rfsod48 Report post Posted April 13, 2015 I have been told by several people that low voltage can be a common problem at some parks. Some have recommender an Autoformer. Would a surge protector still be needed and what would the order of connection be from coach to post? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted April 14, 2015 rfsod48, Welcome to the FMCA Forum! You did not post the shore power wiring of your coach, having said that I do not think the use of an auto transformer on an RV would be practical, cost wise for the number of times one might need it. Plus the size and weight of one large enough to supply the current could also be an issue. The cost of running a generator when there is a low voltage situation might be a better option. The normal applications are motor starters, dimmers, static balancers (for voltage) Rich. If you are want some technical information on them - try this link. http://nptel.ac.in/courses/108106071/pdfs/1_11.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted April 14, 2015 rfsod48, I second what Rich said above. We have experienced this at least four times...and yes the same campground on two different occasions. I have a surge protector that hangs from the tower and will shut the coach off when voltage drops to low or surges to high. Inside the coach I have a device that plugs into an outlet (digital line monitor) that will set off an audible alarm when there is a voltage problem as a back up. Once one sounds off or the power goes out from the device on the tower I shut the tower off, pull the plug, start the generator and call the office. I almost lost our last coach due to this problem, the voltage dropped....amperage spiked and the breaker panel in the coach started to melt the neutral wiring, thankfully we were in the unit and had just finished eating breakfast when I noticed the electrical burning smell. Today I will not hook up to a tower unless my surge/spike protector gives the all OK (LED light). Good luck and don't trust the tower. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted April 14, 2015 Our coach has the Aladdin System which monitors a number of items, tanks, engine, electric, etc. When we plug in at a campground one of the first things I check is the voltage reading. It normally shows up with the voltage in the 120V range. Then if it is air conditioning season I'll turn on both air conditioners to see what happens to the voltage. There have been only a few times this has caused a drop below 110V. One at a campground in Alaska and the other at a campground in Maine. In the campground in Maine it dropped to 90 with a single air conditioner. This can damage the air conditioner. We had no choice but to live without the air conditioner. We were there two days and then moved on. This kind of voltage problem won't melt the wiring in the breaker panel. That sounds like a grounding problem. Voltage drops are caused when the line feeding the post is substandard in size. If the wire is sized properly for the amperage and the length of run from the source, the voltage will drop only slightly as the load increases. If it drops too much, there is no immediate solution the campground can make to correct the situation other than possibly locating you to a different site. The only way to fix this is to re-wire the post to source. So I wouldn't purchase a special piece of equipment to solve low voltage problems. We stay at all kinds of campgrounds. We seldom stay in the high priced campgrounds. Even so, in my experience, the problem is very rare, not worth spending money to fix it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gbrinck Report post Posted April 18, 2015 An RV Autoformer costs abut $375 for the 30A model and $500 for the 50A version, so not horribly expensive. Weight is under 25 lbs, so no big deal there either. Under voltage is rarely a problem when using 50A service, but some older parks with 30A service and shabby wiring may have low voltage when demand gets high (e.g. when everybody's a/c is running). An autoformer can help then, but whether it is worth the cost is hard to say. We personally have not encountered low voltage often enough to worry about it, but my coach has a power monitoring system that would warn me, and shut power down, if there was a low voltage issue that was potentially damaging. If you buy a new Autoformer, it handle low voltage and also includes park power diagnostics and a degree of surge protection. With those additional functions included, you would not need a separate surge/monitor device when the Autoformer was in use. I don't know if the Autoformer product is as good a surge protector as units designed for that function, so see https://www.hughesautoformers.com/ if you want to research that further. Personally I would not bother to get one, but maybe if the parks we used often had low voltage power I would change my mind. It all depends on where you go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
