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Old 11-24-2019, 05:16 PM   #1
Jollymon
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A Coupla Potentially Stupid Questioms

First, is it okay to plug the camper into shore power before unplugging it from the truck? I don't want to frag anything.

Second, we bought a very used 2005 3400 RL because I didn't want to trash a new one on trees and such before I learned how to tow it. The only major issue we've encountered is that everything seems to work fine with 50 amp service, but nothing works with 30. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, y'all. Calm winds and following seas.

Dan
 
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Old 11-24-2019, 05:22 PM   #2
mhs4771
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I generally plug into shore power before I even disconnect the truck, and if on an overnite, will not disconnect if the site is long enough to remain hooked up.
If things work on 50 amp and won't on 30, sounds like you have a bad 30 to 50 dog bone/adapter.
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Old 11-24-2019, 05:25 PM   #3
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Dan,

No problem hooking up shore power before disconnecting from your truck.

Assuming you have tried a couple of different 30 amp pedestals with the same result, I would suspect there is a problem with your 30 to 50 amp dogbone.
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Old 11-24-2019, 06:35 PM   #4
Jollymon
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Originally Posted by mhs4771 View Post
I generally plug into shore power before I even disconnect the truck, and if on an overnite, will not disconnect if the site is long enough to remain hooked up.
If things work on 50 amp and won't on 30, sounds like you have a bad 30 to 50 dog bone/adapter.
It's a store bought 30 amp cable. No luck at all.
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Old 11-24-2019, 06:45 PM   #5
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If you have a volt meter (if you don't, you should get one) with a continuity test feature, then I would check your 30amp cord with it. Sounds like a bad 30 amp cord.
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Old 11-24-2019, 08:35 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Jollymon View Post
It's a store bought 30 amp cable. No luck at all.

If I'm reading this correctly, you are saying you are plugging a 30 amp cable into you rig? I'm not sure how you are doing this if this is what you are doing. In order to connect to a 30 amp service with a 50 amp trailer, you must use an adapter, commonly called a dogbone adapter, that takes the 30 amp hotleg and splits it to both the 50 amp hotlegs of the shore cable going into the trailer.
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Old 12-04-2019, 01:39 PM   #7
Clark 2012 346LBQ
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No question is stupid. It’s safer to learn by example than by doing.
As for your question rohrmann is correct you need a dog one to hook your 50amp plug not a 30 amp, and definitely buy a multimeter.
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Old 12-04-2019, 02:43 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Jollymon View Post
First, is it okay to plug the camper into shore power before unplugging it from the truck? I don't want to frag anything.

Second, we bought a very used 2005 3400 RL because I didn't want to trash a new one on trees and such before I learned how to tow it. The only major issue we've encountered is that everything seems to work fine with 50 amp service, but nothing works with 30. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, y'all. Calm winds and following seas.

Dan

plugging / unplugging order with the pickup and shore doesn't matter

concerning 30 vs 50; do you mean that inside the rv you have zero power on 30 but do have power on 50? Or do you mean that on 50 stuff works but on 30 stuff trips the breaker? If you have zero power when on 30; first would be to verify you have power at the 30 source, you can use a 30 to 20 adaptor and plug is something that you can tell if it has power (cell phone charger / corded drill / etc). If the 30 source has power then your dog bone is suspect, you'd want to test it via a multimeter. If both of those are operational then perhaps a whacky transfer switch, but typically those are an all or nothing type of deal, but who knows how that is setup on your specific rig.
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Old 12-04-2019, 04:15 PM   #9
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My 2019 3855BR had a shorted wire at the rv connection. 50 amp all outlets worked great, 30 amp only half. Thought 50 to 30 amp pigtail bad, tried another same results.
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Old 12-04-2019, 05:34 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by rohrmann View Post
If I'm reading this correctly, you are saying you are plugging a 30 amp cable into you rig? I'm not sure how you are doing this if this is what you are doing. In order to connect to a 30 amp service with a 50 amp trailer, you must use an adapter, commonly called a dogbone adapter, that takes the 30 amp hotleg and splits it to both the 50 amp hotlegs of the shore cable going into the trailer.
A dog bone is not the only way to do it. I just bought a 50amp to 30amp 35 foot cord to power our unit. It works great and I do not have to haul the anaconda around. We rarely have 50 amp power where we camp.
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Old 12-04-2019, 06:25 PM   #11
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A dog bone is not the only way to do it. I just bought a 50amp to 30amp 35 foot cord to power our unit. It works great and I do not have to haul the anaconda around. We rarely have 50 amp power where we camp.
That just a REALLY long dogbone.
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Old 12-04-2019, 10:21 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by beeje View Post
A dog bone is not the only way to do it. I just bought a 50amp to 30amp 35 foot cord to power our unit. It works great and I do not have to haul the anaconda around. We rarely have 50 amp power where we camp.
I found the same cord at CW on sale for $70. Works great with a 20 amp adapter too. That is what I use in storage.
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Old 12-07-2019, 03:59 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beeje View Post
A dog bone is not the only way to do it. I just bought a 50amp to 30amp 35 foot cord to power our unit. It works great and I do not have to haul the anaconda around. We rarely have 50 amp power where we camp.
That sounds like a good idea; we are very new to the 5th wheelers and have been trying to make sure our "stuff" we take with us as light as we can make it. The "anaconda" is quite cumbersome and heavy. Will have to look into the 30 amp cord.
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Old 12-07-2019, 08:08 AM   #14
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Hope this helps visualizing how this is all connected
RV electrical wiring.
RVs use 50 amp NEMA 14-50r outlet, BUT they use two 120v legs.
Very good article explaining this.
https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electricity-power-principals-50-amp-shore-power/
Also...
https://www.rvtravel.com/can-i-use-a-welder-outlet-for-50-amp-rv-power/
Other useful link.
http://www.myrv.us/electric/
Also...
https://www.keystonerv.com/upper-navigation-pages/community/krv-blog/content-container/simple-as-pie-understanding-your-rvs-electrical-systems/
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Old 12-07-2019, 01:19 PM   #15
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Don't go straight 30A if you are going anywhere hot OR even just warm and need A/C. With 30A and running A/C plus microwave you are maxed out. If the converter kicks in or you are running something else you blow the breaker. And no way can you run 2 A/Cs.
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Old 12-07-2019, 01:33 PM   #16
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I bought a manual cord reel. Makes handing the cord easy.
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Old 12-08-2019, 05:02 AM   #17
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Just to throw another 2 cents in...
I purchased a 50 Amp to 30/20 Amp dog bone for those rare times when we do not have a 50 amp service. Basically, one end of the dog bone has both a 30 amp and 20 amp connection to the pedestal. The other end has a 50 amp female connector for the rig's cord. It essentially combines the 30 and 20 amp circuits to make a 50 amp feed. I know it is not a true 50 amp service, something more like about 45 amps, but it does work and was relatively inexpensive on Amazon.
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Old 12-08-2019, 07:07 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
Just to throw another 2 cents in...
I purchased a 50 Amp to 30/20 Amp dog bone for those rare times when we do not have a 50 amp service. Basically, one end of the dog bone has both a 30 amp and 20 amp connection to the pedestal. The other end has a 50 amp female connector for the rig's cord. It essentially combines the 30 and 20 amp circuits to make a 50 amp feed. I know it is not a true 50 amp service, something more like about 45 amps, but it does work and was relatively inexpensive on Amazon.
We stay a lot at 30A sites as well. I bought one of these, because I thought that it would solve all my problems associated with two A/C's.

Be aware that these do NOT work on 20A outlets that are GFCI at the pedestal, and are working correctly. Since the common is shared inside the converter in the 5er, it doesn't like that, and it will blow the GFCI breaker every time. Not the pedestal breaker but the GFCI breaker on the plug. If you're staying in a place that does NOT have GFCI on the 20A side, that's probably not good either, because to code, all 20A OUTSIDE outlets must be GFCI.

Now, I have a dogbone that I can't use anywhere (anywhere that has 20A GFCI outlets, which is everywhere that we stay that has 30A). We are going to tough it out this coming year, but when out unit is out of the one year warranty, I'm going to convert one of our A/C's to be able to accept both a stand alone 20A power source, and still be powered off of 50A when we are on 50A SP. Then, we will be able to use a 30A and 20A power source...
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