From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Autoformer, any experience?
Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 17:26:01 -0500

Hugh wrote:

> Yeh but Allan. If the water pressure is low and you put a booster pump on
> the water line, you drop the pressure even more upstream of your pump. Even
> though your AC is running ok at your boosted voltage, the supply line ahead
> of your "boost" transformer will drop the voltage available to others. Am I
> missing something here guys?
>
> Hugh

You're correct, Hugh.  However, one is STILL limited to the 50 amps
(or 30) the hookup is fused for at whatever the prevailing voltage
happens to be.  So though the autoformer may bring the voltage back
up on the RV side, it does not allow one to get full power from a
distribution system with low voltage.

On our recent tour along the Gulf Coast, we had what was almost the
opposite problem - high voltage.  I saw as much as 135 volts at one
CG we stopped at.  Obviously the transformer is tapped for the
summer full load and the minimal load represented by the few RVs
present let the voltage float high.

For CG owners having voltage problems, one solution is to have the
utility install a primary voltage regulator on your feeder.
Sometimes it takes a bit of gentle persuasion to get them to do
this, as the regulators are expensive and they consume un-metered
power.  But citing the fed requirement to deliver nominal voltage +-
5% (this value may have changed since I last looked so don't quote
me on it) along with a consulting engineer's voltage survey will
usually do the trick.  Sometimes you can get the utility to pay the
consultant's fees.  I do such surveys (which consist of parking a
little computerized voltage recorder on site for from a week to a
month and preparing a report from the data) and typically charge
$200.  Money well spent for most customers.

John

PS to Frederick:  Edison did NOT invent the high voltage
distribution scheme we use.  He was an unreconstructed DC advocate
until his death.  Tesla conceived of the AC generator, the power
transformer and the practice of using high voltage distribution.
George Westinghouse bought some of his ideas and stole others and
became the "brand name" for AC power.  The power plant at Niagara
Falls was the first major installation of high voltage distribution.

John