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

Be careful poking around the system with wet feet!

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.

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.