| Author |
Message |
WA David (Wacoastmci)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 9:26 pm: | |
I am in Indio CA presently and was hooked up to 50amp shore power. About 1 week ago, was watching TV with good picture, then had some electrical event in the bus and the screen displayed static for 30 seconds then came back on but with "hum bars (interference)" scrolling up the screen. Thought it was cable trouble but boy was I wrong.
Last night, I was watching TV and the scrolling bars came back in a big way (especially when there was a load on the electrical system like from a heater), to the point that the tv could barely be seen. I then noticed that the inververter (Trace 4024) was showing odd voltage readings on the panel. Whenever a load came on the Line 2 voltage reading on the Trace would rapidly climb to over 130 volts while the line 1 voltage would decline to around 105. Whenever the voltage got to 130, the house battery charger function on the Trace would also drop off then when load was off and voltage back down, the Trace would start the bulk charge cycle again. Having the TV circuit on or off had no effect on the high voltage readings, just heavy power users like a heater.
I turned off all circuits then turned them back on one at a time. It did not matter what was on so long as it was a low or no voltage circuit. Line 1 and Line 2 voltage would stay nearly equal as it always has in the past. However, as soon as a load came on, the high voltage reading on Line 2 would happen and the cycle described above would repeat. I am in an RV park and there is nothing wrong with the electrical service (at least I think not).
Since I had not a clue as to what was going on, I shut everything down, disconnected shore power, disconnected the house batteries and spent a cold night in the dark. Does anyone have any idea what has failed? The Trace? The house electrical system also includes a Ventron DC-DC converter and a Ventron equalizer.
I realize it is tough to diagnose a problem with this explanation, but I am hoping that someone may have had this happen and have some idea what part(s) have failed. I don't even know if I should start the coach since the house batteries are disconnected and the inverter (which charges them via the alternator when the engine is running, off also.
Sure would appreciate any possible help with this.
Thanks,
David
MCI 192D |
John that newguy
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 9:59 pm: | |
If it were me...
1. Test the shore power with a decent tester. Make sure the
hots and grounds are where they should be. Make sure the
voltage is correct under load.
2. Start the engine and run the inverters off the engine. Check
for proper operation with full load.
3. Start the genset and run a full load; check for proper operation.
I've been at too many "decent rv parks" that had less than
desirable shore power. Reversed polarity (hot and ground reversed),
simulated 50 amp service, and 80-90 volt (on so-called 50 amp
service) under load. Check the park service and operation without
park service connected, before you tear your hair out. |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 11:37 pm: | |
David, what you're describing sounds a lot like a neutral opening up. The reason I say this is because the two legs added together did not seem to change, but both of the legs did.
If that is the case, you can get some real strange effects at the 120 volt level. You can even wind up with most of the 240 volts showing up on a single leg.
The thing to do if that is your problem is to figure out if it's in your coach or in the park's power post setup. You can do that by using only your own power while testing for strange voltages.
Good luck.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher |
Nick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 11:38 pm: | |
You might give John Palmer at Jolyn Enterprises in Lake City, Folorida a call at 941-928-4573. Tell him I told you to call. He is a factory certified Trace installation center and may have an idea about what's going on. A lot of service centers and dealers call him when they are stumped on a problem. Sounds to me like either you got a power spike that burned out your Trace, or it just went bad. They have had some real problems lately with the Trace and Heart inverters. |
Geoff (Geoff)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 06, 2004 - 7:24 am: | |
I don't understand how David can read "line 1 and line 2" on his Trace SW4024-- you can only run 1/2 (120v) of the 50 amp service through the inverter. The other 120v line should be wired to the breaker box. Perhaps what he is reading is the input line voltage and the inverter voltage-- that is all I read out of my SW inverter.
--Geoff
'82 RTS CA |
John that newguy
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 06, 2004 - 9:35 am: | |
David-
Please post what you finally found? It would be of help to all of
us in the future!
(My money is on "too low park power/bad park wiring") |
Jack Gregg (Jackinkc)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 06, 2004 - 3:25 pm: | |
Geoff–
I am guessing that he has TWO SW4024s configured in series. This configuration is consistant with a 50 amp input. The SW4024s out put 115 each or two different legs (Leg 1 and Leg 2). The legs can be used separately or can be combined to get 230 volt if you want it. I wonder if the heater load goes through the inverters or straight to the shore line?
The SW4024 should drop the shore line if the voltage drops too low; I believe this is set by a user menu.
Here is a link to the SW4024 manual. /link{http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/636/docserve.asp}
Jack |
WA David (Wacoastmci)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 06, 2004 - 7:51 pm: | |
Thanks to all for your helpful responses! Per suggestions, started genset and inverter and volages were OK and no problem encountered. Went to power pedestal, opened it up and found one loose hot lead on receptacle and the neutral on my power line burned through (loss of neutral as was suggested). Put in new receptacle and new end on power cord, turned on shore power and problem solved. Voltages are normal and TV's no long pick up the interference.
The plug wiring was the last thing I figureed would cause problem, but it should have been #1 on list! I'm wiser now.
BTW, the interesting thing was that the TV's were picking up problems in power (hum bars scrolling across screen) long before the voltages went wonkers. That should have been my first clue.
Sorry on confusion in first email. The line 1/Line 2 voltage readings are simply a digital display of the two legs of the 220 and not part of the inverter dispaly. As was mentioned, the one 4024 is 120v.
David
MCI 102D |