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  • Battery dead while hooked up to 120v

    Hi Everyone, did a quick search but couldn’t find anything so I’m posing a few questions that I’m having issues with.
    We have a 2018 367 BHS, and currently have it parked at our home. My wife and I are healthcare workers and when it comes time to go back to work, we have the RV to quarantine ourselves when we contract Covid-19. Currently we do not have 30/50 Amp service at the house (Electrician will be here Monday to hopefully get that taken care of). My issue is something I’ve dealt with since owning the rig. The TRC in-line surge protector does its job, but is extremely finicky! I dogboned the power cord down to a 120v line to keep the battery charged until we can get adequate power hooked up. Well, the battery is completely dead. It was fully charged a few days ago when we dropped the RV off at our house from our covered storage (which also
    has 120v power and has kept the battery charged). The power cord light is on, there’s no fuses tripped, and the only thing I know is that the surge protector is blinking red (caution - I posted the pic of what it’s doing) and not letting any power into the RV. I understand that a 120 line won’t have enough power to run much of anything, but it should be able to charge the battery right?
    Any help or insight is greatly appreciated. I apologize for this being long winded. Thank you!
    Last edited by Country Campers; 04-01-2020, 05:08 PM. Reason: changed 220 to 120

  • #2
    Cticurn1


    I have edited your post to read 120 volts instead of the 220 volts that you had posted. This will definitely help in tryin to find the problem. ( I assume that it was you had intended to type).

    The red lights on the Line 1 and Line 2 indicate a low or high voltage condition , according to the manual. I would test the plug that you are connected to and confirm that it is 120 volts. However if you had intended to type 220 volts and you are plugging that into the RV then this would cause this fault with you surge guard.

    Brian
    Brian & Michelle
    2018 Reflection 29RS
    2022 Chevy 3500HD

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    • #3
      Thank you for the correction...yes.....I did mean 120v...tested the outlet and no issues.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Cticurn1 View Post
        Thank you for the correction...yes.....I did mean 120v...tested the outlet and no issues.
        I honestly thought the first title was an attempt at an April Fool's post. There's been a few like this on Facebook today and a lot of folks have taken the bait.

        So back to the issue at hand--how, exactly, did you test the home's outlet?
        Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

        2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

        Comment


        • #5
          Your SurgeGuard looks like it has green lights on L1 and L2 with a red caution light. This could be a missing neutral or ground.
          WRT battery charging . . . the first thing to check is that the battery switch in the pass through storage area is in the “On” position.

          Rob
          Cate & Rob
          (with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
          2015 Reflection 303RLS
          2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
          Bayham, Ontario, Canada

          Comment


          • #6
            Ok, sorry for not responding last few days. Electrician is here , tested the outlet, reading 123v. The extension cord attached to 30amp dog bone is reading 122v. While hooked to the 120v outlet on the house, and the surge protector blinking red (caution), and Line 1&2 green, no power to RV. When I plugged the 30amp into my inverter generator, surge protector clears, all green lights, and the RV is getting 124v....So, the issue is the surge protector. It’s not allowing the power to get to the converter to charge the battery....Sound about right? Answering questions and responses:
            howson - sorry sir, wasn’t an April Fools joke, electrician checked with a voltmeter.
            Cate&Rob - yes sir....I think your right. I believe it’s an issue with a ground. The reason why I think that is the same thing happened to me the first time I went dry camping and too my inverter generator. I plugged it in to the generator and the same thing happened. It wasn’t until a few hours of trouble shooting that my buddy figured that the surge protector didn’t like the “floating ground” (as he called it) so he (if I remember correctly) jammed a piece of wire in the Ground line of the 120v outlet in my generator and it cleared the surge protector. I’ve attached a pic of what I have now instead of the piece of wire. To answer your second question, yes sir, made sure the battery switch is on while it was hooked up to house outlet.

            sorry again about the terminology, give someone a bit of knowledge and it can be dangerous, lol. I’ve learned a lot over the past few years, but I’m still learning. Thanks again for the help!

            Cticurn1

            Attached Files

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Cticurn1 View Post
              Ok, sorry for not responding last few days. Electrician is here , tested the outlet, reading 123v. The extension cord attached to 30amp dog bone is reading 122v. While hooked to the 120v outlet on the house, and the surge protector blinking red (caution), and Line 1&2 green, no power to RV. When I plugged the 30amp into my inverter generator, surge protector clears, all green lights, and the RV is getting 124v....So, the issue is the surge protector. It’s not allowing the power to get to the converter to charge the battery....Sound about right? Answering questions and responses:
              howson - sorry sir, wasn’t an April Fools joke, electrician checked with a voltmeter.
              Cate&Rob - yes sir....I think your right. I believe it’s an issue with a ground. The reason why I think that is the same thing happened to me the first time I went dry camping and too my inverter generator. I plugged it in to the generator and the same thing happened. It wasn’t until a few hours of trouble shooting that my buddy figured that the surge protector didn’t like the “floating ground” (as he called it) so he (if I remember correctly) jammed a piece of wire in the Ground line of the 120v outlet in my generator and it cleared the surge protector. I’ve attached a pic of what I have now instead of the piece of wire. To answer your second question, yes sir, made sure the battery switch is on while it was hooked up to house outlet.

              sorry again about the terminology, give someone a bit of knowledge and it can be dangerous, lol. I’ve learned a lot over the past few years, but I’m still learning. Thanks again for the help!

              Cticurn1
              I'll step aside and let someone with more knowledge than myself chime in. OffToHavasu ? Chiefblueman ? TucsonJim?
              Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

              2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Cticurn1 View Post
                Ok, sorry for not responding last few days. Electrician is here , tested the outlet, reading 123v. The extension cord attached to 30amp dog bone is reading 122v. While hooked to the 120v outlet on the house, and the surge protector blinking red (caution), and Line 1&2 green, no power to RV. When I plugged the 30amp into my inverter generator, surge protector clears, all green lights, and the RV is getting 124v....So, the issue is the surge protector. It’s not allowing the power to get to the converter to charge the battery....Sound about right? Answering questions and responses:
                howson - sorry sir, wasn’t an April Fools joke, electrician checked with a voltmeter.
                Cate&Rob - yes sir....I think your right. I believe it’s an issue with a ground. The reason why I think that is the same thing happened to me the first time I went dry camping and too my inverter generator. I plugged it in to the generator and the same thing happened. It wasn’t until a few hours of trouble shooting that my buddy figured that the surge protector didn’t like the “floating ground” (as he called it) so he (if I remember correctly) jammed a piece of wire in the Ground line of the 120v outlet in my generator and it cleared the surge protector. I’ve attached a pic of what I have now instead of the piece of wire. To answer your second question, yes sir, made sure the battery switch is on while it was hooked up to house outlet.

                sorry again about the terminology, give someone a bit of knowledge and it can be dangerous, lol. I’ve learned a lot over the past few years, but I’m still learning. Thanks again for the help!

                Cticurn1
                I would not think the problem is in your surge protector if it is working fine on the generator. Does it work fine on the generator plugged into the same extension cord and dogbone as you use plugged into the house? My bet is on either the cord or dogbone. Even though you have 122V out could be the line and neutral are reversed or as Rob suggested a problem with the house ground. My money would be the house ground, or the ground in the extension cord.
                Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

                Neil Citro
                2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
                2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab

                Comment


                • #9
                  How handy are you with a volt meter? If you are, here are some things to check.

                  On the line side

                  Measure across black to white, should be 120V
                  Measure across red to white, should be 120v
                  Measure across black to green, should be 120v
                  Measure across red to green, should be 120v.
                  Last edited by OffToHavasu; 04-06-2020, 05:45 PM.
                  Curtis, Christine, Cole, and Charlotte
                  2007 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax LBZ, CCLB
                  2020 Momentum 351M
                  2004 Essex Vortex

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Cticurn1
                    We are making progress .

                    Your experience with your generator says that your surge protector and power cord are OK. The problem comes back to when you plug into the 120V outlet. Can you run a (temporary) extension cord from another outlet in the house to see if this works? This could isolate the problem to the house wiring circuit that you are trying to plug into.

                    Rob
                    Cate & Rob
                    (with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
                    2015 Reflection 303RLS
                    2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
                    Bayham, Ontario, Canada

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Ncitro: electrician checked the outlet at the house, the extension cord plugged into the house outlet, and the dog bone...every plug/outlet from the house to the RV was checked by the electrician and in working order. I agree, I think it’s the surge protector.
                      OffToHavasu: I didn’t watch him to see what wires he checked while in the RV (social distancing), but we’ve been using him for many years and trust him. That being said, I’ll try and check them out tomorrow.

                      We are going to have him install a 50Amp service so we won’t have to worry about this for much longer, but once all this nonsense is over with, I will have the surge protector either looked at or replaced. Thanks again for the assistance everyone.

                      Cticurn1

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Cticurn1 View Post
                        When I plugged the 30amp into my inverter generator, surge protector clears, all green lights, and the RV is getting 124v....So, the issue is the surge protector.
                        How does correct surge protector operation with the generator point to the problem being the surge protector ?

                        Rob

                        Cate & Rob
                        (with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
                        2015 Reflection 303RLS
                        2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
                        Bayham, Ontario, Canada

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Cticurn1 View Post
                          Ncitro: electrician checked the outlet at the house, the extension cord plugged into the house outlet, and the dog bone...every plug/outlet from the house to the RV was checked by the electrician and in working order. I agree, I think it’s the surge protector.
                          OffToHavasu: I didn’t watch him to see what wires he checked while in the RV (social distancing), but we’ve been using him for many years and trust him. That being said, I’ll try and check them out tomorrow.

                          We are going to have him install a 50Amp service so we won’t have to worry about this for much longer, but once all this nonsense is over with, I will have the surge protector either looked at or replaced. Thanks again for the assistance everyone.

                          Cticurn1
                          The fact that it works properly on your generator says that the surge protector is fine and points to something else. Again it could be that the electrician missed something. Does the surge protector work through the dog bone adapter and the same extension cord when plugged into a 15 amp generator outlet? If not then its going to be something in that chain.
                          Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

                          Neil Citro
                          2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
                          2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            That's why we need to voltage check at the surge protector line side as indicated above.
                            Curtis, Christine, Cole, and Charlotte
                            2007 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax LBZ, CCLB
                            2020 Momentum 351M
                            2004 Essex Vortex

                            Comment

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