Connecting to a Single 15 amp Residential Circuit

[hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by Quincy

Just an observation here. If that is the case (and I have no reason to doubt you) then when the ground and common are brought to the MH panel that would bind them also.

Q

The reasons for only bonding neutral and ground in the service entrance are pretty complicated. Suffice it to say that bonding in a location other than service entrance equipment is not allowed in the NEC. If you're interested in why I'm sure you can Google it and find plenty of reading.

An RV panel is NOT considered to be service entrance equipment when the RV is plugged in to shore power.

Generators and inverters are a little different and a bit more complicated.

[erald]

If the power goes out with 15 Amp, it means most often the power cord is not able to give the load and the voltage will drop below the threshold thus switching off the internal systems. It restores automatically since the load is gone. You will need a better power cord with thicker wires. The standard extension cords are often not capable to carry the full 15 Amps without the voltage dropping.

Just the refrigerator and some light should not draw that much but probably the charger is kicking in and drawing a lot of amps. If you have a Magnum remote panel you should be able to switch off the charger (there is a switch on that panel) that way it will work, if there are no other appliances using anything.

[cruzbill]

Twinboat has the neutral / ground-bonding thing down pat. Read all about it:https://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarc...s~20020521.htm

[Quincy]

Originally Posted by cruzbill

Twinboat has the neutral / ground-bonding thing down pat. Read all about it:https://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarc...s~20020521.htm

Sounds like Hohenwald48 has a pretty good handle on it also. I do not know about 47 or 49 although I think they could learn allot from 48.

Q Please note the above is intended to be a bit funny not a poke at 48... or 47 and 49 either .

[KeysVal]

Originally Posted by Kiawah

When people reference 50amps, it is actually two legs of 120vac each being fused at 50 amps, which happen to be 'out of phase'. Most RV's now adays just use those two legs separately, providing up to 100 amps of 120vac. The wire is actually 4 wires: 2 legs @120vac (red and black), a neutral (white), and a ground (bare or green).

A 30 amp power plug at a campground, is 30 amps @ 120vac. A 15/20 amp plug is 15or 20 amps @ 120vac.

When you connect a 50 amp coach thru a dongle to 30 amp plug, then a 30 amp to 20 amp plug converter........all of the circuits are technically able to try and draw power from that garage socket of 15/20 amps. Obviously if you turn too much on, they will blow the house circuit breaker protecting the wiring.

You cannot necessarily take a 30amp house dryer plug, and use it for your coach, reason being is it may be two legs each at 120vac (or 240vac), without a neutral, but an earth ground. If an electrician rewires both the socket and the wire at your breaker box, they can make it work. However you can't just change the socket end. The electrician needs to make it 30amp leg, neutral, and ground........as opposed to two 30 amp legs, and ground. You can do serious damage to your coach if this is not done correctly, and burn up expensive coach electrical items.

My refrigerator uses 1 amp when compressor is running, 8 amps when it shifts to defrost cycle. You charger/converter (some people incorrectly call it the inverter) can easily consume up to 10 amps or so, if you don't have it configured to throttle back it's charge current. An A/C can typically consume about 15 amps.

I am trading in my C Class for an A Class. Next week We are picking up our 2018 Thor Hurricane 29 M. It has 2 a/c units and 50 amp service.

We plan to store the new coach at our house, in the same place we stored our C. We have a 30 amp receptacle already in place. Will we be able to plug our new coach into that 30 amp outlet (using an adapter) and just manage our power usage?

[fluffyms]

Interesting responses from a wide variety of folks.

I've tried a number of time to do this, plugging into the house 15 amp circuit, and every time, it would blow the circuit breaker in my home after a few minutes.

All I was interested in doing was to keep the fridge going for around 12-15 hours before our departure. - Ended up having it run on gas, which I wasn't too comfortable with, but it ended up working OK.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by KeysVal

I am trading in my C Class for an A Class. Next week We are picking up our 2018 Thor Hurricane 29 M. It has 2 a/c units and 50 amp service.

We plan to store the new coach at our house, in the same place we stored our C. We have a 30 amp receptacle already in place. Will we be able to plug our new coach into that 30 amp outlet (using an adapter) and just manage our power usage?

Absolutely OK... just manage your load.
If you have an energy mgmt system EMS it should adjust to 30A setting automatically or you can set it manually.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by fluffyms

Interesting responses from a wide variety of folks.

I've tried a number of time to do this, plugging into the house 15 amp circuit, and every time, it would blow the circuit breaker in my home after a few minutes.

All I was interested in doing was to keep the fridge going for around 12-15 hours before our departure. - Ended up having it run on gas, which I wasn't too comfortable with, but it ended up working OK.

Your 15A plug is more than likely a GFCI protected plug. Many large RV's have the same issue. Otheres do not. Read this from another poster in a related thread.

HOW DO WE PREPARE FOR GFCI ISSUES?
The two most common situations where GFCI outlets trip are when plugging in shore power or wiring up to an electrical panel. We can conclude there is an incompatibility when we consider the sensitivity of the outlets and that they were designed to protect you from a single appliance being plugged in. What happens is an electrical panel and/or the AC wiring can cause the GFCI to detect a discrepancy between line and neutral, as if there was a ground leak, even though there is not. These outlets were not really designed to have anything plugged down line from them, aside from the appliance and maybe an extension cord. Furthermore, your RV or boat likely has GFCI outlets located inside. Standard GFCI outlets tend to trip when they have other standard GFCI outlets down the line from them. If you need to energize an entire RV, boat, or electrical panel, I would recommend staying away from inverters that only have outlets. Inverters with a 3-wire AC hardwire terminal block option are designed and much better suited for these types of installations. These types of inverters with AC hardwire capability will often come with GFCI outlets as an option as well. I do not recommend altering the GFCI outlets or bypassing the ground prong as this can lead to other problems or hazards. Inverters with outlets only are suitable for plugging devices directly in or energizing a single 15-20 Amp circuit. Referring to how a GFCI outlets work and the purpose of ground fault protection is the most effective tool in preventing issues. Do not expect GFCI’s to do something they were not designed for.

I hope you have a better understanding of how GFCI functions, why it is important, and the limitations of these outlets. Feel free to comment below and if you have any questions contacting us at 800-367-3019 or info@donrowe.com.

[hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by erald

If the power goes out with 15 Amp, it means most often the power cord is not able to give the load and the voltage will drop below the threshold thus switching off the internal systems. It restores automatically since the load is gone. You will need a better power cord with thicker wires. The standard extension cords are often not capable to carry the full 15 Amps without the voltage dropping.

True. Fat cords are your friend. The fatter (and shorter) the better.