200 foot extension cord

[RT-NY]

My advice is to have a voltmeter monitoring the voltage in your R/V so you can turn things off if it drops too low (under 105).

Thanks for this excellent advice. It would be easy enough to plug a voltage meter into a receptacle and keep an eye on that.

Even better is to put in a power protector that includes high and low voltage cutouts.

Yes, but these are very expensive!

Absolutely…although there have been situations (rare) where I have overruled the Progressive device, something I would not usually advocate.

But if the need is just for lights, the heater element on a 3-way fridge, and a plug in electric resistance heater then, from everything said so far, even a 200 foot 12/3 cord should be safe. The worst case will be less heat/light output and less efficient cooling in the fridge rather than a fire breaking out somewhere -- is this correct?

 

[avanti]

The worst case will be less heat/light output and less efficient cooling in the fridge rather than a fire breaking out somewhere -- is this correct?

This is correct, assuming that none of these items contain any electronics. But, this assumption is increasingly dubious. Modern LED lights are likely to have PWM dimmers or at least buck converters, most current-production refrigerators have electronic controllers, and even space heaters often contain electronics.

It is still possible to avoid all of this, but it is increasingly difficult.

 

[RT-NY]

This is correct, assuming that none of these items contain any electronics. But, this assumption is increasingly dubious. Modern LED lights are likely to have PWM dimmers or at least buck converters, most current-production refrigerators have electronic controllers, and even space heaters often contain electronics.

It is still possible to avoid all of this, but it is increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, my 25 year old fridge has no electronics at all, just mechanical switches. Even the thermostat is controlled by a capillary tube.

So, just out of curiosity, what happens when a buck converter in an LED light gets too little voltage? Does it just not work and so no light at all or does it break?

 

[RT-NY]

Fortunately, my 25 year old fridge has no electronics at all, just mechanical switches. Even the thermostat is controlled by a capillary tube.

So, just out of curiosity, what happens when a buck converter in an LED light gets too little voltage? Does it just not work and so no light at all or does it break?

. . . and, of course, there is the Magnetek converter for the 12 volt system. Perhaps under-voltage to that board might break it somehow as well?

 

[avanti]

So, just out of curiosity, what happens when a buck converter in an LED light gets too little voltage? Does it just not work and so no light at all or does it break?

Who knows? Lots of different designs and component quality. Lots of stuff comes from Asia with often dubious design and dodgy component quality.

My guess is that the odds are on your side, but...