50 amp Service Question

[Mike Canter]

Going to trade my MH which is a 30 AMP system to a newer MH with a 50 AMP system. Is a 50 amp system a 240 volts or 110 volts? In some MH catalogs they say it is a 240 v. I always thought they divided the MH into two power grids of 110 volt 25 amp eaxh. Is this correct or am I out to lunch?

So if it is still a 110 V power and I want power to keep the batteries charged and run one AC unit then can I buy one of those adapters that you plug the power cord in to that then has two 110 volt 20 amp plugs coming out of it? Then chose which one those 20 amp 110 plugs I want to hook up to give me power to what circuits?

[KIX]

Unless you are trading for a "mega-coach" most 50 amp coaches have two 110VAC, 50amp circuits. Everything in the coach that is AC will use 110VAC. Nothing will use 240VAC.
When you do not have a 50 amp receptacle to plug into you should use a 50amp F x 30amp M adapter (dogbone). If you only have 20 amp available then you can plug the dogbone adapter into a 30amp F x 20amp M adapter.

Hope this answers your question

[Norm4015]

As KIX said, with 30-amps you get 30 amps and with 50-amps you get two 50-amp circuits for a total of 100-amps. You will love a 50-amp motothome.

[Mike Canter]

Thanks. Ok so if I have a dogbone adapter that splits up the two 50 amp circuits and I want to just use one 20 amp regular outlet/wall socket while staying at a friends house for a couple of days can I run just one AC unit and the battery charger? Everything else at a minimum, no hairdryer, no microwave or anything like that.

[Monaco38]

We had several days of record braking temperatures in the Northwest over 100 degrees this summer. We are not prepared for that kind of temperatures and moved into our MH for the duration. Had not yet gotten a 30 amp RV plug wired for our newly acquired MH. We were able to run the front AC unit and the most necessary of AC items like TV on a 20 amp circuit from the house without tripping the circuit. Our MH is 50 amps which as previously pointed out is two 110VAC circuits. The second AC unit in our case is on the 2nd 110 circuit only available when plugged in to a 50 amp supply. When you plug in to a 30 amp supply with the "dog bone" adapter, or into a 20 amp supply with an additional 30 amp to 20 amp adapter you will probably only have one AC unit available. Running the genset of course would give you full power for all your AC needs.

The long and the short of it is that yes, with a 50 amp MH it is most likely two 110VAC circuits, and not 220 VAC, and with the proper adapters you can plug in to a 30 amp service, or in an "emergency", a 20 amp service, keeping in mind that you must ration your current draw accordingly or risk tripping the supply circuit breaker.

[RV Wizard]

Contrary to popular belief. A 50 amp service is 120/240 volt 60 hz. 1 phase. This is needed so that the opposing amperage of L1 and L2 can cancel out the return amperage on the neutral and we would not need a huge neutral conductor as if you only had two 120 volt circuits. While it is true most all coaches do not have 240 volt apparatuses, there are a few that use a 120/240 volt dryer and this obtainable by use of a double pole circuit breaker connected to L1 and L2. On these dryers used in coaches that have the Onan quiet diesel generators there is a notice label that states, the dryer is unusable off of the generator. This is because the generator does not produce 120/240 volts but two lines of 120 volts along with two neutral conductors.
The voltage potential of 240 volts is how we can automatically program an EMS to know when we are on a 50 amp service or a 30 amp service. If an adapter is used to plug a 50 amp power cord into a 30 amp receptacle there is no longer 240 volts potential. Both L1 and L2 are wired to the one hot leg of the 30 amp plug.
If your coach has an EMS system you can select the incoming available amperage on down below the 30 amp threshold to prevent tripping of main circuit breakers. If you do not have an EMS, you will have to be mindful as to how much current you are trying to use and not overload the circuit breaker feeding the receptacle you are plugged into.

[Mike Canter]

Thanks to all, that pretty well answers my questions.

One other question....has any one got a wiring diagram of how to wire up a 50 amp receptacle so I can install one just inside my garage door at home and on my property on the water?

[Richard S.]

This link may help.

RV Electric

[DandS]

Mike - this might help you out: RV Wiring

[Hitchhiker]

Quote:

has any one got a wiring diagram of how to wire up a 50 amp receptacle so I can install one just inside my garage door at home and on my property on the water?

Mike,

Try this website: RV Electric

[Cruzer]

I created an RV Electricity tutorial course at Electrical Tutorial that may answer this and other questions regarding RV electricity. There's even a quiz at the end if you're interested.

RV Wizard is right on the 120/240 part of it. It is a split-phase system. If you have a 10KW generator or larger chances are it is a 120/240 generator also, whereas the 7KW and smaller gensets are generally straight 120 volt in-phase systems.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Nice work, cruzer.

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Canter Going to trade my MH which is a 30 AMP system to a newer MH with a 50 AMP system. Is a 50 amp system a 240 volts or 110 volts?

50 amp service is really 50 amps, 120/240 volts (That is 240 volts divided if you want to get technical)

Everything in the coach is usually 120 volt, So you can use your 30 amp 120 volt and run one AC, exactly as you wish to do, no problem.. In fact the park I woke up in that is EXACTLY what I did with this 50 amp rig.. The park I"m in now... 50 amp site... I just changed cords.

The only exceptions is if you have an "All Electric" coach.. There may be some 240 volt things.

Electric Dryer and electric range MIGHT.

But frankly.. I do not think you will have those. RV type dryer is 120 volt.

[simmons]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. Our coach just experienced a burn out of several things...microwave, converter, shore panel, motor on room, water heater...we do not know what happened. We were having service done at one shop and they found leak in hydraulic line....so we had replaced two of them...then we were going to hook up fridge to get ready for vacation and only circuit breakers tripped. Took to shop and found a lot of things burned up....now fixed...so we will be looking into this tutorial and seeing what we do not have on the coach that we need....cannot thank you enough...seems like we need to learn more each time we go out and next year want to go out west....again...thank you so much