50 amp to 30 amp?

[SEAK100]

Thanks to all of you who so kindly responded to my question. I am truly amazed at how helpful MH owners are and appreciate all the good information that you have provided. Hope to meet some of you on my first trip! Rich

[Gary RVRoamer]

I use a "cheater" box (twin 30A plugs) at home, where I have two independent 30A RV outlets, and a couple other palces. I rarely find it useful in campgrounds, for one of several reasons:
1) The 20A outlet is GFCI protected
2) Both the 20A and 30A outlet are fed by a single 30A source, so the source breaker trips if I pull more than 30A total
3) The park does not permit it (I was reprimanded at one park when they saw me using it)

Another wrinkle: if your coach has an energy mgmt system that tries to load balance to 30A, it won't let you use more than 30 when the twin tail box is used with outlets of the same polarity (phase). It is possible to modify the standard EMS to avoid this problem, but it takes some wiring knowledge and skill.

[Pusherman]

Originally Posted by akadeadeye

So is it typical for a State Park receptacle to be GFCI?

Don

Only the 20A 110V receptacle will be GFCI. The 30A or 50A (if available) will not be GFCI.

The cheater boxes typically do not work if the 20A you plug into is GFCI, as posted above, and which almost all 20A receptacles are in CG's. It will pop the GFCI receptacle on the 20A.

[Dadeaux]

One of the easier ways to "cheat" the system is unplug your microwave/refrigerator from the coach circuit and use an extension cord to go directly to the 110 volt pedestal outlet and plug your 30 amp in as you normally would.