| Author |
Message |
Jim King (Texasconnection)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 25, 2005 - 3:52 pm: | |
We have an Eagle 10 with 2 VU meters and when we switch to 50 amp and/or 30 amp shore power, the line 1 will register zero and line 2 will register 180-200 or more. An electrician has looked at this problem and run many tests for hours and we cannot locate the problem.
There was some smoke at the entertainment center and we thought we could trace it to/from that, but nothing was damaged and could not find evidence of anything burned, wires, etc. Talk about a real mystery. We have owned our bus for over 6 years, the generator power 15kw Koehler with about 800 hours works everything perfectly.
Has anyone had this problem before? Please, we really need help with this as we use the bus in our entertainment business. |
Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 25, 2005 - 4:17 pm: | |
Jim, first shut off all breakers "downstream" of the main disconnect. Then, check legs of your incoming shore power to make sure it's not a shore power issue. IOW, probe these wire/ colors for the following readings (within 10%)...
L1 (hot)= red
L2 (hot)= black
N (neutral)= white
G (ground) = Green or bare.
L1-N: ~120V
L2-N: ~120V
L1-L2: ~240V
L1-G: ~120V
L2-G: ~120V
G-N: ~0V
Then, do the same at the main bus panel.
I'm thinking that you have a neutral being lifted somewhere, but you'll have to probe every wire from the upstream side and work your way downstream.
HTH,
bb |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 25, 2005 - 4:19 pm: | |
Brian's suggestions are correct, assuming things are wired the way they should be.
In truth, I'd find yourself a smarter electrician, then go at it as Brian suggests... sorry but quite a few electricians aren't much good at troubleshooting....there's a big difference between understanding how to wire a building to code, and how to troubleshoot a miswired power system. There are a few smart electricians out there, but there's also a lot who aren't so smart.
Unfortunately a guy's title never tells you which is which...
Try finding someone who knows a lot about electronics, like someone who fixes stereos... those guys have to be a lot smarter and to know that stuff you have to know power stuff too.
My guess is that somewhere you have some power terminals mixed up with grounds. You could have seen smoke from your entertainment system coming from a transorb or varistor that toasted itself with overvoltage, while it's quite possible that the rest of the system was unafffected. I see this all the time in electronics.
Not much help I am, but that's about all I can come up with without actually being there. If you're ever in San Diego I'd be happy to fix it for you..
Cheers |
David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 25, 2005 - 6:31 pm: | |
Sounds like your Neutral line bond came loose or your Transfer switch has an intermittant relay contact.
I would bet the transfer switch has developed a problem. ( if you use an automatic one! )
A neutral popping loose during switchover can cause the system voltage to surge up to 240 volts and fry your electronics.
Been there, done that, found a bad neutral in a campground plug the hard way ONCE and only ONCE... |
WA David (Wacoastmci)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 25, 2005 - 8:37 pm: | |
Several others have suggested neutral troubles and I agree. We had problem last year when connecting to the 240V pedestal on our lot in Inido for first time in season. After much hand wringing and troubleshooting of bus electronics, turns out problem was neutral connector in plug on receptacle in shore pedestal. We would get odd readings on L1 & L2 as you describe. Problem was that jaws of neutral connector in pedestal had failed and were not grabbing tightly onto blade of coach neutral plug in, allowing arcing. Nearly melted the plug through before figured out that the problem was the receptacle and not the transfer switch or electronics in coach.
I now check every power pedestal in every camprgound for such problems before we plug in. I found out about neutral troubles once the hard way also like previous poster. |
Dale
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 27, 2005 - 9:41 pm: | |
You have lost the neutral somewhere. Check your plug, contacts and connections. |
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