TOP OF THE MORNING: question #1 if i hook up to city or park water over nite that will un du my winterizing job,true or false? question #2 while parked & plugged in to 110 one should never start gen, due to chance of electricity back wash. true or false? I await you alls answers. Thank you dabrown
2 stupid questons?
- Thread starter dabrown
- Start date
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NY_Dutch
Well-known member
#1 - True... Using the park water will flush out the pipes and fill them with fresh water.
#2 - False... If your RV is equipped with an automatic transfer switch, starting the generator will cause the switch to disconnect the shorepower source before connecting the generator output. If you have a "poor man's" transfer switch where the shorepower cord gets plugged into a generator fed outlet, then obviously no cross connection can occur. There is an extremely unlikely risk that a transfer switch could fail and allow a cross connect, but the risk is almost non-existent.
#2 - False... If your RV is equipped with an automatic transfer switch, starting the generator will cause the switch to disconnect the shorepower source before connecting the generator output. If you have a "poor man's" transfer switch where the shorepower cord gets plugged into a generator fed outlet, then obviously no cross connection can occur. There is an extremely unlikely risk that a transfer switch could fail and allow a cross connect, but the risk is almost non-existent.
RedandSilver
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dabrown said:
If you added antifreeze to the water lines -
Just hooking up a outside water source over night won't clean it out - UNLESS you turn on all the faucets and let them run.
But it shouldn't take all night to clean them out - that would only be wasting water.
If the lines were blown out with NO antifreeze added then YES filling up the lines, fresh water tank and water heater is all that's needed.
But that would only take 5 to 25 minutes depending on tank size and the water pressure that was available.
Wizard46
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dabrown, no question is stupid when you are trying to learn something. You've already gotten good answers and have learned something.
Lou Schneider
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#2 - never say never, but starting the generator while plugged into shore power isn't a good idea. The problem is the transfer switch will transfer directly from shore power to the generator and this can create voltage and current spikes that can damage either the transfer switch or electronics in your RV.
AC power fluctuates between positive and negative polarity 60 times per second. Professional transfer switches will only transfer from one source to another when they are in sync with each other. The transfer switch in your RV lacks this protection.
It's designed to connect the RV's load to a single functioning source, either the generator or shore power, not to switch between the two.
Along the same lines, make sure you don't have any heavy draw devices like a heater or the air conditioner turned on when you start or stop the generator. Again, it's a matter of preventing damaging surges. Making the transfer switch connect to a power source when there's a heavy load connected to it will stress and burn the contacts in the switch.
Shutting down the generator while it's under a load will stress the voltage regulator by making it go to full output trying to keep the voltage up as the generator slows down. Also, you need to run the generator for a couple of minutes under a light or no load before shutting it off or the hot engine will bake in it's own heat.
AC power fluctuates between positive and negative polarity 60 times per second. Professional transfer switches will only transfer from one source to another when they are in sync with each other. The transfer switch in your RV lacks this protection.
It's designed to connect the RV's load to a single functioning source, either the generator or shore power, not to switch between the two.
Along the same lines, make sure you don't have any heavy draw devices like a heater or the air conditioner turned on when you start or stop the generator. Again, it's a matter of preventing damaging surges. Making the transfer switch connect to a power source when there's a heavy load connected to it will stress and burn the contacts in the switch.
Shutting down the generator while it's under a load will stress the voltage regulator by making it go to full output trying to keep the voltage up as the generator slows down. Also, you need to run the generator for a couple of minutes under a light or no load before shutting it off or the hot engine will bake in it's own heat.
