partial 120v ac

[navybo]

Lost power to half my RV yesterday. Its a 2015 landmark savannah. Checked pedestal and seem to have 120v on each plug. Have genset prep and looked at transfer switch. Everything looks fine from a wiring point of view, nothing burned or loose. I have 120 in on the black and white, but 0 on the red and white.

So what is the power flow from the cord to the transfer switch?

GCI in bedroom is good. Reset on inverter pushed. Inverter is powering the frig.

Trying to check all this before tomorrow as I don't know when the dealer can send a tech out as I full time in it.

Thanks

 

[bdb2047]

50amp RV wiring should be .White,green,black,red. White is neutral,green is ground,black and red hot. Voltage should be white to red or black 120 white to green 0. White wire is common and should not be hot.Check voltage without load first, main in trailer open.

 

[danemayer]

Hi navybo,

I have 120 in on the black and white, but 0 on the red and white.

There are 2 sets of inputs to the automatic transfer switch (shore power and generator) and one set of outputs. The shore power input is on the same side of the switch as the output connections. If you measured on the shore power input side and have 120V between L1 and neutral (neutral is the center wire), and 0 V between L2 and neutral, that does suggest you're losing L2 somewhere between the pedestal and the transfer switch.

If you have correct voltage at the input, but on at the output, the problem is in the transfer switch.

If you have a twist-lock power cord, that's a place where you can lose a leg. If you have the cord retract drum, I think there are a set of splices there, but I'm not sure how to get to them.

Doublecheck the pedestal to make sure you have 120 from each of the side pins to neutral and to ground and 240V between L1 and L2. The pedestal is the most likely failure.

If you're not positive about the layout of the receptacle, click on 50 amp service at this website for more info.

 

[navybo]

Yep, white to red is 0 and white to black is 120. So I'm losing power somewhere before the transfer switch. Pedestal seems good, 120 on each side of neutral. The campground is going to change the receptacle in the morning just in case.

Looking to see if there are any other connections before the transfer switch.

 

[wdk450]

Measure ohms/continuity from the pedestal plug of your shore power cord (plugged into the trailer) to the termination points on the transfer switch. This is also a good reason to have a 30 amp extension cord ($50 at most Walmart RV sections) so that you can plug into a neighbor's pedestal to check things out.

 

[navybo]

Butch from RVS FOR LESS returned call on a Sunday night. Talk about service.

Had me unroll all the power cord off the reel. That revealed 8 screws holding a cover on. Removed the cover to see the green, white, black, and red wires coming from the power cord. My red wire was completely burnt through. Can only guess what happened and glad it wasn't worse. Probably the factory stripped out too many wires changing the gauge at the connector.

Hope Heartland comes through on warranty. Probably will see about getting a remote Progressive surge protector as well.

 

[JohnDar]

Butch from RVS FOR LESS returned call on a Sunday night. Talk about service.

Had me unroll all the power cord off the reel. That revealed 8 screws holding a cover on. Removed the cover to see the green, white, black, and red wires coming from the power cord. My red wire was completely burnt through. Can only guess what happened and glad it wasn't worse. Probably the factory stripped out too many wires changing the gauge at the connector.

Hope Heartland comes through on warranty. Probably will see about getting a remote Progressive surge protector as well.

A pedestal mounted suppressor would not have indicated anything amiss in your situation. A hard wired one would have shown the loss of power on the leg in the rig.

 

[wdk450]

I second the vote for the internally mounted Progressive power protection system with the inside trailer readout. First of all this protects your expensive appliances at about the last point in the shore power feed before the inside breaker box, so it catches any problems upstream of that point. Second, you don't have to be locking down or worrying about your expensive power protector being stolen from the park pedestal. Third, if you are on a limited 30 amp park power source, with the inside readout you can continuously SEE how many amps you are pulling, and adjust usage BEFORE turning on that high current air conditioner, microwave, etcetera, and avoid that trip out to the pedestal to reset the supply breaker.