Extension Cords

[Lou Schneider]

The biggest thing I can think of is leaving a fan or a light on and coming back to find the battery drained and the refrigerator off because it no longer has 12 volts to run it's control board.

BTW, there isn't much difference in voltage between a fully charged battery and one that's completely discharged.  12.7 volts is a full charge,  12.2 volts is 50% discharged, the most you should draw the battery down for best life, and 11.9 volts is considered completely drained.  These are no-load voltages, it's normal for battery voltage to drop under a load.

 

[sightseers]

To someone that does not know what Ohms or Amps is,  understanding how to use a VOM meter may be overwhelming.

It's too bad someone doesn't make an RV plug test indicator that shows you everything is electrically correct like the ones that plug into a 110 volt wall plug.

like this....https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Gear-3-Wire-Receptacle-Tester-50542/206212329?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD27E%7C27-11_TOOLS_%26_ACCESSORIES%7CNA%7CPLA%7c71700000034238984%7c58

 

[Lou Schneider]

Easy enough for a 30 amp connection  ... just plug that tester into one of these and it will fit into the 30 amp recepticle:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Road-Power-30-15-Amp-RV-Power-Adapter/16817350

 

[sightseers]

Easy enough for a 30 amp connection  ... just plug that tester into one of these and it will fit into the 30 amp recepticle:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Road-Power-30-15-Amp-RV-Power-Adapter/16817350

yes that will work a 30 amp  RV plug ..now if they had one for a 50 amp plug.

 

[Lou Schneider]

A 50 amp socket is much less likely to have a simple wire swap, which is what the 3 light tester detects.  50 amp problems are mostly caused by loose or missing connections, and no-load tests are likely to miss them.

You have to test a 50 amp outlet under load and interpret the readings, making a tester more complicated and expensive.

 

[sightseers]

a 50 amp RV plug..is 2 different legs of 120 vt. power ...so it could be just an bad neutral connection away from sending 220 volts through everything in your RV.

that little 120 volt tester will tell you about reverse polarity or an open neutral or an open ground.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Not necessarily.  On a 50 amp socket a bad neutral could show as being good under no load (0 volts or midway between the two 120 volt circuits), but as soon as you put a load on one side or the other it can let  the voltage swing wildly on each of the two circuits.

Again, you need to put a load on a 50 amp socket to adequately test it.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

This website has instructions for making a 50A RV outlet tester. Simple enough for an electrical novice to make.

http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/tester_50amp.htm

It won't, however, detect the weak neutral that Lou described - nothing will until a fairly heavy and unbalanced load is applied. 


For what its worth, those 120v outlet testers won't find a poor quality hot or neutral either.  Bad connections fail under higher amp loads, so no voltage-only test will show them.

 

[mpolsue1]

The biggest thing I can think of is leaving a fan or a light on and coming back to find the battery drained and the refrigerator off because it no longer has 12 volts to run it's control board.

BTW, there isn't much difference in voltage between a fully charged battery and one that's completely discharged.  12.7 volts is a full charge,  12.2 volts is 50% discharged, the most you should draw the battery down for best life, and 11.9 volts is considered completely drained.  These are no-load voltages, it's normal for battery voltage to drop under a load.

So we need to be careful and we should be alright. Thanks.

Mark&Sandy