safe.

[lloyd&pamela]

I wish it was that easy I could do that. I went out and turned off the breaker and wiped any water from around the connection but it was dry. Checked Polarity at the post and it is good. When I returned to the bus it was saying "shore cord polarity is reversed" again though the I have E-0 on the surge protector and good polarity on the inside.

We had a great time with you guys also. We look forward to seeing you in Port St Lucie in a few months.

If anyone has an idea I will try it before we head to the N.O. Aquarium today.

Thank you,
Lloyd

[merle&louise]

Lloyd,

When we were in Kerrville, Gary Stevens had a problem with getting voltage thru his surge protector. We tested the voltage at the power pedestal and it showed 120 volts on each leg. Long story short, it was an intermittant 50 amp breaker; the campground changed the breaker and the problem was fixed.

Is anyone in the site next door? Do you have enough cable to plug into it?

[lloyd&pamela]

Thanks I will check with the campground now.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

LLOYD, call surge guard and ask them what could be the possible problem when their unit says no problem.

JIM

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Lloyd, Tuga was correct in his previous post. The camprgound poles have proven faulty, when our Big Rig pulls in and plugs into their pole for 50amp power.

Seriously, I have had power pole problems NOT BUS PROBLEMS, in at least 4 different campgrounds this year. Each time, there was something wrong with the 50amp plug on the pole. When these were replaced, my systems were all fine.

Continuous hard use by various campers physically weakens the 50amp plug at the poles.

Do you have cord enough to plug into another site to test this theory? That is what I would recommend, too.

Gary S.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Generally when there is a power problem associated with the shore power outlet box it is because the connections have loosened. All of the connections to the circuit breakers, the receptacles and to the power supply coming into the box are held tight by screws.

This was less of a problem when copper was used predominantly, but it still occurred. Since competitive pressures have forced every one in the industry to use aluminum wires internally the problem is more common. The manufacturers are required to torque the screws to certain values and they do that using production tools that insure the correct torque. But over time, and even after shipping the fasteners loosen. I don't know of any campground that ever does preventive maintenance, such as retightning the screws annually so the problem could be as simple as a loose electrical connection on any of the numerous connections within the box.

If the campground has a circuit breaker for every power outlet so the one on the site can be completely dead it is a very simple thing to remove the dead front on the box, retighten the screws and see if that has cured the problem.

If anyone other than Jamestown Advanced made the box, tell the campground owner you never have problems with the Jamestown Products.:D

[dale farley]

LLoyd,

Make sure you check the wires that connect to your plug on the bus. I got that message one time and found some frayed wires where the bus wires were screwed to the 50 amp plug that you insert into your surge protector. The frayed wires were touching the adjacent terminal and causing the message. Just unplug the cord, remove a couple small screws and you can see the four wires that connect to the 4-prong plug.

[lloyd&pamela]

The campground send out an electrician and after he test the box and said everything was fine. He must have tightened something, because the messages stopped and have not occurred again. Thanks everyone.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

The campground send out an electrician and after he test the box and said everything was fine. He must have tightened something, because the messages stopped and have not occurred again. Thanks everyone.

Just as I suspected, The DREADED Electrical Pole problem, Again !:eek: :)

Hope it stays fixed for you!

Gary S.

[GDeen]

On our initial camping trip in the bus at the famous Buckhorn in Kerrville I was having electrical fits. 105 outside and we kept losing shore power. As a neophyte, I wasn't sure what the problem was but after some POG reading I switched my shore power to the passenger side and another box. Problem solved. Buckhorn electrician came out and changed out the 50 amp breaker which was weak.

[Jamie Bradford]

Same exact thing happened to me in October. Voice came on around 4:30 am in the rain. As I came around the bus to inspect the cord I about $&#@ when I noticed the cord was on fire , hanging next to the bus.

Looks like the plug coming from the bus had been replaced and all of the contacts were not as secure as they should have been. The water caused the plug to arc , then it caught on fire.

Scary morning.................

[sawdust_128]

FYI

1. The lugs in my power cord and the lugs on my inverters get checked once a month. Both have caused problems.

2. If I know rain is comming I have taken to covering/tenting the power pedestal with a black trash bag and secure it with a wrap of electrical tape.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Jamie, I see you were camped under a white oak tree.

;)JIM

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Jamie, I see you were camped under a white oak tree. ;)JIM


JIMMY, you don't miss a thing do ya ? :)

Gary S.