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MO Fred · 07-03-2017, 07:33 PM

I modified two short extension cords by replacing the female end with a mail end thus having two mail plugs on each cord. I then plug one mail end into an outside outlet on the coach and the other end into a regular extension cord that is plugged into a 15 amp outlet from my house. That provides power to most of the appliances inside the coach including the battery charger. I do the same by plugging into another outlet that is in my engine compartment. That one provides the power to the rest of the coach. We were in Kansas City last week sitting in our nephew's driveway. I had two 15 amp cords going to our coach and we were able to run one AC and watch TV, no problem.

BFlinn181 · 07-03-2017, 07:45 PM

An extension cord with two male ends means that if you plug into the live outlet first, the prongs on the other end are now live and a serious shock hazard. Someone tripping over or pulling the live end from the RV would be in danger trying to replace the plug.

MO Fred · 07-03-2017, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

An extension cord with two male ends means that if you plug into the live outlet first, the prongs on the other end are now live and a serious shock hazard. Someone tripping over or pulling the live end from the RV would be in danger trying to replace the plug.

You are correct sir. I suppose someone could trip and that would be a worst-case scenario. Other than that, never had any problems over the past five years doing it. This method is an exception, as we normally plug into a 50 amp service about 99.9% of the time on the road. I have it under my RV shelter at home where I use the two mail end plugs. This way I don't have to drag out the bulky cord to plug into the 50 amp outlet on the coach while parked at home.

twinboat · 07-03-2017, 08:44 PM

You could buy a 50 amp female outlet and wire 2, 15 amp male plugs to it.
Then you can use you extension cords on it. Then run to your 2, 15 amp outlets.

Now the gender of the cords are OK and everything in the RV is protected by the RV circuit breakers.

The way your doing it, sends power to your RV items after the breakers. If you start your generator, you will send 120 volts to it, while it tries to send 120 volts to your house. Probably make some expensive smoke.

70ChevelleSS · 07-04-2017, 08:10 AM

If your RV trips a GFI then there is something wrong in the RV wiring, it shouldn't happen. Just spent 5 days up north at a friends place. Our MH and 2 TT's each plugged into different 120v GFI circuits. None of the GFI's ever tripped.

Somewhere in your RV a ground and neutral may be tied together, most likely the breaker panel. When plugged into shore power the panel in the RV is considered a sub-panel. Grounds and neutrals should be separated in a sub panel. They should only be tied together in one place and that's the main panel supplying service. If they're tied together in the RV then you'll have current on the ground wire going back to the main panel. The current can't tell the difference between the ground and neutral, since they're tied together, and will flow through both lines. That is wrong! The ground wire is there as a safety device and should never carry current except in a fault condition.

You can easily test to see if that's your issue. Unplug from shore power and use an ohm meter to see if the neutral and ground are tired together somewhere in the RV. You can check it right at the end of your shore power cable. You should get an infinite reading, if not you have a problem. Could actually be a faulty appliance that's not plugged into a GFI circuit. If you do have that condition then unplug all 120v loads and test again.

MisterT · 07-04-2017, 08:35 AM

Steve days it best:
When 'downsizing' to 120v 15amp, ALWAYS remember that the CHARGER may be in BULK charge mode and will try to pull many amps when you first connect.
Always use the SHOTE MAX button to set the Charger to only use a max of 5amps, allowing the balance for the Fridge, 120v outlets, etc.

You should have no problem with this setup, but it's always about remembering to pair down on unneeded draws. Of course the AC won't work, but other 'silent' draws, like the Charger and Water Heater(elec) will.

We are in the Yukon and Alaska this month, and have seen every electrical power scenario you can imagine - drycamping and dealing with simple power options experience will teach you quickly, though sometimes I even forget my own advice!

- we have 200w of Solar, which helps to keep the batteries charged, but only when there's Sun!
- we have a 6kw generator, and it can power all our needs, but it's a diesel sipper, and isn't always welcomed after certain hours at dry campgrounds...
- we are at a nice full service park now, in TOK, Alaska, with 50amp
- we stayed at a park that had only 30amp service at WatsonLake, Yukon, but the power boxes were double 30a outlets, so we pulled 60amps with our dual 30a to 50a adapter
- in CHICKEN, Alaska, the park only had 120v 20amps at most of the sites, which still worked fine as we didn't need heat or AC anyway, though with 4 of us, we have 2 desktop computers, 4 phones, 2 laptops, TVs, etc, and everything was fine, even the microwave.

You'll be fine, Your coach is designed for every situation you can think of....