Dumb A/C Question...

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14]I ran into a slight problem last week in the 98' Patriot.  I was hooked up to a 30 amp campsite and tried to turn on the front a/c unit.  Nothing happened, no a/c or fan, just nothing.  I flipped the breakers off and on.  I turned on the generator and the a/c came right on.  I turned off the generator and it stopped.  Then I tried the rear a/c, it worked fine with both shore and gen power.  Do you need 50 amps to run both units at once or do I have some other kind of problem?  Thanks, Mike[/size]

[Gil_Johnson]

You may have a defective 30A to 50A adapter.  The 30A adapter must connect the single 30A source to BOTH 50A inputs on the standard cord.  If you have a voltmeter, and you really should, check the voltage coming out of the 50A end of the adapter without being connecetd to the coach.  You should have 110V on BOTH 50A blades.

Gil
08 Contessa

[Bill Sprague]

If that happened to me I would assume my adapter pigtail was faulty.  But there are other possibilities.

The "normal" 50 amp set up is in reality wired so there are two separate 50 amp circuits in the motorhome.  They put some stuff on one and the other stuff on the other.  You should be able to see what they put where by looking at your circuit breaker box.  The AC units are normally on opposite legs.  

When you use the 30 amp adapter it connects both circuits together at the female end of the plug so both circuits get the same from the power pole.  

One way to check the adapter is to plug leave 1/16th inch gap and check the blades with a voltmeter.  You should get 120 between the top flat blade and both the side blades.  The round one at the bottom is the safety ground and it should read 120 with the two side blades.

Another way to check is to find something else on the circuit with the front air, like maybe the washer/dryer, block heater or something.  If that is dead, again check the adapter.

Some motorhomes have smart circuits that try to prevent use of two AC units when you only have 30 amps.  I don't think Beaver ever did that,  but it might be.  

If the coach is new to you, another possibility is that a previous owner did some "alternate wiring".  A sometimes popular discussion is how to get two ACs to run on 30 amps.  Maybe the previous owner had a favorite campground with limited power.  Some set up the second AC to run on a separate power cord to one of the 15 amp outlets.  It is sort of like "a 45 amp hook up".  

If the easy stuff fails to find the problem then you get to start looking for the gremlins.  Marty (who posts here) had a crazy one the he finally traced to loose screws in a grounding bus inside a circuit breaker box.  He solved it with a big 30 cent wire nut.

Good luck.  Post what you find is the answer.
  

[Richard And Babs Ames]

If it works on 50 amps normally it is not the coach wiring. I would suspect the adaptor but other things will not work either.

If on 30 amps you can only run 1AC and not the electric AquaHot element.

[Michael Kauffman]

[face=Arial][size=14]OK, I popped the electrical panel off and found no 120 on the red wire leg.  I traced it back to the Shoreline cordreel that I bought used on Craigs list and installed.  The contact brush on the red wire leg had a little crack in it and expanded and stuck in place.  So finally it lost contact with the slip ring and no power got through on that leg.  It was stuck in place but I finally got it out.   Now I'm just trying to find a replacement brush.  They are round, 1/4" in diameter, 1/2" long, with about a 1" spring.  TDI is out of business and the company that bought them (TRC) said it was obsolete and no parts are available.  We'll see...

Thanks, Mike

(And Bill, the way the summer has been going around here this year, I probably won't be needing the A/C anyway, lol)[/size][/face]

[Bill Sprague]

[face=Arial][size=14](And Bill, the way the summer has been going around here this year, I probably won't be needing the A/C anyway, lol)[/size][/face]

I'm about 20 miles southwest of you, near Tacoma, and summer has been nice for a couple of weeks!

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14][face=Arial]Well I got the cord reel fixed for now.  I had both a/c's going at once until it tripped the 30 amp circuit here at home.  They both work fine independently.  I couldn't find the right brush here in Seattle so I just filed the old brush diameter and made it fit.  Hope it holds up.  If anybody has a broken Shoreline Cord Reel RV5036, I'll buy it from you for parts.  Thanks for all of the advise, Mike[/face][/size]

[Gil_Johnson]

Here's a link to a discussion from others with the same problem.  They were able to get replacement parts.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/50-amp-electrical-failure-problem-81233.html

Gil

[Bobby Sather]

[size=14]I ran into a slight problem last week in the 98' Patriot.  I was hooked up to a 30 amp campsite and tried to turn on the front a/c unit.  Nothing happened, no a/c or fan, just nothing.  I flipped the breakers off and on.  I turned on the generator and the a/c came right on.  I turned off the generator and it stopped.  Then I tried the rear a/c, it worked fine with both shore and gen power.  Do you need 50 amps to run both units at once or do I have some other kind of problem?  Thanks, Mike[/size]

Yes you generally need 50 amp to run both airconditioners.

[Michael Kauffman]

I'm about 20 miles southwest of you, near Tacoma, and summer has been nice for a couple of weeks!

Yes school has started so it's been nice here too finally (poor kids, lol)

[Bill Sprague]

Yes school has started so it's been nice here too finally (poor kids, lol)

I went through high school in Seattle.  And it NEVER failed to be nice for about 6 weeks after school started.

[Keith Oliver]

No longer PC, but "Indian Summer" is always great here in SW BC.  Now till Thanksgiving weekend (2nd Monday October).