Low Voltage Park Power

[LarryB]

I Know, this has been discussed at length I'm sure, but Please explain again about 50 amp service. I am experiencing low voltage on one leg. Generally I have 120-118v one one leg and 120-118v down to as low as 109v on the other. As the morning progresses the voltage on the low side is slowly coming up, less usage by other campers I suppose. I can reduce the coach draw on that leg with little effect on the voltage.

What should be the lowest voltage I should allow onto the coach?
Why is only one leg effected?

Thanks

[JIM KELLER]

Larry, Tell us the volts and amp draw of each leg all at the same time. Country Coach does a good job of giving you that information on their guages. We can better answer your question with the requested information. Write down all four numbers and tell us the answer.

[LarryB]

Jim, I talked to the park mgr. and surprise, he admitted they suffer from "low power" in the AM and late PM when the park-wide draw is large.

My reading, and this is a range;

Left leg 120 to 117v with 1.8-28.0a

Right leg 119-109v with .8-26.5a

These numbers dance around as know. Depending on park draw I guess.

At this time, L-116.7v/ 24.0a
R-117.8v/12.0a
First time I have noticed the R higher in voltage than the L. Turned off the clothes dryer and now, L-118.1/13.1
R- 117.2/11.9

Hope this helps. I am also concerned as to the limit of this flucuation. How low does one allow the voltage to drop before pulling the power cord.

Thanks for the help.

[JIM KELLER]

Larry, For the most part those are all good numbers. The 109 volts on the one leg would start to get my attention. I try not to let my voltage get below 108. At 110 I start to shut down some of my amp draw. Like Jon said in an earlier post it's all about " Power Management. " As you know, The less voltage you have available the higher the amps will be. Nice high voltage and you can usually run anything you want. With good voltage, 118 to 120 I have seen 35 to 40 amps of usage on each side of my gages. With lower available voltage you need to manage your power and cut back on amperage use. Hope this helps and sets your mind at ease.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Larry, the link is to Surgeguard's web sites FAQ page.

According to them 102v to 132v should be OK.

They make a device that will automatically cut off power if it becomes too low, it might be good for you if you are encountering many low voltage power sources.

http://www.surgeguard.com/faq.html

JIM

[JIM KELLER]

Larry, I have a suggestion. Determine what equipment in your Bus is wired to each leg. For example, turn on the washer and see which side jumps up in amps. Document this information on paper and continue with different items until you know which side supplies power to which item. Do it for each air conditioner,water heaters, electrical outlets, oven etc. Once you have this information in print you will feel more comfortable and be in the position to manage your power. The information you record will be forever. The items always get their power from the same side. They don't switch from one side to the other. It is a good feeling when you see the amp draw jump up 11.1 amps on the right side and you know it was one of your water heaters that just came on.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Larry, some devices are still rated for 110v, in that case 109v would be entirely sufficient. More these days are rated for 120v. Look for the tags/labels on them to see what is required. If you have the manual you can also look there.

JIM

[LarryB]

Jim, and Jim. Thanks for the Link, I'll check it out.
I have a list on going for my equip. and have been shutting down as the voltage fell, however that had limited effect[but some]. I had always heard 110v as the magic number but can't remember where it came from.

Thanks again for the help. Only in this park for one more night then on to the next 'crap shoot' Park. Power seems to be the worse offender.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Larry, 110v, 220v, 440v, have been the design, or text book voltages for many years, and to my knowledge they have never really been changed in the literature. These days however those voltages have crept up to, 120v, 240v, 480v. I think this was a power generating co thing. With more consumers coming on line, increasing the demand they have crept the voltages up (in my case to 126v at the meter)

I will defer to the experts that seem to be absent at the moment. Maybe they will pick this up at a later date.

JIM

[hhoppe]

Back in my AC installation days we had two voltage choices to make when ordering AC units. 208V or 220V. As a general rule 208v came from underground service and 220 came from overhead service lines. There was a buck or boost transformer available if you had a 220 unit and only 208 power available and I think vice or versa. There is an RV supplier that sells this type of transformer for boosting power in a low power RV hookup. Mr. Gary D will have to bail me out on these revelations. I'm not sure what voltage our AC units will operate down to without damage.