Electrical issues

[2002newmarkountrystar]

Hello all, first time posting here. I have a 2002 Newmar kountrystar 35’ 5th wheel. I have owned it for almost two years and haven’t had many problems. During that time I have been living in the trailer, and have only been hooked up to 110 power. Recently I moved to a different location and 30 amp service is available to me but I had to change the plug on the extension cord I had and the plug in the wall. It is wired for a dryer plug and I believe it is 240 and my trailer only wants 120.. I thought the onboard power converter would do that work for me but today has been a nightmare. Burnt up a plug in the trailer, the “lights” circuit breaker trips automatically now, and my microwave has quit working. So what am I doing wrong?

 

[docj]

I hate to be a bearer of bad news but by connecting your RV to that outlet you may have done serious damage to it. That dryer outlet has two "hot" terminals and no neutral whereas a normal 50A RV connection consists of two hots and a neutral. A 30A RV outlet would have had a single hot and a neutral.

This is why it is always best to have a licensed electrician make wiring changes on either your outlet or your plugs.

At this point there is little to do other than assess the damage. Electronic devices such as the microwave may well be toast, but lighting circuits may be Ok. I'd be concerned about your A/C or heat pump and your converter (the device that provides 12 V power to the RV). If you are lucky fuses will have done their jobs and minimized the damage.

This is the sort of thing that all RVers fear and that's why so many of us have power management devices that will prevent such accidents from happening.

I'm sorry for your loss and for the aggravation and cost that fixing it will entail. All of us here will offer whatever aid we can provide with respect to helping you diagnose the situation.

 

[2002newmarkountrystar]

Well thank you for all the information, I will for sure be back with more info and questions!

 

[Rich W.]

As Doc said, in case it wasnt clear, for 30amp RV service, you only want one hot, a neutral, and a ground. Still 3 wires, but only one hot.

So while the plug may look similar to a 240v “dryer” outlet, that outlet has two hots and a neutral.

As you can imagine, this would bring 240 in to all your 120v stuff in the trailer. Hopefully not too much is toast. While looking for pics or wiring diagrams of the two different wiring types, I found this interesting and timely article:

Expensive mistake when installing 30-amp RV outlet at home

RV Electricity with Mike Sokol Dear Mike, Thank you for bringing the miswiring issue to light. I have been a licensed journeyman electrician for

www.rvtravel.com

From the article, you can see thst you are not alone and even electricians have made this mistake.

 

[2002newmarkountrystar]

Yeah that is exactly what happened. I didn’t know that it was 240 until stuff started happening.. but there is a white black and red wire in the wall, and I wired it in correctly, but unknowing to me it created many more problems.. so going from here my wife already wants a stainless steel microwave, which is fine, but the converter is my next big thing. I know it’s blown because I checked the fuses and they are good but it’s not functioning as it should. I plan to wire in a new 15 amp circuit breaker for the lights, but what kind of converter should I be looking for? And mentioned above was precautions taken to avoid these types of mishaps, what steps can I take to protect my home from something like this happening? Besides now knowing to be much more careful

 

[Rich W.]

If you are still planning to use that outlet location ( I wouldn’t), you‘ll want to cap off that red wire and permanently kill power to it. Thats the other “line“ or “hot” wire that makes 240 for the dryer.

So not only will you not be using the red wire, but you also want to render it safe in the box by cutting off the stripped portion, taping it up, coiling it in the back of the box, AND disconnecting it from the breaker in the panel. But this is getting into qualified electrician territory. Not knowing where you are at with residential electrical, its hard to recommended doing any of this.

Next your RV needs a separate ground and neutral - so if you are still using that outlet location, unless there is an unused ground (green) in the box (unlikely), you’ll have to run a sufficient ground from the panel to that outlet box. But this is probably not all that practical.

Your best bet would be to install a dedicated 120v 30amp RV outlet with its own 30amp breaker in the panel, and abandon the idea of using the dryer oulet location, but again, unless you are very familiar with residential wiring, this is where you’d call an electrician.

For the converter, talk to Randy at BestConverter - Converters, Inverters, Electrical Supplies, Electronics . They specialize in aftermarket improved and upgraded converters and chargers, as well as a lot of other RV electrical stuff.

This is what I installed for my RV electical:

 

[2002newmarkountrystar]

So I learned that there is 220 wired outside the house, is there anyway to hook up 30 amp power that I need with that or no?

 

[Rich W.]

yes, but just like the other one, you’ll need a separate neutral and ground and only be using one hot. So if the outside box only has two hots and a neutral (which is likely), you’ll have to do the same thing I described above - run a ground from the panel to that box, and abandon the other hot and and render it safe. Running the separate ground would be a little easier for an outside box, especially if its near the panel. My neighbor had an electrician set him up with 30amp RV power and it only cost him around $250.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Best to get an electrician that has knowledge of RV power requirements before you fry more equipment or injure someone. As to the converter, it is a switching supply that converts 120 volts to 12 volts with some sophisticated circuits to properly charge and maintain batteries. You have two have 2 choices...........replace it or replace it.

As to the microwave, it too has a switching supply. Again 2 choices,........replace it or replace it.

Good luck
Bob

 

[2002newmarkountrystar]

I guess I choose replace it!