adventurer 32h electrical p[roblem

[billyb]

ok friends, my newest problem with the new to us unit ,is when plugged into 30 amp shore power, everything works but the ground fault boxes, but if you run the genny, everything works like it should. I have looked at the switch over box, and it looks like one of the relays might be bad. when running on 30 amps the relay should be connecting all the outlets, but it works fine on the genny. anyone familiar with switch over box. thanks for all your replies on this and several other problems I have come with

[grtharris]

billyb, is your coach wired for 30 or 50 amps?

[billyb]

it is a 50 amp service unit. I am plugged into a 30 amp outlet, which is where my old unit was plugged into for almost 10 years. it always read the 30 amp and everything worked great. this is a new unit to us, and we have had a lot of little problems to fix. I have come to the conclusion that it is in the ats box, so I ordered a new one. its really odd that everything works on the genny. my battery went dead yesterday because I'm pretty sure the converter is on the circuit that that the gfi boxes are on. I ahd several responses on irv2.com, but nothing helped.

[70ChevelleSS]

Well you must be using a 30-50 amp plug or pigtail. Have you used a meter to verify that the plug pigtail is actually supplying 120v power on both hot legs?

[grtharris]

70ChevelleSS, good point, billyb would be a good idea to invest in a volt meter are a lease a Non-Contact Voltage Tester pen.
Have ran across a couple of instances lately where the dog bones where not making good contact.

[billyb]

Vom, I have 5 of em

[70ChevelleSS]

Originally Posted by billyb

Vom, I have 5 of em

Great! So are we supposed to assume you verified 120v on both hot legs of your shore power cable?

[billyb]

The 50 amp socket that I am plugged into only is wired for 30 amps, so I am getting only 30 amps out like I said before.

[grtharris]

billyb, Amps is not the issue. Do you have 120VAC from line neutral to Line L1 and line neutral to Line L2 in the Automatic Transfer Switch. If you do then measure for 120VAC from load neutral to Load L1 and load neutral to Load L2 terminals.

[billyb]

Ok, thanks for input. I will go out and check the lines when it warms back up some.

[powercat_ras]

If I read your original post correctly, when on shore power thru a 50A to 30A dogbone everything works except for your Ground Fault Outlets. When on generator, the ground fault boxes work too.

Do you mean the test buttons on the GF Outlets don't work when on shore power but they work on generator power?

If I have described your problem correctly then this indicates a problem in the shore power ground connection. Your transfer switch does not switch ground only Neutral and Hot so it is NOT a transfer switch problem. The problem is most likely that the outlet you are plugging in to has an open ground, or there is a open ground in the shore cable or in the 50A to 30A dogbone.

It COULD be worse and the outlet you are plugging into is mis-wired.

You can use an 120 volt outlet checker with 3 lights and a table on it, available for under $ 10 at a hardware store, home center, or wally world. Plug it into one of the outlets in your RV. You should get the 2 lights that say good outlet when on generator. When on shore power you likely will get different lights. Hopefully the checker will just indicate open ground when on shore power and someone with electrical skills can find the problem and fix it quickly.

[70ChevelleSS]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

...If I have described your problem correctly then this indicates a problem in the shore power ground connection. Your transfer switch does not switch ground only Neutral and Hot so it is NOT a transfer switch problem. The problem is most likely that the outlet you are plugging in to has an open ground, or there is a open ground in the shore cable or in the 50A to 30A dogbone...

A GFCI outlet can't detect an open ground, it also can't detect a mis-wired supply outlet. It sense's current on the load side of the outlet. Any mismatch between the current flow on the neutral and on the hot leg and it trips. It's not capable of detecting any issues up stream of the outlet, only loads connected to the outlet and any downstream outlets.

Since it's a 50 amp RV the transfer switch has to switch the neutral and 2 hot legs. If 1 hot leg does not switch over it's quite possible to kill power to the GFCI outlets and the converter since his batteries aren't charging. Same problem if the 30-50 adapter is not supply 120v to both hot legs of 50 amp shore power cable.

I'd start by checking the output of the 30-50 adapter. If that's good open the ATS box and check both sides of the switch as Grant suggested.

[billyb]

Ok thanks for all the input, it comes down to a miswired 50 amp box that never been used in 10 years. Thanks again ,Bill

[powercat_ras]

Knew it could not be the transfer switch :-)