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Old 10-03-2016, 03:14 PM   #1
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All Electric Coach - occasional shore power issue

We recently bought a 2014 Itasca Ellipse all electric coach. We seem to have an intermittent issue when plugging into shore power. When driving around we will have the inverter on to power the refrigerator. When we get back to our parking/storage, we plug into 30 amp shore power. Sometimes there is a loud "banging" or relay "slamming" type noise coming from the electrical compartment. We quickly unplug. Troubleshooting: I've turned the inverter off at the panel and then tried to plug in shore power, still the banging so we unplug. Further troubleshooting that works is powering up the generator, let the power transfer, then plug in the 30 amp shore power. No banging sound so we then shut off the generator. The panel then shows 30 amp power. So we know the auto transfer switch from shoreline/generator works. We don't have lots of load other than refrigerator when plugging into shore power. Is this a fault in the electrical management system, inverter/charger or ? Has anyone else had this problem??
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Old 10-03-2016, 03:56 PM   #2
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Post number 1. So first, welcome to the board!

Very possible you still get the banging, even with the generator running, but just may not hear it.

Most coaches have a ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) that sits around waiting for power to be 'detected'. Once it is, it 'switches' this power into the coaches electrical system. The 'bang' is the ATS electronically switching the switch of power into the coach.

(Now, since this is your first post. Let me assure you, that others that can describe ATS better then I did, will do so... Plus, if they feel this is bad input, good chance they will 'correct' my thoughts, and point you in a better direction. (It's the nature of the board, to very carefully 'correct' Smitty, when he is wrong. It's my way of helping other board members, feel very knowledgeable!))

All kidding aside, everything could be working by design. Hope it is, and again, welcome to the board!

Travel safe, and have fun,
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Old 10-03-2016, 06:59 PM   #3
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KTgirl as Smitty77 stated you will get a bang or more like a clunk when the transfer switch engages, this is normal.
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Old 10-03-2016, 09:25 PM   #4
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2013 ellipse GD we own does the same thing. It's the power transfer switch. Remove cover to transfer unit and you can see it in operation. Plug in to shore power and in seconds it will switch on, then start generator while still pluged in and in about 30 seconds it will switch again to the generator.
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Old 10-03-2016, 09:34 PM   #5
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Have the same coach and what he describes is normal. ATS switching. The only advice I could pass on is turn off heavy loads prior to plugging in or unplugging to minimize stress on ATS relay contacts.
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Old 10-03-2016, 09:53 PM   #6
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If your MH does not already have one, then I would invest in an inline Surge Protector. This will not get rid of the banging as you called it but it will help protect your MH from most electrical issues.
It will also let you know if there is an issue with the incoming power prior to actually getting in the MH. If there is it will not connect it to the MH.
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Old 10-04-2016, 10:56 AM   #7
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Smile

Wow! Thank you all for such quick responses. Really appreciate it. Like you all said, it has to be the ATS. But the "banging" or switching isn't normal in this situation. It's like a "sledge hammer loud slamming" sound that's why we unplug to stop any damage. But you all gave me another idea re troubleshooting....we only have this problem intermittently at our storage parking place. It has a 110 plug that we reduce to. My husband doesn't use the in-line surge protector at storage like he does at all other places we plug into. We are going to try that next. Hopefully we haven't done any damage.....everything is expensive on these coaches but we luv the lifestyle!

Thanks again! I told my husband about this website and he will be joining. He likes brainstorming with people. I got him into rv-ing about 10 years ago and now he's hooked!
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Old 10-04-2016, 09:36 PM   #8
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You may want to check your dog bones(electrical reducers). There have been many issues with the cheap ones. They may not be wired correctly, You are going from 50A to 30A to 20A which requires 2 dogbones.
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Old 10-05-2016, 01:48 PM   #9
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I thought those were called "pigtails"...... I like "dog bones"....

Thanks for additional information. I told my husband to check those connections too. He said he has a few but thought they weren't cheap ones. I think this all has something to do with the 110 plug that we reduce down to for our storage parking. Especially since it hasn't happened anywhere else. Appreciate the help!
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