Questions about electric hookup at Gaffney

GG1 · 07-22-2005, 03:58 AM

Has anyone had any problems when plugging into the overnight hookups while getting serviced at Freightliner in Gaffney?
On a recent trip in for service I plugged into the 50 Amp and moments later my kitchen GFI outlet started burning. Subsequently I found that my rear TV & inverter did not work. The electricians at Freightliner could not find anything wrong with their pedistal however I was informed by 3 seperate customers that at various times there has been problems with the pedistal. One customer told me that last year he had the exaxt same thing happen to his coach.
The outcome is still pending from Freightliner.

GG1 · 07-22-2005, 03:58 AM

Has anyone had any problems when plugging into the overnight hookups while getting serviced at Freightliner in Gaffney?
On a recent trip in for service I plugged into the 50 Amp and moments later my kitchen GFI outlet started burning. Subsequently I found that my rear TV & inverter did not work. The electricians at Freightliner could not find anything wrong with their pedistal however I was informed by 3 seperate customers that at various times there has been problems with the pedistal. One customer told me that last year he had the exaxt same thing happen to his coach.
The outcome is still pending from Freightliner.

The Shadow · 07-22-2005, 04:55 AM

We had to connect to 30 amp service when we were there in April as someone had run their line over to our 50.

Hopefully the FTL new location won't have such problems.

Do you have a surge protector? Our TRC does a power check which we find comforting and hopefully it will identify situations where the power is not clean or voltage is either too high or two low - it certainly has done that to date.

smlranger · 07-22-2005, 06:32 AM

When will FTL have their new service facility finished and open? I plan to take my rig there (probably late fall/early winter) for the valve adjustment.

GG1 · 07-22-2005, 06:52 AM

What new location?

tomsm · 07-22-2005, 07:12 AM

Scheduled to open next Jan. Here's an article

MrTransistor · 07-22-2005, 09:07 AM

Hi GG1,
Did you by chance have your Generator running at the time you plugged into the 50 Amp. Outlet and turned on the breaker? I am an electronics technician and have investigated the transfer switch that Winne uses in their coaches. There seems to be a design flaw that under certain circumstances can allow the 50 Amp. connection to occur with the neutral momentarily disconnected. Net effect is that some circuits in the coach can get up to 240 VAC applied to them. Ouch! Since investigating this problem, I always shut down the Generator before connecting to shore power and never start the Generator until after disconnecting from shore power. We are full timers and travel extensively and have never had anything electrical burn up using this procedure.

GG1 · 07-22-2005, 10:41 AM

No, the generator was not running. The electrician at Freightliner suspected that there was an intermittent problem with their electrical pedistal but was unable to pinpoint it. They also had the night shift electrician check it. They could not find any apparant problem so they put a bag over the top so no one would use it. I am waiting for backfeed on this forum before I call them back with the damages to my coach.

MrTransistor · 07-22-2005, 05:50 PM

Hi GG1,
The damage you describe sounds like a neutral intermittently opening up. Same problem as described above. Depending on what loads are on as the power is applied i.e. hot water heater on one leg and a TV in standby on the other, the TV would get close to 240 VAC if the neutral is open. This kind of problem sometimes goes undetected when measured with a meter or line tester. Only under load does the neutral open.
Good luck, FCCC has treated us pretty good so far with our Journey and now the Horizon.

gunny · 07-23-2005, 04:26 PM

GG1:
I'll agree with Mr. Transistor. About the only explaination that would make any sense for the schenario you described.

MrTransistor · 07-23-2005, 05:10 PM

Hi GG1,
We are in the process of relocating the entertainment center CD/AM/FM radio to the bedroom. The wiring is all there and only some repining of the connector is required. Had a chance to revisit the schematics for the transfer box and, as I remembered, if the coach is connected to a 50 Amp. receptacle and the Generator is fired up, up to 240 VAC may appear momentarily on some circuits. There is also a failure mode in the transfer switch (happened to me but thankfully not on shore power) that can permanently connect up to 240 VAC to some circuits if the Generator is fired up and you are connected to a 50 Amp. source. Failures can occur (broken wire or loose Fast-On) that will not allow the Generator power through the transfer switch but no damage should result as long as you are not connected to 240 VAC. Also since 30 & 20 Amp. circuits are single phase 120 VAC, 240 VAC is not a worry.
I've only encountered one bad 50 Amp. pedestal and that was an RV park in Denver. The owner told me that several pedestals had gone on the fritz and he couldn't figure out why. It was too cold (-5F) for me to get involved with but I suspect a high resistance neutral was to blame. In that event, a circuit tester or Volt Meter would show a normal connection but under load the neutral would float causing mismatched voltages on the two 120 VAC circuits. From this explanation, you can see why I never have the Generator running and Shore Power connected at the same time. If you can figure a way, you might try to pass this info on to Gaffney.
P.S. If your Black and Decker rechargeable flashlight (or any other charger) burns up, blame the cheap square wave inverter that Winnebago installs and then install a good Sine Wave inverter.

PHESPE · 07-24-2005, 04:58 PM

I was parked next to GG! when he had the trouble with power at Gaffney.

Before the FL electricans came I metered the power pestal. I do not understand what I read on my meter. The results were:

L1 to N - 126 vac
L2 to N - 0vac
L1 to L2 - 252vac
L1 to Ground - 126vac
L2 to Ground - 126vac

It appeared that L2 and Netrual were the same connected to the same line. But how could L2 and N be the same if L1 to L2 was 252vac and L1 to N was 126vac.

Anyone know how the voltages could be at these levels?

PHE

MrTransistor · 07-27-2005, 09:23 AM

Hi PHESPE,
Sorry this took so long, had to make a rush trip to Snowflake, Az. As I suspected, an open neutral or ˜0' Volt connection. If you had measured between neutral and ground, you would have measured 126VAC. This problem is commonly caused by a poor neutral connection at the distribution panel. Using Al connectors with Cu wire is one culprit.