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Old 06-24-2011, 12:29 PM   #1
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30 Amp service and 2 a/c units

Our 40'fdts has 50 amp plug in like all the other Alpines, I assume. I have heard of some method, or device, that will allow the use of both a/c units when youare inan RV park that only has 30 amp service. Is there such a thing?
Thanks,
Mike
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Old 06-24-2011, 01:19 PM   #2
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Don't know of the device you refer to, but we have used two A/C units on 30 amps.

Last summer we attended the Good Sam rally in Louisville. It was in the mid to upper 90s all week. We had paid extra for the 30 amp hookup, thank God! I ran both A/C units all week with no ill effect. We'd shut one down temporarily if we needed to use the microwave. We had both the fridge and the hot water heater running on LP. Our rig at the time did not have the sophisticated energy management system that some of the higher end rigs do.
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Old 06-24-2011, 01:21 PM   #3
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YUP--but most RV parks dont like it because the device links a 30 Amp and a 20 Amp circuit together to create/approximate a 50 Amp plug. Bottom line: if a park's electrical infrastructure could handle 50 Amps, they would have 50 amp plugs. Good luck.

PS-- as indicated above you can operate two A/Cs on 30 amps if everything else is off--including your fridge, waterheater AND battery charger/inverter. Most A/C units take about 18-20 amps to start and 12-15 amps to run, so any time one is starting and the other is running, you are at the max of a 30 amp circuit--at this point yr surge protector [if you have one] might bump you off because of low voltage.
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Old 06-24-2011, 01:45 PM   #4
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We have our Beast parked at our property on a River and to run both AC units, I ran a heavy duty extension cord directly to the rear AC until I get it wired permanently with a second feed cord. We also do the same when running our two electric heaters in the winter. (Like the AC, we can only run one at a time without popping breakers) Eventually I'll run a second cord out of our service compartment and hard wire a heater outlet up front and an AC feed for the back rather than risking the existing wiring circuits.
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Old 06-24-2011, 03:06 PM   #5
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This idea of a by-pass circuit recently came up in another thread--my two cents: "direct" connections without the benefit of a surge protector leaves you totally at the mercy of the park's already underrated "30 amp" electrical system--again, good luck with that.
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Old 06-24-2011, 03:14 PM   #6
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This is probably the device you are looking for. You do have to make sure that the two electrical lines are on different circuits. I plugged my surge guard into the 50 amp receptacle and it worked fine.

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Old 06-24-2011, 03:49 PM   #7
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The simple solution is to wire a pig tail out for the one A/C unit and plug it into a 20 amp plug near by. You can also build a cheater box and plug in to a 50 amp circuit and the box will split the 30 amp plus another circuit.
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Old 06-24-2011, 04:09 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jfran304 View Post
This is probably the device you are looking for. You do have to make sure that the two electrical lines are on different circuits. I plugged my surge guard into the 50 amp receptacle and it worked fine.

Worldwide Merchandise Company - 50-Amp RV Box Adapter - Electrical Adapters - Camping World

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Of all the places I have ever parked in six years of driving this Class A.
One campground (IN Las Vegas) will let you plug into two sites in the "OFF" season (think August) when it's 100+ in the shade.

One other place I park if it's not busy I follow the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy,

One other place I think I could get away with it but have never tried (I'm one adapter short... I wish I could find that missing adapter)

Normally these boxes come with a 15 amp adapter on one plug, However if the park's box is up to code, pluging both plugs in will trip the GFCI, 100%, If you plug into 2 30 amp outlets, And someone wants the site next door. You may be ask to leave, sans refund.

Now,,,, This one Power Solutions

WILL let you plug one Air Conditioner into the 20 amp outlet, 100% independent from the rest of the house. NO problems with the Park's GFCI.

I built my own but this one is better.

(Side effect... This also gives me an accessable 120 volt outlet on the service side fo emergency stuff... Like air compressor.
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Old 06-30-2011, 12:01 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Scout View Post
This idea of a by-pass circuit recently came up in another thread--my two cents: "direct" connections without the benefit of a surge protector leaves you totally at the mercy of the park's already underrated "30 amp" electrical system--again, good luck with that.
In my case, I'm hooked up to my own service on private property, but I still plan on adding additional protection...
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Old 06-30-2011, 03:14 PM   #10
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With the PSRV device if you want to put a protector on the line, no problem, Use a 30 amp unit with adapters (use a 50 amp unit for the rest of the coach)

Will summarize.

3 ways to do what you wan
1: energery management system, this lets you run one, or the other, and will automatically switch on one when the other switches to "Standby" IF, that is, it switches to standby.

2: The dual plug cheater box which as I said before, generally does not work, (Very rare it works as advertised)

3: PSRV

now the PSRV device does place additional load on the park circuits, which some parks object to.. And as others have said, it bypasses your power guard/surge protector (unless you get one just for it) but they do work.
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Old 06-30-2011, 03:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrinklemeist View Post

Our 40'fdts has 50 amp plug in like all the other Alpines, I assume. I have heard of some method, or device, that will allow the use of both a/c units when you are in an RV park that only has 30 amp service. Is there such a thing?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,

As posted in an earlier post, this device or box is called a cheater box. It is made with two 30 amp pigtail plugs and one 50 amp receptacle. You basically plug one 30 amp pigtail plug into the 30 amp receptacle at the pedestal, then using a 30-20 adapter, you plug the other 30 amp pigtail into a NON-GFI 15 or 20 amp receptacle. If you try to use a GFI receptacle it won't allow you to as it will trip the GFI.

When hooked up correctly, you now have 45-50 amps of service available, however, you have to understand that one side of your 50, either L-1 or L-2 will have more available than the other side. So you will need to manage the wattage you are using on each leg of your coach.

Hope this helps.

Dr4Film ----- Richard.
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Old 07-01-2011, 11:02 PM   #12
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I bought the cheater box last year. I've needed to use it several times, but since all RV parks in California are required to have GFIC outlets, it's a no-go. Tried it at a park that didn't have a GFIC (non-code), but it was robbing the same circuit and tripped the 30 amp side after short usage (probably overheating the wire). I used it at a pedestal that actually had a fuse for the 20 amp and it worked for a couple minutes and then the Surge Guard shut everything down.

I've been unable to ever successfully use it. Maybe one day?????
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Old 07-02-2011, 05:56 AM   #13
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I have a cheater box, too. I have never been able to make it work. When I lost my 30-50 amp dogbone, I rewired it as an adapter. It worked for that.
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Old 07-02-2011, 02:21 PM   #14
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Okay, it looks like the cheater box isn't the best plan....my problem is similiar, but a little different--maybe.

Just got my Alpine, 2003, 36FDDS. Of course it is 50amp. I have a wired post from my home box for 30amp. Nothing is on it except my watering system, which is turned off at the moment, until we can figure out why it is popping the breaker.

We believe all is turned off in the coach, except the house 12volt/battery switch. It appears the frig is running on gas right now (automatic seeks it out if no electric, like our Lazy Daze did), and no other appliance is on.

I am using an adaptor to the 50amp, down to a 30amp end, then the final adaptor that allows for the 120 from the extension cord.

So am at a loss as to what keeps breaking the box circuit.

Can someone out there give some insight, as of course, the book gives no clue! Thank you. DrHumphrey
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