Shore power

[DanJ]

Hello friends, we are setting up our 5.0 and we can't get the trailer to run anything on shore power. The fridge trips the surge protector. Is it safe to bypass it? Our old trailer would run fine. Any tips? I'm not getting error messages on the display.

[Starbrightsteve]

I have a simple portable unit so I can’t offer help. But ... this post will bump it to the top of the list and maybe someone will help.
Steve

[padlin]

If you don't start the fridge on 120vac does everything else work?

[alanmalk]

Give us a little more to work with.

Originally Posted by DanJ

we can't get the trailer to run anything on shore power. The fridge trips the surge protector.

Perhaps elaborate on the "anything". Turn off the fridge or set it to propane to remove it from the puzzle. Reset the surge protector and plug in. Wait the usual 180 seconds and tell us what the display says. Then plug something into a 110 outlet - like a small lamp. Does it trip the surge protector? And if so, how do you know the surge protector is "tripped"? Did it make some kind of noise or did a switch move?

Realize that during the above scenario you still may be running the hot water heater on 110 if you haven't turned it off. You also may be running the 110 to 12V converter (battery charger). Confirm the air conditioner is in the "off" position. To remove them from the puzzle flip their circuit breakers to the "off" position. Once you narrow down the "anything's" to truly nothing then perhaps the surge protector has fried.

Best of luck!
Alan

[DanJ]

My surge protector says I am at 121 and the EMS shuts down when the fridge is on. When I flip to bypass it works. We are charging some radios and running the audio system and it works without tripping.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by DanJ

My surge protector says I am at 121 and the EMS shuts down when the fridge is on. When I flip to bypass it works. We are charging some radios and running the audio system and it works without tripping.

So you are confirming that only the fridge does the tripping. Other 110V items work fine in regular "non-bypass" mode. And you are confirming that other high-drain 110V items are off - preferably by moving their circuit breakers to the off position? (The big 4 - water heater, converter, air conditioner, fridge). Finally, switching the fridge to propane helps, or does it still trip the EMS?

[DanJ]

I will check switching the fridge to propane tomorrow as the tanks have yet to be filled. You can hear the EMS trip when the fridge is running. It did the same with only a vacuum running. However, the radios being charged wont trip it. I'm guessing it's due to the heavy load. It just seems odd as our old trailer would run the fridge on shore power no problem. No AC or hot water is running as we are just loading and organizing.

[yangstyle]

Originally Posted by DanJ

I will check switching the fridge to propane tomorrow as the tanks have yet to be filled. You can hear the EMS trip when the fridge is running. It did the same with only a vacuum running. However, the radios being charged wont trip it. I'm guessing it's due to the heavy load. It just seems odd as our old trailer would run the fridge on shore power no problem. No AC or hot water is running as we are just loading and organizing.

I was going to recommend you check the error code but re read your post and saw that you said you were not getting one.

[Greg A]

Hmmm, what are you plugged into? I’d assumed you were at a campground, plugged into 30a service, but you just mentioned you are “loading and organizing”which kinda indicates your in ur driveway.
Depending on what ur plugged into at the house, could potentially be the issue. It’s been known in the past to cause similar issues when plugged in at home on certain type circuits.

[DanJ]

We are plugged into the house. An outlet in the garage.

[padlin]

You would think if it was the incoming power, the EMS would show an error.

[Greg A]

It sometimes doesn’t show an error, but will do what’s described as things come online in the trailer. Our garage outlet is a GFCI and it shows no error on the EMS, but has caused similar problems when trailer is plugged into it.
I’d sure be suspicious of that until you can see it operate plugged into 30a service.

[KirkB]

Can you try plugging the trailer into a different outlet? It might take an extension cord to reach. That could help determine if the garage circuit is the issue.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by DanJ

We are plugged into the house. An outlet in the garage.

I've seen many home receptacles wired incorrectly. Do you have a simple plug in circuit tester, the kind that shows reverse polarity etc.? Many items will work with an incorrectly wired receptacle but probably the EMS isn't one of them.

Ron

[75thRanger]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I've seen many home receptacles wired incorrectly. Do you have a simple plug in circuit tester, the kind that shows reverse polarity etc.? Many items will work with an incorrectly wired receptacle but probably the EMS isn't one of them.

Ron

Appliances will work with reversed polarity but it is a dangerous situation. I once left a campground when I told the operator his post was wired wrong. He said "Don't worry, everything will work anyway."

[cpaharley2008]

If you are plugged into a 15 amp circuit and your converter comes on and the refer on 120v comes one they're maybe an under voltage issue. Get your propane tanks filled and operate off propane, Charging radios mean your converter is on and your water heater may on 120v. All of these would trip the EMS.

[Vermilye]

I would check the voltage at one of the trailer's receptacles as you turn on the refrigerator (after waiting for the turn on delay) to make sure you are not getting excessive voltage drop (below the 104V cutoff for the EMS) under load. Unlikely with the 3 - 4 amps the refrigerator draws, but since the display is not showing a code, I'd want to be sure. It should show E4 as the low voltage code.

The vacuum probably draws more than the refrigerator so your suspicion that the problem is load related is definitely possible. A likely reason is a poor connection somewhere between the garage receptacle & the EMS.

If the fault is bad enough, it may open the neutral or hot connection, in which case the EMS will not show anything at the display. After disconnection & reconnecting the trailer power cord, the EMS should be showing a fault code of PE 4 if it shut down due to low voltage. The PE stands for previous error. If you are not seeing a PE code, check the trouble shooting guide on page 8 of the manual or contact Progressive Industries. There is the possibility that the EMS is faulty.