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Old 05-30-2012, 10:54 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Ramblin View Post
The 30A main breaker in the RV will pop before the cord sees anything in excess of 30A. My concern is the OTHER side of the Y, where the OP presumably will plug in an extension cord for all his outside electrical items. He has no breaker protection there below 50A and could overload and melt the cord.

Normally I would agree with you. HOWEVER.. IN this case only ONE LEG of what he is doing will go through that 30 amp main breaker in the RV

(This is why I have no problems with someone plugging a 30 amp RV into 50 with an adapter. The odds of an overload big enough to cause issues but NOT tripping the main in the RV very low.. A short in the cord will trip a 50 amp breaker before anything nasty happens)

But in this case he's talking about running a bunch of stuff, most not fuse/breaker protected (Fridge, Lights, Radios Etc) off the 2nd leg.

That will make it possible to pull 40 or 45 amps long enough to seriously overheat that TT-30 outlet and cord.

Which is why I go back to the Do it right statement, Protect it.
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Old 05-31-2012, 03:42 AM   #16
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Sniff sniff, I smell smoke. Best make sure everything is breaker protected (mainly the ext cord)
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Old 05-31-2012, 05:14 AM   #17
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You can do this. I used to power both my former Class C and race trailer off of one 50 amp outlet. The Class C and trailer were 30 amp units. I called Progressive and talked to the owner about what I wanted to do. Here is what I have; EMS50PTC with a Progressive Buddy Box plugged into it. It has two 50 amp outlets. From there I used two 50 male to 30 female pigtails and ran 30 amp cords to the RV and race trailer. I'm no longer racing and now have a 50 amp Class A.
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Old 05-31-2012, 09:56 AM   #18
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Again I point out the difference between your race trailer and what the O/P wants.

The trailer has a 30 amp main breaker

With the O/P's plan to run power strips and such it is possible to overload a 30 amp cord using the commercical splitter someone linked to, Which is why I suggested a proper sub panel with 30 amp breakers.

That said.. I use a 30 amp cord that ends in an octo-let on occasion.

But then it plugs into a 30 amp outlet in my rig (Properly wired and breakered)
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Old 06-01-2012, 07:42 AM   #19
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OK....slow down. That cord is what I was looking for, but $100?

Anyway, I was looking just to have another outlet. It will have a power strip with breaker that would pop at 20amps or less.

Fun read...
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Old 06-01-2012, 07:49 AM   #20
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OK....slow down. That cord is what I was looking for, but $100?

Anyway, I was looking just to have another outlet. It will have a power strip with breaker that would pop at 20amps or less.

Fun read...
You could always make one. Lowes or HD sell all the parts you need. It'll probably approach $100 anyway by the time you're done if you do it right.

If you plug in a power strip that is protected by a 20A breaker, you're good to go. If you plug in TWO power strips with 20A breakers (for instance if your extension cord has multiple outlets) then you can potentially overload the 30A cable to 40A before any breakers pop.
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Old 06-01-2012, 11:30 AM   #21
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Since you are going to use a breaker (Most of those are 15 amps by the way)

Get a large "outlet box" and two pigtails. This outlet box needs to be big enough for TWO (Or better yet 3 if you can find one) outlets.. But you are only going to use one, Be sure to get the the proper cover plate for it. Get a 20 amp Duplex recpitcal and some 12 (or better yet 10) ga wire. Just a 1-2 feet, both black and white and a 12ga bare

From the RV store get both a 50 amp MALE pigtail and a 30 amp Female

Hook the 30 amp to the 50 amp, matching colors, I'd use acorn nuts and tape them well but you can use any method you like of getting a good solid electrical connection.

On the green wire hook the BARE wire Run it to the green screw on the outlet

WHite gets the White and runs to the slivery screw on the outlet (The "T" shiped side)

The black wire (NOTE, just for fun you could get RED instead of black, in fact get red)

Goes to the copper screw on the outlet, and to the RED wire from the 50 amp cord)

Make sure all connections are solid, and well insulated, Cover it up and it will work.
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Old 06-01-2012, 04:40 PM   #22
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Try ProgressiveIndustries. Look at Their "Cheater Box" .
The Cheater Box plugs into and 30amp and a 20amp plug, or two 30amp plugs on separate circuits to give user a 50amp output.

Will not operate on a GFCI circuit.


Designed for outdoor use. Maybe this will work for you. ed
This is a good way to burn out the 10 gauge underground wire feeding the campsite...these things are totally irresponsible, causing almost certain damage to the CG's wiring, and pedistal, and, if the neutral goes first, ALL the electronics in your unit.
A very dangerous thing, indeed!
That 10 gause wire is rated at 30 amps, not 50....use your imagination....
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Old 06-01-2012, 05:19 PM   #23
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Thumbs down Correction

Quote:
Originally Posted by free-to-roam View Post
This is a good way to burn out the 10 gauge underground wire feeding the campsite...these things are totally irresponsible, causing almost certain damage to the CG's wiring, and pedistal, and, if the neutral goes first, ALL the electronics in your unit.
A very dangerous thing, indeed!
That 10 gause wire is rated at 30 amps, not 50....use your imagination....
This statement is not factual. With a cheater box you are still only drawing 30 ams from the 30 amp outlet and 20 amps from the 20 amp outlet. You do not draw 50 amps out of the 30 amp outlet. It does not under any circumstances cause damage to the CG wiring. Use research, not imagination.
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Old 06-01-2012, 08:42 PM   #24
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This statement is not factual. With a cheater box you are still only drawing 30 ams from the 30 amp outlet and 20 amps from the 20 amp outlet. You do not draw 50 amps out of the 30 amp outlet. It does not under any circumstances cause damage to the CG wiring. Use research, not imagination.

+1
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Old 06-02-2012, 06:40 AM   #25
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+1
Not to get into a spitting match, but, iN ONE SEASON I replaced, totally 6 pedistals, all of which had these cheater boxes on them. In effect, one makes the pedistal outlet look like an extension cord, with multiple recipticles...If one did that inside ones home, fire could result, but, since all the overloaded wiring is underground, fire is avoided.
The advertised fact that it will not operate on a GFI circuit should tell the user somethig....
The GFI senses the combining of a parallel circuit, out of balance, so it stops the operation of electricity fllowing through the device.
I finally posted a notice, that anyone using such a device, would be disconnected, and charged for replacement of pedistal equipment id damage had occured.
Incidents stopped, and, we eventually replaced all 30 A peds with new 50/30/20, and proper feeder supplies.
We have seen a few enterprising folks split the 50 A into two lines, still do not recomment this, for safety sake, but, they won't hurt my equipment...
just speaking from experience...
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Old 06-02-2012, 06:53 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by free-to-roam View Post
Not to get into a spitting match, but, iN ONE SEASON I replaced, totally 6 pedistals, all of which had these cheater boxes on them. In effect, one makes the pedistal outlet look like an extension cord, with multiple recipticles...If one did that inside ones home, fire could result, but, since all the overloaded wiring is underground, fire is avoided.
The advertised fact that it will not operate on a GFI circuit should tell the user somethig....
The GFI senses the combining of a parallel circuit, out of balance, so it stops the operation of electricity fllowing through the device.
I finally posted a notice, that anyone using such a device, would be disconnected, and charged for replacement of pedistal equipment id damage had occured.
Incidents stopped, and, we eventually replaced all 30 A peds with new 50/30/20, and proper feeder supplies.
We have seen a few enterprising folks split the 50 A into two lines, still do not recomment this, for safety sake, but, they won't hurt my equipment...
just speaking from experience...
HAVE FUN, ALL!!
With all due respect, if your premise wiring failed because cheater boxes were in use, it was due to improperly designed or installed electrical systems at your premise, not the cheater boxes. There should be no way to destroy proper premise wiring by plugging stuff into outlets, no matter what that stuff is, even if that stuff is home made and designed to fail.
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Old 06-02-2012, 07:47 AM   #27
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The earlier reply made the best point for not doing this. The lack of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter protection is what makes this usage DANGEROUS. All 20 Amp outdoor receptacles should be GFCI protected. There is NO GFCI protection on the 30 Amp or 50 Amp receptacles. I wouldn't take the chance of hurting my family.
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Old 06-02-2012, 08:43 PM   #28
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The earlier reply made the best point for not doing this. The lack of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter protection is what makes this usage DANGEROUS. All 20 Amp outdoor receptacles should be GFCI protected. There is NO GFCI protection on the 30 Amp or 50 Amp receptacles. I wouldn't take the chance of hurting my family.
30 and 50 amp never have GFI protection. Using a cheater box that joins them to a 20 amp does not create any danger. A campground could choose to prohibit their use because they don't want you to use more electricity. There is no safety justification.

Splitting a 30 or 50 amp into two 20 amp supplies could produce a risk due to the lack of a GFI protection for someone using them. This would only happen if the user managed to become a path to ground. A GFI would trip on the small difference in current going in and out.
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