Shore Power Question?

[chopshop]

I'm trying to get my fridge working using shore power, here's what I have.

MH is 50amp, necked down to 30amp dogbone adapter, then into a regular extension cord (3 prong 110v), finally plugged into exterior house outlet.

Once I plug in this shore power setup what else in the coach should be switched on? I do have the "salesman" shut-off switch at the entry door as well as the power button for the inverter. Thanks!

 

[egalt]

Do you have the fridge on?  Turned on Auto?  Should use electric when plugged in if everything else is set to ON.

 

[darsben]

Tun on salesman's switch to get 12 volts working in case needed by fridge controls
Turn on fridge
Should work

 

[Kevin Means]

If your goal is simply to have the fridge running on A/C power, all you should have to do is set the fridge to "Auto" and plug your shore power cord into the 15/20 amp electrical socket using the dog bones you mentioned. The fridge should automatically switch to run off A/C power if it's operating properly.

You could turn your House battery disconnect switch off if you'd like, but if the RV is plugged into shore power, your House batteries probably won't charge. Some RVs are wired differently, but in my experience, most are wired so that the converter won't charge the batteries when the disconnect switch is Off. If you leave it on, make sure you keep an eye on your batteries, so they don't overcharge. If you don't already have one, a good 3-stage battery charger will really help prevent overcharging.

Kev

 

[John From Detroit]

YOu COULD turn the 12 volt battery disconnet to off/store but .. I would not.

Turn off any air conditioenrs. water heater, other heaters. basically you want just the converter and the fridge powered. nothign else. For testing.

once you have it working Televisions and other power SIPPERS may be usable but no power guzzlers.

 

[chopshop]

I'm not near the MH currently, but when I get home tonight I'll double check everything. Basically, I want to get the fridge working so we can load it and have it already be at the correct temp prior to our weekend voyage.

Seems to me that it didn't work this morning as I thought it should have. It seems l8ke I needed the connect switch on to make it function, so I wasn't sure if it was running off of the battery or the shire power. Once I switched the fridge to Auto, it would read "A" after a few seconds.

Again, I'll check again when I get home from work and report back. Never had this issue with the travel trailer; just plug it into shore power and the fridge would work....

 

[Lou Schneider]

The refrigerator needs to sip a small amount of 12 volt power to operate it's control board.  When you're boondocking this comes from the house batteries, but since you're plugged into 120 volts, the power will be supplied by the 12 volt converter.

 

[A Traveler]

You cannot shut off the 12 volts DC! The fridge control circuits operate on that source. No DC = No Fridge.

 

[chopshop]

Had time after work to check out the situation....

I had the shore power plugged into 2 different exterior outlets (2 different times) that were each GIF outlets. Both times the GIF outlets tripped. This leaves me baffled as to why they both tripped?? On both tries I used a different extension cord: one was 50 ft. and the other was a 75 footer, could this be the problem they both tripped the GIF?

I ended up using the LP mode on the fridge and turned the coach batteries on.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

Had time after work to check out the situation....

I had the shore power plugged into 2 different exterior outlets (2 different times) that were each GIF outlets. Both times the GIF outlets tripped. This leaves me baffled as to why they both tripped?? On both tries I used a different extension cord: one was 50 ft. and the other was a 75 footer, could this be the problem they both tripped the GIF?

I ended up using the LP mode on the fridge and turned the coach batteries on.

Mine trips the GFI in the house when I plug into 110 outlet at home. The solution for me is:

First I turn off the two 50 amp breakers inside my RV at the power panel that has all the 110 volt breakers.

Next I plug my power cord into the sticks and bricks house 110 volt outlet.

Then I turn the two 50 amp breakers on again which then produces 110 volts at all the outlets.

I don't run anything other than my refrigerator which needs a good 12 to 14 hours to cool down.

We always prechill everything that goes into the refrigerator when packing for a trip.

 

[Alfa38User]

It is quite common that a GFI is tripped when plugged into an RV. Best solution is to use a non-GFI protected circuit where possible. Arch seems to have solution for his problem, you may want to try that.

 

[chopshop]

Mine trips the GFI in the house when I plug into 110 outlet at home. The solution for me is:
First I turn off the two 50 amp breakers inside my RV at the power panel that has all the 110 volt breakers.
Next I plug my power cord into the sticks and bricks house 110 volt outlet.
Then I turn the two 50 amp breakers on again which then produces 110 volts at all the outlets.
I don't run anything other than my refrigerator which needs a good 12 to 14 hours to cool down.

We always prechill everything that goes into the refrigerator when packing for a trip.

Good information to know! Thanks for the procedure that works for you, I'll be trying it for sure!

*EDIT*
Did all that Arch mentioned above and we are good to go, it's working as planned, Thanks Arch!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I won't try to explain Ground Faults here (see https://www.doityourself.com/stry/gfci), but they are fairly common in RVs.  Some common causes are a short to ground at the fridge heater element or an inadequately grounded converter/charger or inverter.  It's something that ought to be fixed to avoid potential electrical shocks while in the RV, but until then you can continue to use the RV by plugging to a non-GFCI outlet.

Sometimes an improperly wired power adapter or shore cord plug plug can cause a GFCI trip, so you might borrow a different adapter to try. There are ways to check them with a multimeter (VOM) as well. Someone here can explain if you have a meter and would like to learn how.

 

[John From Detroit]

A tripping GFCI may or may not indicate a problem with an RV.. Some do not play nice on GFCI's. But read on.

A GFCI is like a perfectly balanced "Scales of justice" type balance or Teeter-Totter.

So long as both pans (ends) have exactly the same weight in(on) them the beam is balanced.
But if one side has even a tiny amount of added weight that side goes down and CLICK, darkness happens...

Only with a GFCI the "Weight" is replaced by current in the black and white wires.

So any "Short' be it neutral to ground or hot to anyting other than neutral in the RV will trip the GFCI (or in the extension cord).

THIS. is a problem needing fixing

HOWEVER  Some converters will trip a GFCI when the batteries are Full UP
Some .. When the batteries are "Hungry"
Some .. never.

 

[John From Detroit]

Continuing.
Trouble Shooting
You will need.. A trouble light or other lamp you can see from INSIDE the RV

Step one. In the RV turn off ALL breakers. All of them.

Plug in lamp and RV into same GFCI outlet  Light should be on and lit.

Back in the RV, using the trouble light to light up your life.  Turn on the MAIN Breaker(s).
Light still on.. Good.
Turn on the first BRANCH breaker.  Light still on,, Good
Loop the next line (Do it over and over) till the light goes off
Turn on the next breaker,, Light on GOOD.

Wen the light goes off.. Turn that breaker back off. Reset GFCI and note the label on that breaker. Continue (Skipping that breaker) till all are either on or noted.

post notes.