50 amp RV adapter - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2342 · 01-20-2005, 09:20 AM

Howdy y'all,

I was looking into buying one of these from CW but the only reviews were really bad, thus I am seaching for some more informed info.

This is the box that allows you to plug into a 30 amp outlet on one side and then into a 15 or 20 on the other it combines the two and you plug you 5er 50 amp male into this adapter box. We spend lots of time at smaller campgrounds with no 50A service and when it gets hot the 15K BTU AC is going to be a power hog (not to metion the TV and the surround sound - while cooking dinner

)

Honestly are they worth the 70 bucks to get one, or should I just pass?

Barney

stiles watson · 01-20-2005, 11:18 AM

I could be all wrong, but it seems to me that with three plugs (one 50 amp, one 30 amp, one 20 amp) and two pieces of the right guage wire about 2' long, this adapter "pigtail" could be made up for less than $20.

Inside the 50 amp plug, white wires to neutral, green wires to ground and one black wire each to the 20 amp side and the 30 amp side. About 6" of electical tape wrap and all done.

rames14 · 01-20-2005, 01:26 PM

If you're not running dual A/C or Washer/Dryer, do you really need 50 amp? My understanding is the only reason our 3400 has the 50 amp is because we have the washer/dryer prep and the second A/C prep. I could be wrong (first time this year), but that was what I was told.

Montana_657 · 01-20-2005, 01:37 PM

The 15,000 AC only draws 15 amps running....peaks at 20 to start but only for an instant. Surround sound and TV is only a few hundred watts... your microwave and hair dryer will draw more.

If the campground power is so bad that the AC trips the breaker, I doubt plugging more stuff into another breaker on the same power pole will do a lot of good.

Invest in a voltage monitor. Low voltage will fry your AC...if the voltage starts to fall at least you can turn it off and save the motors.

sreigle · 01-20-2005, 02:01 PM

So far we've not found that we can run any more items on 50 amp than we can 30. Maybe that's because on ours 20 of those 50 amps are reserved for the second AC unit that we don't have (just have the prep for it).

If it were me, I think I'd try it first without the magic box and make my decision based on how many problems, if any, I have with 30 amp.

Just for point of reference, on 30 amp, we can simultaneously run any two of 1)washer and dryer (stack, not combo), 2) AC, 3) Microwave. And both tv's can be going as well as the fridge on electricity, several lights, a couple of laptops, and other miscellaneous. It's when we start that third high-draw appliance that we pop a breaker. So, it might not be as bad as you think. If I'm wrong, then you can try the box. Just a thought.

stiles watson · 01-20-2005, 05:24 PM

I looked at the "magic box" on the CW site. The magic box is a simple union box with female plug in it. The two cords coming out of it have the 30 amp male plugs. $70 just seems high for this low technology.

dbrill · 01-20-2005, 11:12 PM

Stiles Watson is right, My father made his own for under $20 and never had a problem with it, but you have to use the right guage wires. He plugged an autoformer into the box he made and then his shore line into the autoformer to help when the voltage was low. Their old Class A had dual AC and a washer/dryer so they needed 50Amps. Their new 5er just has one AC and is has the washer/dryer prep so now they just use 30Amps when 50 is not available and have no problems.

Montana_2342 · 01-21-2005, 05:31 AM

We did get dual air installed and have yet to use it in hot weather, but from people who discussed it here last year late summer sounded like it was best to go with a second unit for really hot places if you like it really cool. Moving around with the military so much 9 moves in ten years I thought I would have a second one installed. Good to know it hardly ever takes 50A to run the shebang. Looks like I can get by with only 30A service for now. But is anyone using them? And if so do they work. I would still like to know for general knowledge.

Barney

stiles watson · 01-21-2005, 06:09 PM

Since I have a w/d and a second A/C installed, I always hook up to a 50 amp site. I checked out the design suggested above with an electrician for validity and was confirmed. He said use #10 non-braided wire. I can see the enevitability of using this pigtail, so I will construct one and post how it works out including a parts list with prices and time envolved for completion...

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