2011 BH 3670 Electrical Problems

Heartland Electrical Problem:

This is the first 50a trailer we have had. We understand there are 2 legs to the 50a plug and if you only have 20-30a not everything will work.

We were told when we picked up the trailer that the second leg would run the 2nd AC and washer/dryer(non-critical items). Having camped for the last 2 weeks(first time out) we are discovering that is not true. We have had primarily 20-30a connections(visiting relatives, older campground etc.). We discovered the converter and all the plugs in the bedroom(there are probably more, not yet discovered) were on the 2nd leg.

Until we discovered the converter was on the secondary leg we thought the lighting in the Big Horn was poor. Bought some LEDs that helped but still not very good. We discovered the converter being on the second leg caused us to run down our batteries since the batteries weren’t being charged when plugged in to less than a 50a circuit. We had our converter rewired so it would be on the primary leg and now are very happy with the lighting. Now our ceiling fan won’t work unless we are plugged in to 50a, minor inconvenience to not charging the battery. The LEDs we bought are almost too bright.

Heartland should review how they do their wiring and minimally move the converter to the primary leg of the 50a circuit. Basic functions should be on the first circuit. In an ideal world there should be documentation as to what is on each circuit.

For now, we would be happy with a wiring diagram of the circuits of the trailer and which leg of the 50a line feeds each circuit, is this available?

Tom, your right, in an ideal world we should have documentation but this ain't a perfect world. I don't think Heartland gives out that info.
In my old 2008 and new 2011 rig everything works when I am plugged into 20 or 30 amps. I suspect that you might have to look at your dogbones or other power adapers.
Did you take your meter and check if you had 120 volts on both legs coming out of your adapter before going into the coach?
A couple of years ago I bought a dogbone that only allowed one leg of my 50 amp to get powered. I talked to the manufacturer of that product and I was told that is the way they make them. The idea was that if you only have 20 or 30 amps you would not be able to overload anything trying to use 50 amps worth of appliances.
I returned that dogbone.

Peace
Dave

Both legs are tied together in the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter. Everything should work. You just need to be careful not to overload the circuit.

We had an auto transfer switch fail, and that caused one leg of power not work, so if you have the gen-prep or generator option I would check the ATS to be sure.

Agree with those posts. We have been on 30amp all summer and every thing works. If we are watch TV with the lights and fireplace on and try to run the microwave the breaker at the pole will blow but that is a rare occasion. Matter of fact after owning 2 50amp Bighorns we have NEVER had the opportunity to use 50amps.

We are going 30a to 50a, not 50a to 30a, and only certain items in our trailer work. We have a 30a to 50a dogbone. We will look into to see if it not functioning correctly.

Thanks for the input.

Everything in ours works on 30 amps as well.

If the adapter is wired properly, there is a jumper wire that makes both legs hot. Everything in the RV should work, just not all at once or you will trip breakers and your voltage will be too low. Good luck.

I agree its a wireing problem, I am hooked to a 30amp plug right now. As a mater of fact my 50amp cord has never been unwrapped, I use 30amp all the time.

We believe it may be the dogbone. The dogbone we bought had 2 wires going in(a 20a and a 30a) and a 50a going out(we think it is a Camco, with the big yellow handles). Thought it was a great idea, could plug in a 20 or 30 and get 50 out. We will borrow our neigdhbors dogbone today and check his out on our rig. He only had a 30 in and a 50 out. Since we were told the 2nd leg of the 50a circuit worked only the AC and W/D we were led astray. Still think a wiring diagram should be given out, this would have led us down a different path immediately and avoided a lot of frustration. There must be a diagram(I would hope), Heartland can't just wire these rigs with a hope and a prayer.

Your adaptor is bad! Like said above, when using your 50amp cord with a 50amp female to a 30amp male, both legs of the 50amp are tied together. If one leg is dead, the adaptor has failed. It is NOT a wiring issue in the rig. There is no primary or secondary leg in the electrical system. You need to find a meter and check continuity between the hot legs of your adaptor.

Your adapter is one of those goofy things that is supposed to allow you to combine a a 20A circuit with a 30A circuit to make a 50A 120V (6000W) service. They work by feeding one leg of the trailer service from the 20A side and one from the 30A side. Get a regular 50A/30A adapter and you willl be fine.

I have used the progressive adapter to plug into 20 amp and 30 amp and it works well, but won't work if the 20 amp is a ground fault plug with it is about 75% of the time. I have not found a way to override this, not sure if there is a way. So usually can't use my adapter.

Bronson is right, the adapter you have has seperate legs and will not work when one plug is used.
You need the proper 30A to 50A adapter which will connect both lines.