No 120 ac into Coach

[Guest Timothy]

Hi everyone. I have a problem in that I was getting some work done in Eugene Ore. we were not plugged in last night so we ran the generator. Both airs, Aqua hot on electric then the microwave was turned on ran for a little bit then the generator shut down along with everything else. The generator restarted immediately the a/c’s came on, turned off aqua hot , no more microwave, everything seemed fine. When I went to shut down air and generator I noticed on the display panel that all the green lights were on but no amp monitoring. Shut everything down. Moved on this am to park, plugged into 50 amps, progressive says 119 volts on both sides , zero errors. 50 amp circuit breaker says 50 volts one one leg , 145 volts on the other leg. No voltage in coach. The monitor panel does not light up at all on shore. On generator I am getting 119 volts on both sides of the 50 amp circuit breaker. Still no amp measure on monitor panel but all stations are lite up. What am I missing. Inverter fine, no blown circuit breakers, salesman swith on, interior dc all works. ?????? Thank You Tim, 2007 Camelot

[Dwight Lindsey]

What transfer switch do you have?  If it's an IOTA, it needs to be replaced.  Mine melted.

I'd open the transfer switch and check for burned or melted contacts and if all looks good, make sure all the wire connections are tight.

Dwight

I'd turn off the 12 volt disconnect switch to the house and unplug from shore power, before I would open the transfer switch.

Dwight

[Guest Timothy]

Thanks Dwight, I have opened the transfer switch, no observable problems. I am getting 119 VCA in 119 v out. There is an 80 amp house breaker in the front run bay. I can’t get a good reading off for it but should I assume that if I am getting 120 v off generator into house, it is probably not the problem

[Dr4Film]

Have you checked the circuit breakers on the Inverter to make sure they haven't tripped?

[Guest Timothy]

Yes, they are both engaged and presently have inverted power in coach

I keep thinking it has to be something simple but no lucki

[Dwight Lindsey]

When you say:

"50 amp circuit breaker says 50 volts one one leg , 145 volts on the other leg." 

I presume you mean a breaker inside the coach.

I had a breaker inline with my 50 amp RV hookup at my office, thatt my Progressive did not like and would not allow power into the coach.  My volt meter showed slightly different voltages on the two legs.  So I replaced the breaker.  All was well, voltage the same on both sides and the Progressive liked it.

If I were you, I might replace that 50 amp breaker.

Dwight

Edited July 29, 2021 by Dwight Lindsey
spelling

[Guest Timothy]

This is the 80 amp house breaker I referred to earlier

[Dwight Lindsey]

That's a DC circuit, shouldn't have anything to do with the shore power.

I'm still thinking that the transfer switch is suspect

Dwight

[Guest Timothy]

Well, it seems strange to me that I get 120 out of both sides but what do I know. I guess I could jump across shore power directly and bypass the switch just to ensure it is not the problem

Thanks for the info on the 80 amp runbay breaker. No wonder I could not get any reliable readings off it

[Dwight Lindsey]

The transfer switch should default to shore power.  If you are getting generator power into the coach, then the transfer switch is either switching to generator, or stuck at the generator position.  If all or part of the transfer switch contacts are stuck (mine melted), then something strange could be happening.

I'd only jump across it if I was very sure I knew which terminals to jump . . . would probably be a last resort for me.

I'll ask again, what transfer switch do you have? The IOTA switches are known to fail and cause fires.  Mine melted but did not cause a fire.

Long story, which I'll try to make short.  When we were dry camping near Yosemite, the IOTA melted.  We bought a new transfer switch from Camping World in Fresno and installed it.  It worked for about 12 hours and then failed.  The circuit board fried.  So after a call to tech support for the transfer switch, confirming that the circuit board was dead, I removed the shore power input wires from the switch and connected the generator input wires in the shore power positions.  Since the dead transfer switch contactors were defaulted to the shore power inputs, this allowed us to get generator power in the coach and continue our dry camping trip.

Dwight

Edited July 29, 2021 by Dwight Lindsey
spelling

[Joel & Susanna]

Could it be that your shore power neutral is swinging to the lower leg thus this is how your getting high 145 on L1 and low 50 on L2. Unplug and measure the campground socket. Measure neutral to ground also. I had a campground supply did this and that blew my inverter, sat receiver and a DVR costing me over $1800.

[Dwight Lindsey]

He has a Progressive Industries surge protector, probably an HW50c.  That box will prevent the situation you described.

Dwight

But . . . a similar thing could be happening in the transfer switch, or in the breaker box in the coach . . . 

[Guest Timothy]

Ok,  no luck with jumping the shore power to the other side. Wondering if it’s a possibility that the inverter is not recognizing the shore. BTW the readings I was getting off the 50 amp breaker were milia  by volts I am not real good with multi meters and did not notice it. At present I am out of ideas. I am going to order new transfer switch. I don’t want one that hums. Any advice

[Dwight Lindsey]

https://www.amazon.com/Elkhart-LPT50BRD-Automatic-Transfer-Switch/dp/B007HS0ONG/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ESCO+50+amp+transfer+switch&qid=1627613805&sr=8-3

ESCO (Elkhart Supply Corporation) LPT50BRD

[Guest Timothy]

Just an update. Temporary fix but will keep us on our trip for a couple weeks. I moved the shore power to the generator position. Now have shore power no gen. We are staying in resorts the rest of the trip so it will work out. Ordered the recommended transfer switch and will install when we get home. Thanks for all the assist. Tim

[Dwight Lindsey]

Tim:  I wonder if your transfer switch defaults to Generator and switches to shore power when it sees voltage on the shore power side.  Mine works the opposite way.

If yours works like mine and moving the shore power wires to the generator positions gets you power, then I guess your contactors, or some of them, are melted and welded into position.  Or your transfer switch was built opposite to mine, or wired opposite to mine.  Interesting.

FYI, after mine melted, I have made sure that I never have a big load from air conditioners when I change power sources.  I had been leaving a campground with the air conditioners on and starting the generator, then later upon arriving or when the air conditioners weren't needed any more, I'd just shut off the generator.

Both of those actions, under load, were causing arcing at the contactors.

Now I shut off the air conditioners every time, before changing power sources.

Dwight

[Dr4Film]

Without knowing exactly what brand of transfer switch he has as it was never posted, the ESCO EN-65 requires 120 VAC power to each set of relays to engage either the generator or the shore power. When neither are present no relay contactors are engaged.

Knowing what brand of transfer switch would help to identify if the generator relay is NC versus NO.

Edited July 31, 2021 by Dr4Film

[Guest Timothy]

Richard, I stated in an earlier post it is the original iota. Ordered the LPT 50 BRD. Will install when we return home in a couple weeks. 

[Dr4Film]

Either I am developing early dementia or something more serious but I don't remember reading the brand of transfer switch in any of your posts in this thread.

[Guest Timothy]

I know one or two of my replies did not post because of spotty cell service. Dwayne asked me a 2nd time and I posted the iota with great reluctantly as I really didn’t need the harangue of not having changed it years ago. Somehow this thread was posted in chassis and handling so it may not have been viewed by many. I do apply all the help and hopefully the issue is temporarily resolved. Timi

[Dwight Lindsey]

Tim:  I also did not heed the many warnings about the IOTA that I'd been hearing here for many years.  Then in 2019 mine melted.  It was really ugly inside and I'm actually surprised it didn't catch fire and burn up the coach.  

So don't feel like you're alone in alone in not heeding the warnings about the IOTA.

Dwight

[Dr4Film]

Tim, this morning I went back to read this entire thread and there isn't one post from you or anyone quoting you in regards to identifying the brand of your transfer switch so I my early prognosis of dementia has been determined to be non-existent for now at least. Don't know what the future has in store for me regarding my cognitive abilities but for now I can rest easy. 😁