Minimum Voltage and Amps at Pedestal?

[SilverWind]

What should I expect for a safe minimum voltage and amperage at an RV park pedestal?

My SurgeGuard says 115v and 3 amps this morning. Yesterday it went down to 113v/3a during the heat of the day and up to 117v/3a by 9PM last evening.

My inside volt meter showed 109/110v yesterday and 110v this morning. We're using the refrigerator but not using the AC despite high 80s.

I've noticed that "modern" RV parks seem to deliver a steady 120v or more. This "old school" park is in fabulous and we'd like to stay a while but certainly don't want to compromise our Airstream's electrical system.

[Al and Missy]

Nominal Voltage is 120V. Typical tolerance is 5%, or 6 volts. So you could see as low as 114 before any loads. My AC unit says 115 volts nominal so I'd say you would be good down to 110 or so. Much below that it will labor and draw too much current. Anything else in the trailer should be fine.

Al

[Paprika]

Your SurgeGuard EMS should cut off power to the RV if voltage drops too low. That's part of its job: to protect your trailer against damaging conditions. I don't know what the SurgeGuard's cutoff point is (your owner's manual should say), but my similar Progressive Industries EMS cuts off when voltage drops below 105 VAC.

[waninae39]

Yes, the SurgeGuard EMS will cut off power if the voltage drops too low.
we had this occur a few times last year

the park was poorly wired and the EMS would disconnect us.
at 108 V, the uwave stop working . it would run, but no heating at all

get an EMS it works very well

[switz]

The nominal voltage 120Vac is listed on appliances. Voltage from 110Vac to 120Vac is acceptable. Below 110Vac becomes the issue.

[SilverHouseDreams]

I believe this should give you the details you want if you wish for an informed answer about allowed voltage ranges: http://voltage-disturbance.com/volta...rd-ansi-c84-1/

It seems that many people focus on what the utility/unloaded voltage ranges are, rather than the user system service voltage:

Utilization Voltage: End user equipment should be designed to provide acceptable performance for voltages in range B, although not necessarily as good performance as in range A. The tolerance for range B utilization voltage is +5.8% to -13.3%.

That means acceptable voltage range under load is 106V to 127V. Progressive Industries EMS tolerance range is >104V and <132V.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

As mentioned above, your appliances (including the AC) should be fine down to 105V and up to 130V. That's not to say they will be *happy* over that range, but they will not be damaged.

It is not at all uncommon to find campgrounds a bit low at various times of day. They often are out on long feeds and that compounds any problems they have with local distribution.

Another factor in all this - how good is your voltmeter? A *lot* of these simple voltage readout devices are in the +/- 2 or 3% accuracy range. If you are trying to decide between 110 and 108V, that's not good enough. Even a cheap multimeter is likely to do a better job than they do. If you want to get below the 0.1% range on AC, you will need a pretty good multimeter ....

Bob