no Good Deed Goes Unpunished or Lightning Strikes Twice

Enroute to our two weeks at Onslow Beach at Camp LeJeune, we stopped off to visit our daughter, son in law and granddaughter in Fayetteville, NC.

We never made it to LeJeune. Our son in law and his licensed electrician friend decided to put in a 30A connection at their home. We are about ready to start full-timing and this will be our base of operations. Sounds like a great idea. We pull in and connected our Bounder to their 30A connection and it blew out all of our electronics. I threw a multimeter on their 30A connection and it read 240 Volts. Yes, you guess it. The licensed electrician could not understand how a 30A 120V connection would work and chose not to ask anyone. >

So we have an appointment at the local dealer to meet with them and our insurance adjuster to determine how much damage was done instead of the Atlantic Ocean. >

Here is the really embarassing part. A year ago I had a lightning strike on my Bounder and guess what? Yep, the same problem. So I suspect that at least the converter and inverter are fried and maybe the EMS and the generator transfer switch which is what happened with the lightning strike.

I will never let this happen again and I need your help. What kind of surge protection would you recommend for my 50A Bounder? ???

The lessons here:

Never leave home without surge protection
Never assume that the expert knows what he is doing
Always be prepared for changes in plans

• 
  

A good rule of tumb is.. always carry a voltmeter and allways check the receptacles before you plug in.
That way you know if you have 120 or 240. Camping World sells a little gismo that digitally tells you
how much voltage is at the plug.

Hope this help.

I would at least find out who licensed the electrician and give them a call. I can understand something like this happening when a dummie like me does the wiring but if the guy was "licensed" perhaps he needs a refresher or an invitation to find a job that he can handle.

I'm not a very demanding guy but when someone holds themselves out as a pro I would expect them to perform within minimal standards. Nomads has a good suggestion. I ALWAYS check the power before I plug in the coach--ya never know.

Glenn

Curt,

I have a HW50AMP EMS (Electrical Management System) on my coach. This is not to be confused witht he Energy Management System (EMS) that came on your coach. This is an after market item made by Progressive Industries. It is put in place between your shore power cord and the transfer box. If the electricity is not exactly right when you plug in it will not allow any power to get past the EMS box. It also has a read out on it that lets you know exactly how many volts are going through on each leg of the 50 amp wire. It lists L1 and then L2. It goes through the complete cycle before it allows power to the transfer box. It also continually monitors the power and if the power drops below 104 volts it shuts all electricity to your coach off. The read out then gives you a code that tells you exactly what is wrong with the power. (Oh yeah, you said you had a Bounder. If my memory is right you have a 30 amp set up. Progressive also makes one of these for 30amp rigs.)

This little item has paid for itself several times. The main one was in January down in southern Florida. The park kept having power problems with it dropping below 104. We were running both A/C's and could have fried everything except for our Progressive.

I got mine at a large Monaco rally in Orlando. The vendor was VIP Enterprises. This is operated by Dave Sarkey who is a good guy and backs up everything he sells. He makes all the major rallies. He was also at the Southeast Area FMCA rally in Brooksville, FL. He makes most of our Monaco America rallies so we have gotten to know him. Other vendors at rallies also sell and install the Progressive units. You can get on that is portable that just plugs into the park pedestal and then you plug your power cord into it. The only problem with these are they are bulky and are subject to theft. I like the HW (Hard Wired) version because it is always there and I don't have to remember to hook it up.

Great news to report.

Thanks to great work from USAA and Hawley's RV in Fayetteville, NC, we will be on our way to the beach tomorrow.

The final count on wiped out equipment is:

• Microwave convection oven
  
• Central vac
  
• Converter
  
• Inverter

The only thing not readily available for installation was the microwave. They installed an 85 Amp converter with surge protection built into it so I guess they were looking out for me.

At Hawley's they said that they renamed me "220" and since I had my son-in-law with me who supervised the installation of a 30 Amp 220 circuit that started this whole mess, I introduced him as "120". He is a great guy who will be rejoining the Army shortly to be a helicopter pilot. We will have many a laugh over a campfire about his electrical skills.

If you are ever traveling through NC on I-95 and need service, I strongly recommend Hawley's. Hawley's actually has four camping centers in NC: Fayetteville, Wilmington, Durham and Greensboro if you are ever in need.

Thanks for all of the great comments!!!!

Curt