1st Trip out - Went GREAT, but I have some questions

Well, I finally took my first trip out in my Prowler. The fam and I LOVE it !! Everything went really well. I did have a couple of hiccups that hopefully you guy's can help me out with.

The first one was that the main breaker ( at the campground pole ) kept tripping. I attributed this to the the A/C being on as well as  a few other things and when my ladyfriend fired up the outside electric griddle it tripped it. It was a 30AMP. I have some possible solutions, but should I really have to go this route?

1st - I was useing the electric HW heater. I could switch over to gas and save power there

2nd - I was useing the electric refrigerator. I could switch over to gas and save power there as well.

I thought that useing the gas was primarily for when you don't have campground power, and when you DO have campground power that I should conserve gas and use that

Am I not right?

Is what I experienced normal, or do you think I have a problem somewhere? Everything works fine, just not all at the same time.

Any ideas?

Thanks for all of your help gang !!

BTW: My HW heater quick drain worked excellent, and the dimmer switch that I made for my awning lights that also worked well. So far - so good !!

All those loads you described will overload a 30A circuit.  As you have surmised, you can run the water heater and refrigerator on gas if you need to run multiple high wattage electrical loads at one time.  Generally, you can run two heavy loads simultaneously on 30A, so A/C and the griddle would be OK, but add the water heater and you have an overload.  The refrigerator doesn't draw too much power, but it uses very little propane as well so run it on gas if in doubt.  When you don't need the A/C, you should be able to run just about everything else, except, perhaps the water heater, at one time.  Other items to watch out for are coffee makers, toasters, and hair driers.  They may run from 500-1200W each.

Thanks for your reply

Should I do something different the next time out? Perhaps get in the habbit of useing gas to run the HW heater maybe instead of electric?

Running the water heater on gas will help, as it's a large load.  Also be sure not to run more than 2 large loads at the same time.  You can check the labels of your appliances and get the wattage or sometimes the amperage itself, and calculate your load by adding them up.  Just don't exceed 30A or 3600W, perhaps a bit less to allow for a tired breaker.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I'll try and get myself into the habbit of useing gas to heat the water and see how things go from there.

On another note ...

I was told that the refrigerator will cool quicker / better on gas than it will on electric.

Is that correct?

Not in my experience, but since we're full timers, we never turn ours off.  The cooling mechanism is the same for gas and electric, the only difference is the source of the heat.

Remember the old TV show "Green Acres"

He had put numbers on all the appliances and she was not to plug in more than a given number (The capacity of the generator) she kept plugging in too much

here are some numbers

AC around 10-13, figure 13
Water heater,  also a 10-13
Converter (The thing that runs your 12 volt systems and keeps your batteries up when camping on shore power) full batteries it can be most anything from a 1 to a 10,  Dead batteries make it about a 5 to 10
Fridge (on electric) about a 3-4 (3.5 works well)

Skillet 11

So AC 13, Skillet 11 that's 24 add in 10 for the water heater and you have 34  Max is 30 CLICK and darkness

Solution:  (Trust me here, you are gonna have a bad case of HFWHOH in about 5 seconds)

Get a good heavy duty extension cord, like a 12 ga, from Sears or K-mart, and plug that into the 20 amp outlet on the park power pole.. Use it for the skillet  I'd suggest a 50 footer (Since it has to pass under the trailer) and a cord reel to store it on, I have 25 and 100 foot IIRC.  I like sears/K-mart cords due to the locking outlet (It locks on the plug you plug into it)

mayfair said:

1st - I was useing the electric HW heater. I could switch over to gas and save power there

2nd - I was useing the electric refrigerator. I could switch over to gas and save power there as well.

I thought that useing the gas was primarily for when you don't have campground power, and when you DO have campground power that I should conserve gas and use that

Am I not right?

Is what I experienced normal, or do you think I have a problem somewhere? Everything works fine, just not all at the same time.

Any ideas?

Thanks for all of your help gang !!

BTW: My HW heater quick drain worked excellent, and the dimmer switch that I made for my awning lights that also worked well. So far - so good !!

Click to expand...

The draw from the reefer is miniscule. The draw from the hot water heater is not, but once the water is hot, the heater doesn't cycle very much. We also have 30 amp and when the TV, microwave and AC are working the breaker can pop especially if herself decides to run the hair dryer. But you may also have had low power coming from the CG's box. I got a Progressive Dynamics Elect Management System with remote readout (EMS-HW30C) which I got at an RV show a couple of years ago. It monitors all the elect parameters (load/low &high volts/amps, etc) and shuts down the system until the fault is corrected. Best investment I ever made and the remote readout tells me the status of the park power. Check it out here: http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw30c.htm. They also make a system for 50 amps.

John In Detroit said:

Remember the old TV show "Green Acres"

Solution:  (Trust me here, you are gonna have a bad case of HFWHOH in about 5 seconds)

Get a good heavy duty extension cord, like a 12 ga, from Sears or K-mart, and plug that into the 20 amp outlet on the park power pole..

Click to expand...

I remember watching Green Acres when i was a kid, but I don't remember that. Now I want to see it again.  ;D

I'm not real hip to computer lingo. What does HFWHOH mean?  ???

I like your idea about the extension cord, however I don't remember seeing a seperate regular outlet at the pole. I'll have to look for it next time.

Thanks !!

BruceinFL said:

. I got a Progressive Dynamics Elect Management System with remote readout (EMS-HW30C)

Check it out here: http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw30c.htm.

Click to expand...

Whenever source power falls below 104 Volts, or rises above 132 volts, the EMS automatically shuts down power to the RV.  Once the AC source rises above 104-volts, or below the 132-volt level, the time delay indicator flashes for the preset time and then automatically restores power to RV.

Click to expand...

That's a pretty cool unit, but MAN $250.00 smacks? How often are there power problems at campgrounds?

Some would have you believe that power problems are everywhere, but that has not been my experience.  It is more common in older campgrounds, or old sections in upgraded campgrounds, so it sort of depends on where you go.  You can manually check for miswired power posts with a $3.95 device with three indicator lights before plugging in, but it won't monitor for low voltage and such like the $250 unit does.

We check the power before we hook up with the three light circuit tester every time even if we have been at the same place before.  We have 50 amps so I made up a device to check both sides of the 50 amp circuit using two testers.  We have found a few power outlets in campgrounds that had a problem.  Report the fault to the manabger and they have all been happy that we reported what we found and sent somebody out to fix it.

Your hot water tank will stay hot for a long time.  It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for it to heat up. So unless your going to need hot water, turn it off.  Microwaves, toasters, and hair dryers are also high energy users.  Sometimes there is a high demand on the system, just like at home.  So if everyone in the cg is running their AC, there could be a brown out, (low voltage). Learning to manage your power usage will come with experience.  We've all been there, and still have to do that.  Don't be selfish using power. We all have to share. One eletric cord per rv makes us all happy campers.

Barb

The Progressive Industries EMS units (and the Surge Guard that we have) not only protect against high/low/surge voltages, but also check the wiring of the outlet before letting the power through to the RV.  If there is any wiring problem, it will indicate the fault and not allow power to the load center.

mayfair said:

That's a pretty cool unit, but MAN $250.00 smacks? How often are there power problems at campgrounds?

Click to expand...

Not very often but it takes only one to make a really bad day.  I used to use the 3 light indicator like Ron's until one day in a very nice campground, the Silverton in Las Vegas, I lot both my TVs, the Satellite box and some other electronics.  I now have a over/under voltage +surge protector on our MH.  The repair of one TV would have paid for it.  :-( 

With the newer HD TVs and entertainment electronics they are recommending a Uninterruptible Power Supply, UPS, for protection.  It has many of the same functions but allows the power to remain in the electronics till  you shut them down manuall.  Think about the cost of replacing an inverter , the TVs etc. and you will see the cost benefit.

Oh yes, to be honest, there is one power failure mode these boxes will not necessarily protect against.  That one is really nasty too, it is a high resistance or open neutral circuit on a 50 amp hookup.  This one can do significant damage to all the electrical stuff in the MH due to the overvoltage that occurs, usually too fast for the box to stop it..
Good Luck which ever way you go,

James Godward said:

Oh yes, to be honest, there is one power failure mode these boxes will not necessarily protect against.  That one is really nasty too, it is a high resistance or open neutral circuit on a 50 amp hookup.  This one can do significant damage to all the electrical stuff in the MH due to the overvoltage that occurs, usually too fast for the box to stop it..

Click to expand...

The three light tester will identify it when checking BEFORE pugging in the power cord.  We found one once and really was glad we checked before plugging in.

I'm not real hip to computer lingo. What does HFWHOH mean?

Click to expand...

Hitting Forehead With Heal Of Hand

Here is a URL for you to check out.. http://www.psrv.net

This is not something I would suggest you buy for your unit, as.. Well.. Yours is a 30 amp unit to start with.

But for many years I ran a 2nd cord off the 20 amp outlet on the pole not because I was concerned about overload of the 30 amp breaker, but because my trailer did not have an outside outlet (Till I added on on my 2nd trailer) and it was simply easier to do the electric cook-ware that way when I cooked on the picnic table.


Some folks may warn you that the park wires may not be up to taking that much load.. They are right,  I've only been to one park that had problems though and that was more than one rig.. Tripped the master breaker back at the "Barn"  No damage

Our Surge Guard as well as the EMS units test the circuit before letting power through to the load center, so include the function of the separate tester.  And our 50A Surge Guard tests both legs at once.

RV Roamer said:

Some would have you believe that power problems are everywhere, but that has not been my experience.  It is more common in older campgrounds, or old sections in upgraded campgrounds, so it sort of depends on where you go.  You can manually check for miswired power posts with a $3.95 device with three indicator lights before plugging in, but it won't monitor for low voltage and such like the $250 unit does.

Click to expand...

Yup monitoring for low voltage requires on of these $20 devices  HERE.  Just plug it into a 120VAC where you can see it easllier and leave it there permanently.

The draw from the reefer is miniscule.

Click to expand...

Miniscule means 3-6 amps, 300-600 watts.  Put another way, 10 - 20% of your available 30 amps supply.  If you're using 13 amps to run an air conditioner and another 13 amps to run another large appliance (grill, water heater, etc.) the draw of the refrigerator can be enough to push you over the edge.

I'd switch the fridge to propane if you want to use two large loads on a 30 amp service.