[Richard]

The circuit board in my ATS bit the dust. The only purpose for the board is provide a delay when cranking the gennie. I have bypassed the board so we do have gennie power. But the producer of the box, Todd Engineering is long out of business.

What is Newell using these days for ATS? The reason I ask is that I have only found so far 50 amp transfer switches rated for 70 amps on the neutral leg. Or they state for up to 12kw generator. Do any of you know of a ATS rated for higher?

I just want to see what my options are before either sending the board for repair or replacing the ATS.

Thanks!

[encantotom]

richard, i am not at the coach, but the one i have is sufficient. and they still make them. but they are not repairable according to the manufacturer.

i will see if i can find the model of it

tom

[bikestuff]

I am in the middle of working on my electrical bay. The current model from Newell is a Surge Guard Model 40250-RVC. Although, I put a new one in a few months ago, an unfortunate leak caused a complete failure of the switch. I ordered a new control board from Newell, and that got me kinda going, but I still needed to manually operate the shore power switch. (I bought a whole new switch to minimize the amount of time that I will be without AC).

So...If you already have a surge guard, I have a control board for you.

I am impressed with the Surge Guard but they are PRICEY!

On a side-but related note...I found that the service wire (from the switch to the breaker box) appears to have gotten really hot at some point in the past. The sheath is melted in places. I am thinking that I will have to either cut the burnt end off, or replace the entire thing.

Cheers,
bill

[Richard]

I think I answered my own question. I need to google for either a 75 or 100 amp switch. Progressive seems to make one for 100 amp. I did notice the original one is rated for 70 amps and not 50.

Thanks for the info Bill, the unit you mention has 65 amp contactors, so that makes sense with what I found.

I have a new surge guard unit waiting for installation. I'll put it in when I put in the new ATS. And now that I am retired and only working for me I'll paint the compartment with PORV.

[Ozarkguy]

Richard info: http://trci.net/products/surge-guard-rv/...wire-basic

They also make the plus that incorporates other type protection. Camping world has both models on sale.. Looks like there are several other mfg.. But pricey.

[bikestuff]

I tried to buy from camping world, but what they don't tell you is that is direct shipped from factory with a 4-6 week lead time. bleh.

[qcj]

This might be a stupid question, but how do you know when ATS goes out? I guess you start the Gen. and nothing happens?

[RussWhite]

A couple quick comments on the ATS discussion. Normally any ATS provides the delay in transfer to the generator already mentioned to allow the generator to warm up just a little and reach a constant rpm. The other function is to provide a defined priority for what happens when power is applied from both the post and the generator at the same time.

Current in the neural was also mentioned. In a split phase system, like we have on our coaches, current in the neutral is the difference between the current in each line. If you have a perfectly balanced load drawings 50 amps on L1 and L2, neutral current is ZERO!

Russ

[folivier]

Richard after you get this all sorted out would you please post how you determined the ATS was bad and how you bypassed the ATS. That would be great info to have available if anyone else has this problem.

[bestgenman]

Russ White is spot on with the delay of the XFER, it is to prevent the load being applied before the set is ready.

Lyght Power Systems is making a direct replacement for the Todd product. It uses 75/pole contactors mechanically interlocked, and rated for up to 18KW. I have sold a few of them and they look to be well made. It is enclosed in a NEMA 1 enclosure. Let me know if you can't find one.

A word about our electrical systems: The wiring from the generator, shore, & to the distribution panel in all the Newells I have seen is #6 which is rated for no more than 45A (NEC article 400.5a) and protected by 50A breakers. This means the maximum load carried by our electrical system is limited by the 50A CB to 12KW. Why do we have 20KW generators? To handle the inrush currents required by the motor loads, in our case the AC compressors. And we need it too!! Newell has toyed with 15KW engines driving 20KW rated generator ends, invertor systems with generators for battery recharging, and a few other systems. They are now using Martin Diesel sets (the best in my opinion) rated at 20Kw and the engine HP peaks at 24KW.