This one you put in between your outlet and your device to find out how much power it is drawing. Here is a good polarity checking devic e (paid link) from Amazon. This one you put in your outlet and read on display what kind of power you are being supplied with. These devices are most popular in two versions: It will tell you exactly how much power you are drawing from a line and checking that before turning something else on, it will save you from lots of headaches (and flipped circuit breakers). If you have a 30-amp service, for example, you can only turn ON a limited amount of appliances at the same time and this is where an AC voltage monitor can be a big help! Your electrical circuit can get easily overloaded in a situation when your appliance is not getting enough voltage. Second of all, don’t forget that your RV’s electrical system can only handle a certain amount of watts and NO more: Hopefully, upon detection of this problem, your surge protector would be able to disconnect the power and “save the day” or your circuit breaker would trip with no damage done to your appliance.Ī proper way to hook up your RV before even trying to turn anything ON is to connect a surge protector first! You are dealing with electricity here and you don’t want any: If this happens, wires get overheated and in a worst-case scenario, can cause a fire. They tend to draw more amps when the voltage in your power line drops. This situation generally happens when all the RV park residents start turning ON all their devices at ONCE! Since they are all sharing a common electrical grid, an RV park that is operating beyond its electrical capacity will not be able to handle the load and supply everyone with an appropriate voltage.ĭevices that are commonly affected by low voltage are usually appliances with small motors (like AC, refrigerators, etc.). You don’t want your fun to be ruined by an expensive RV appliance repair, do you? Monitoring your shore AC power for proper voltage is an important component of happy and safe RV camping! So, why should you monitor your shore power? There are many reasons for that.įirst of all, inadequate electrical voltage at the campground is a very common situation that many RVers are facing. Non-contact multimeters (paid link) could be used as well. Keep an eye on the condition of your battery. Check for problems coming from the shoreline power supply. Check for voltage problems, as well as how many amps are you using. Now it’s time to find out exactly what is happening with our RV’s electrical system and the best way to do it – with RV power monitoring tools! There are four basic power monitoring systems (or tools) that you need in your RV and they are: It’s easy to get lost in all those watts and volts, not to mention amps, but eventually, we figure them all out. If you feel really advanced, you can use a multimeter to troubleshoot outlets and appliances. Arrived at the park, and check the power pedestal for appropriate voltage with a surge protector. Going boondocking? Check the status of your battery with the “battery monitoring device”. There are many power monitoring devices that you can use in RV to keep your electrical situation under control.
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