2000 Adventurer 50 amp upgrade. EMS?

[BigA]

HI, I just bought a 2000 Adventurer 35B as my first RV ever.

My first problem was that the generator needed to be serviced and the valves adjusted, new plugs ... The fuel pump worked, but when the generator was loaded it would quit so that got replaced too.

I spent a couple of days reading all the threads I could find on upgrading the electrical to 50 amp service which would allow both AC compressors and other appliances to run. What a great community this is. I was able to buy the parts and do the upgrade. The shore power cord will arrive tomorrow. I found a loose connection at the basement AC and fixed that and it is running 16 amps on one compressor. Still waiting for the second hard start kit.

While lying on the floor threading the neutral wire through the current sensing donut in the EMS I realized why the amperage is not shown when connected to 50 amps. In the 50 amp configuration there are two separate 120 volt legs each providing 120 V. But there is only one neutral. The currents in the two legs flow in opposite directions and they flow in opposite directions in the neutral leg where they cancel. In fact if the loads were exactly equal in the two legs the current in the neutral wire would zero. So with only one donut and one neutral wire the current can't be measured. It would require a different EMS with two donuts and a split neutral bar in the circuit breaker box. Mystery solved.

Cheers

Alex

[macnut]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your repair!

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by BigA

In fact if the loads were exactly equal in the two legs the current in the neutral wire would zero. So with only one donut and one neutral wire the current can't be measured. It would require a different EMS with two donuts and a split neutral bar in the circuit breaker box. Mystery solved.

Cheers

Alex

You could also put the two donuts on the hot side, if there were a location for that. That's typically how house monitors are set up.