My wife and I just bought a 2009 Coyote 23CR HTT and went out this weekend on our first trip to try it out without the kids to work out the kinks and any other issues. 4 years since our last weekend getaway with out the kids. Anyway, we went to a little campground called Benner's Meadow Run in Farmington PA. Nice campground. Anyway, on Saturday it was hot and we were camped at the bottom of a loop. All seasonals around us and our was the only non seasonal on this loop. Anywho, we noticed that our A/C would keep tripping the breaker when it would cycle. We were on a so called 30amp site and thought there is no way with everything else except the fridge and radio on that it should trip. Also the microwave wouldn't heat unless we kept things in for a very very very long time. I even unplugged the microwave and plugged it in to the 20 amp. FYI I had to use a 30 amp plug adapter to convert our plug down to one that looks like it would be a regular house plug. I asked the staff (very nice) and they said that they haven't had complaints before but would send someone over which he was there to change the electrical thing before we got back to the site. I told him what it was doing and he scared us and made it sound like it might be a problem with the rig. I then later asked the guy in the seasonal site across from us and he said that his A/C had tripped. Later that night the A/C worked fine and the microwave heated well this am. To make a long story short and to easy our worries before we head back to the dealer. I have heard that if you go to an older campground that just adds more electric sites but don't update or add more juice then this could cause problems. Please tell me that since we were at one of these campgrounds and on the end site with several seasonal that this was more than likely the reason why we were not getting the performace out of our A/C and microwave. I'm hoping that the site just didn't have enough juice to supply the units in the hot weather and like I said they worked better later when everyone else had theirs turned off. Please help me sleep at night knowing this is they way it is and when we go to the newer campground that we usually do I won't have this problem. Thanks and HAPPY CAMPING...
Proud Treasurer of the Volunteer Team of ROCKY GAP STATE PARK
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Me ,The Wife,The Boy,The Girl,The New Girl
First off get a good night sleep. You were plugged into a 15 or 20 amp standard outlet. That was the root of the problem. If you had a volt meter I could bet you were well below 104 Volts. Good Luck and happy camping Bill
Sounds like low line voltage, if you wre connected thru a adapter to the 20 amp connector that is just not enough power. The A/C alone will draw 15 amps at 120 volts even more if the voltage is low. Your power converter was probably on charging the battery thats another up to 5 amps depending on your donverter, if your hot water heater is on that is another 10 to 12 amps, microwave is another 13 amps. I doubt you have a problem with the trailer just the CG has inadequate power. A 30 amp service is barely marginal for a modern day camper musch less a 20 supply. I would be looking for another place to camp, the low voltage is very rough on your equipment especially the compressor of your A/C, will cause overheating and short life. A autoformer would help you out a lot.
Papa Bob
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Buy yourself a little meter called Kill A Watt, it is a plug in meter that gives you Volt Amp Watt HZ and KWH readings. They have them many places but the cheapest one I have found was at Harbor Freight. Plug the little meter in and it will tell you in an instant how many volts you have coming into your rig. That line volt meter noted is way too expensive for my tasts. Your problem is common in small out of the way parks. Another way to tell if something is wrong with your rig is to unplug from shore power and start your generator, if everything runs as it should on generator, it is not your rig but the park. If you are using an adapter, they are only rated at 20 amps and by running AC you can ruin the adapter and your plug. Been there and done it. Sleep well. Carl
You have done a fairly good job of describing symptoms, MUCH MUCH better than most posters do the first time around
You have also done a first class job of describing a park with not enough wire in it's wires.
First, though we all say "At the end of the loop" .. Where is the end of a loop (A circle, or loop, has no end), When I say "We all say" I mean I do it too so don't get upset, but it's important for this discussion to be clear
You were at the end of the line, or branch circuit, and with all the sites full, there simply was too much voltage drop in that branch, The result is your A/C was not getting full power.. IT took far too long to start (Did not come up to speed fast enough) and this took out the breaker. Be glad it did not take out the A/C
The solution to that is an Autoformer by the way,, Hughes, Franks or that other company I recently heard about (Don't know their name)
OR.. Find a spot where the power is better
Meanwhile get a Kill-A-Watt meter, it is a multi function meter you can plug into a power outlet inside your rig. .It will give you voltage and frequency of the outlet it's plugged into.. If you then plug something into it (Your coffee pot for example) it will give you amps drawn by the pot. Watts, Amp-Hours, Power Factor, and a bunch of other readings,, Some of which will very likely mean nothing to you but which might to me under some conditions (And several others here) Nice toy, but the voltmeter function is very very very very useful for checking. And the cost is not that bad either
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
I totally concur with the low voltage analysis. The best advise is to get the AC voltmeter re Sam K. and first thing to do with it is plug it into a house kitchen outlet and observe it for a day. Once you know the 'normal' reading or range, plug it into your rig. You kinda need to watch it in heavy use times, so your A/C dosen't starve for power and pop the breaker again. Under low voltage conditions (<110V) suggest not using a/C at all.
Joe
Basically, it's highly recommended to carry something with you when camping (Multi-meter, Kill-A-Watt device, DVM, etc.) that you can use to check voltages at the campground pedestal AND inside your RV, as needed. The situation you experienced is a textbook example of an excellent time to use that device.
In fact, I would also recommend you do as I do, which is to check the pedestal voltage every time you hook up, plus a few times during the stay---especially on hot days when everybody and their brother's Air Conditioner is being ran.
As others have stated, almost for sure the problem was low voltage at the campground pedestal. I also agree with nbounder about not using the Air Conditioner at all with less than 110V, as it's very possible to ruin the Compressor by doing so. Indeed, unless it was an emergency situation I'd refrain from using ANY AC powered device in my RV if the supply voltage was less than 110V.
As the old saying goes: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
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