Help, fluctuating A/C 120 Volt power

[pegmikef]

Re: Help, fluctuating A/C 120 Volt power- Success!

I love this forum. All your advice and suggestions paid off! I cleaned, clipped and installed the neutral, made it super tight, put everything back together and turned it on.

I'm taking baby steps though as after reading several other threads on this subject it occurs to me that my 50 Amp master breaker has probably been weakened so I am going to run on 30 Amps until we get to Carthage, MO next week (a utopia of rv parts close by) in case I have to find a new breaker and I want to do some more clean up on it. Right now I am running an A/C, 100 watt lamp, a fan and some other low demand stuff and all is working well and the neutral line is cool to the touch.

Thanks again everybody. Your knowledge is indispensable!

 

[wdk450]

Re: Help, fluctuating A/C 120 Volt power- Success!

I am pretty sure that the AC circuit breakers are NOT an RV exclusive item, and can be purchased at most any Hardware or Home Improvement store.

 

[pegmikef]

Re: Help, fluctuating A/C 120 Volt power- Success!

I am pretty sure that the AC circuit breakers are NOT an RV exclusive item, and can be purchased at most any Hardware or Home Improvement store.

Yeah Bill, you are right, but it is not really a common one. The one I need is a 50 Amp D square residential breaker. Lowes has them, but there are no big box stores in this area for 80 miles or more.

 

[murry135]

Glad you were able to find out the issue and correct it before anything else was damaged. As you see a loose neutral can be devastating.

 

[Gaffer]

Get a tube of this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_24280-12704-30-026_0__?productId=3128351
It will help with conductivity. If you can't find it at your local hardware or home improvement center, try an electrical supply store.

 

[pegmikef]

Get a tube of this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_24280-12704-30-026_0__?productId=3128351
It will help with conductivity. If you can't find it at your local hardware or home improvement center, try an electrical supply store.

Thanks, I am planning on revisiting my installation when we get to Carthage as there is a Lowes in the area so I will get some then.

Now if we could convince Heartland to find a more convenient place to locate the panels so you don't have to lie between the kitchen counter (or stand on your head) to access and work on the electrical panels it would sure make it a little easier to fix these things or even to just inspect the wiring, that would be great.

 

[dlw930]

Mike, I can't tell for sure from the photo, but is the bus bar aluminum? If so, could the loose neutral wire have been caused by "dissimilar metal" thermal expansion/contraction between the bus bar and copper wires? I had a house come close to burning down because of an aluminum wire connected to a copper wire at an electric furnace. I think the electric code was changed to preclude that type of connection after the house was built. Maybe Gaffer can verify or tell me I'm FOS.


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[Bob&Patty]

Peg, the Square D is just a brand name. Any good circuit breaker will do. As with a S/B all 120V circuit breaker are the same...just have different brand names.

 

[pegmikef]

Mike, I can't tell for sure from the photo, but is the bus bar aluminum? If so, could the loose neutral wire have been caused by "dissimilar metal" thermal expansion/contraction between the bus bar and copper wires? I had a house come close to burning down because of an aluminum wire connected to a copper wire at an electric furnace. I think the electric code was changed to preclude that type of connection after the house was built. Maybe Gaffer can verify or tell me I'm FOS.

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Yeah, I think it might be aluminum. It looks like it and the ground bus bar is the same. I don't think there is anything different about my BH from the others though so they are probably all aluminum.

How about it Gaffer, is this a problem I need to address? Thanks for your advice and expertise.

 

[jmgratz]

Ours is aluminum too and I periodically check all the screws for tightness.