220 dryer plug to 30A?

[Midniteoyl]

Originally Posted by cnkinthebus

If you have an electrician that you know, ask him/her if they could make up a "special cable and receptical that would pull one leg of the 30 amp from the dryer outlet to power your moho. It can be done, but since you are asking here, you may not feel comfortable in making such a cable. If you explain to the electrician what you are up against, he can make what you need to be powered and safe, not the best way to do this, but it appears you are limited in your options. Other option would be to have an electrician install the proper 30 amp outlet at DW's Mom's house

Originally Posted by Rjhuser

It can be done IF it is 4-wire receptical BUT you really need to know what you are doing.

You would be using one side of the breaker, and yes it would be protected - a double pole breaker will trip if the phase to neutral exceeds the breaker rating. In that aspect you are lucky as a dryer breaker is a 30 amp breaker.

A special adapter would have to be made - you would need a 4-blade dryer plug, a RV 30 amp receptical "NEMA TT-30R" and a length of 10/2 (with ground) SOOW cord. At the dryer plug end, the green wire would go to the ground lug, the white wire (the neutral) would go to the "W" lug, and the black wire to either the "X" or "Y" lug. The other lug would be unused.

On the RV receptical side, again the green wire to the ground lug, white wire to the "W" lug, and the black wire to the "B" lug.

Before using the adapter CHECK THE VOLTAGE WITH A MULTMETER FIRST!!!

Again, you should only try this if you are comfortable working on electrical equipment. I DO NOT recommend trying this modification by a novice or someone not used to doing electrical wiring.

(By the way, I did something similar to this to allow my TT to be connected to my generator. I purchased a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter, cut the 50 amp plug off, and installed a twist-lock plug I needed to connect to my generator.)

Rick

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Two answers: IF the dryer plug is a 3-wire job (Common on older houses) DO NOT DO IT, there is no way to do it safely.

If the dryer is a 4-wire plug, then you need to use a voltmeter to make sure but normally the "Odd shaped" pin is safety ground.

Get a new dryer cord from the hardware store. and a box and a TT-30 outlet (or better yet a 50 amp outlet, future upgrade dont' you know)

Safety ground to safety ground (GREEN wire/Screw)
White wire to the silverly screw This should be the pin opposite the ground. on a 4 wire plug/outlet but again CONFIRM. should show zero volts when measured to ground.

TT-30, One of the remaining wires to copper color screw tape the other.

50 amp One of the remaining wires to EACH of the other screws. (one each)

Then use the proper dogbone for your rig.

Originally Posted by bonzocfi

monkey....I made a cable to do just what you want. I don't need it any longer as I had an electrician wire 50A service in my garage. PM me if you're interested.

Originally Posted by TXiceman

A 50 amp dryer plug has 3 flat blades and one rounded pin (some older dryer plugs had a three bladed configuration (two hots and a ground) and no rounded pin). The rounded pin is the ground. One flat plug is the neutral and the other two are hot. If you put a volt meter from the ground to neutral, you should read 0 volts.
From the neutral to L1, one hot blade you will read 120 volts. From the neutral to the other hot blade , L2, you will read 120 volts.
From the hot L2 to the hot L1 you will read 240 volts.

Check this site...RV Electric

So if you have a 4 prong dryer plug that reads 240 volts on L1 to L2 and 120 volts fro Le to N and L2 to n, you can get a 50 to 30 amp "dog bone" adapter at the Rv place and plug your 30 amp RV in.

To confirm this, check the voltage on the 30 amp end of the adapter. You should have from either the neutral or ground to the hot, 120 volts and 0 volts from neutral to ground.

Ken

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Ramblin, the Rv is protected by the breakers in it's service panel. The cord to the breaker is a 30 amp cord and the breaker at the dryer is 50 amps, so that is not protected. You have the exact same situation at any RV park that you use a 50 to 30 amp adapter.

To be safe, you can build or have an electrician make a subpanel off the 50 amp dryer plug with a 30 amp breaker in it for the RV and set an RV 30 amp plug. It is not that hard to do or too expensive.

ken

Correct!

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by LadyFitz...

NO! It cannot be done! A 220v dryer outlet has two legs that have 220v across them and a ground. A 30A RV connection requires one 120v leg, a ground, and a neutral. The dryer outlet lacks the neutral.

Originally Posted by LadyFitz...

Actually, it has two hots and a ground.

I forgot many dryers now run on 50A (I haven't actually seen one yet; every dryer I've owned or worked on was 30A). If the outlet is four prong, a standard 50A to 30A dogbone can be used. If it is only three prong, then my original comments stand.

[FlyingDiver]

Originally Posted by LadyFitz...

I forgot many dryers now run on 50A (I haven't actually seen one yet; every dryer I've owned or worked on was 30A). If the outlet is four prong, a standard 50A to 30A dogbone can be used. If it is only three prong, then my original comments stand.

Newer dryers are not necessarily 50 amp, but they do use a four-wire plug. The breakers would likely be 30amp, which is fine for the OP.

joe

[monkey]

Haven't I've seen on here somewhere a cable made to plug into 2 110v outlets , then run down to a camper type plug ??? Something like that should suit us as we never (yet) have tripped a breaker anywhere,, just the weak points are showing,, such as plugs, A cable like a Y setup would split the current into 2 plugs at the wall of the house, then directly to a camper type cable plug.. Idea's on that ??? Thanks again everybody,, I'm studying your advice !! Monkey

[bonzocfi]

Monkey...did you get my pm?

[Ramblin]

Originally Posted by monkey

Haven't I've seen on here somewhere a cable made to plug into 2 110v outlets , then run down to a camper type plug ??? Something like that should suit us as we never (yet) have tripped a breaker anywhere,, just the weak points are showing,, such as plugs, A cable like a Y setup would split the current into 2 plugs at the wall of the house, then directly to a camper type cable plug.. Idea's on that ??? Thanks again everybody,, I'm studying your advice !! Monkey

If I understand you correctly, I would think that if you had a 2 15A plug to 1 50A plug, you would

a) Have both hot legs on the same phase, which would possibly cause problems with a 240V appliance, and...
b) Still only have 15A total to work with.

[DAN L]

Originally Posted by monkey

Thankyou very much... Guess thats the answer I was looking for... We stay there a few days,, so far,,, guess I could ask to wire a 30A plug in the garage,,, D

check this resource...

RV Wiring

[acampingwewillgo]

Wow.....after reading some of the replies, Id be more confused than when he started! Id go about this completely different. Go to Home Depot, get yourself a 5' piece of white, black and green #10 wire, get an approved 30 amp RV outlet.....wait until you get to your relatives house, find the Service Panel, verify there is a single breaker space available and go to the local Home Depot to get the appropriate 30 amp single poll breaker. If you have even the slightest knowledge ABOUT ELECTRICAL, hooking this temporary power outlet up is a cinch! Heck, you dont even need a Box to put the outlet in.....wrap some high quality electrical tape around the outlet and your good to go. When you leave, you disconnect your temp outlet, close everything back up and move on to the next time/place you need a 30 amp receptable(Ok...so if's its someone else's house, you might have to match the breaker again). This may sound difficult but we do this all the time in construction work.

[Dogpatch]

Originally Posted by acampingwewillgo

Wow.....after reading some of the replies, Id be more confused than when he started! Id go about this completely different. Go to Home Depot, get yourself a 5' piece of white, black and green #10 wire, get an approved 30 amp RV outlet.....wait until you get to your relatives house, find the Service Panel, verify there is a single breaker space available and go to the local Home Depot to get the appropriate 30 amp single poll breaker. If you have even the slightest knowledge ABOUT ELECTRICAL, hooking this temporary power outlet up is a cinch! Heck, you dont even need a Box to put the outlet in.....wrap some high quality electrical tape around the outlet and your good to go. When you leave, you disconnect your temp outlet, close everything back up and move on to the next time/place you need a 30 amp receptable(Ok...so if's its someone else's house, you might have to match the breaker again). This may sound difficult but we do this all the time in construction work.

You are kidding right?

Surely you didn't just advise the poster, who probably doesn't have a lick of electrical experience, let alone, no electrical ticket to go into another person's home and wire in a new 30amp breaker and run a wire to power his RV?

Not only is this a dangerous thing to undertake, possibly fatal, but the liability for an inexperienced person to go in and mess with another person's electrical system is ludicrous!

He's not just hooking up a pair of speakers.

There are just some things people shouldn't touch.
Get an electrician and when the house burns down, use his liability insurance.

Just my opinion.

[Bob and Inga]

Originally Posted by dogpatch

You are kidding right?

....

Just my opinion.

I was following this post just because its funny and . . . They are talking about "Mom's house" where they have been before and will surely be again and they want to #&@* around with 220. Drop a few bucks and have a real 30 amp outlet done the right way. I think the prior poster was just trying to convey that point.

Bob

[monkey]

Originally Posted by acampingwewillgo

Wow.....after reading some of the replies, Id be more confused than when he started! Id go about this completely different. Go to Home Depot, get yourself a 5' piece of white, black and green #10 wire, get an approved 30 amp RV outlet.....wait until you get to your relatives house, find the Service Panel, verify there is a single breaker space available and go to the local Home Depot to get the appropriate 30 amp single poll breaker. If you have even the slightest knowledge ABOUT ELECTRICAL, hooking this temporary power outlet up is a cinch! Heck, you dont even need a Box to put the outlet in.....wrap some high quality electrical tape around the outlet and your good to go. When you leave, you disconnect your temp outlet, close everything back up and move on to the next time/place you need a 30 amp receptable(Ok...so if's its someone else's house, you might have to match the breaker again). This may sound difficult but we do this all the time in construction work.

Now that is something I could work with I think.. Yes I have a basic knowledge of elec,,, used to be an aircraft mech... So thanks Very much for the simple explanation ! Great idea !!!
Monkey

[acampingwewillgo]

Originally Posted by dogpatch

You are kidding right?

Surely you didn't just advise the poster, who probably doesn't have a lick of electrical experience, let alone, no electrical ticket to go into another person's home and wire in a new 30amp breaker and run a wire to power his RV?

Not only is this a dangerous thing to undertake, possibly fatal, but the liability for an inexperienced person to go in and mess with another person's electrical system is ludicrous!

He's not just hooking up a pair of speakers.

There are just some things people shouldn't touch.
Get an electrician and when the house burns down, use his liability insurance.

Just my opinion.

NO...I wasnt kidding, some of the mass hysteria here about everything electrical being "Rocket Science" is just not true! IMHO Absolutely you need a basic knowledge of electrical.....afterall , we dont want to kill ourselves or burn the house down...but it can be done quite easily without all the confusion Ive seen in the previous posts by those claiming to be experts. Once again.....IMHO!

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by acampingwewillgo

NO...I wasnt kidding, some of the mass hysteria here about everything electrical being "Rocket Science" is just not true! IMHO Absolutely you need a basic knowledge of electrical.....afterall , we dont want to kill ourselves or burn the house down...but it can be done quite easily without all the confusion Ive seen in the previous posts by those claiming to be experts. Once again.....IMHO!

Do you think the OP would have been asking about it if he had enough knowledge to "safely" do what you are proposing? Just because you know enough to do it without killing yourself (although that is questionable) doesn't mean everyone does.

[acampingwewillgo]

And just to be clear, if you take a "dead front" off a Service Entrance Panel and you find a "crow's nest" of wires, you probably should not attempt a DIY project yourself as well as if your relatives house has an older service entrance with Sylvania/Zinsco breakers or even worst, Push-o-matic breakers, Id tell ya to have someone with experience do this for ya. Now if this house is newer, has a GE/Murray/Cutler Hammer(ect, ect) Panel with a neat and professional look where one can see someone had pride in their work, doing what I eluded to, would be very self explanatory. One hint though, as with many Main Panels the neutral and ground lugs may all be occupied...you can double up on ground wires BUT try to avoid this with the neutral even if you have to move around some grounds to open an empty space for your neutral. AS stated, if you dont feel comfy enough to attempt this.....then by all maens find someone who does or hire a qualified professional just be aware that many so called professionals dont have a clue about the requirements of an RV electrical system.(your best bet, an electrician who owns an RV).

Ive worked inside plenty of Main Panels, Ive been knocked on my Butt on more than one occassion(anyone can be shocked no matter how careful you are)....show the electricity respect and most times you will be fine...once again, IMHO! I find my solution easier to swallow than playing around with inside wiring of the house, reworking a dryer outlet without knowing exactly what one is dealing with seems to me, to be, more disastrous than what Im suggesting! OK, Now everyone, take your best shot!!!