50A or 30A??

[TheMatrix]

I know this may sound like a dumb question to you guys BUT....

Say you have a FW that takes 50A, what happens if you get to a site that only offers 30A? Or do all sites offer 30/50?

If I buy one with 50A .. am I gonna be always limited to only certain sites that offer this service?

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by TheMatrix

I know this may sound like a dumb question to you guys BUT....

Say you have a FW that takes 50A, what happens if you get to a site that only offers 30A? Or do all sites offer 30/50?

If I buy one with 50A .. am I gonna be always limited to only certain sites that offer this service?

Common is to use an adapter for 50 to 30 amp connector if only 30 amp is available. There are also adapters for 15/20 amp (cannon household outlet). You must be aware and manually load manage the simultaneous use of large power consumption devices - multiple air conditioners, microwave, toaster, etc.

[wa8yxm]

Well most of us carry a set of adapters. Using these adapters you can plug a 50 amp rig into a 30 amp outlet (But see the rules below) or even plug a 50 (or 30) amp into a 15 amp outlet (Standard house outlet). I also carry an adapter that lets me plug a 15 amp plug into a 30 amp outlet (Read why).

To connect to 30 amps, Plug you plug in volt meter to the 15-30 adapter and plug it in, 120 volts or very close, go ahead and plug in the RV to the adapter and plug in.

NOTE: adapters come in two types, Puck is good for the 15-30, but for the others DOGBONE so called because of the shape, plug, short cord, outlet, these are best.

50 amp service consists of 2 power legs, 120 volt each with respect to neutral, 240 volt leg to leg, I won't go into the reasons for this but they do make sense.. All the hardware in your RV should be 120 volt,, The Dogbone (50-30) conects the single 30 amp hot wire to BOTH legs (Unless it is defective) so you have power to everything, but read the rules

The Rules:
Power suckers fall into three groups.
Big ticket items include anything with double digit amp draw, Air conditioners, Water heater, Microwave, Hair Dryer. even the converter in some cases. (Mine sucks just about exactly 10 amps if the batteries are hungry).

The fridge at around 400 watts is a medium.

Televisions, radios and their support staff (Sat Receivers, DVR's) small ticket items, as is a laptop computer. And the converter once the batteries are filled back iup.


The Rules
20 amps: One big ticket item,, you may need to turn the fridge to gas
30 amps. TWO big ticket items except only one Air Conditioner.
50 amps: All you can eat

All cases, MONITOR VOLTAGE less than 110 kill the air conditioner. Because if you do not, it will, given time.

[paz]

Almost all campgrounds have at least 30A electric. As vsheetz says, there are adapters available to enable you to use a 30A (or even all the way down to 15A) hookup. You just need to manage your electrical load so as to not trip the breaker. If you do, it's usually no biggie. Just turn something off inside the coach and go outside and reset the breaker.

Most larger coaches are wired for 50A these days. That's because many have 2 air conditioners, a microwave, a 2-way (LP and electric) water heater and possibly a washer/dryer. Many campgrounds have 30/50A hookups. If you have a 50A coach and can't get 50A hookup, you may not be able to use all appliances at the same time; but you won't be any farther behind than if you had gotten a smaller coach that was only wired for 30 amps because it didn't have all those extra appliances in the first place.

[CLIFFTALL]

Here's a link to CW which shows the various types of adapters.
http://www.campingworld.com/category...rical-cords/56

[Reng8d]

TheMatrix - that was actually a really good question, when in doubt ask right?...always better safe then sorry...these members are terrific in sharing knowledge...I even learned something here...

[Portert]

wa8xym is there a way to monitor the voltage to make sure it stays above? We also just got a 50A fiver and want to make sure we don't blow things up!

[pasdad1]

Best to get one of these to protect your coach or FW. They also make a hard wired version.

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by pasdad1

Best to get one of these to protect your coach or FW. They also make a hard wired version.

Attachment 84762

x2, a must have IMHO

[chaps2018]

x3 on the protection. it saved our AC during peak demand times (when poorly wired parks) in the summer here in Texas heat.

Did you guys leave out the surge guard intentionally? 50A Hardwire Surge Guard - TRC 34560-004 - Surge Protectors - Camping World

[TheMatrix]

Originally Posted by bjlakatos

x3 on the protection. it saved our AC during peak demand times (when poorly wired parks) in the summer here in Texas heat.

Did you guys leave out the surge guard intentionally? 50A Hardwire Surge Guard - TRC 34560-004 - Surge Protectors - Camping World

Love the sound of the 50A Hardware surge. Its now on my list.

Is it easy to hook up? Or must you have a qualified elect? I do have some knowledge or wiring etc.

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by TheMatrix

Love the sound of the 50A Hardware surge. Its now on my list.

Forget the separate surge guard from Camping World....it's not needed....the progressive Industries EMS - PT50C INCLUDES surge suppression as one of its features....plus it has a LIFETIME GUARANTEE !


"5 Mode Surge Protection
This feature provides full surge protection L-N, L-N, L-G, L-L and NG. Total Joule
rating is 3,580, 88,000A surge current. Response time of <1 nano second."

[jaycocamprs]

The Progressive Industries EMS - PT50C will tell you the voltage & amp draw on each leg, not just a red or green led. That plus the "Lifetime Warranty" is why we went with the Progressive Industries unit. Either can be had in plug in or hard wire. Plug in allows you to check sites before backing in, hard wire is more secure and one less thing to deal with.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

NOTE: adapters come in two types, Puck is good for the 15-30, but for the others DOGBONE so called because of the shape, plug, short cord, outlet, these are best.

They also make a "puck" adapter to go directly from a 15/20 amp to 50 amp. I have one that I picked up at the dealers and Home Depot has them on their website but not in our local stores. Cost is about $9 as I remember and shipping is about the same.
The Magna we're waiting on funding to buy has a 240 volt dryer so we would have to have a 50 amp site or run the generator to use it.