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Topic ClosedElectric - Event Date: 18 Nov 2019 - 28 Nov 2019

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Calendar Event: Electric
    Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 6:15am
Originally posted by Buckeye

WFCO?
We tried the 110 connection. It allowed us to initiate pulling the slider in, but it quickly stopped.

WFCO is the manufacturer of the battery charger in the trailer, which is located in the bottom of the electrical panel. Even if your battery is completely dead it should be able to provide enough current to bring the slide in, assuming it is operating.

So if the slide starts in for a few seconds and then stops you have a dead battery and its not getting charged. The WFCO chargers are not the most reliable things in the world. I would start by checking all the fuses and breakers and then connecting to a known good 120Vac source (to avoid the possible low voltage issue StephenH raises) and see if that brings your battery voltage up. Although its a good idea to have one, you can tell even without a DVM because the lights, fans, etc will start to get brighter when you turn on the charger. You can also use a separate portable battery charger connected directly to the battery terminals if you have one handy. 

Your battery has been completely discharged, which is not good for them, they can only tolerate that a limited number of times. After you get your charging system fixed and the battery fully recharged you might find that it won't hold a charge, so you might need a new battery too at some point. 

A DVM can show a low ac voltage condition under load just like an analog meter, all you have to do is connect it while the loads are turned on. That can be done using one of the trailer electrical outlets. 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 7:50am
My Surge Guard has shown faults at the pedestal a couple times so far, both times reverse polarity. Curious if it would have shown 'low power' as no power or some other fault..

I do consider the Surge Protector another worth while item to have.
 
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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 8:55am
Originally posted by Olddawgsrule

My Surge Guard has shown faults at the pedestal a couple times so far, both times reverse polarity. Curious if it would have shown 'low power' as no power or some other fault..

I do consider the Surge Protector another worth while item to have.
 

If you have the full function SurgeGaurd by TRC it will detect and protect against low or high voltages as well as miss-wired and and open lines. The cheaper surge protectors will not. I have had my SurgeGuard interrupt power when the voltage dropped to 102V due to poor campground equipment.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 9:47am
Originally posted by Blue Ridge

FYI
A digital volt meter may or may not show a low voltage condition where an analog meter would show it. I have tested circuits that showed the correct voltage but when connected to a load dropped low because the circuit could not supply enough amperage to run the load. Typically you would see this caused by a loose connection in a damp location (ie: power pole in camp ground).
The difference in impedance between a digital and analog meter is not so large as to make a difference in this application. I like DVMs because they usually (often) don't care about polarity, and many are also auto-ranging. In short, they are just more convenient and easy to use/interpret. I've got no beef with analog meters, I used them with great success for quite a long time. However, the capabilities of digital meters have really moved ahead.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2019 at 7:44pm
The Hughes Autoformer showed up today. It should help to avoid some power problems. It will get tested next week.
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