A recent camping trip highlighted one of the biggest problems we have had when camping. It also re-enforced the reasons we bought a surge protector to protect our electrical system.

On our first camping trip to Dallas/Fort Worth we were awakened at 3:00 am by the cold inside our camper. This was odd because we went to sleep nice and cozy with our furnace operating properly. A little bit of investigation revealed that our 12 volt system was dead and our battery was out of juice. So, at 3:00 am I am standing outside in the cold, wrapped in a blanket (being from FL I had failed to bring a jacket), trying to figure out why we had no power. I reset the breaker on the power pole and the power would come on and when I shut the door on the electrical box the power would turn itself off. Eventually, I figured out that the breaker was weak and that closing the electrical box door shifted the breaker switch, just enough, to disconnect the power. Well this was Thanksgiving weekend and all the campsites were full and there was no maintenance person available. So, all weekend we kept the door open (hoping for no rain) and keeping our fingers crossed that the breaker wouldn't shift and leave us cold in the middle of the night again.

On our last camping trip, we arrived and got the camper all set-up. We were sitting inside with the air conditioner running (A/C is an absolute must in Florida) when all the power in the coach went out. So outside I go (this time without a blanket) to investigate. The breaker had tripped and it was very hot, so I reset the breaker several times and it kept popping off after a couple of minutes. Fortunately, there was a Camp Host and I was able to knock on his door and he was able to call the Park Manager and we moved to another campsite (in the dark). Well, after everybody left and I had set-up the camper a second time I plugged in my surge protector and the indicator lights indicated that the power pole had reversed polarity, things worked, but the polarity was reversed.

A note on Reversed Polarity: you might think that if everything works what is the big deal with Reversed Polarity? Well, with Reversed Polarity your Circuit Breakers are on the wrong side of the system, they are on the grounded side of the system instead of the Hot (supply) side of the system. Consequently, if you turn off a breaker there is still power going to whatever that breaker controls creating a shock hazard. Additionally, if there is a short circuit, power will still be going into whatever appliance or outlet that short circuited even if the breaker trips, another dangerous situation.

So, another knock on the Camp Host's door ( this time I did not receive a warm reception ) to request he get the maintenance person back to my new site to check out the electrical box. By this time, the Camp Host had decided that the issue was with my camper and not with the park's power pole, fortunately, I had the surge protector showing proof that the power pole was the culprit and not my coach.

Eventually, the Park Manager was able to find us another campsite. So, we moved again and set-up the camper for the third time that night. This time there were no issues with the power pole and we enjoyed a week at a great Florida State park.

The truth is that Circuit Breakers were not designed to be used as switches, they were designed as Safety Devices which could be reset using a switch. So, with these campsites having two, three, or more campers using them each week the breakers simply wear out and they begin to not function properly.

I strongly recommend you use a surge protector with indicator lights that can tell you when there is an electrical problem with the power pole wiring so you can protect your camper. I also hope you will be more aware of the many issues you can run into when plugging in your Camper at the various campsites.

Another recommendation is to always have a pigtail which can convert another outlet in the power box to whatever your camper needs. For example: we have a pigtail which converts the standard 110 outlet to our 30 amp plug, now, if we are using this pigtail we would not be able to run our air conditioner or microwave, but our 12 volt and propane systems would work just fine (consequently we would not be freezing in the middle of the night). I am also going to get myself a pigtail which can convert a 50 amp outlet into a 30 amp plug, this will allow me to use any of the other circuit breakers/outlets in the electrical box for my camper.