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Woodchopper · 12-10-2016, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

I have two questions about 30 vs 50 amp wiring. The first question is the "gauge" of the wiring used inside "to build the rig" any different between the two types of service or is it just in the panel itself? Hope I am making sense here. In other words, is the internal wiring used when building the rig the same gauge for a 30 amp and 50 amp service? The second is, if you get a 30amp service with the rig, what is involved in making it a 50amp service? Thanks in advance.

Rvlegaleagle

is the "gauge" of the wiring used inside "to build the rig" any different between the two types of service?
In other words,is the internal wiring used when building the rig the same gauge for a 30 amp and 50 amp service?

On a "50A coach" the wires FROM the shore cord THROUGH the transfer switch TO the 120VAC electrical panel in the coach are a heavier gauge wire than they are on a "30A coach".
However the wires FROM the 120VAC electrical panel TO the receptacles, and TO the 120V appliances & 120V lights in the coach, (aka: the "internal wiring"), is the same in both "30A coaches" and "50A coaches".

what is involved in making it a 50amp service?
At the very least... making a 30A coach into a 50A coach would involve: 1.) Replacing the 30A main breaker in the coach with a 50A main breaker.
2.) Replacing the 30A transfer switch with a 50A transfer switch.
3.) Running heaver supply wires FROM the shore power cord TO both the new 50A breaker and to the new 50A transfer switch.
4.) Adding a 50A shore power cord.

marcusf · 12-10-2016, 12:39 PM

Even though I have 50 amp, I operate on 30 amp many places including where we are now at my son's farm in California. We are fortunate to have EMS on our coach which does an excellent job of managing the lower available power. In my case it will turn off the electricity to my water heater, refrigerator, rear A/C, and front A/C in that order as I add more loads to the 120 volt AC circuit.

It does very well on 30A, fair on 20A, but on 15A good old fashion common sense is required.

Marc

capecodbob · 12-14-2016, 11:29 AM

RVlegaleagle, here is a link to Pippi Peterson ,she has put together 4 youtube videos of about 15 mins each where she upgrades her RV from 30-50amp and is very helpful. She researched this extensively and got plenty of help from company engineers to determine what she needed. Then proceeded to upgrade and had a little help from electrician friend but did the work herself. An added bonus watching these videos is that she is easy on the eyes and has a fresh exuberance in her manner. IMHO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFYapUdEUMc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

I have two questions about 30 vs 50 amp wiring. The first question is the "gauge" of the wiring used inside "to build the rig" any different between the two types of service or is it just in the panel itself? Hope I am making sense here. In other words, is the internal wiring used when building the rig the same gauge for a 30 amp and 50 amp service? The second is, if you get a 30amp service with the rig, what is involved in making it a 50amp service? Thanks in advance.

Rvlegaleagle · 12-17-2016, 06:50 PM

Thanks I have seen her videos. Also watch Nomadic Fanatic, less junk more jorurney and many others. Great learning stuff about RVs.

Kodiakan · 12-18-2016, 03:42 AM

Maybe an easy way to look at it is like a common house. Some have 100 amp service, some have 200 amp, etc….. It is good to learn how much each appliance uses. It comes in handy in many ways. Even if you have a 50 amp service some places you stay may only have 30 amp available, especially if you get there later in the day.

wileyw · 12-18-2016, 04:15 AM

If you changed out the main breaker box from a 30 to a 50 amp I assume some type of current management theory would dictate using a separate leg for each air conditioner, or would you dedicate a single leg for both air conditioners and put everything else on the other leg? Also, does the 50-30 adapter for shore power convert and supply a single leg for both legs of the 50a. breaker box when plugged into 30a. shore power?

Dr4Film · 12-18-2016, 04:59 AM

Common sense dictates that when splitting up the demand in a 50 amp coach they balance the loads somewhat evenly over the two sides of the coach including ALL high amp load devices.

When coaches have three rooftop A/C's they usually add a load shedding device that selects either the third A/C or the washer/dryer as you cannot run both at the same time, too many amps all at once. Such that one 50 amp leg will supply power to one A/C (front) plus the microwave whereas the second 50 amp leg will have two A/C's (rear and middle) plus the washer/dryer. This is where the load shedding comes into play.

A properly wired 30-50 amp dog-bone (Not 50-30 amp dog-bone) will take 120 VAC power and funnel that through both legs of the 50 amp shore power cable.

Also, a 50-30 amp dog-bone will use only one leg of the 50 amp shore power to supply 120 VAC to the 30 amp shore power cable.

See diagrams.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Rvlegaleagle · 12-18-2016, 07:59 AM

Well done and thank you all!

JBDISCOVERY · 12-18-2016, 08:15 AM

With the help of a fellow IRV2er, I added a separate circuit to run our front air conditioner when it is really hot. We have a 30 amp service for all of the electrical needs of the coach. 2 A/C s , micro wave, refrig, water heater, etc.
The new circuit allows the transfer of the front A/C to a separate electric cord to plug into the 20 amp circuit that is usually on the power post along with either a 30amp or 50amp plug. The transfer switch is powered by the coach's dc system.
It switches both the hot black lead and the white neutral from the coach ac system to the campground 20 amp service. Works great. 50amps for a 30amp coach.
Regards,
JimB

Rvlegaleagle · 12-28-2016, 10:08 AM

That sounds good but how did you get 2 A/Cs with a 30 amp service? Did you also swap out a fan for the second A/C? I heard the roof openings are the same?

RCCFleetwood · 12-28-2016, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

That sounds good but how did you get 2 A/Cs with a 30 amp service? Did you also swap out a fan for the second A/C? I heard the roof openings are the same?

We have 30 amp service on our 1997 rig, and two A/C units, and they use "shedding" as described in a previous post, to alternate power somehow. I'm not an electrician, so cannot explain details, but it seems to work OK in our RV. We had both A/C's running one night last summer, and it was fine, with 30 amps.

twinboat · 12-28-2016, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

That sounds good but how did you get 2 A/Cs with a 30 amp service? Did you also swap out a fan for the second A/C? I heard the roof openings are the same?

The installed 5500 watt generators back then. They direct 30 amps to the main transfer switch and the remaining 15 amps to the second AC, thru some relays.

If you want to run 2, you use the generator, otherwise you can choose one or the other while on shore power, or just both ACs with little else running. I'm thinking the ACs were 13,500 BTU. They draw a bit less.

This was before 50 amp service was as popular as it is today.

Rvlegaleagle · 01-02-2017, 08:31 PM

It would be great to get 2 A/Cs with a 30amp RV system but they don't make em like they used to... lol. I have heard some people have taken out the fan in their bedroom and put in an second A/C instead. Not sure how they did the wiring.

Thanks for everyone's help, knowledge and experience on this tread it really helped me!

Happy New Year to all.