Community Forums

Latitude · 06-22-2008, 01:46 PM

Going up to my sister's cottage next weekend, If I plug into the outside outlet, Which is a deticated circuit, but only 15A.
Would 15A run the Fridge and battery Charger???
Would 15A run Fridge, Battery charger and Coffee pot??
Or would that be pushing it??

Thanks Rick

Latitude · 06-22-2008, 01:46 PM

Going up to my sister's cottage next weekend, If I plug into the outside outlet, Which is a deticated circuit, but only 15A.
Would 15A run the Fridge and battery Charger???
Would 15A run Fridge, Battery charger and Coffee pot??
Or would that be pushing it??

Thanks Rick

Lug_Nut · 06-22-2008, 02:05 PM

Start the genset for the coffee Rick. Yes, otherwise you are pushing it. Everything else will run just fine.

Peter

Jerry Wessel KA8MBK · 06-22-2008, 02:15 PM

Rick it sure will. Right now I am in Grand Rapids Michigan and with 140 feet of cord I am plugged into a 15 amp recepticle. I run the refrigerator and water heater and two tv sets and keep the batteries charged. I set my load share to 5 amp service. At times I put the fridge and water heater on LP and run the air conditioner and tv sets and lights. I have been doing this for 8 years now here and several other places. We do volunteer work so at times this is the only power available. I have a volt meter and monitor the voltage. I also check my connections every other day to see if there is any heat. If there is I take them apart and clean and tighten the connections. Heat means current loss. Some may say you will ruin your rig, but as a retired electrician of over 40 years I say they do not know electrical management. You just have to remember not to have too much load on at one time. You just need common sense. Having the fridge and water heater on is pushing the limit, but I do not do it for long. Usually if you are on 15 amp run the fridge and everything else except the microwave and AC. and you will be fine. Leave the Water heater on propane . I do not use more than 1 1 /2 tanks of LP a year at the most. I run the air usually 24 hours a day in this weather.

Frankie · 06-22-2008, 02:23 PM

My mh is plugged into 15 amp right now and it is fine for what you want to do. When we make coffee I switch fridge to gas to be safe.I have even run ac with no prob.

Latitude · 06-22-2008, 03:08 PM

This is what I was hoping for!!! I will use the water heater on LP. and if we need the A/C I will use the Gen.
That way we will not, or at least 'Should' not have any problems!!
I Have learned with a RV you "Never Say Never"

Thanks Rick

Ray,IN · 06-22-2008, 03:48 PM

You should know the wattage of every appliance in your RV, including convertor battery charger.
This voltage drop calculator and this wattage chart should be helpful with management of the 15A circuit.
It's really handy to keep a wattage chart for yourappliances taped inside a cabinet door.

NeilV · 06-22-2008, 04:52 PM

I have done this for years also. The most important for me in near 100 degree heat is the Air Conditioning so the water heater is on propane and the coffee is done stovetop or waits until the AC is not cycling. Using the microwave also waits for when the AC is not running.

A Hughs Autoformer has also helped with making this more workable.

Jerry Wessel KA8MBK · 06-28-2008, 02:32 PM

Just to confirm what I posted before, I just got done running for 14 days on 15 amp service with 140 feet of wire. We put the Fridge and water heater on gas and turned the AC off to do the coffee pot or microwave. Voltage never went below 116 under load and was 118 with no load. Never blew a breaker or dropped to low voltage. Used all lights and two tv sets with the air. I put my power share on 10 amps for the battery charger and all was well. Just watch your voltage with a good meter.

Spikester · 06-28-2008, 03:10 PM

Make sure you select 15Amp Shore Power on your inverter/charger, if you have the option to do so, this will limit the battery chargers current draw so you can run other things.

Spike

Latitude · 07-02-2008, 04:06 PM

Had a 'Fantastic' 4 day get away. Lots of R&R,

The 15A worked very well, No problem with Battery charger( it was on "Float" most of the time), The Fridge and Coffee pot, We used the water heater on LP and when the Wife wanted to use her hair dryer we put the Fridge on LP also.

Just one time when the Wife was preparing something for the BBQ she used the MicroWave!!! I got the "I think I blew a Fuse"
So I checked the garage breakers where we were plugged in but all OK So I checked the Coach breakers and All Ok. Then the power came back on!!!!

So did the Surge Guard kick out as there was more demand than supply??? or was It becuase I had the RC7 set to 15A Shorepower????

Thanks Rick

RV Wizard · 07-03-2008, 01:32 AM

Rick, if you lost 120 volt AC power for about three minutes, I would say it was the Surge Guard protecting the coach from low voltage. It is just doing its job as designed.

Spikester · 07-03-2008, 05:17 AM

To the best of my knowledge having the RC7 selected to 15A only limits the current draw of the battery charger only, therefore more current is available for house loads. I suspect that your surge guard activated on low voltage situation. If your surge guard has a digital readout and fault code capabilities, it should have registered a fault code to let you know what the problem was, to late to check now, but something to put in your memory bank for later use.

Spike

Route 66 · 07-03-2008, 06:44 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">To the best of my knowledge having the RC7 selected to 15A only limits the current draw of the battery charger only </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's my understanding also.