Thanks for all the information. Now I know that it's working the right way.
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Thanks for all the information. Now I know that it's working the right way.
Picking up where I left off many post back on the onboard Leviton surge protector and the in line Progressive unit; I put a Levitron that appears to be new but I got it on Ebay. I instlaled it with exact wiring the way the old one was plumbed in. Now however, both green lights for Line 1 and Line 2 illuminate wheather it's on shore power or generator power. The old one (when working correctly or so I thought) illuminated Line 1 for gen and Line 2 for shore. Not both for either. Now I don't know wheather the old one was correct or if this one is correct and the manual for the Leviton is ambigous. But I know that was one of several probelms and was advised by Gary and others to change that before proceeding.
The inverter is still now working. I spoke with an RV tech I'm seeing Thursday or Friday that informs me of something that was not brought out here which I find odd due to the brain trust here. He said the Trace inverters have an internal transfer switch besides our stand alone automatic transfer switch that could be failing. Anyone ever heard of that ? He says he knows a way to do musical chairs with the wiring to the inverter (through the front access panel) in order to check the internal transfer switch that I've not heard of yet.
Comments appreciated.
I'm fairly certain that I have an inverter issue.
Hi Jeff. Try calling Tech support for leviton. If you got the wiring correct, the line 2 light should not be on. It's indicating with green light that the voltage is ok.
Jon W. had a post regarding inverters and his inverters regarding by-passing the inverters manually if the inverter failed. As I understand it, there are capabilities on some inverters to transfer the load to the shore or generator if the invertor fails.
Some converters have an automatic by-pass in the event of an inverter failure, others have no bypass capability.
If an inverter fails due to the failed internal transfer switch, connect the inverter input power to the inverter power output leads and then you can get shore or generator power to the devices that go through the inverter such as the refrigerator, TVs or outlets.
Thanks Jon- I think I'll wait and let the RV Electrician make that bypass and find out what's what instead of having to let the smoke out.
I forgot to add something yesterday. My Progressive Surge Protector; it's showing 122 volts on Line 1 and 15 volts on Line 2. When I check the extension cord (at the same point where the Progressive unit was plugged in), I read 115 to 122 volts on both legs. Progressive unit defective already after such little use ? Members commented that they are good about replacing them. Suppose I should send it in.
Jeff, before you send it in, call Progressive and tell them what you are seeing? They may have some pointers for you to check, before you send it back?
Did you plug your Progressive into another 50amp source to see what the readings are on that line? Verify it is not the incoming source first.
Gary S.
Gary-
I phoned Progressive yesterday and did some testing. They determined the unit was bad and (get this), they sent me out a new one with a return label for the old one all without even confirming that I had ever purchased a new one. I told them that the word on this site was that they gave excellent service just like they were giving me. Another good testimonial here.
Jeff, glad it worked out so well for you.
Progressive, your response to Jeffs needs, is truly the sign of a Great Company.
Keep up the good work.
Gary S.
Heres a question for C.C. owners. Its my understanding that C.C. installed coach mounted surge protectors in our buses. I believe there is one installed on my 02. I'm I correct in my assumption? Thanks for any replies.
Patrick,
Some came with them and some didn't. I think Roger's 03 has one, so maybe they started installing them at some year after 99. My 99 does
not have one installed. I use a portable one.
To see if you have one like mine Check just inside on the rear wall of the 3rd bay back on the passenger side.
Another tell tale way to check is whenever you plug into shore power - there is a 2.5 minute delay before your coach powers up.
hope this helps
My 2000 CC (Jamies Bus) has it in the 3rd bay passenger side (help me Jamie). It's mounted on the rear of the bay and looks similar to this, but an older version with keys:
Attachment 5900
Hello to all of you, I am in on this conversation a little late. I also need a surge protector and want to ask; is their a real need for the PT50C with the extra features over the SSP-50? I see that Jon uses the SSP-50. Also any experience with the Surge Guard 34750? I have a new coach, 99 Vantare and feel I need to get protected. Thanks.
Willis, you absolutely need to get protected. Use one or the other, but get one of them.
I use the the PT50C which is the more expensive unit, ( Digital Meter and all ) but is it better, who really knows. I have had it replaced once, at no charge by Progessive Industries, but they back all of their products, so no matter which one you get you will be happy.
And by the way, you don't have to do as Jon does, but it is usually best to. :eek: :D
Welcome aboard.
Gary S.
Gary S.
I had the Surge Guard 34750 hardwired into our previous coach. I don't think it was ever hit by and spike, it did however report problems of low voltage, bad ground, etc. at several campground over the 5+ years that I used it. I got the PT50C this time as the specs seem to be a little better. The two units are priced about the same so it's your choice but I agree with Gary, you need one.
Willis, I have both units, and either will protect the bus. I do like the PT50C better because you can always see what is happening at the pole where you are plugged in. I like being able to see my amperage, voltage, and hertz on each leg at all times. At the same time, I don't know that I will pay the difference again if I need another unit.
The reason I have both units is that a bad short at the pole fried my PT50C, so I ordered the cheaper unit until I determined what had caused the failure of the 50C. I returned the 2-3 year old unit to PI, and they knew it was not a problem with their unit, but they replaced it any way. I am now using the PT50C again, and I will keep the other as a spare. I keep mine plugged in "all" the time.
You all are great to respond so fast, glad I joined POG. Anyway I did think Jon was the "last word" but I am thinking I may spring for the PT50C after all. Hope Jon understands. Willis
Not really sure Willis, but I don't think there was a PT-50C when Jon acquired his SSP-50.
JIM
Just wondering, is it OK to use the EMS-PT50C on a 30 amp connection using a 30 amp adapter?
Any problems doing this?
James,
I would think it would work without any problem, and I am reasonably sure I have used mine on 30 amp before. All the device is doing is doing is registering what it sees on each leg. You probably should verify this with Progressive.
Works fine, I connected that way few times with no problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
Alek
James, I checked also trying to Google an ans and it led me to the POG site. Several years ago this subject came up and their seems to be no problem with 30A or even 20 on a 50amp serge protector. Willis
Thanks, haven't tried it yet and was just wondering.
It works fine, BUT there are a couple of caveats. Remember that a 50A circuit is really two 50A legs, and the PT-50 measures both. A 30A circuit is one 30A circuit, so generally a 30-50 adapter joins both of the 50A legs together. The readout on the PT-50 will still attempt to show each leg, even though they are the combined. I'm pretty sure you have to double the amperage readout to get the real 30A amperage. For example, if my battery charges are each drawing 3A, then the PT-50 will indicate 3A per leg. The total 30A circuit draw will be 6A.Quote:
Just wondering, is it OK to use the EMS-PT50C on a 30 amp connection using a 30 amp adapter?
Ray
I just ordered a 30 amp surge protector from Progessive this afternoon. They have them priced @ $89.00 includes shipping. The reason being the new place that I now have my bus stored at only has 30 amp. So now I'm protected either way:rolleyes:
To follow up with Sid, it is common where I keep my coach to have a 50 Amp plug but they warn you it is really only 30 Amp's per leg. So I usually set the inverter down from 48 to about 28. I assume I am still ok with the 50amp surge protector?...What do you think. Willis
Willis,
The 30 amp Sid is talking about is really only 120v, not to be confused with 50 amp that is 240v, 2 legs of 50amp. If the 50 amp power you are talking about is only 30 amp on each leg, something is really wrong!
Maybe Gary will jump in here...
But Sid, if all you have is the 30amp capability, you won't be able to take it with you when you go camping to get 50amp protection at the campground posts, which is probably more important when you are away from home?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid Tuls
Just my 02 cents worth.
Gary S.
Hi Gary, I also have the PT50C surge protector. I thought (thats the problem me thinking) That I needed a differant unit for 30 amp. I should of called Progressive before ordering it online.:rolleyes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by truk4u
Let me jump in. Since Jamestown Advanced makes the electric boxes perhaps I can make some general comments.
There are three receptacles found in the typical electric box in an RV park. One is 20 amp, GFCI protected. It is generally unsuitable for us to use as a power source for the bus because the way most of our conversions are set up the ground is not established until the transfer switch sees incoming power, and because of that the GFCI will trip. It can be used as a site power outlet such as for a vacuum or any 120 Volt device, but is generally not suitable for our coaches. There are exceptions however. I think Thompson coaches are set up so when there is incoming power it establishes a ground and because of what is called a "soft start" it does not trip the GFCI because it does have a ground connected.
The 30 amp receptacle is an RV specific one and it is 120 volts like the 20 amp receptacle.
The 50 amp receptacle is a completely different animal. It is actually two 120 volt legs each providing 50 amps of power. Depending on how the coach is wired it can provide 100 amps at 120 volts or 50 amps at 240 volts. When Willis mentions he only has 30 amps per leg, that means he can use his 50 amp plug, but if he pulls more than 30 amps from either leg he will trip the breaker in the distribution box. It is probable the owner of the facility did not want excessive electrical use so he limited it by installing 30 amp breakers. I suspect however because he uses a 50 amp receptacle the codes required him to pull heavy wire for 50 amp service.
So specifically 20 amp receptacle is 20 amps. a 30 amp receptacle is 30 amps, but a 50 amp receptacle is 100 amps. If whoever named the receptacles as 20, 30 and 50 instead said 20, 30, and 100 there would be less confusion.
Sid, to the best of my knowledge (I may indeed be wrong), a 30A surge protector will not protect you any better than your 50A. It's my understanding that the surge protectors protect against voltage issues (i.e. under voltage, over voltage, or over voltage spikes). I do not believe that they specifically limit current at 30 or 50A. Again, I could be wrong.
One thing that anyone storing their coach with 30 or 20A power should know is that some inverters expect 50A as standard. My trace inverters, if turned off, or reset, will go back to expecting a shore cord size of 50A. Because of this, the battery chargers default to something like 15-20A per leg.
When I first plug into shore power, my inverters always go into bulk charge mode. If I'm plugged into 30A (my storage power), without adjusting the shore cord size, and/or the battery charging settings, then I will quickly pop a 30A breaker.
IF you're going to use a 30A service, set your shore cord size to no more than 15A per inverter. I actually set them to 13-14A per inverter to leave a little wiggle room. I also set my battery charging down to only 5A per inverter. Since my coach is rarely used dry camping this is generally just fine, as I'm almost always plugged in or I'm driving which charges the batteries too.
I set my settings down like this, so that if there is some sudden electrical usage in the bus while stored (fridge compressor kicking in), I've got plenty of headway, and don't worry about the 30A breaker tripping.
Ray
Ray's post should be required reading. Not only because people that have a coach with his type inverters need to know these nuances relating to the operation on less than 50 amp, but because his post illustrates an important point.
Ed posted about something he learned about his generator operation on another thread. Pete posted something related to that on the same thread.
All of these posts reflect one very important thing that all owners need to understand, especially those new to their coach. Our coaches are converter and systems specific. There are details relating to their operation that as owners we must learn. I am still learning on mine. The message for all of us is we really have to understand how our systems have been set up, how the various devices such as inverters or auto-start or any other devices work, and how we really need to understand those many little secrets that we only learn the hard way.