I was wrong on the motor. It is 208/230 volt. There are no appliances in the RV that are 230 volt but most RV gensets produce 230 volts. They usually have a 50 amp 230 volt service thus there are 2 legs of 110 each. My terminology may not be technically correct but the above is what is installed in current RV's. And yes the service entrance has a 4 wire cable to go the power pole outlet. Thank you for the advice. So if a motor has thermal protection and it shorts out will the thermal breaker protect the genset? That is why I thought it should have breakers.
Moisheh
Trust me on this please, from someone who knows what he's saying, and has worked with and on these units.... Yes, if a motor shorts out, the thermal protectors will protect the system until you notice something wrong, for instance, steam from an overheated engine, or dim lights from a pending electrical failure. Even at worse, a failing motor will stop when it gets hot, cool down, restart, and provide its normal function on a reduced level. Even if a motor should fail drastically and instantly (not very likely), at most, youve fried a $60 to $100 voltage regulator, and maybe a few feet of cable, plus an hour or two labor for the fix. On a diesel engine (and most gas engines also have protection), if you fry the regulator, the diesel throttle/fuel solenoid loses power (or the electric fuel pump on a gas engine...thats why they use electric pumps now), and the engine shuts down. If you install a breaker or fuse on the fan circuit, and a fan motor fails, then the breaker trips or the fuse blows, the regulator is protected, BUT the engine keeps running, and the overheated engine burns up, or the overheated compartment catches fire, and thats all she wrote! Could cost you between $5000 and $7000 for an engine, or $6000 to $10,000 for a gen-set depending on the size, OR it could cost you the coach, plus your safety. On a side note, if your gen-set is anywhere from about the mid 80's up, it will have electronic controls on the engine, which will shut everything down for any malfunction, including a short circuit or overheated engine, and the control board may even sense the extra resistance from an added fuse or circuit breaker, causing no starts or shutdown. I would leave everything alone, and leave it just as it is. These units are very well tested, and safety is number one. If the manufacturer had problems, and safety wasnt of primary concern, they wouldnt be in the business very long, especially with the number of RV fires and deaths that occur each year. The way it is designed, nothing that could happen to this very short and brief circuit will ever cost you more than a couple of hundred bucks, but to modify it or mess with it could cost you your life!