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Clyde43 · 09-05-2010, 11:23 PM

Had electrician wire 30 amp at my home. Got Bambi home plugged in and breaker threw with smoke and flames. Have I fried my whole trailer? Lights still work on batteries. Don't know is reversed polarity or something else. I think electrician ran 220 to 30 amp plug is it suppose to be 120 run to it? Help please!

ROBERTSUNRUS · 09-06-2010, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clyde43

Had electrician wire 30 amp at my home. Got Bambi home plugged in and breaker threw with smoke and flames. Have I fried my whole trailer? Lights still work on batteries. Don't know is reversed polarity or something else. I think electrician ran 220 to 30 amp plug is it suppose to be 120 run to it? Help please!

Hi, I think you nailed it; Electrician ran 220 instead of "RV 30 Amp 120 volt outlet" Every RV outlet I have seen says right on the box and on the outlet 30 Amp / 120 volt. Hope your trailer isn't too badly damaged.

Clyde43 · 09-06-2010, 12:28 AM

Once electrician changes plug to 120 volt 30 amp can I plug trailer in? How do I find out if everything is ok or not? I took off breaker cover and all wires look normal. Do I just try out to see what works?

Olbob · 09-06-2010, 12:42 AM

Take your trailer and put on a 15/30 amp adaptor plug use a medium 14 gauge regular extention cord and try it in a regular household 110v. 20 amp circuit DO NOT RUN AIR CONDITIONER. You should get a good indication of what works and what has been voltage surged. from a former rv service tech.

ROBERTSUNRUS · 09-06-2010, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olbob

Take your trailer and put on a 15/30 amp adaptor plug use a medium 14 gauge regular extention cord and try it in a regular household 110v. 20 amp circuit DO NOT RUN AIR CONDITIONER. You should get a good indication of what works and what has been voltage surged. from a former rv service tech.

Hi, this is great advice; Use your adapter 15/30 amp and plug it into a regular house recepticle to see what works what doesn't.

Clyde43 · 09-06-2010, 12:54 AM

Thank you! Once I try household power to check for damaged items then can I try 30 amp/120 for a/c?

AIR-Quarius · 09-06-2010, 06:08 AM

We had a sort of same problem...we were(and still are) hooked up to an old house, but the electric had been upgraded. It had 20 amp breakers that were on the verge of being worn out. Because the AC would keep tripping that particular breaker we were on. So we removed (after getting advice from all) the 20 amp breaker and replaced it with a 30 amp breaker...took the old converter plug off and it was then that we saw the electrical damage it had been doing...then went to an RV place and purchased a converter plug for six dollars. This picture is the old converter plug...pretty spooky huh?
But still we DO keep an eye on what is running and what is NOT running, being careful all the time to not run the compresser on the AC when even making coffee water, or the small microwave... That new converter/adapter plug fixture was yellow in color and works fine...it's about the size of a goose egg.

You don't want to give the air conditioner a hard time!

wasagachris · 09-06-2010, 07:22 AM

redhawkerII the "advice you got from all" is wrong. NEVER NEVER NEVER upsize a breaker. The wiring in that circuit is desigend to take a load according to the breaker. Your'e lucky you haven't burned down your house. The same damage to the adapter (converter) plug may have also happened to the wiring in your house. If you continue to use this circuit like this you are going to burn down your house and kill someone. When the fire marshall discovers that you have upsized this breaker with out upsizing the wires and receptacles you will be held financially and criminally responsible for your actions. Please correct this error immediately I don't want to read about your untimely death.

Olbob · 09-06-2010, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clyde43

Thank you! Once I try household power to check for damaged items then can I try 30 amp/120 for a/c?

I don't see a problem, any one feel free to jump in on this. Damm that plug picture is scary.

TG Twinkie · 09-06-2010, 07:39 AM

Never upsize the breaker, it is designed to protect a certain wire size. I would say the reason you blew up the plug is because 240 volts was wired in, instead of 120. As a result the second leg of the 240 was shorted directly to the neutral bus, which is probably grounded. You may have lucked out in this case. There are only a few things tha run on 120 in your trailer, the AC, the converter and anything you may have had plugged into the 120 volt outlets. If the AC was off, it's probably OK. The inverter on the other hand may have been damaged. If you had the old buzz box type, it may have survived, but the newer elctronic type may have been fried.
I find it amazing how many electricians don't know that there is a specific plug for RVs. I also understand why, there is just not that much call for that type of work. The outlets for RVs are clearly marked "For RV use only"
Hope you didn't let the smoke out of everything. You know that everything electrical works on smoke. Because when you let the smoke out, it doesn't work any more.
Hope all of your stuff still has the smoke inside, Good Luck

wasagachris · 09-06-2010, 07:46 AM

Clyde43 I would hold the electrician financially responsible for the damages if any to your trailer. Have the trailer checked out and repaired if neccessary by a reputable RV dealership. Present the bill to the electrcian and get payment before he repairs your house. If he refuses to pay report his actions to the local power authority before he erases his mistake and repairs your house. Any qualified electrician should not have made this grave error.
TG twinkie clyde 43 has the 220 problem and redhawker has upsized his breaker himself. two differnet problems.

TG Twinkie · 09-06-2010, 07:48 AM

If you run the AC on 14 gage wire, you will destroy the AC compressor motor. You need at least a 30 amp service with #10 wire supplying your trailer to run the AC. Larger wire if you are more than 50 ft from the power supply panel. Just because you can plug it in doesn't mean the circuit has the load capacity. Everyone should get educated on the power requirements of their trailer.
I hope OLBOB was just joking!

billberk · 09-06-2010, 07:51 AM

I accidentally got plugged into 220 at the lake earlier this year and now I have a new AC, refrigerator, convertor etc...

I should have looked at my meter but I didn't. It cost right at $5000.

Hope your damage is not as extensive, but you can file this as a comprehensive claim on your auto policy (assuming you insure your trailer) and you will only be out your comp deductible.

fltlevel510 · 09-06-2010, 07:54 AM

Here is a site with some very good information about RV electrical in layman's language. The Shocking Truth About RV’s | No~Shock~Zone There are currently five brief articles with some good diagrams and explanations on how to test your outlets for proper voltage and polarity.

87MH · 09-06-2010, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wasagachris

Clyde43 I would hold the electrician financially responsible for the damages if any to your trailer..... Present the bill to the electrcian and get payment before he repairs your house. If he refuses to pay report his actions to the local power authority before he erases his mistake and repairs your house. Any qualified electrician should not have made this grave error...

Before Clyde43 proceeds I think the SRO (Service Requisition Order) needs to be examined...if the original SRO says something like "Install an RV 30 breaker..." then maybe there is a valid claim. On the other hand, if the SRO only says something like "Install a 30 amp breaker...", then without further guidance from purchaser/homeowner, the installer could easily (mis)understand that his job is to install a 30 amp dryer type of receptical (much more common).

If the whole thing was done verbally - well it's the installers word on what he UNDERSTOOD against Clyde43's word on what he WANTED.

Avoid verbal communication - especially where money and liability is concerned - get it in writing.

DaveFL · 09-06-2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clyde43

Had electrician wire 30 amp at my home. Got Bambi home plugged in and breaker threw with smoke and flames. Have I fried my whole trailer? Lights still work on batteries. Don't know is reversed polarity or something else. I think electrician ran 220 to 30 amp plug is it suppose to be 120 run to it? Help please!

You don't say where the smoke and flames were. If in the trailer expect to replace what ever was on fire. If at the breaker box, breaker may have limited the damage to the trailer.

Clyde43 · 09-06-2010, 09:59 AM

Here's the details...

Plugged into 30 amp one 20 amp breaker threw and hot smell. Then we tried (like idiots) 110/20 household plug. Fire and smoke shot out of breaker box (no breakers thrown) and we unplugged. We took off breaker box cover but saw not damage visually.

Sounds bad to me. What do yall think? Do you think breakers stopped damage or everything is gone? Now I have to find a Rv service place I trust. Any reccommendations in Alabama? Wish we were close to Ohio.

jmsokol · 09-06-2010, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fltlevel510

Here is a site with some very good information about RV electrical in layman's language. The Shocking Truth About RV’s | No~Shock~Zone There are currently five brief articles with some good diagrams and explanations on how to test your outlets for proper voltage and polarity.

Everyone.... My name is Mike Sokol and I'm the writer of all the No~Shock~Zone articles. Please pass on the link www.NoShockZone.org to everyone you know who has an RV, and especially your contacts at Airstream itself. I'm trying to gain industry support of these articles and a series of No~Shock~Zone clinics we want to do across the country this fall and winter. As you can see from this thread, there's a lot of confusion even among electricians about RV plug wiring. Plus the casual RV owner wiring an extension cord or using a "dog bone" adapter can make a costly and dangerous mistake if they don't understand the basics about current draw and polarity.

The other real danger with any RV, and especially the aluminum skin of an Airstream, is that a mis-wired campsite receptacle or extension cord can electrify the entire body of your Airstream up to 120 volts, producing what's commonly called a "hot skin" condition. After that it just takes you standing on the wet ground and touching the body of your RV and you can be shocked or killed. Don't let that happen. Please take the time to read this No~Shock~Zone series on RV electrical safety and send me any comments about your own electrical issues. I'm all ears...

Mike Sokol
www.NoShockZone.org

Harleyjohn · 09-06-2010, 05:23 PM

I have a '92LY and wanted to be completely prepared for all camp site electric posibilities, so I bought a 50A to 30A adapter to use at campsites where only a 50A outlet is available.
I was told that the 50A is like the other service at campgrounds and are 110/115v.
When I asked a sales person at an RV store if the camp site 50a service can be 220v.
He said that it could and that the 50/30A adapter directs each 110 leg to where it does no harm.

ANY TRUTH TO THIS INFO???

jmsokol · 09-06-2010, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harleyjohn

I have a '92LY and wanted to be completely prepared for all camp site electric posibilities, so I bought a 50A to 30A adapter to use at campsites where only a 50A outlet is available.
I was told that the 50A is like the other service at campgrounds and are 110/115v.
When I asked a sales person at an RV store if the camp site 50a service can be 220v.
He said that it could and that the 50/30A adapter directs each 110 leg to where it does no harm.

ANY TRUTH TO THIS INFO???

Take a look at RV Electrical Safety: Part III and you'll see that a 50 amp campsite outlet is typically wired for 240 volts, which works out to 120 volts plus 120 volts on each leg. Using only one of the hot legs gets you 120 volts, while using both hot legs gets you 240 volts. So you can use a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter that only uses just one leg of the 240 volt feed and you'll get 120 volts. But be aware that with that sort of adapter you'll have a 30 amp rated power connector and extension cord being powered by a 50 amp circuit breaker. That's not a problem until you draw more than 30 amps down that cable by turning on too many appliances. If you were hooked to a 30 amp circuit breaker, it would trip and save your power cord from damage. But since you're hooked to a 50 amp circuit breaker it will allow you to draw more than the 30 amps of current that your cable and connector is rated for. This will cause overheating of your power cable and possibly cause a fire. See my latest article on what amperage is at RV Electrical Safety: Part V.

Mike Sokol