"Jim24242" wrote in message
...

There is a plug in tester at camping world that seems to offer all the
informatiom you need. Voltage Frequency Amps and polarity. It didn't say
how many amps though. One thing though. Ant testing you do should be at
the power pedestal BEFORE you hook your camper to it. That means you need
to use an adapter to convert from a 30A receptacle to a 15A
receptacle.

The only problem with that .... John ... pay attention..... is that if
the RV site's wiring or power is lacking, it will not show a voltage droop
with any load. In other words, the voltage may read 120vac under no load,
but after he plugs in and fires up the AC it might droop. He can find out
by measuring the voltage before he hooks up and then again with the AC
running at any 120vac outlet in his camper, assuming it is not powered by a
converter. Usually the microwave and the AC are not run through the
converter, so either of the power sources inside the camper could be
checked.

The voltage at the remote power setup I had in Florida used to droop to
105vac on some days. Bad for the AC compressor. That's why I bought the
buck/boost transformer.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
"John H" wrote in message
...
Had our little rig out this past weekend, down to Williamsburg, VA,
where the temp climbed into the 90s on Saturday. Last time we were in
that kind of heat the air conditioner kept popping the circuit
breaker.

This time the AC worked well. Don't know if the problem was the
circuit breaker or not, but at least we kept cool this time.

We stayed at the American Heritage RV park, which is a nice place to
stay if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Tom or Dick, if either of you happen to read this, last year one of
you suggested an instrument for testing the current at camp sites. I
didn't get it then, but want it now. Could you remind me again what it
was, please?
--

John H

Other than a multimeter, I don't recall a specific "tester" for RV service
outlets.
A multimeter will allow you to check for proper voltage and polarity.

BTW, you should have included Harry in your request for info.
Then you would have addressed every "Tom, Dick and Harry" ...

Oh well. Early in the morning, I guess.

Eisboch



rec.traveltrailers... again. Can photos of the clonechildren be far behind?

Richard Casady wrote:
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:23:37 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

Ant testing you do should be at
the power pedestal BEFORE you hook your camper to it. That means you
need to use an adapter to convert from a 30A receptacle to a 15A
receptacle.

You can stick any meter probe in any recepticle, so what is the
problem. You should have a digital multimeter in any case.

Casady

There are those among us that are not handy with tools.
Think convenience. You can plug in any of number of testers designed to
do the needed testing. Or hold the meter in one hand, the first probe in
one hand, the 2nd probe in another hand and, hey wait a minute, you need
3 hands.

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:09:51 -0400, John H
wrote:

Had our little rig out this past weekend, down to Williamsburg, VA,
where the temp climbed into the 90s on Saturday. Last time we were in
that kind of heat the air conditioner kept popping the circuit
breaker.

This time the AC worked well. Don't know if the problem was the
circuit breaker or not, but at least we kept cool this time.

We stayed at the American Heritage RV park, which is a nice place to
stay if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Tom or Dick, if either of you happen to read this, last year one of
you suggested an instrument for testing the current at camp sites. I
didn't get it then, but want it now. Could you remind me again what it
was, please?

The issue with your circuit breaker popping was almost certainly
caused by low voltage due to inadequate wiring at the RV park or
possibly an overloaded utility transformer. Either way there isn't
much you can do about it other than to better understand the problem.
About the best you can do is persuade the RV park to move you to
another site and hope that the wiring there will be better. An
inexpensive digital voltmeter(DVM) is all you need.

It is possible to buy adjustable step up transformers but they are
heavy, bulky and expensive.

http://variac.com/staco_3PN10_20.htm

We run into this issue at marinas fairly frequently and sometimes have
no choice other than running the generator all night. Here in the
Bahamas the quality and reliability of shorepower varies a great deal
from island to island, some being little better than third world
countries in that respect.

"John H" wrote in message
...
Had our little rig out this past weekend, down to Williamsburg, VA,
where the temp climbed into the 90s on Saturday. Last time we were in
that kind of heat the air conditioner kept popping the circuit
breaker.

This time the AC worked well. Don't know if the problem was the
circuit breaker or not, but at least we kept cool this time.

We stayed at the American Heritage RV park, which is a nice place to
stay if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Tom or Dick, if either of you happen to read this, last year one of
you suggested an instrument for testing the current at camp sites. I
didn't get it then, but want it now. Could you remind me again what it
was, please?
--

John H

You may find this gadget handy:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/7657/

D.Duck wrote:
"John H" wrote in message
...
Had our little rig out this past weekend, down to Williamsburg, VA,
where the temp climbed into the 90s on Saturday. Last time we were in
that kind of heat the air conditioner kept popping the circuit
breaker.

This time the AC worked well. Don't know if the problem was the
circuit breaker or not, but at least we kept cool this time.

We stayed at the American Heritage RV park, which is a nice place to
stay if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Tom or Dick, if either of you happen to read this, last year one of
you suggested an instrument for testing the current at camp sites. I
didn't get it then, but want it now. Could you remind me again what it
was, please?
--

John H

You may find this gadget handy:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/7657/




Even handier, a motel room with air conditioning, and a bathroom with a
clean toilet, sink and shower.

Eisboch wrote:
"Jim24242" wrote in message
...
There is a plug in tester at camping world that seems to offer all the
informatiom you need. Voltage Frequency Amps and polarity. It didn't say
how many amps though. One thing though. Ant testing you do should be at
the power pedestal BEFORE you hook your camper to it. That means you need
to use an adapter to convert from a 30A receptacle to a 15A
receptacle.

The only problem with that .... John ... pay attention..... is that if
the RV site's wiring or power is lacking, it will not show a voltage droop
with any load. In other words, the voltage may read 120vac under no load,
but after he plugs in and fires up the AC it might droop. He can find out
by measuring the voltage before he hooks up and then again with the AC
running at any 120vac outlet in his camper, assuming it is not powered by a
converter. Usually the microwave and the AC are not run through the
converter, so either of the power sources inside the camper could be
checked.

The voltage at the remote power setup I had in Florida used to droop to
105vac on some days. Bad for the AC compressor. That's why I bought the
buck/boost transformer.

Eisboch


There's a difference between "Droop" or sag and voltage drop under load.
The sag can be detected without hooking up a load.

D.Duck wrote:
"John H" wrote in message
...
Had our little rig out this past weekend, down to Williamsburg, VA,
where the temp climbed into the 90s on Saturday. Last time we were in
that kind of heat the air conditioner kept popping the circuit
breaker.

This time the AC worked well. Don't know if the problem was the
circuit breaker or not, but at least we kept cool this time.

We stayed at the American Heritage RV park, which is a nice place to
stay if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Tom or Dick, if either of you happen to read this, last year one of
you suggested an instrument for testing the current at camp sites. I
didn't get it then, but want it now. Could you remind me again what it
was, please?
--

John H

You may find this gadget handy:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/7657/


I have one of those. They are pretty cool. Two things though. I don't
know if they can detect reversed or open legs or test ground fault
protectors and if he were to adapt it to monitor amps it is limited to 15A.

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:51:00 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"Jim24242" wrote in message
...

There is a plug in tester at camping world that seems to offer all the
informatiom you need. Voltage Frequency Amps and polarity. It didn't say
how many amps though. One thing though. Ant testing you do should be at
the power pedestal BEFORE you hook your camper to it. That means you need
to use an adapter to convert from a 30A receptacle to a 15A
receptacle.

The only problem with that .... John ... pay attention..... is that if
the RV site's wiring or power is lacking, it will not show a voltage droop
with any load. In other words, the voltage may read 120vac under no load,
but after he plugs in and fires up the AC it might droop. He can find out
by measuring the voltage before he hooks up and then again with the AC
running at any 120vac outlet in his camper, assuming it is not powered by a
converter. Usually the microwave and the AC are not run through the
converter, so either of the power sources inside the camper could be
checked.

The voltage at the remote power setup I had in Florida used to droop to
105vac on some days. Bad for the AC compressor. That's why I bought the
buck/boost transformer.

That's a good point - didn't think of that.

It's all about the load baby.

If you turn the AC on, you should be able to tell if the voltage drops
at another 120 Vac receptacle right?

"Wizard of Woodstock" wrote in message
...

That's a good point - didn't think of that.

It's all about the load baby.

If you turn the AC on, you should be able to tell if the voltage drops
at another 120 Vac receptacle right?


Generally, yes but some campers are set up such that some of the 120 vac
outlets are powered by the converter and it's regulation may take care of
droop. However, the high current draw items like the AC and the microwave
are wired directly to the "shore" power 120v source and do not run through
the converter.

Some campers get all the 120vac from the shore power source. In that case,
yes, any outlet will do to check camper voltage under load.

Eisboch