The RV park which I'm spending the winter at in FL has low power (105/106) during the day due to being at the end of the power grid. Too low to run the AC. I purchased an Autoformer power booster and it boosted the power up to 118V. I'm now a believer in this product.
Thought some of you may find this of interest.
John
doubt it is the "grid", sounds like undersized service wire in the campground.
your buck boost transformer will only make the problem worse (for everone else, not you).
do you have a meter in the campground? or are you connected to their (camp ground) system?
if you have a meter call the power company and make them fix the problem, they should provide 120/240 or 120/208 +/- 5%.
if the system belongs to the campground they need to fix their wiring.
low voltage increases current, that increases heat. that shortens the life of all of your gear.
i'm not stating that it is not a good product, just uneeded if everything is working the way it should. fix the cause of the problem, then added equipment is not needed.
buck boost transformers are used when nothing else can be done to remedy voltage problems. like when 120/240v systems are converted to 120/208 and the cost of new equipment is out of the question.
but what the heck, if it works use it. at least you noticed the problem and did something about it. most people would have burned up their a.c. compressor and never gave it a second thought!
It's still very hot and steamy down here, 90 degrees during the day. From 8pm to 6 am, we have 120V in the park, but once the AC demand kicks-in during the day, the power drops off. This is why I am using the Hughes Autoformer to boost the power during peak demand. Now I can use my AC and be comfortable in my AS during the day.
John,
We ran into our first low power situation at a Chapter rally this summer. One of our chapter members owns the campground, formerly a KOA and probably needs to do some major renovation of his electrical systems. We were down to about 90 volts at some of the sites.
What does a unit like you bought cost? Is there a rule of thumb as to how much you can boost a site when you run into this situation? Is there a web site to look at these?
Jack
__________________
Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
'08 Vespa GTS 250
The 30amp model cost $359 @ Camping World (they happen to be giving an additional 10% off this week). It will boost the low voltage by 10% . I was @ 106V prior to plugging in the Autoformer and now I'm @ 118V. The unit is in by-pass over 118Volts. It will boost when the park power drops below 116V. If the park power is really bad (reading below 95), the Autoformer will not have enough power to work and will go into by-pass moded (will not boost). It also has some surge and spike protection.
The campground I'm staying at has old aluminium wiring too. I just started using this yesterday and I haven't been below 109V w/the AC on. I check the voltage with a multi-meter.
John
The park's lot size are 50X80 for $250 per month, including taxes. During the winter months there is ample power, only during the hot months does the low voltage situtation occur.
The Hughes Autoformer died on me last week. My breakers started tripping and my mulit-meter was showing voltage spikes up to 135V, so I went out to look at the booster. I felt it with the back of my hand and it was HOT! I disconnected and everything went back to normal. I called Camping World and they sent me a call-tag to return it for credit only.
I'm lucky tho, because now the power within the park now is normal(no big drains) and we all have good voltage.
Just wanted to share this with you all. John
They make a 30A & a 50A booster, both 120V. I don't remember the KV max., but Hughes felt that either a MOV went or it got water in it. For $330, I'm happy it died during Camping World's warranty.
John
at the utility i work at we have al underground wiring that is almost 50 years old. how it was installed makes a large differance as to how long it lasts.
who owns the wire feeding your site? the utility or the campground?
the reason i ask is because your auto transformer may have been affected by an open neutral in the service wires.
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