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Old 06-19-2016, 06:32 PM   #1
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Shore Power and Generator...

Quick question for the masses...

KOA lost commercial power last night, but back on this morning. Went into town... Got back, power out again. Talked to management, and they said a transformer blew in town last night... and that while the power company's on it, commercial power will be off & on intermittently during the day, and maybe into tomorrow.

It's already 87 here, on its way up to a forecast 98 degrees.

I've started the generator, and running off of it fine... but my question is, can I stay connected to the 50-amp power pole, or should I unplug?

I'm not all that electricly inclined, but I'd rather not run on the generator all day if power is restored occasionally. And if I unplug, I won't know if commercial power is available or not without constantly going out to check.

Right now I'm still connected, but don't wanna burn anything out either.

Opinions?
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Old 06-19-2016, 06:51 PM   #2
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Tom,

Personally, any time generator is on, I either unplug the shore power, or flip the breakers off. It's supposed to be capable of auto switching, but I don't believe the generator will auto shutoff. With power going on/off, I'd leave it on the gen. Not to mention if only one leg, or the other comes up. If you don't feel like going out, plug a light into the pedestal, and put it where you can see it from inside.
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Old 06-19-2016, 11:05 PM   #3
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Technically your fine running the genset while plugged in, the transfer switch is supposed to isolate the genset power like it would in a house.

I do not disconnect from the pedestal when I do my monthly runs...when the genset is on, I hear the click and LMS tells me I am on generator power and when off back to shore power. Usually only my T. Cycles during that operation, all other clocks stay good.

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Old 06-20-2016, 12:08 AM   #4
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Shore Power and Generator...

The generator takes precedence on an ATS. If the generator is running and shore power is restore it will not switch.

My 50 amp cord has two small blue lights on the head that light up from the power at the pedestal, you probably couldn't see them in the day, but should be able to see them from inside the trailer at night.


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Old 06-20-2016, 12:43 AM   #5
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Ok, thanks guys... here's the follow-up:

Sometime during lunch, shore power was restored while I was still plugged in and on generator power. I've got a surge guard on the plug, but I had to walk out to the pole to see if the power light was lit, with readings on the display.

No adverse effects from the resumption of commercial power. When I came back inside to turn the generator off, the only ill effect was the DirecTV antenna recycled. The ACs continued to blow, and the TV remained on.

So far it hasn't gone out again, so I guess we're good to go. We'll see.

Thanks for the replies.
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