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JavaJelly · 11-28-2006, 05:19 AM

I have 3 A/Cs and a washer & dryer. For some reason they are all on the same leg of the 50 amp service. I actually blew a brand new 50 amp breaker at Disney when they all just happened to kick on at the same time.

I'm sure Newmar is trying to make a 30 amp hookup as convenient as possible. However, it doesn't make sense as I would never have 3 A/C running on 30 amp. I'm thinking that it would be simple to just wire the third A/C to the other leg.

Any thoughts? Would Newmar do this for me?

JavaJelly · 11-28-2006, 05:19 AM

I have 3 A/Cs and a washer & dryer. For some reason they are all on the same leg of the 50 amp service. I actually blew a brand new 50 amp breaker at Disney when they all just happened to kick on at the same time.

I'm sure Newmar is trying to make a 30 amp hookup as convenient as possible. However, it doesn't make sense as I would never have 3 A/C running on 30 amp. I'm thinking that it would be simple to just wire the third A/C to the other leg.

Any thoughts? Would Newmar do this for me?

rebelsbeach · 11-28-2006, 05:45 AM

javajelly, at last year's iRV2 National in July, which was truly the "maiden voyage" for my rig, I kept tripping the 50A campground breaker.
In chatting with "Smokey Joe" from the forum, who is a retired electrician, he offered to come down and take a look and what you describe is EXACTLY what he found, although I did have two A/C on one leg and one on the other.

He remedied the situation by better "balancing" the panel and I've not had any issues since...
We corrected the panel listing to indicate what we had done...

When I was in Nappanee I discussed this action with the guys at Newmar and they didn't seem too concerned...My guess is it's done all the time.

Lug_Nut · 11-28-2006, 06:01 AM

Along the same lines, anybody know if the enery management system can be reprogrammed on the 50 amp side? The single leg settings 15, 20 and 30 work well as that is the real amperage, however the 50 amp is actually 100, 50 per leg. If you use the 50 amp setting it shut stuff down as soon as 50 total is reached. That does not take much. I would like to be able to set each leg at say 45.

JavaJelly · 11-28-2006, 07:28 AM

In addition to Lug Nut's post. I can see amp usage for 15/20/30 amp and the generator which has a 35 amp breaker.

However, it goes blank for 50 amp. It was the same in my old coach as well. Is there a way to get the amperage when on 50 amp?

Mahlon · 11-28-2006, 11:20 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lug_Nut:
Along the same lines, anybody know if the enery management system can be reprogrammed on the 50 amp side? The single leg settings 15, 20 and 30 work well as that is the real amperage, however the 50 amp is actually 100, 50 per leg. If you use the 50 amp setting it shut stuff down as soon as 50 total is reached. That does not take much. I would like to be able to set each leg at say 45. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The sum of the currents in the two 50 amp "hot" conductors won't equal 100 amps in the neutral conductor because the two "hots" are in opposite phase when using the correct 50 amp two-pole service connection. Therefore, the two neutral currents will cancel out to some degree and the net neutral current will never exceed 50 amps.

This assumes that the loads are properly balanced in the coach, which it seems they are not, at least in your case. Seems to me that there's an unsafe condition in the design of your AC power distribution if the current in either "hot" can exceed 50 amps at any time

In the Dutch Star and Essex, how does Newmar expect you to shed loads to stay within a 30-amp max when connected to 30 amp service?

btw: My Scottsdale most definitely has the various loads, both high and low current, evenly divided up between the two 50 amp poles. Right down to the wall outlets. I wonder: if Newmar can get it right on an entry-level gasser, why can't they get it right on the high-dollar Diesel pushers?