Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"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

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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 only way I know how to do it is to use a multi-meter to check for
120 volts (on a 240 system) against neutral and ground.

Ommmmmmmmm....

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Jun 22, 7:54*am, "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- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

And Harry would have known the answer, because he knows everything
about anything, just ask him!

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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


Pretty witty. How many coffees so far this morning, 3 or 4?

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:54:14 -0400, "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.

Dude - that was awful.

Funny, but awful. :)

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

Yogi of Woodstock 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 only way I know how to do it is to use a multi-meter to check for
120 volts (on a 240 system) against neutral and ground.

Ommmmmmmmm....

Correction O-h-mmmmmmm.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:25:27 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

Yogi of Woodstock 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 only way I know how to do it is to use a multi-meter to check for
120 volts (on a 240 system) against neutral and ground.

Ommmmmmmmm....

Correction O-h-mmmmmmm.

LOL!!!!

Dammit - missed a opportunity there. :)

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
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



Some of these characters would hurt themselves trying to use a multimeter.
JohnnyPrepH would be best paying someone to perform the tests.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"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

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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?

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"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/

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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?

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"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

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"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

Correction .... "inverter" .... not "converter". The inverter produces
120vac from 12 vdc.
The converter produces 12vdc from 120vac.

Eisboch

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:08:32 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"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.

So in John's case, to be absolutely sure, he'd have to place a metered
load at the source point to determine any voltage drop.

Hmmmmm....

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

Wizard of Woodstock wrote:
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:08:32 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:

"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.

So in John's case, to be absolutely sure, he'd have to place a metered
load at the source point to determine any voltage drop.

Hmmmmm....


snerk

If you want reliable power at a trailer camp, you need to carry your
power with you.

As in

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...lid=EU3000ISAN

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"Wizard of Woodstock" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:08:32 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"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.

So in John's case, to be absolutely sure, he'd have to place a metered
load at the source point to determine any voltage drop.

Hmmmmm....

Sort of. Usually the RV site pedestal has a standard 20 amp outlet. As
long as it's on the same side of the split phase service, he can measure it
there. Again, if his camper is not set up so the 120v outlets do not run
off the inverter, he can use any of them to measure it.

I went through this in Florida with a camper we had. I knew the AC was
straining to start due to voltage droop just by listening to it. The
section of Florida we were in was not noted for decent electrical service to
begin with. During peak hours the voltage at the distribution box in our
house would occasionally drop to 114 volts or so. I put in a 30 amp, 120v
service for the camper, located about 200 feet away. Even though I used 6
awg wires for the hot and neutral, I'd still get as low as 105 volts at
times at the camper location when the AC unit tried to kick on. The extra
current draw is not healthy for the compressor motor windings. I ended up
buying an automatic boost transformer that kicked the voltage up by 10%
whenever it sensed that the supply voltage dropped below 117 vac.


Eisboch

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

"HK" wrote in message
m...

If you want reliable power at a trailer camp, you need to carry your power
with you.

As in

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...lid=EU3000ISAN


Nice guy. Your camp neighbors will love you for it.
But, then again, it's not about *them*, now is it?

Eisboch

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

Eisboch wrote:

"HK" wrote in message
m...

If you want reliable power at a trailer camp, you need to carry your
power with you.

As in

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...lid=EU3000ISAN



Nice guy. Your camp neighbors will love you for it.
But, then again, it's not about *them*, now is it?

Eisboch


49 to 58dB(A). Far less than the din created by the squabbling kids,
over-beered drunks, and the thumpa-thumpa stereos.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:31:38 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"Wizard of Woodstock" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:08:32 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"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.

So in John's case, to be absolutely sure, he'd have to place a metered
load at the source point to determine any voltage drop.

Hmmmmm....

Sort of. Usually the RV site pedestal has a standard 20 amp outlet. As
long as it's on the same side of the split phase service, he can measure it
there. Again, if his camper is not set up so the 120v outlets do not run
off the inverter, he can use any of them to measure it.

I went through this in Florida with a camper we had. I knew the AC was
straining to start due to voltage droop just by listening to it. The
section of Florida we were in was not noted for decent electrical service to
begin with. During peak hours the voltage at the distribution box in our
house would occasionally drop to 114 volts or so. I put in a 30 amp, 120v
service for the camper, located about 200 feet away. Even though I used 6
awg wires for the hot and neutral, I'd still get as low as 105 volts at
times at the camper location when the AC unit tried to kick on. The extra
current draw is not healthy for the compressor motor windings. I ended up
buying an automatic boost transformer that kicked the voltage up by 10%
whenever it sensed that the supply voltage dropped below 117 vac.

Even better. You're safe no matter what happens that way.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

HK wrote:
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?

Too heck with photos of grandkids, I want to see a photo of someone
paving the street in front of your house. Heck, you can even tell
people it is your driveway. Or, for some real excitement, we can get an
hourly update of your UPS shipment or a photo of your basement kitchen
cabinets still in the box. WOW, it makes my heart jump just to think
about all the excitement of your posts. After all, isn't that what
rec.boats is all about, boasting Harry Krause's low self esteem?

--
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq.

This Newsgroup post is a natural product. The slight variations in
spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in
no way are to be considered flaws or defects

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Jun 22, 12:26*pm, "Reginald P Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:
HK wrote:
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?

Too heck with photos of grandkids, I want to see a photo of someone
paving the street in front of your house. * Heck, you can even tell
people it is your driveway. *Or, for some real excitement, we can get an
hourly update of your UPS shipment or a photo of your basement kitchen
cabinets still in the box. * WOW, it makes my heart jump just to think
about all the excitement of your posts. * After all, isn't that what
rec.boats is all about, boasting Harry Krause's low self esteem?

--
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq.

This Newsgroup post is a natural product. The slight variations in
spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in
no way are to be considered flaws or defects- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It's a shame that Harry thinks so little of his children.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:09:44 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

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.

Two probes in one hand. Ever hear of chopsticks? A billion people can
handle those ****ers. It takes two dice, but only one hand,
to shoot craps. When I started sailboat races I had to manipulate,
simultaniously, a stopwatch, a shotgun, and two flags.

Casady

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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

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.

The working definition of third world is lacking in reliable water,
electricity and phones.

Casady

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:39:05 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:09:44 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

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.

Two probes in one hand. Ever hear of chopsticks? A billion people can
handle those ****ers. It takes two dice, but only one hand,
to shoot craps. When I started sailboat races I had to manipulate,
simultaniously, a stopwatch, a shotgun, and two flags.

Ever dump an egg with one hand? Two eggs, one hand.
Then we'll talk.

--Vic

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

Vic Smith wrote:


Ever dump an egg with one hand? Two eggs, one hand.
Then we'll talk.

--Vic



Ayyyyup.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Jun 22, 12:55*pm, HK wrote:
Vic Smith wrote:

Ever dump an egg with one hand? *Two eggs, one hand.
Then we'll talk.

--Vic

Ayyyyup.

Yeah, sure. Now comes the part where either you or your father are
classically trained chefs............

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

wrote in message
...

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:31:38 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


#6 wasn't big enough wire. At 30a that drops almost 6v
The goal is to drop less than 5% from the service point to the load.
You lost that much in one feeder.


I agree, and that was my problem. When I chose #6, I thought I was
allowing for the voltage drop, thinking I'd still have close to 115 volts at
the RV site. Going to #4 or bigger didn't make sense.
I didn't expect the Florida power to droop to 115 volts at the house
however when the weather started getting warmer and people started using
their air conditioners.

Here in MA, we apparently have decent power lines. Our house measures 123
vac.

Eisboch

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:42:59 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

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

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.

The working definition of third world is lacking in reliable water,
electricity and phones.


Water and phones are OK. Electricity varies a lot from island to
island, also depending on how hot it is.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:26:57 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:31:38 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:

I went through this in Florida with a camper we had. I knew the AC was
straining to start due to voltage droop just by listening to it. The
section of Florida we were in was not noted for decent electrical service to
begin with. During peak hours the voltage at the distribution box in our
house would occasionally drop to 114 volts or so. I put in a 30 amp, 120v
service for the camper, located about 200 feet away. Even though I used 6
awg wires for the hot and neutral, I'd still get as low as 105 volts at
times at the camper location when the AC unit tried to kick on. The extra
current draw is not healthy for the compressor motor windings. I ended up
buying an automatic boost transformer that kicked the voltage up by 10%
whenever it sensed that the supply voltage dropped below 117 vac.


#6 wasn't big enough wire. At 30a that drops almost 6v
The goal is to drop less than 5% from the service point to the load.
You lost that much in one feeder.

There is a huge lack of appreciation of voltage drop in most camp
grounds and RV parks. When I was working for the state we redesigned
some of these parks and actually looked at the drop. It took some
doing to convince old timers that was really necessary but a quick
check with a volt meter on a few occupied sites confirmed the problem.
The best design is to let the utility do most of the distribution with
medium voltage and feed the sites from a 50kva pig, radially from
the center of the cluster of sites.

You want the well in the same place to minimize the ammount of pipe
required, and, of course, that gives maximum voltage to that downhole
pump, the one motor that better not burn out.

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:54:14 -0400, "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


OK. I thought there was some cute little thing just made for RV folks.

I don't talk to Harry. There are some things in life I'd rather not
do. That's right up at the top of the list.
--

John H

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:25:27 -0400, Jim24242
wrote:

Yogi of Woodstock 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 only way I know how to do it is to use a multi-meter to check for
120 volts (on a 240 system) against neutral and ground.

Ommmmmmmmm....

Correction O-h-mmmmmmm.

LOL!
--

John H

Travel trailer air conditioner
 

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

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


Pretty witty. How many coffees so far this morning, 3 or 4?

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.

Do you mean like the little pigtail that connects the 30A wire to
household current? I've got one of those. I need to look at the
Camping World tester. Thanks, Jim.
--

John H