dumb question

[Randy636]

I hope that I don't get "slammed " here but, I've got a dumb question. What do you do if your rig has a 50 amp service but the campgroung only supplies 30 amp or less? Do you reccommend not hooking up at all to their electric servive and just using a gen set?

[Alwims]

Get a 50amp to 30amp dog bone connector and use the 30amp. Just don't try to use 2 air conditioners at the same time and you'll be just fine.

[Randy636]

Thanks, I read somewhere here about a brown out and the neighbor burning up their converter. I was in San Diego at an RV park one time and kind of the same thing happened to us in a new Terry trailer. I didn't think that the power could go out of a rig but, we ended up buying a new converter on that trip after it got fried. I didn't know if underpowering was the cause of this or what. I run heavy Eqt. not mess with power...

[sfish]

Get a 30 amp adapter (dogbone) and you will be fine.There are a lot of campgrounds that dont offer 50 amp service.I have never had a problem with that.If you have roof air and microwave and water heater going at the same time you might trip a switch then just turn something off for a few minutes till the microwave is done.I also recommend you get a ems or surge protector. Happy Holidays

Steve

[Jim Dickey]

As stated above get an adapter. It's the voltage (low or high) that causes the problems not the amperage. Welcome to the forum.

Jim

[NCFischers]

Some sort of surge protection should be first on your list. An awful lot can be damaged from poor campground power.
By the way, the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked.

[pineranch]

Select the combination you need.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...0a-female/5257
Mike

[CamillaMichael]

quote:Originally posted by Alwims

Get a 50amp to 30amp dog bone connector and use the 30amp. Just don't try to use 2 air conditioners at the same time and you'll be just fine.

Agree...we have found it useful to have a longer 30amp cord to connect to the 50amp cord, gives us enough cord to connect to power at home...we do not have a driveway long enough for the Montana, so it sits in the street when we bring it home to do any preventative maintenance.

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by CamillaMichael

Agree...we have found it useful to have a longer 30amp cord to connect to the 50amp cord, gives us enough cord to connect to power at home...we do not have a driveway long enough for the Montana, so it sits in the street when we bring it home to do any preventative maintenance.

Agree with the above. We have stayed at a number of campgrounds that only had 30 amp service. I actually bought a 30 amp cable with a 50 amp connector so that I don't have to drag out the heavy 50 amp cable in that case, especially when we are in the mountains and it is cold. That thing is bad enough when it is warm, but a real bear when it is cold.
Have tripped the park 30 amp breaker a couple times, but only when we forgot and had the AC running and too many other things at the same time.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Randy636

I hope that I don't get "slammed " here but, I've got a dumb question. What do you do if your rig has a 50 amp service but the campgroung only supplies 30 amp or less? Do you reccommend not hooking up at all to their electric servive and just using a gen set?

There is no such thing as a dumb question, especially amongst RVers. We all learned some place. You'll be able to help us as well.

Orv

[Art-n-Marge]

Randy636, you are being way too hard on yourself. NOT asking a question is what's dumb is what I've been taught.

At my stickhouse I connect my RV using a 50amp cord, to a 30 amp adapter, then that 30 amp adapter has a 30/15amp converter so I can plug in my trailer to the garage. I do keep in mind that I only have a maximum of 15 amps for the rig which is then shared with the power being used by anything in the garage on that same power circuit. If the rig needs more I use one portable genny to provide a dedicated 15/20 amps to the rig or even use two gennys with a parallel cable to provide 30 amps to the rig.

Keep in mind the connectors and adapters in the RV world ONLY allow a connection. How much power you use, how much is available, the quality of the power being provided and keeping everything protected are separate considerations for awareness.

Just remember to not exceed anything at the pedestal, or in the RV and use the SurgeGuard, or EMS or AUTOPOWER devices provide extra protection whatever you connect to since whatever you plug into does not guarantee the quality you might expect.

I imagine that if I had a popup trailer with only a 15 or 20 amp requirement can be adapted to 30 amp, then 50 amp and plugged into a 50 amp shore power because that's all that was available at the CG. But this trailer will probably only use a max of 15 amps and should still get the protection devices to ensure quality.

The connector and how much amperage are being used must be treated separately but are equally important and critical to keep everything operating properly and preventing damage.

[Waynem]

I have two dog-bones. A 50 to 30, and a 30 to 15A(20a). At my storage unit I have the RV plugged into the 50 to 30, then 30 to 15. It maintains the convert and other necessary items. I have in the past run the AC and heatpump on 115V, 15A, but turning ANYTHING else on would throw the breaker. In the Monty, I could run 1 AC off of 115V 20A circuit breaker, but as soon as I turned the overhead fan on it would trip the breaker. Or, if DW decided to vacuum the carpet with the AC going, plugging in and turning on the vacuum would trip the breaker. So, with proper management you can survive on a 20A breaker and 120V input line.

As mentioned, a good EMS (Emergency Management System) is a great investment. No one has mentioned a product name, so let me throw one out at you. Check out the PT-50C by Progressive Industries. The PT-50C is the portable one, but they also make an equivalent "hard-wired" one. The cheapest price I found was on rvupgrades.com.

Others may mention so other types, but in any case do your homework and get one that will work for "you."

[illapah]

I carry a yellow 30 amp cord with me when traveling that is plug for plug compatible with our Montana. I use it when we overnite and don't want to wrestle with the 50 amp which I also carry for longer stays. There are plug adapters that one can purchase to mate with source.

[mhs4771]

I had a left over 30 amp cord that had a bad recpt end, cut it off and put on a 50 recpt and use it at the stick house as I only have a 30 post next to the camper.
I also have an assortment of Dog Bones and adapters, but try to limit their use, as any time you put in another connection you get some loss and the potential for hot spots if you're drawing near max current.