On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:17:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

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.

I don't doubt anything you've said. Luckily the circuit breaker wasn't
as expensive as taking the AC to the shop and have them soak me for a
non-repair. After talking to the folks I was with over the weekend,
some of whom had been to the campground in question, I'm pretty sure
it was low voltage.
--

John H