Newby with yet another issue. Blue is SUCKING electricity our bill $386 a month

[GARY MINKER]

I make it a habit to watch my gauges. I don't sit like the TV but they are there for your use and will foretell these things once you get familiar with the usage of each gizmo. the heat tapes was also a great suggestion as is the several hidden baseboard type heaters in various compartments like the water tanks but all of this will show up on your 2 AC ammeters and the coach DC ammeter. Fluorescents draw 1 to 2 Amps, Fridge 5 to 10, Radio 2 to 6, Headlights 10 to 20. Block heater 10, heat tapes 5, baseboard heater 10, AC heat strips 10, water heater 10, microwave/convection oven 10, normal charger operation 5 to 10. It is all predictable and you get used to it provided your meters and gauges work properly. The hand held meters help with proving this out and are good for measuring the charge rate of the battery strings. Gary 86 pt-40 --- On Wed, 11/4/09, Light Ltenergy@... wrote: From: Light Ltenergy@... Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Newby with yet another issue. Blue is SUCKING electricity our bill $386 a month To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 2:42 PM Thanks Gary! We will check all of these things. The refrigerator was on our list of possible culprits, but it is on elect and the meter is just barely moving. I will get the clamps you talked about and do these checks tonight when D gets home. Thanks for all the ideas. We are still just coming out of shock from that bill... sheeesh... big hugs and thanks, Light --- In WanderlodgeForum@ yahoogroups. com, GARY MINKER wrote: > > If you narrowed the excessive use down to the charger/converter (not just the 120 vac branch circuit) by unplugging the device and leaving the circuit breaker on, you will now need an AC and DC clamp on ammeter, and a decent DC voltmeter, for troubleshooting. Check for the right DC voltage (13.8 give or take) and make sure that your charger inverter is not supplying more than a few DC amps of charge oe what ever the coach load is. Providing there is no massive DC load ( volt meter and DC ammeter) your charger/converter may have a surge arrestor shorted. These little devils can draw a ton of AC current when they go bad. You may also have a line voltage (120/120) surge arrestor installed (hidden) in the coach on that circuit which you would see by unplugging the charger converters. A good surge arrestor will draw less than .25 Amps when operating. By using your AC and DC ammeters, plus the metering on the coach, you get a check and balance on > your testing. You should also check to see if your engine heater is stuck on, battery heaters, the water heater, or air conditioner strip heaters, plus the fridge can be a culprit. With a third eye to help you by watching all the various meters and flipping circuits off and on, you will narrow down the problem quickly. It is seldom wiring. It is usually a device. > Gary > > --- On Wed, 11/4/09, Light Ltenergy@... wrote: > > From: Light Ltenergy@... > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Newby with yet another issue. Blue is SUCKING electricity our bill $386 a month > To: WanderlodgeForum@ yahoogroups. com > Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 2:22 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > Well, it seems to be a really GOOD thing I found this forum. We just got our electric bill for the month. We used a crazy amount of electricity. Our park people told us a week ago to check things out. > > > > We began checking things and ended up checking each breaker (in the bedroom closet behind the bed) to see where the pull was coming from. We found a couple of breakers that seemed to be part of the trouble. > > > > But then again today, the electric meter was SPINNING out of control again. We turned off the breaker for the upper flor. lights and that helped some. Then we turned off another breaker that was labled in large red letters, "SURGE"... there are two breakers with those red words on them. They do seem to be an issue here. But now... we also found that the battery charger breaker is pulling HUGE amounts of elec also. We can't leave it off or our batteries will be sucked dry. When those breakers are OFF... the meter runs normally... > > > > ANY IDEAS? We are working to get past owners help on this also, but haven't gotten to contact them yet. Someone used the RED marker to mark those breakers... so SOMEONE knows something or at least was aware of the problems... > > > > ANY IDEAS would be SO appreciated. The electric bill for 30 days was $386........ ........ ouch!!! We can't keep affording that... sheesh... > > > > HELP... > > > > hugs, Light >