Electrical overload - plugs burning up

[WDSFreedom]

Hey folks - don't know if anyone is around as we head into the holiday weekend. We just pulled into a new rv park, setting up and when we turned on the electricity and then AC, a powerstrip burned up from one outlet, then the Dish box on another outlet and the other Dish box and the little TV in the bedroom started smoking and burning up. We have a surge protector that we always plug our electricity into and it didn't read anything wrong.

Have no idea what the deal is... we are 17 months on the road full time in many, many rv parks. Don't think it is the park electricity since the surge protector is there but can't figure out why all of a sudden the electricity would be surging in the camper.

Needless to say we have everything unplugged now and wondering what to do next.

Any ideas? Going to be hard to find a technician this weekend. Oi vey.

Marcia & Jordan
2013 36RE

[Shane Wood]

Do you happen to have a voltmeter so you can check the plug you are plugged into. It sounds like the plug you plugged in your shore power to is putting 240 volts to your 120 volt outlets. If you do not have a meter or are unfamiliar with electricity call an electrician to come and diagnose your problem. They are on call 24/7. It will cost you but if they find it is the parks problem they will have to reimburse you for everything

[WDSFreedom]

Thanks, Shane, for the reply. The park guy is here checking with voltmeter. all is fine with their plug. and our surge protector is reading fine as well. we are stumped at the moment. electrician is next.

[WDSFreedom]

Well, two Dish boxes, a power strip/surge protector, a TV and a microwave later (all fried), we still have no idea what's going on. All amperage from rv park and our surge protector is reading fine. All plugs inside are at the correct amperage and working. Air conditioners are running fine. Not sure if a "regular" electrician will know how to look/find the wiring system in the RV. Have a couple of calls in to mobile RV repair folks and there is a Redwood dealer an hour away (but of course they are closed early for the holiday and won't be in for the rest of the weekend). I may be sleeping with one eye open! If anyone has any other ideas, let us know. Thanks.

[Shane Wood]

If that is the case your invertor may have malfunctioned which is very rare. They normally quit working and do no damage. Perhaps you had a ground connection and a 120 volt leg get together. You may want to pull out the invertor and check to see if the neutral or white wire became disconnected from a loose connection and is touching a black or hot wire if you have these other items working fine it is a problem on the circuit feeding the burnt items. They either had 240volts or 120 volts shorted to the ground to cause this

[sinder]

Here are a few other things to check:

- Inspect your power cord receiver on the back of the RV. A bad connection or wire short on the receiver could possibly cause a problem.

- Open up your front compartment and inspect the wiring block mounted on the back of the compartment. This would be on the side where your hydraulics are. In theory something such as a piece of metal could have shorted across the wiring lugs on the block.

- Lastly I tend to agree with Shane that it really sounds like 220 or some high voltage surge went down to your 120 outlets. Does your surge protector cover: prolonged High low voltage protection; open neutral protection, AC frequency protection; 220 Volt protection? If so, you should have been protected.

[WDSFreedom]

Thanks, all, for the advice. Here's what we found - our voltage regulator/surge protector that we bought at Camping World is the culprit. Tested it after the RV electrical checking out fine. Have opened a claim with the manufacturer. They will inspect it, we'll see what happens.

[5th_Time]

Why didn't the circuit breakers pop, either the main or individual, before the devices started smoking? Head-scratcher...

[Retired educators]

I had the surge protector from camping world also and had problems as well with my previous Redwood . Threw the thing In trash and purchased the Progressive surge protector that has lifetime warranty. No problems, great product!

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Shane Wood

If that is the case your invertor may have malfunctioned which is very rare. They normally quit working and do no damage. Perhaps you had a ground connection and a 120 volt leg get together. You may want to pull out the invertor and check to see if the neutral or white wire became disconnected from a loose connection and is touching a black or hot wire if you have these other items working fine it is a problem on the circuit feeding the burnt items. They either had 240volts or 120 volts shorted to the ground to cause this

Are you talking about the "converter"? The Inverters installed by Redwood for the residential fridge option would not impact the other electronics beyond the fridge.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by WDSFreedom

Thanks, all, for the advice. Here's what we found - our voltage regulator/surge protector that we bought at Camping World is the culprit. Tested it after the RV electrical checking out fine. Have opened a claim with the manufacturer. They will inspect it, we'll see what happens.

Let us know. I'd be curious how the surge suppressor actually caused the problem unless it lost a neutral or something.

[Shane Wood]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Are you talking about the "converter"? The Inverters installed by Redwood for the residential fridge option would not impact the other electronics beyond the fridge.

Yup i am talking about the converter