can i use house 30 amp

[gweedo295]

Hello all, mu son in law is wanting to put in a 50 amp outlet on the side of his house. he has a dryer outlet in the house not being used, its a 30-amp it has 4 wire, r b w g, it has a 30-amp breaker.

can he hook the 4 wires to the 50-amp outlet and be safe? doesn't the 4-wires make it 220? is the rv 50-amp 220.

any ideas what to do?

thnx

[Warhorse6]

Having just gone down this road, it’s really about the gauge and not number of wires. 50 amp needs a heavier gauge wire. That and putting a 50 amp outlet on a 30 amp circuit break still gives you 30 amps.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by gweedo295

Hello all, mu son in law is wanting to put in a 50 amp outlet on the side of his house. he has a dryer outlet in the house not being used, its a 30-amp it has 4 wire, r b w g, it has a 30-amp breaker.



can he hook the 4 wires to the 50-amp outlet and be safe? doesn't the 4-wires make it 220? is the rv 50-amp 220.



any ideas what to do?



thnx

I believe technically 220 but not. I think your 2007 one hot leg does half your motorhome and the other hot leg does the other half. I don’t believe your panel has the capabilities to offer 220 breakers. You could use your 4 wire but your only going to get 30 amps.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Originally Posted by gweedo295

can he hook the 4 wires to the 50-amp outlet and be safe? doesn't the 4-wires make it 220? is the rv 50-amp 220.

Unless the connection somehow disrupts space-time in the neighborhood the 4 wires will be 240V, not 220V - the standard was changed way back in 1967.

[TandW]

Do not upgrade the 30 amp breaker. It protects the 30 amp wiring to the dryer receptacle. Just be aware that the RV will only be able to draw 30 amps on each leg rather than the full 50 amps.

[scott2020]

If you have a 30 amp old dryer receptacle, switch out the 30 amp 2 pole breaker with a single 30 amp and install a 30 amp RV receptacle. Then use a 30 to 50 amp dog bone adapter to power your rig. That will allow you to use most of your rig's appliances, AC, that sort of thing. You might be able to run two AC units. If you try to wire up a 50 amp outlet with the wrong gauge wire it will at the very least be a code violation and at worst start a fire if you aren't careful.

[RRR]

It seems as I recently saw somewhere somebody asking the same question about putting a 30 amp breaker on a fifty amp outlet. IIRC it is not allowed by code due to that later on someone could come along and change the breaker not knowing the wire is undersized thus creating a potential problem. I would be interested in what a qualified sparky has to say.

Does he need a 50 amp? It could easily be converted to 120 volt 30 amp.

[KenZ71]

Careful with the dog bone! I ran 2 ACs off a dog bone for a while. Everything seemed ok until I tried to pull the dog bone apart. The 50 had arced and welded itself to the 30.

[twinboat]

You can do it, just don't upgrade the circuit breaker, without upgrading the wiring..

50 amp 120/240 service has the potental to supply 100 amps at 120 volts.

30 amp 120/240 volt service, your dryer service, has the potential of 60 amps at 120 volts, plenty of power for your RV.

A standard 30 amp RV outlet is 120 volts only so it can only supply 30 amps.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

I believe technically 220 but not. I think your 2007 one hot leg does half your motorhome and the other hot leg does the other half. I don’t believe your panel has the capabilities to offer 220 breakers. You could use your 4 wire but your only going to get 30 amps.

He will get 30 amps on each hot leg.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by scott2020

If you have a 30 amp old dryer receptacle, switch out the 30 amp 2 pole breaker with a single 30 amp and install a 30 amp RV receptacle. Then use a 30 to 50 amp dog bone adapter to power your rig. That will allow you to use most of your rig's appliances, AC, that sort of thing. You might be able to run two AC units. If you try to wire up a 50 amp outlet with the wrong gauge wire it will at the very least be a code violation and at worst start a fire if you aren't careful.

That's a big step down from 120/240 volt 30 amp service.

[Kid Gloves]

Originally Posted by gweedo295

Hello all, mu son in law is wanting to put in a 50 amp outlet on the side of his house. he has a dryer outlet in the house not being used, its a 30-amp it has 4 wire, r b w g, it has a 30-amp breaker.

can he hook the 4 wires to the 50-amp outlet and be safe? doesn't the 4-wires make it 220? is the rv 50-amp 220.

any ideas what to do?

thnx

Is there any reason that appropriately sized wires can’t be pulled from the main panel to the desired outside location? If space is unavailable in the main panel for a 50A breaker, the unused 30A can be removed.

[scott2020]

Originally Posted by twinboat

That's a big step down from 120/240 volt 30 amp service.

True. In my rig, the power control would see something like this as a 50 amp service automatically. I think a person with a similar setup would need to force the power control to 30 amps. When I did something similar, 30 amp 120 volt was enough to run 1 AC, fridge, lights, etc just enough to get by. I felt it was the safest option but I have to keep in mind not to run too much.

[96 Wideglide]

Originally Posted by KenZ71

Careful with the dog bone! I ran 2 ACs off a dog bone for a while. Everything seemed ok until I tried to pull the dog bone apart. The 50 had arced and welded itself to the 30.

Yeah, two of these rooftop AC's aren't happy with 30A, and the small prongs on the plugs suffer!