3 AC wiring question with picture

theoneshannon · Aug 3, 2018

First time poster and new Heartland Road Warrior 420 owner. Really love the unit but I am in south Texas and the heat is horrible and 2 air conditioner just can’t keep up. We have a third unit but the previous owner installed a switch to only run two at time because 50 amp can’t carry all three. My solution was to do the pigtail thing and wire the toy hauler air conditioner on a separate line that I can run to my power pole. My problem is the wiring is making little sense. There is a three way switch where you can either run bedroom/toy hauler or flip it and it will run living room toy hauler. Middle position only runs toy hauler. So my solution was to remove middle wires from three way switch and wire them separately to a sub panel with a breaker to a pigtail that will run to the pole. But.......after removing the middle wires they didn’t turn off the toy hauler ac but instead turned off living room. I have a breaker for toy hauler and a breaker for bedroom but not one for living room. Is there a junction box I’m missing? Has anyone deleted this kind of deal and if so how did you do it. It just seems like there is a piece of the puzzle we are missing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

danemayer · Aug 3, 2018

Hi theoneshannon,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

When connected to 50 amp shore power, there's enough power to run 3 A/C units, if you don't turn on too many other electric devices. So for example, when you want the 3rd A/C running, you would need to have the water heater running on propane. If you have a washer/dryer, you wouldn't want to try running laundry along with 3 A/C units, and so on.

However, because the generator supplies less power (45 amps total instead of two 50 amp circuits from shore power), it's not possible to run all 3 A/C units while on generator power.

To address that, Heartland put in a switch that allows you to run only two units at a time. And no matter which two can be run together, not everyone is happy. And the previous owner may have later changed things around to suit himself.

If you have the skills to do a little re-wiring, you can add a circuit breaker to your main panel and rearrange the wires so that each unit is powered independently from its own breaker - no switch in the middle. You may also have to balance the existing circuit breaker loads on L1 and L2 so you don't put a bunch of other stuff on the leg with 2 A/C units. Once that's done, it's up to you to manage the overall electric usage so as to not trip the main 50s or the pedestal breakers.

If you'd like a little more info about the circuit breaker panel, and other parts of your electrical system, take a look at our owner-written Electrical user guide.

theoneshannon · Aug 3, 2018

https://imgur.com/gallery/UJLyRkF

danemayer said:
Hi theoneshannon,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

When connected to 50 amp shore power, there's enough power to run 3 A/C units, if you don't turn on too many other electric devices. So for example, when you want the 3rd A/C running, you would need to have the water heater running on propane. If you have a washer/dryer, you wouldn't want to try running laundry along with 3 A/C units, and so on.

However, because the generator supplies less power (45 amps total instead of two 50 amp circuits from shore power), it's not possible to run all 3 A/C units while on generator power.

To address that, Heartland put in a switch that allows you to run only two units at a time. And no matter which two can be run together, not everyone is happy. And the previous owner may have later changed things around to suit himself.

If you have the skills to do a little re-wiring, you can add a circuit breaker to your main panel and rearrange the wires so that each unit is powered independently from its own breaker - no switch in the middle. You may also have to balance the existing circuit breaker loads on L1 and L2 so you don't put a bunch of other stuff on the leg with 2 A/C units. Once that's done, it's up to you to manage the overall electric usage so as to not trip the main 50s or the pedestal breakers.

If you'd like a little more info about the circuit breaker panel, and other parts of your electrical system, take a look at our owner-written Electrical user guide.

Having all three run and me manage the load is no problem and I am very familiar and have no problem rewiring. We do have a WD and it looks like my panel is full. Although there is one with that the previous owner marked through. My question is how do I bypass that switch? I can check loads with a meter and put the third AC on a 15amp that’s in there. It makes it hard to find the right breaker with that switch. Any suggestions or instructions would be awesome! Thank you for reply and help so far. Love the unit and can’t wait to get it the way I want it.

danemayer · Aug 3, 2018

theoneshannon said:
https://imgur.com/gallery/UJLyRkF

Having all three run and me manage the load is no problem and I am very familiar and have no problem rewiring. We do have a WD and it looks like my panel is full. Although there is one with that the previous owner marked through. My question is how do I bypass that switch? I can check loads with a meter and put the third AC on a 15amp that’s in there. It makes it hard to find the right breaker with that switch. Any suggestions or instructions would be awesome! Thank you for reply and help so far. Love the unit and can’t wait to get it the way I want it.

(on edit, see post #6)

theoneshannon · Aug 3, 2018

Very close. So three Romex wires going to switch. All black(power) on one side, all white on the other with neutral wires tied together in the back of box like normal. What’s throwing me is typically a switch isn’t wired that way. Are two ac on one leg? I don’t understand how everything is being powered with the switch. Either I am overthinking it or there is another junction box somewhere.

Thanks for the electrical link. That is a great resource that I am sure to use.

PondSkum · Aug 4, 2018

That switch is kinda deceiving. The middle position is OFF, up sends power to 1 unit, down sends power to the other unit.

Power comes from 1 breaker TO the switch, and the switch only switched that power TO whichever A/C you switch it to. Mine was the same way. Both A/C's run to same breaker, and they won't both run on that breaker so they put the switch there so you can only choose one. The solution is to take out the switch, figure out which set of wires goes to which A/C, and attache one of those sets to the existing power wires that come into the switch. Then you need to find a breaker or install a new breaker in the panel (20A, it won't work on 15A, I tried). From that new breaker run another piece of romex (or other suitable wiring) up to the other set of A/C wires that came to the switch and hook them up. Now as long as you have the loads balanced, and you don't try to run microwave or hair dryers and stuff, all 3 should run on 50A.

The rearmost (garage) A/C is on its own separate breaker, not affiliated with the switch at all.

theoneshannon · Aug 4, 2018

PondSkum said:
That switch is kinda deceiving. The middle position is OFF, up sends power to 1 unit, down sends power to the other unit.

Power comes from 1 breaker TO the switch, and the switch only switched that power TO whichever A/C you switch it to. Mine was the same way. Both A/C's run to same breaker, and they won't both run on that breaker so they put the switch there so you can only choose one. The solution is to take out the switch, figure out which set of wires goes to which A/C, and attache one of those sets to the existing power wires that come into the switch. Then you need to find a breaker or install a new breaker in the panel (20A, it won't work on 15A, I tried). From that new breaker run another piece of romex (or other suitable wiring) up to the other set of A/C wires that came to the switch and hook them up. Now as long as you have the loads balanced, and you don't try to run microwave or hair dryers and stuff, all 3 should run on 50A.

The rearmost (garage) A/C is on its own separate breaker, not affiliated with the switch at all.

that answers it! Thank you so much! I’ll post an update when I get it wired.

theoneshannon · Aug 4, 2018

theoneshannon said:
that answers it! Thank you so much! I’ll post an update when I get it wired.

Huge thank you to to both of you guys for your help and expertise. Your help made this project fast, fun and easy. We have all three air conditioners running with no power issues. We decided to separate the toy hauler and put it on a separate 20amp sub panel with a cord that runs to either the 20 amp plug on the shore pole or use the 30amp with an adapter. Thank you pondscum for taking the confusion out of the heartland switch. This project was much easier and only cost about 100 bucks and I feel it is safe.

You guys have have a good one and thanks again.

PondSkum · Aug 6, 2018

theoneshannon said:
Huge thank you to to both of you guys for your help and expertise. Your help made this project fast, fun and easy. We have all three air conditioners running with no power issues. We decided to separate the toy hauler and put it on a separate 20amp sub panel with a cord that runs to either the 20 amp plug on the shore pole or use the 30amp with an adapter. Thank you pondscum for taking the confusion out of the heartland switch. This project was much easier and only cost about 100 bucks and I feel it is safe.

You guys have have a good one and thanks again.

Glad you got it figured out! Just remember that usually those pedestals are only set up for Max 50A service. Some people think that just adding another plug to one of the other outlets will increase the amount of energy they can draw, but what could happen is you trip a breaker at the main panel in the campground, or worse, overload the wiring if it's not set up properly.

theoneshannon · Aug 6, 2018

PondSkum said:
Glad you got it figured out! Just remember that usually those pedestals are only set up for Max 50A service. Some people think that just adding another plug to one of the other outlets will increase the amount of energy they can draw, but what could happen is you trip a breaker at the main panel in the campground, or worse, overload the wiring if it's not set up properly.

I made sure to check that that on the pedestal at the park we are at now and luckily it has true 100amp. But I will remember than when we move soon. I certainly don’t want to throw breakers all the time. Again, thanks for all your help.

wdk450 · Aug 7, 2018

Do all you can to reduce heat gain on the rig. Put out your awning to shade 1 side of the trailer. If you don't have double insulated windows, think about getting heat reflective window film. Dicor has a roof paint for their rubber roofs that has heat reflective micro-spheres in it, and I think it was claimed to reflect 29% of the sun's IR heat: https://www.campingworld.com/dicor-...Z7cQsBRGm1XCGByD5eP9WqJzsq4huuVBoCofkQAvD_BwE

I am in the hot California Central valley (over 30 days over 100 degrees now). My rig looks tacky, but I have double foil bubble wrap insulation over all of my windows to reflect the heat. I even put strips of this insulation on top of my AC cover, rooftop fans covers, and the tops of my slides. I put my face near one of the insulation sections on the slide roof, and could REALLY feel the reflected heat. I am in a situation living permanently in one spot. So far, my 1 15K btu air conditioner is keeping the inside 85 degrees F and below on 105 degree days. I also have a good desk fan. I hope to get my roof coated over the winter.

3 AC wiring question with picture

theoneshannon

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danemayer

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theoneshannon

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theoneshannon

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PondSkum

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theoneshannon

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