RV Electrical Fire (Almost!)-> Our Automatic Transfer Switch Failure & Replacement
It all started with an electrical burning smell which, as those of you who have ever experienced it know, is a rather distinctive odor. It’s a sign that something is seriously wrong with your electrical system. Either wires are loose or wires are bare, or wires that are not supposed to touch are touching, or the system is being overloaded, and/or something is melting/burning. Either way it’s one of the scariest things you can experience in an RV and it’s not something you want to mess with. Electrical fires TRAVEL and they travel FAST, and it doesn’t take long after one starts before your entire coach is a goner. If you ever smell that smell, get you and your furry family outta there & turn off power to your coach ASAP!
And so it happened to us.
Now we’re no electric newbies and we are actually pretty careful about our electricity. We carry (and install) a big surge protector everywhere we go, and we regularly check our main panels for loose connections. We really thought we were being pretty diligent, but obviously we were not being diligent enough. There are so many wires in an RV that sometimes you don’t catch them all. And, as is typical in cases like this we think multiple things went wrong before the burning smell finally happened.
Thankfully we were in the coach when it occurred, Paul caught the smell right away and we tracked it down immediately to our Automatic Transfer Switch. So, honestly it was a minor issue that was easy to resolve. But since it happened to us, it could happen to you. So in the spirit of sharing our lessons learnt on the blog here’s a run-down on what an ATS switch is, how it works, what we think might have caused ours to fail and how to avoid this happening to you.
For those that prefer video we made a video! Also, this will actually become a 2-part post/video since we decided to upgrade our surge protector (something we were planning to do anyway) at the same time, so look out for that 2nd part soon. Click the video to see our mugs in living color or just read on below…
What Is An Automatic Transfer Switch?
So, first question you might ask is what in the world is an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS)??
Well, in general terms a transfer switch is simply a 3-way switch that switches between two input loads to power one out output load. It can be manual (= you have to flip the switch to select the input) or automatic (= the switch automatically selects the input for you).
In an RV an ATS is typically used to switch between generator and shore power so that you can power all your house AC stuff. Only one input can run at any one time, so RV ATS switches are usually “generator-prioritized” which means they’ll prioritize your generator if you’re running that, but will simply use shore power when you’re not. Since they’re the automatic kind, the switching happens without you needing to do anything. So you don’t have to think about which power source you’re using or flip any switches, or plug or unplug anything. It just all happens automatically through the ATS.
There’s a bit more to RV ATS switches (e.g. built-in delays so that your generator doesn’t load right away, less noise from switches that have DC powered contactors versus AC powered contactors etc.), but understanding that it’s basically just a switch that decides between two AC inputs is good enough for most folks.
Note/ Your ATS has nothing to do with your house batteries or your DC systems. It’s just a switch that decides which power source to use for your 120 volt AC systems.
Does Every Coach Have One?
No, not all coaches have them. Older & smaller coaches/trailers generally don’t. Larger, newer rigs and Class A’s, especially those with built-in generators almost always do.
How Do They Go Bad?
There’s many ways transfer switches can go bad. The switch part can manually get “stuck”, wires can get pitted, corroded or come loose, the internal solenoid can fail and/or the system can get overloaded.
Loose wires and corrosion are fairly easy to spot if you check your ATS box regularly and it’s a good thing to include this in your general yearly maintenance. With all the bumping and rocking we do when we drive our RV houses, loose wires can easily happen!
Overloading can happen many ways, but in an RV it often happens from a power surge or plugging into a RV pedestal with low voltage, and it happens more often than you think! In summer for example, many RV parks are just not properly equipped to power a full load of RV’s all running multiple air conditioners. So, supply voltage drops which means your RV will try to pull more amperage out of the pedestal (to get the same power). This is really bad and can easily cause overloading and overheating of your wiring system. Power surges happen less often, but they do happen and when they do they can easily blow all the electronics in your coach. There’s many more examples, but either way bad power, low or high voltage can be a serious problem for your coach**.
**NOTE/ One of the BEST ways to avoid bad power damage is to use a quality Surge Protector which I will talk in detail about in my next post. So, look out for that….
How Can You Tell if Your ATS is Bad?
It’s not always easy to tell if your ATS is the culprit in an electrical problem (electrical issues are often called “gremlins” in an RV ‘coz they can be so darn tricky to track down), but CLEAR indications are burning smells from your ATS. charring or loose wires inside the ATS box and overheating (the box is hot). Also the ATS is one of the key culprits to check if you’re able to run your coach from generator, but not from shore power (and visa versa). It’s not always the root cause, but it’s one of the things to check.
How Did Ours Fail? A Combo Of Overheating & Bad Design
When we noticed the burning smell we quickly tracked it down to our ATS box which is right next to our main power reel in the back drivers side bin of the RV.
When we opened the box (AFTER turning off all power to the coach) we immediately saw charring on the inside the box as well as a bare wire which was lying on top of another wire. Yikes!! We check all our wire connections yearly, but clearly we had either missed this or it happened after our yearly check.
In addition to the loose wire we saw charring and some pitting which we think might have been related to some low power issues we ran into last summer. On a particularly hot day in Idaho last year we plugged into an RV park that had low power. Our 7-year old surge protector didn’t catch it (one of the many reasons we’re upgrading it), but we did and almost immediately too. Our front AC sounded funny as soon as it started and a quick check with the voltmeter at the park pedestal showed that one leg was only delivering 96V!! We only ran off the pedestal for a few minutes, but that little bit of time might well have overloaded our system enough to start the process that finally caused our ATS to completely fail 6 months later. Total speculation here, but it’s a definite possibility.
Another thing which likely contributed to our ATS failure was simply poor design. The IOTA ATS-50R that came with our Holiday Rambler is a flimsy plastic box with rather tightly-spaced connections inside. Once I started investigating it on RV forums I found out that MANY folks have had problems with that switch specifically, the most common failure being overheating & electrical fires (I can’t tell you how many pics I saw of boxes that were charred and burnt way worse than ours). Even more telling is that, unbeknownst to us, Monaco and Keystone both initiated recalls of these switches back in 2012!! So, in addition to lose wiring and (maybe) some low voltage issues, the IOTA switch that we had was basically just poor quality.
Choosing A Replacement -> The ESCO LYGHT LPT50BRD
Choosing a replacement for our RV ATS was pretty simple. There were just a few things we looked at:
- Power Specifications -> The ATS had to be able to handle the max power that we planned to put through it. In our case that meant it had to support 50Amp and be able to handle our 8kWH generator. Pretty much all 50Amp-rated ATS switches can do this (most can handle 12kWH generators, actually), but it’s always important to double-check before you buy.
- Construction -> No more flimsy plastic for us. We wanted metal box and metal supports….basta!
- Size -> We had very little space to work with in our reel bin, especially as we wanted to upgrade our surge protector and place it in the same bin too (more on this in my next post) so we needed our new box to be almost the same exact same size as the old IOTA switch. It was going to be tight.
- Cord Access –> Because of our space constraints & the way the old switch was wired in our bin, our new box needed to be able to take all our 3 cords (shore power input, generator input, output to coach) on the right-hand side. So we wanted a box that was flexible in how it could be wired.
- Noise -> This is kinda techie and not really critical because of where the box is located (we never hear it in the external bin), but we figured we might as well try to get one of the slightly fancier ATS boxes that have DC-coiled relays. These get rid of the “humming noise” you often hear with older ATS boxes.
There are LOTS of well-rated ATS switches out there including Parallax (these are REALLY nice boxes and were initially our first choice, but they were just way too big for our small bin space), Surge Guard (also quite nice, but wrong input cord orientation and way to big for us. They make integrated ATS/surge protection boxes too which are kinda nifty, but not what we wanted either), Progressive Dynamics (also nice, but also not the right size/orientation for our need) etc.
In the end we went with the LYGHT LPT50BRD made by Elkhart Supply Corporation (ESCO), bought thro’ Amazon for ~$180. It’s an all-metal construction, well-rated box which was an almost exact size replacement for the IOTA (lots of Monaco/HR coaches have used this exact switch as their replacement). Plus it had multiple knock-out inlet holes, could be installed pretty much any which way and fit the other requirements we were looking for.
The Replacement Installation
A WORD OF WARNING -> BE CAREFUL working around electricity. 120V can KILL, so don’t start poking around your ATS switch unless you have ALL power turned off (including the breaker to your generator), and definitely don’t do this yourself if you are not 100% comfortable with electrical work.
Although Paul is pretty comfortable working around electricity, we decided to be extra vigilant and brought in a local friend and RV tech-guru Mike to help us with the installation.
Apart from the constraints of working in a very tight space it was a fairly easy process. Mike did have to move around two big wires (we needed to flip the position of our house and generator wires) plus he needed to add an extra length of 50Amp cord (to link the ATS to our our new surge protector == details coming up in my next post), but other than that there were no big gotchas. The box fit (only just, but it fit!) and it was straight-forward to wire up.
When everything was finally in place it was just a question of plugging in the RV, testing the switching function (by starting our generator) and checking that everything powered in the coach the way we expected. Not much more to say about this except that Mike did a beautiful job.
NOTE/ Mike is a certified tech and does this kind of work part-time in the local Margate, FL area. If you’re interested in contacting him for your needs here are his details: Mike Chartier 860-884-2095
Final Words & Thoughts
Obviously we’re VERY happy that we caught this issue before it became a real fire. Checking the main wiring connections in your RV is something everyone should do on a regular basis, but even then you might miss something like this. So, be aware of odd smells and heat coming from places they shouldn’t (we carry a little Digital Laser IR Thermometer Gun for just this purpose).
Also if you’re ever in a “bad power” situation like we were in Idaho last year, make the extra effort and look at your panels and inside your ATS switch to see if there’s any damage. We caught the low power issue really fast and didn’t immediately smell or notice anything when it happened so we figured we were fine, but maybe we would have noticed some damage if we’d opened the box and checked inside? Lastly, if you have an old IOTA switch in your coach I definitely suggest replacing it ASAP. My research on the IOTA ATS reveals many people have had similar issues to us and you’d be better off simply replacing the box altogether.
All in all we’re very happy with our replacement choice and installation. Our new ESCO ATS feels sturdy, emits absolutely ZERO humming noise and is working flawlessly. Fire avoided, RV electrical back on track….phew!
Coming Next -> All about Surge Protectors & our new, snazzy upgrade
Nice article. Have you thought about buying a Hughes Autoformer to combat low voltage issues? I know there’s a lot of differing opinions on these units, but after reading of Peter and John’s (the RV Geeks) endorsement, I bought one, and installed it in my electrical bay so it’s out of sight. I encountered below 100v at a park last year and I’m convinced it probably saved my A/C units.
Don’t tell me I missed a RV Geeks video? We’re huge fans! I’ll look it up, but short answer is no we haven’t looked at it, and we probably don’t have any space in our bin to install one now. Sounds super snazzy though! We’ve always preferred to rely on a surge protector to detect low voltage, although in the above case (last summer in ID) our old unit obviously failed. Our new unit should take care of this going forward.
Nina
I’m glad this turned out ok for you & I appreciate the education in automatic transfer switches.
Always appreciate when you two stress the importance of safety. The advice to ‘Get out of Dodge’ quickly at even a hint of fire – is spot on!!
Great tip to add yearly maintenance of inspecting electrical connections. Sure, you can’t always see them all, but checking the ones you can see is at least something. I do a yearly check of the power bars bus bars, to make sure the screws holding the bare copper are snugged up tight.
Thanks for sharing this, and glad it was just a matter of tossing money and time at it repair wise:)!
Travel safe,
Smitty
I’ve seen enough videos of RV fires to know how fast they can burn a coach. It’s a scary sight. Like you said getting you and your family out should always be the first priority..then you can always do what you need to try and save the coach. Hopefully we’ll never have to deal with that situation (cross fingers, toes and all paws).
Nina
This frightens me, as a single woman who’s trying to get into an RV for full-timing. But I bookmark or copy the info on all your tutorials and mechanical issues. You’ve been a huge source of info and inspiration. One question. I think I may have read a post from you on this, but I can’t find it. I can’t find a company that will finance a used (or even new, though I can’t afford that) RV for full-timing. I assume it might be just as hard to find an insurance company too. I guess it’s because living in a rig is harder on it and travelling around makes more opportunity for accidents. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks so much.
Getting a loan while fulltiming can sometimes be troublesome. My first advice is to buy and finance your RV while you still have a permanent address (*before* you get on the road). This will likely be much easier. Once you’re approved and switch to fulltime the finance companies really don’t care. They just care about the initial approval and regular payment of the loan thereafter.
If you’re already nomadic try some of the finance companies that are more RV friendly. For example Essex Credit (the RV loan arm of Bank of the West) or Good Sam’s Finance. Also sometimes local Credit Unions will be more open to financing than bigger banks. So check that too.
Hope that helps!
Nina
Thanks so much for taking the time to share!
Thank goodness you discovered it so soon! We are going to check out our system asap!
Yes, do check those wires. Often all it takes is opening up the panels and having a look. A few minutes for some peace of mind and if it’s a yearly thing it’s not that big a deal.
Nina
Thank God you were in your coach and caught that smell!!!! We are the new RVing couple that have been following you. The guy who sold us the coach had bought a Progressive Industries Surge suppressor which I installed before we left. It looks just like your new one.
Also, after reading your blog about this issue, I have learned two things, check my wiring and it really takes a lot of work to write that many words and put it out for all to see. Thank you once again for the hard work and effort. If you stop, I really understand, but while you are doing it, please know that there are a bunch of us that appreciate it!
Thank you! And yes we are very, very grateful we caught the smell, especially since we often leave our pets at home (cats most often) when we’re out. It would be sad to lose the coach and all our stuff, but it would be devastating if something happened to our pets.
Nina
Hi there,
Glad you got the ats swapped. Curious though- was there a reason you got a surge protector hard wired with the display hidden in the same compartment? A portable unit would have been a little cheaper overall plus since its usually outside you can see the display instantly without opening anything, and you can take it with you if you get another coach. The extra space also might have allowed a little more latitude in choice of an ats as well. Really enjoy your detailed work on the blog- I know it takes many hours of work and dedication.
Yes, there are several reasons we got a hard-wired one. I’ve got a full post on the surge protector coming next, so I’m going to ask you to hold that question until I get that out 🙂
Nina
Great video. Just before the winter I installed the exact same surge protector on my Monaco. I have the same exact Iota transfer switch yet I never bothered to look inside. (FYI: your power bay is identical to mine which makes your information even more helpful re: size and specifications of the replacement).
I am SO glad that you put this out there. I will be taking that cover off as soon as spring comes. We are heading out full time at the end of this year and I continue to work on my coach till then. (2008 Monaco Cayman that we picked up this last May).
I have been very impressed with your blog since I first found it, but I really enjoy both of your personalities and attitude. I can only hope that we enjoy life as much as it seems that the two of you do once we get on the road. We hope our paths cross at some time.
Thanks for all that you do!!!!!!!
Leslie, Ray and the cattle dogs
Thanks for the lovely comment & so happy you’ve replaced that old IOTA switch. Lots of older Monaco’s & Holiday Ramblers had them and we just didn’t know they had been recalled.
Nina
Thanks for the great information on the ATS. I’m going to take a look at mine today. After turning off the power, of course. Glad you found your problem quickly.
Soooo scary! We too have lived through the dreaded electrical fire smell and caught our problem (water heater wiring) before it burst into flames and caused dramatic damage. We now only turn our water heater on when we intend to use it. It is never on when we are gone.
VERY good catch and a good little tip too. We often just leave our water heater running all the time and there’s really no need. Cheers for sharing.
Nina
Great article and video on replacing the ATS. I can’t believe that IOTA could get away with enclosing everything in a plastic box. So glad to see that you located the problem before something really bad happened. The Progressive Industries surge protector was the first mod we made to our coach. It has worked flawlessly now for almost 7 years and has protected our coach on several occasions from both low voltages and the detection of open grounds.
Yeah when we finally took out that old IOTA switch and saw at all that flimsy plastic we had a “duh” moment. No doubt we should have replaced that YEARS ago. Glad to hear your Progressive Device has protected you so well over the years. I’ll be talking more about this in the next post, but we’re VERY happy with our upgrade.
Nina
Just one more safety consideration to add when working on the ATS. In the video you indicated that you shut off the main breaker at the pedestal. That’s great, but you also need to shut off the generator’s breaker(s) as well to prevent the generator from starting.
YES indeed! We typically turn off all our breakers when we work on the electricity, but we didn’t specifically point that out. I’ve updated the blog post to add that tip. Thanks for mentioning it!
Nina
So glad you caught this problem before it turned catastrophic. Thanks for sharing your experience, you have provided a great reminder to all for regular maintenance on electrical systems. Connections do come loose and need to be checked and tightened.
You should probably move the Progressive display up into the rig somewhere. It’s just connected via a standard RJ11 telephone cable (or maybe an RJ45 ethernet cable, can’t remember and I’m sitting outside in the shade where I can’t see it…and I’m too lazy to go look).
Anyways…it gives you all the voltage and frequency indications as well as the error codes for when things go wrong with power…much more useful to have that up in the rig.
Second…you want to fix the jumper that adjusts the delay time. The Progressive waits for power to be “in spec” and then waits a delay time before putting power to the coach. By default it comes set to (I believe) 15 seconds and if you remove or shift the jumper (can’t remember exactly but it’s in the manual) then it waits 2 minutes and 15 seconds. You want to have the longer wait for a simple reason…if the park loses power and then gets it back everybody’s Progressive sees the power at the same time…which means they all provide power to the rig 15 seconds later…which means that all the A/C units kick back on 20 seconds later…which. means that there’s a severe voltage fluctuation. This might (or might not) make the Progressive kick back offline and might (or might not) damage A/C units as they draw more amps when the voltage is low and more amps is typically not a good thing.
Setting your Progressive for the longer delay means that all that transient crap dies off before your Progressive puts power back to the coach and saves your A/C units and other stuff from the transient. The only drawback is that when you park and plug into the pedestal and close the breaker it takes 2’15” instead of just 15″ for power to get to the rig.
It’s a simple jumper, pop the top off of the Progressive and reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers to move the jumper…I did it with power turned off to the rig but in actuality it’s on the board and not directly next to the 110v lines coming in from the pedestal and if one uses reasonable care and insulated handle needle nose pliers it would be perfectly safe. I’m chicken though…electricity is dangerous stuff.
So these are all questions relating to the Progressive Industries surge protector which I will cover in my next post. But I’ll answer briefly here.
The delay setting in the progressive depends very much on your air conditioner. Our A/C has a built-in 2 minute delay so we don’t need the additional delay time on the progressive.
Also the placement of the display is somewhat personal preference. In our coach we have internal displays (through our inverter/charger) that show line voltage, current, input/output etc. Basically all the details that we would ever need to monitor the power. So it made more sense for us to put the progressive display outside where we could see it when we hookup.
Anyway like I said I’ll endeavor to cover ALL this in my next post on surge protectors, so stay tuned for that 🙂
Nina
We bought a 2004 Diplomat in 2008. The ATS has already been replaced with what looks like the new one you have. What we discovered years later was that what ever caused the replacement was probably what caused all the ground wires in the fuse box in the bedroom to melt. Luckily we noticed it when we took the cover off the fuse box for a different reason. Thanks for the info. It was very helpful. Richard and Janet
So glad you discovered that problem. And it totally demonstrates how far (and fast) electrical issues can travel. Since we found the meltdown we’ve checked our internal panels and boxes for exactly that reason. You never know how what else might have been affected by that overload.
Nina
We Installed some “First Alert Micro Photoelectric Smoke Alarm” in my electrical cabinet and places where 12v fuse panels are. They are small and loud. They use a cr123 battery for long life.
Just another way to keep ahead of electrical issues that may start a fire.
Peace of mind also.
Great article Nina and Paul.
Good tip! This particular electrical fire was not (yet) smoking, but if it did a smoke detector would have caught it. Nice idea, thanks!
Nina
Great post, glad you guys found it before any fires happened!
I had no idea about ATS or that they even existed. I don’t have one as I don’t have an onboard generator, just a honda after market. I will definitely check my wiring contacts and give them a tighten though, as you suggested.
Thanks so much for the heads up.
Gary
I LOVE it when you post things like this. Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this. Fire is the most frightening thing there is in a RV.
Another possibly life saving post. You are the best. Thanks so much. This is clear and easy to understand. So glad you caught it when you did. Well done all the way around.
The nomenclature on those products can be a challenge for new RVers. If someone asks just for a surge protector, they might not get all the protection what you have. Progressive Industries contributes to this. Their website uses the term “EMS Surge & Electrical Protection” to define the box they then sell as an “RV Surge Protector”. I hope the readers of your excellent article choose the “EMS” products instead of the “SSP” boxes if they opt for a portable unit. I just witnessed this confusion live at the Tampa RV Supershow 2 days ago at a vendor booth.
Indeed, it can be confusing. I’m going to talk more about this in my next post on surge protectors.
Nina
Thanks for helping all of us stay safe out there!
Glad you were able to discover the issue quickly. We had the very same issue when we were at Carlsbad NP. There was an RV repair shop right next door to the RV park where we were staying. Unfortunately they did not correct the problem so we are vey lucky we still had a rig to pull into Tempe. To make matters worse, when we smelled that god-awful smell, it was in the middle of a freak ice storm. We immediately packed a bag, disconnected everything, and headed to a hotel. We really didn’t think we would find our rig intact in the morning. It was and we somehow made it into Tempe. An RV tech came out to the park and figured out the issue almost immediately.
I remember you telling us that story. Such a freaky, scary experience and so lucky that the rig survived. Getting out after you smelled that smell was totally the right decision.
Nina
Nina,
It is greatly appreciated when you do posts such as this one. I emailed my motorhome friend and he said that he didn’t have the IOTA automatic transfer switch. However, safety first and good to double check on equipment manufacturers.
Did you check your ATS after your RV accident since that might have jarred the ATS wiring off the connections?
No, admittedly we did not. That bin was not directly affected by the accident (no damage past the back cap of the RV), but I guess the jarring could have caused something to loosen.
Nina
I really appreciate your posts on all these subjects, and this one and the one on Surge Protectors is right on time for me as I just had my 14 year old Surge Gard go bad. But I do find it strange that you talk about RV pedestal being wired wrong for 240V power, and you even mention be careful 120v power is dangerous when working on the RV electrical. 30 amp RV plugs are indeed 120V, and wiring it for 240v would be a disaster. But a 50 amp RV plug (and your transfer switch, and surge protector) are indeed 240V, they have 2 hot legs (120v each) a neutral and a ground. 120v+120v= 240v. That is why the 50amp plug has a 2 pole breaker at the pedestal, and in your breaker box. The RV only uses one 120V leg at a time (no 240v appliances requiring both hot legs), but with 2 hot wires, it is 240v and even more dangerous then if it was only 120V alone. So be careful, and thanks for all the good info.
Those conduit runs going into the new box should have plastic bushings screwed onto the ends where the wire exits the pipes, to prevent those wires from having the insulation rubbed off from vibration against the metal connector. It’s required in most home panels now. You can find them at Depot or Lowes etc in the electrical dept. They look like plastic rings. They screw down onto the threads of the conduit connectors.
They come is various diameters. This is what they look like:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Halex-3-4-in-Rigid-Insulating-Bushing-10-Pack-27522/100119169
OMG this is so scary. Glad you are okay. I have had my own few mishaps getting into the RV life. There is always something to learn. It is great to see so many share their experiences so others can benefit from it. Often times you have to learn how to be a plumber, mechanic, electrician and so much more when you decide to live the RV life. 😉
Is the beaker/junction box before or after the ATS? Is it: pedestal–>EMS–>ATS–>breaker box?
Correct…that’s the order we did it. You can put the EMS after the Transfer Switch (it’s another option), but we didn’t install it that way.
Nina
Nice information for RVer’s.
As a Master Electrician ( Electrical and Electronic), I’ve encountered these as many, faulty systems. A DIYer should only attempt as far as their actual knowledge and experience. NOT YouTube Videos either.
It is amazing to hear those words of ” I watched a YouTube video and it worked for them ”
So my response is ……. watch a YouTube video to perform an operation on yourself to save a few bucks then.
It is so much safer to obtain a qualified Service Person and better all the way around than it is to replace the Electrical and Electronic that were damaged from a DIYer.
Now for my response to an AUTOMATIC TRANSFER SWITCH.
It is a controlled switch system with auxiliary contacts to operate more than one control contactor for multiple use and operations of Electrical.
For another words, more of a Fail Safe to prevent cross connections of outside sources.
The Interweb can be a great resource but it is not responsible for what the user may do with that information.
Never attempt to fix, repair, install, etc, anything above your experience and knowledge.
When we purchase an RV we expect it to provide us with almost the same comforts as our houses have. But it is a new world for many who over expect and believe what they think should be as smooth as that house.
Maintenance and regulatory upkeep is a must in an RV. It is best to have qualified service person to help maintain and fix as required.
I removed the self-promotion information from your comment, but otherwise approved it as is. If you’d read my blog post and viewed the video you would have seen that we got a qualified electrical RV installer to do our ATS replacement and that we warned (both in the blog and on the video) to do the same unless you have experience and are absolutely 100% comfortable working around electricity.
So your point please?
Nina
Xantrex automatic transfer switch solved the problem of keeping a none critical 120v AC load continuously powered for convenience. My system now fails-over to an alternate AC power source when the DC input from the solar array battery bank is so weak to cause the inverter to shutdown. The automatic transfer switch is well constructed and has operated flawlessly. It would have been nice if the device had the secondary plug and output receptical included and installed, but I was aware beforehand that I would need to provide my own plug and receptical when ordering. this device.
Excellent. So glad the Xantrex worked out for you.
Nina
I really like your content. It is useful and interest. Thanks so much for sharing!
Are you guys still rv’ing? I think I must have unsubscribed because you moved to Europe or something…
We’re still RVing, but we’re doing it in Europe now. That said, we haven’t really gone anywhere in 2020 (but that’s more to do with 2020 than anything else). Hopefully 2021 will see us back on the road again in a more regular manner.
Nina
I had to replace the Transfer switch in my Motor home and I decided to go with the Progressive Dynamics PD52V Transfer Switch. It has a lot of pros: ideal for 50-amp RV electrical systems, generator-priority design for better efficiency, Advanced time delay mechanism for improved safety,…
Sounds like an excellent choice. Thanks for the feedback.
Nina
DIYers will like the knockout feature of this automatic transfer switch. Installing the device in your motorhome should never be a problem. It will look like a professional electrician installed it.
The TS-30 Transfer Switch is part of our travel trailer project, which also involved the installation of a 3,000-watt inverter. With this switch, there is no momentary power loss when switching between primary and secondary or return power sources. It’s pre-wired so all I had to do was plug everything in. The purpose of the ATS is to cut back to the “Grid” power in the event the inverter drains battery power and/or if the solar array creates an overvoltage condition that forces the inverter to shut down.