Community Forums

sadge1501 · 10-25-2020, 10:39 AM

Hey guys. So me and my wife have been living in our travel trailer for over a year now. We pretty much gutted a lot of bigger things we knew we weren't going to use like the stove and oven, the AC.. So we brought the electrical usage right down before we even set foot in it.
So now we have just bought a new compact fridge. Nothing huge. 4.5cu ft. But since we have had this thing in here it seems to be sapping electricity from our space heater. Seems to.. So im just wondering if there's anyway of upping the amount of electricity that ive got coning into the trailer from the outlet we're plugged into. Im not top savvy with the whole electrical side of things so if there's some kind of transformer or something im not aware of.. But it just seems like we should be getting more from the power coming into the trailer considering there are hardly any larger appliances in here.. Our biggest electricity consumers are probably a hot plate that we use to cook (not plugged in constantly), the fridge, slow cooker which isnt plugged in 24/7 either.. Space heater which is probably going to ve running pretty constantly now that the cold has arrived.. Which is the main reason why im looking into this.. Dont want to get to mid november and start dealing with new space heaters but no power getting to them in the cold dead of night. I believe im at a 30a spot, as i think 50a spots you pay more for at the park here..

CARS · 10-25-2020, 11:02 AM

Wow... 30Amp source is way more than enough for a conventional space heater... do you not have a factory propane furnace? Seems they are much cheaper as a fuel source, and use much less electricity to run. RV fridges usually do well on propane as well... One possible reason could be your 30A power cable... not up to the task due to corrosion or bad connections. Alternately the wiring in your trailer may also need inspection for bad connections, wrong gauge wiring or corrosion. You need to find the "weak link" in your power source, when you do, your issues will be resolved.

Goodspike · 10-25-2020, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CARS

Wow... 30Amp source is way more than enough for a conventional space heater....

I would disagree. The 30 amp service is a horrible design. It is very prone to overload. I don't know if the OP has a 50 amp service and is just plugging into 30 to save money. If not they might not have much choice.

One thing that can be done is get an electric heater with variable wattage. I believe mine is 600/800 or 1400, and 600 has been fine for us so far, but we haven't been in real cold weather, and we mainly use it at night when sleeping (so lower inside temps).

But regardless one thing that needs to be done when using a 30 amp service is limit what you use at the same time. So if you're going to be running the crock pot, hair dryer or the microwave, etc. turn off the electric heater and other high draw items. And use propane rather than electric to heat hot water (or at least have it turned off when the microwave or crock pot are on).

ktn1966 · 10-25-2020, 11:59 AM

You can buy a kill a watt meter and see how much is actually being drawn. I would suggest this as a first step. Look at your electric hook up, are you a 30 amp hooked up to a 15/20 amp house. A lot of variables to look at before you worry about the trailer side.

twinboat · 10-25-2020, 12:04 PM

A 1500 watt heater, the biggest one with a standard plug, draws 12.5 amps. Less then 1/2 of your 30 amp supply. And that's on High.
The small fridge draws about 1 amp. If your also using the original gas/electric fridge, that will draw 4 or 5 amps.

If you have a converter/charger, that will draw 1 to 2 amps to power the RV lights and pumps. If your charging a bad battery with it, that can get the draw up to 6 to 8 amps. Try it without the battery.

Are you use in a 30 amp RV cord to connect to shore power or a cheap extension cord ? That will make a big difference.

Using a 50 amp outlet to a 30 amp RV isn't going to give you more power unless the parks power is bad where you are.

Go buy a Kill A Watt meter, and plug it in to any outlet, to see what voltage your getting inside.

Watts ÷ by volts ( 120 ) = amps. Look at your electric items, they all list watts.

twinboat · 10-25-2020, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodspike

I would disagree. The 30 amp service is a horrible design. It is very prone to overload. I don't know if the OP has a 50 amp service and is just plugging into 30 to save money. If not they might not have much choice.

One thing that can be done is get an electric heater with variable wattage. I believe mine is 600/800 or 1400, and 600 has been fine for us so far, but we haven't been in real cold weather, and we mainly use it at night when sleeping (so lower inside temps).

But regardless one thing that needs to be done when using a 30 amp service is limit what you use at the same time. So if you're going to be running the crock pot, hair dryer or the microwave, etc. turn off the electric heater and other high draw items. And use propane rather than electric to heat hot water (or at least have it turned off when the microwave or crock pot are on).

I have a 30 amp RV and run the convection/microwave oven, 5000 BTU AC, 55 amp converter/charger, gas/electric fridge on electric, and even use a small K Cup coffee maker.

We have never overloaded and tripped any breakers.

YC1 · 10-25-2020, 12:09 PM

Welcome to the forum:

If the refer is sapping the power from the space heater and the refer is a residential/apartment type it should draw very little power.

Do you notice a change in the space heater output/fan operation when the refer is running?

If so, what and how are you supplying power to the rv. It sounds like your cord, plug, or post you are plugged into is wimping out.

The space heater could draw 10-15 amps by itself depending on size and settings of course. So a refer compressor and a big space heater could get close to 20 amps at times.

Feel your power cord plug and the outlet it is connected to for any signs of heat build up. Those plugs can deteriorate from heat over time and start dropping power.

I know you are new to the forum and posting pictures can be a bit tricky but now is a good time to learn. I would be very interested in seeing your shoreline cord and connections.

If you are trying to survive severe cold you need to really insulated things. Windows are very important of course and if possible some sort of skirting around the bottom. When boondocking I have used tarps connected to the bottom of the trailer all around and it made a huge difference.

Skip426 · 10-25-2020, 12:18 PM

Welcome to iRV2.

Your 30 amp service should provide enough to get by on running the fridge and heater , PROVIDED they are on separate circuits inside the trailer .
An electric heater , most are 1500 watts on high , will draw 12.5 to 13 amps of power when heating , and your trailer internal circuits are only 15 amp. So it doesn't take much more of a load on the circuit , to trip the circuit breaker.
Go to your circuit breaker panel , for every circuit , turn the breaker off , then go through the trailer and map out every outlet that goes dead with the breaker. If you don't have a multi-meter to do this , 120 volt light or corded drill will do.

Once you have every outlet mapped , then make sure your fridge and heater are not on the same breaker , and for that matter ANY other load is on the same circuit as the heater.
Well , maybe a digital clock would be ok .

ArtJoyce · 10-25-2020, 12:22 PM

No there is not trick to getting more amps. You need to do an inventory of your big amp user.

With 30 amp service in the cold winter. We would run a 1500W heater and a 750W heater, turn both our water heater and fridge to propane. If we forgot to turn off the 750W heater and did coffee and toast we would trip the breaker

My old 30A camper:

AC unit:~25 A
AC Heating Coil option: 1500W ~14.5 A
Space Heater: 750W or 1500W ~ 7.25A or 14.5A
Elec Water Heater element: 1500W ~14.5 A
Fridge on AC about 300w ~2.5A
DC converter: ~0A to 4A max

others:
toaster
coffee maker
microwave

sadge1501 · 10-26-2020, 02:14 PM

Yeh I'm not sure of the procedure to upload pics. I dont know what a shoreline cable/connection is. We are at a 30a spot at an rv park. We have no propane to run off. The trailer is pretty basic. We bought it for 1200bucks and spent a few hundred making it liveable inside. We're vegan so we're not huge on cooking meals all the time which is why we threw out alot of things in here. I haven't got a clue whether this trailer has a battery let alone where its located.. I assume it doesnt considering when the trailer wasnt hooked up nothing works.. But we've been in the same spot for over a year now so we've never needed to have a battery or know where it is. Im planning on plasticking up the windows outside to help with insulation as last year our windows iced up big time haha. The heater we use is so i find it hard to believe that were reaching our limit on electrical output.. We have some fuses out so i need to get some of those. But if someone could walk me through how to get pics here then i think that will help you guys to better help me! Thanks already guys, lots of great info so far.

YC1 · 10-27-2020, 07:11 AM

Just a quick note. Shoreline is a nautical term I believe. A boat tied to a dock uses a "shoreline cord" to supply power to the boat.

An RV something that floats around the country and is tied up often to a (post), dock and uses the power cord/shoreline cord for connection.

YC1 · 10-27-2020, 07:14 AM

I copied this.

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