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Old 03-27-2011, 04:56 PM   #1
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I have a 2005 intruder we bought used and need to know about using 30 amp sevice. If I run the genset everything works. If the park only has 30 amps, we have no TV,no microwave,one AC, hot water only runs on gas.
I can see looking at the wiring of our motorhome that the 50 amps gives us the seperate 120volts lines. I would think that the TV at least should work. Is my motorhome working correct?
Mark
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Old 03-27-2011, 06:09 PM   #2
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If everything works when the generator is running, then you will need to investigate how the converter/inverter is wired. Since 30 amp is only one 120v feed I would suspect your coach is only operating on one AC circuit and the other AC circuit fed by a 50 amp supply is dead.
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Old 03-27-2011, 06:41 PM   #3
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I think you are correct. my question is do other motorhome act the same way when using 30 amps.
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Old 03-27-2011, 07:06 PM   #4
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Any MH electrical system should work the same whether connected to 30 or 50 Amp service. (that is, if its wired correctly)
The only difference between being connected to a 30 vs 50 Amp would be the number of devices that you can operate. For example if with 30 Amp if your wife is using the hair dryer, the TV is turned on, and either the air conditioner or the microwave are in use, the breaker that supplies your power outside will probably trip. Probably a good idea to switch you water heater from electric to gas when using 30 Amp. You must have some faulty wiring or a bad adapter plug.
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Old 03-27-2011, 08:42 PM   #5
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I think my problem is in the dog bone. the 50 amp L1 and L2 should be connected together coming from the 30 amp supply going to the 50 amp.
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Old 03-28-2011, 07:19 AM   #6
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Yes, the problem is in your 30 to 50 adaptor. Had the same issue with the first inexpensive adaptor I purchased for our 2008 Damon. A proper adaptor that supplies both legs will fix you up.
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Old 03-28-2011, 09:41 AM   #7
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A 2005 Intruder.. on 30 amps.. As I type this I'm sitting in a 2005 Intruder on 30 amps. So I guess I can answer your question.

First: you need a 30-50 amp dog bone or other adapter (I use a different adapter but that is because 30 amp cords are easier to wrangle than 50s, epically the "cold weather" cord I have that sucker coils up like cloths line even at freezing temps).

The rules for electricity ... Identify the "Big Ticket" items in the house, Big ticket items are 1,000 watts or more, Include

Water heater
Air Conditioners
Microwave
Hair Dryer if one is used
Electric cooktops if you use one
If your batteries are low: The converter (The one on my intruder takes almost exactly 1,000 watts if the batteries are low)
If the batteries are fully charged.. That's a small item (like 100 watts)

Medium items you may have. those are 500-100 watts, but frankly I don't know of any, Small is under 500 watts.

These items include the converter with full batteries, Televisions, radio, Sat receivers and supporting electronics, Slow cookers (Crock pot) and such.


Now the rules

20 amps: ONE big item
30 amps TWO big items
50 amps Generally all you can eat.

You should be able to run the televisions, radio and such, The Fridge on Electric (350 watts) and TWO of the following

Water heater
Air conditioner 1 (NOTE: 2 A/C's generally will not work, those are the biggest ticket items)
Microwave

NOTE: if it's hot out,, (Or before it gets hot out) go topside and pull the covers off the A/C's.. CLEAN EVERYTHING.

Depending on the park, I have been able, on two occasions, to run both A/C's on 30 amps (along with Televisions and fridge but turn one off before using microwave or electric water heater) Measured pull at 27 amps.. The exact limt for 30 amps.. Only a few sites in that park have copper feeders though and that was one of them.. The sites with luminum feeders. that won't work.

Suggestin visit Power Solutions

I did, built my own.

But my Intruder runs fine on 30 amps.
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Old 03-28-2011, 11:53 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by jcthorne View Post
Yes, the problem is in your 30 to 50 adaptor. Had the same issue with the first inexpensive adaptor I purchased for our 2008 Damon. A proper adaptor that supplies both legs will fix you up.
Can you tell me where you bought the adaptor or brand.
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Old 03-29-2011, 01:06 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark1505 View Post
I have a 2005 intruder we bought used and need to know about using 30 amp sevice. If I run the genset everything works. If the park only has 30 amps, we have no TV,no microwave,one AC, hot water only runs on gas.
I can see looking at the wiring of our motorhome that the 50 amps gives us the seperate 120volts lines. I would think that the TV at least should work. Is my motorhome working correct?
Mark


I always use a plug in an analog(as apposed to digital, it gives me an to/from OK region) Voltage meter, both to first check at the pole to see if the correct voltage is there, and second I plug it into an unused plug for the duration of my camping, then I can check it for low voltage situations at anytime during my camping.

If for any reason a problem developed at the pole either when I first hook up or while I am camping will show as a low voltage situation.

My Daymon only has 30 amps service cord and I can run; One Air, two TVs, All the lights and the Microwave without a dip in Voltage, the first indication your overloaded power situation.

When you first check the pole many times it will show 125v(110v - 125 is normal) without load, as soon as you start to load the plug at the pole it try to give you the current that your devices demand.

This results in a voltage drop. Many devices will run on low voltage but will burn out This is simple to prove with the Formula E=I*R where E is voltage I is current and R is resistance or for the purpose of this discussion load.

If load stays the same, and voltage stays the same then current will stay the same.

But if the load stays the same and the current changes, then the voltage has to change.

The pole can read OK but as soon as you start loading the circuit, you can get into a low voltage situation.

So a 30 amp 125 volt campground pole plug will accept, if it is correctly wired and with a steady load give you 30 amps. But change the number of things turned on(vary the load) and the pole plug will try to give you all the current you need and sacrifice the voltage. This means If the load goes up the current demand goes up therefore the voltage will fall. It is this situation that burns out electronics and air conditioners.

I believe a 50 amp service plug gives you 2 legs of 125 volts. One leg at 30 amps and the other at 20 amps. If you can run less than most people do on your 30 amp 50/30 amp dog bone maybe your main devices are on the wrong leg. As someone else said, check the way it is wired to see.
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Old 03-29-2011, 01:24 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by wa8yxm View Post
Depending on the park, I have been able, on two occasions, to run both A/C's on 30 amps (along with Televisions and fridge but turn one off before using microwave or electric water heater) Measured pull at 27 amps.. The exact limt for 30 amps.. Only a few sites in that park have copper feeders though and that was one of them.. The sites with luminum feeders. that won't work.

Suggestin visit Power Solutions

I did, built my own.

But my Intruder runs fine on 30 amps.

So what your saying is the aluminum wire feeder wasn't sized correctly for 30amps advertised at the pole. If they say they have 30 amps don't you think they should provide 30 amps?
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Old 03-31-2011, 07:07 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by KC1BUD View Post
I always use a plug in an analog(as apposed to digital, it gives me an to/from OK region) Voltage meter, both to first check at the pole to see if the correct voltage is there, and second I plug it into an unused plug for the duration of my camping, then I can check it for low voltage situations at anytime during my camping.

If for any reason a problem developed at the pole either when I first hook up or while I am camping will show as a low voltage situation.

My Daymon only has 30 amps service cord and I can run; One Air, two TVs, All the lights and the Microwave without a dip in Voltage, the first indication your overloaded power situation.

When you first check the pole many times it will show 125v(110v - 125 is normal) without load, as soon as you start to load the plug at the pole it try to give you the current that your devices demand.

This results in a voltage drop. Many devices will run on low voltage but will burn out This is simple to prove with the Formula E=I*R where E is voltage I is current and R is resistance or for the purpose of this discussion load.

If load stays the same, and voltage stays the same then current will stay the same.

But if the load stays the same and the current changes, then the voltage has to change.

The pole can read OK but as soon as you start loading the circuit, you can get into a low voltage situation.

So a 30 amp 125 volt campground pole plug will accept, if it is correctly wired and with a steady load give you 30 amps. But change the number of things turned on(vary the load) and the pole plug will try to give you all the current you need and sacrifice the voltage. This means If the load goes up the current demand goes up therefore the voltage will fall. It is this situation that burns out electronics and air conditioners.

I believe a 50 amp service plug gives you 2 legs of 125 volts. One leg at 30 amps and the other at 20 amps. If you can run less than most people do on your 30 amp 50/30 amp dog bone maybe your main devices are on the wrong leg. As someone else said, check the way it is wired to see.


I always use a plug in an analog(as apposed to digital, it gives me an to/from OK region) Voltage meter, both to first check at the pole to see if the correct voltage is there, and second I plug it into an unused plug for the duration of my camping, then I can check it for low voltage situations at anytime during my camping.
Having a meter plugged in to monitor for low voltage while camping is a waste of time. If the voltage goes low you wouldn't be quick enough to react to the change. The only protection for low voltage is an autoformer.
So a 30 amp 125 volt campground pole plug will accept, if it is correctly wired and with a steady load give you 30 amps. But change the number of things turned on(vary the load) and the pole plug will try to give you all the current you need and sacrifice the voltage. This means If the load goes up the current demand goes up therefore the voltage will fall. It is this situation that burns out electronics and air conditioners.
You can add as much load as the breaker will handle. If you are on a 30 amp breaker you should have about 3,600 watts available for use. If you go over that the breaker should trip. If the voltage drops at the campground pedestal then there is a problem with the supply transformer.
I believe a 50 amp service plug gives you 2 legs of 125 volts. One leg at 30 amps and the other at 20 amps.
Actually, a correctly wired 120/240 - 50 amp service is a split phase system. You will get two legs of 125 volts with each leg having a potential load of 50 amps per leg for a total of 12,000 watts.
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Old 04-10-2011, 09:14 PM   #12
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"Having a meter plugged in to monitor for low voltage while camping is a waste of time. If the voltage goes low you wouldn't be quick enough to react to the change. The only protection for low voltage is an autoformer."
What I was trying to convey here is in brown out situations not instantaneous situations.
In instantaneous voltage situations You are correct that it can fluctuate too fast to catch and an auto transformer might help in those fluctuations.

But unless an instantaneous voltage fluctuation is high enough, it isn't apt to hurt your electronics and appliances. Brown outs on the other hand, which also happen at your stick built, can burn out your devices as they try to continue to run. Breakers and fuses, I have still seen both when camping, will not break or burn out unless the current is exceeded or there is a short to ground. In an effort for the circuit to provide you with the required current(amps) to operate any device will drop the voltage. All the while not exceeding the current rating of the breaker.

To see this in action, run a load on 300 foot of extension cord rated for 15 amps and measure the voltage. The voltage will be lower and you will not exceed the current rating for the circuit, and you will not trip the breaker.

I have seen this, because most of my camping has been done at county fairgrounds instead of campgrounds because most of our camping is done at horse shows, where electrical service can be dubious at best. Inevitably someone will run that much 15 amp extension cord and try to run their air, TV and microwave. I can usually hear them a few weeks later tell the story of how this grounds burn out their appliances.

I have even had people complain to me that something in their rigs wouldn't run right, and they couldn't understand why. When I point out that they have 300 foot of extension cord on it, they will say "but I am right next to where I am plugged in". To which I respond yes, but the electricity still has to go 300 feet plus to get to what ever they are trying to run.


Quote:
Originally Posted by randco View Post
Actually, a correctly wired 120/240 - 50 amp service is a split phase system. You will get two legs of 125 volts with each leg having a potential load of 50 amps per leg for a total of 12,000 watts.
You are absolutely correct here, I mis-spoke myself.
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Old 04-11-2011, 05:09 AM   #13
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For a standard 120 volt outlet the voltage drop from the cord should be less than 3 percent or 3.6 volts.
Here is the link to a table that will help to determine the correct cord size.
Voltage Drop Calculator
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