What's it used for?....

[Nuclear]

At a garage sale today I bought a short power cord with some RV stuff.
It is a 50 amp twist-lock female to a 15 amp 125/250V male adapter. The 50 amp end has a threaded collar that would attach to something. What is this power adapter used for?? I paid about $7 for it. Also, it is a Marinco brand and has a small LED.
Any ideas???

[MJ56]

Looks like a twist-lock connector that plugs into side of RV with 15A amp male to use with a 15 amp extension cord.

[BFlinn181]

That plug, a 3 conductor 50 amp female plug, is sometimes called a Coleman generator cord. That same 3 conductor plug is the same as an electric range plug, but they are 240 v. You usually see them in marinas at mooring slips, but having one adapt to a 15 amp plug I guess could be used for plugging into a marina outlet for 120 v service. It's sort of like hooking a garden hose to a fire hydrant!
RV wiring standards use a 4 conductor set up for 50 amp, 120 v service. Two 'hots' a neutral, and a ground. The two hots are 180º out of phase, so you actually have 100 amps available to the RV.
I doubt if you'll ever see a male 3 conductor twist lock outlet since the prongs could shock you.

[Nuclear]

Ok...so not much use on my rv....??
Thanks

[BFlinn181]

No, in fact I'd be very cautious if you ever find a place to use it, probably would be 240 v.

[chboone]

That actually Is an RV 50 amp 4 conductor twist lock to 15 amp male adapter. On the white 50 amp plug you have the two 120 volt and one neutral female plugs. The ground is on the side of the white plug near the 15 amp male plug. I have one on my shore cord.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page...0amp%20adapter

Chuck

[Stickdog]

You got a bargain. It is a reducer from 50amp to 15 amp we use one when we plug in to a friends shop power.RV Power Cord Adapter 50amp to 15 Amp 120 125 250 Volt Locking Female Connector | eBay

[DavisK]

It looks like an adapter for a marine shore power cable.

[Nuclear]

I guess I did get a bargain...I got that adapter, a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter, a 15 amp to three 15 amp extension, a 2 5/16 ball hitch, and a 100' 10g extension cord...all for $60.00!
Not too bad....made up for the 3hrs of garage sale time I spent with my wife...lol

[mojoracing]

In no way is it dangerous. It can plug into the 50 amp receptacle on a motorhome where the power cord normally plugs in and reduce it down to a regular extension cord to provide power while loading a motorhome or temporary power while in the driveway etc. Granted you can't run th a/c's off it but other than that it's very useful. Great deal you got there.

[BFlinn181]

I don't think some of the above advice is clear on what was pictured. It shows a twist lock 3 conductor 50 amp female plug dogboned on a 15 amp 3 conductor male plug. That will NOT connect to a 4 conductor RV 50 amp plug, which is 4 conductor. MARINCO makes connectors and cords for yachts. It would connect to a yacht power cord to a 15 amp outlet.

To get some money, offer it for sale at a marina bulletin board, I don't think it will be useful in an RV.

[Tha_Rooster]

Several have posted its a 50 amp cord to 15amps, my 50 amp cord has 4 prongs.I think it's a 30 to 15 amp cord.

[scenic route]

I was thinking 30 amp female and 15amp male. What happened to L-1 and L-2 with neutral and the ground that goes with 50 amp plug?

Uh, what rooster said...

[FlyingDiver]

I see some small motorhomes and a lot of travel trailers that use that kind of external power connection. That device would be used to power a 30amp RV from a 15amp outlet using a standard 15amp extension cord.

The 50 amp rating on it is a joke, because you'll never find an outlet with the parallel prongs providing 50 amps. Probably some chinese knockoff that just put that on there because they thought it would impress people.