Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > MOC Technical Forums > Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 09-09-2020, 06:37 PM   #21
wade
Seasoned Camper
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: northern new england
Posts: 98
M.O.C. #22358
Quote:
Originally Posted by dieselguy View Post
This question is about taping off the 15 amp circuit in many 30 amp campground power pedestals to run a second 13500 BTU A/C. Yes, I'm aware that some 30 amp pedestals available wiring may not support tapping off the 15 amp plug.

I'm looking at adding a 15 amp Marinco plug in in the side of a fiver and running that separate line to a stand alone 15 amp receptacle in the storage bay near the A/C power line to the front air conditioner. That OEM A/C line will be interrupted by male and female 20 amp plugs so I can plug it in to the stand alone 15 amp receptacle when the need arises. With the fiver thermostat controlling both A/C's ... do you think there will be an issue with 2 separate inlet power feeds off the campground power pedestal as far as damaging the thermostat's common control to both A/C's?

Thanks in advance
Not sure if any mentioned this yet, i didn't read through the forums but there is what they call a Micro-air essy start its a soft start you hook up to your AC's you need one for each AC and you will be able to run 2 AC's on 30 amps. Good when running of generators also
 
wade is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-09-2020, 07:52 PM   #22
roadagain
Established Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: North Little Rock
Posts: 11
M.O.C. #23896
Quote:
Originally Posted by drjjj View Post
I think I have seen dog bones that have 15 & 30 amp male ends wired to a single 50 amp female end. Would this work in a 30 amp campground?
I have a 30 amp outlet outside my garage at home that I had installed when I had a 30 amp RV. I use the dog bone described above to power my current 50 amp RV using an extension cord from my garage. Powers 2 a/c and frig while preparing for a trip. I expect someone to tell why this is not a good idea.
Jerry
__________________
2019 Montana 3120RL
2013 Ford SD F250 Lariat, 4X4 Crew Cab, short bed, SRW, 6.7L, PullRite SuperGlide
roadagain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-09-2020, 08:38 PM   #23
dieselguy
Montana Master
 
dieselguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Haysville
Posts: 4,261
M.O.C. #3085
Thanks for all the replies and discussion. The fiver that beckons this mod has 2 A/C's that confirmed pull 27 - 28 amps running on a hot day. The owner doesn't want to mess with turning off all the breakers to virtually all else on the fiver, so he read up on the old "cheater boxes" used at 30 amp pedestals back before GFI receptacles were added to the park pedestals. He also read where that no longer works in today's electrical scheme of things. We are just trying to wire something up to take the place of a "cheater box" that will work in today's world. Whether the wiring going to the 30 amp pedestal will support this mod will be his issue ... somehow the old "cheater boxes" did coax a bit more available power (via 2 breakers) several years ago before 50 amp power became readily available.

I knew control voltage was probably 12 VDC, but couldn't get two separate power sources clear enough in my mind to accept the job. Like pointed out ... they will both be the same phase, so that appears to solve my riddle.
dieselguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-09-2020, 08:43 PM   #24
BB_TX
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: McKinney
Posts: 7,133
M.O.C. #6433
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadagain View Post
I have a 30 amp outlet outside my garage at home that I had installed when I had a 30 amp RV. I use the dog bone described above to power my current 50 amp RV using an extension cord from my garage. Powers 2 a/c and frig while preparing for a trip. I expect someone to tell why this is not a good idea.
Jerry
As long as your voltages are staying up at a good level and none of your cords or connections are getting hot you should be fine. I assume your extension cord is plugged into a 20 amp non GFCI outlet that allows that dogbone adapter to work.
__________________
Bill & Patricia
Riley, our Golden
2007 3075RL (recently sold, currently without)
BB_TX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2020, 11:36 AM   #25
paulinbaja
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Chico
Posts: 269
M.O.C. #14041
If your outside pedestal is 30a only you will most likely only have available 30a no matter how you wire to it. A second "feed" has far greater possible consequences than a surface look indicates. I suggest you travel north instead of adding another "feed".
paulinbaja is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2020, 03:03 PM   #26
BB_TX
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: McKinney
Posts: 7,133
M.O.C. #6433
Quote:
Originally Posted by paulinbaja View Post
If your outside pedestal is 30a only you will most likely only have available 30a no matter how you wire to it. A second "feed" has far greater possible consequences than a surface look indicates. I suggest you travel north instead of adding another "feed".
The Y adapter noted above does work if no GFCI involved. It has a 50 amp connector to connect to the trailer 50 amp power cord. One arm of the Y plugs into a 30 amp receptacle and connects that 30 amp line to one of the hot legs in the 50 amp cord. The other arm of the Y plugs into a 15 or 20 amp receptacle (must be non GFCI) and connects that 15 or 20 amp line to the other hot leg of the 50 amp cord. The result is you get 45 or 50 amps possible to the trailer. And in this case it doesn’t matter if they are the same phase or not.

The only question above would be if the extension cord mentioned would be adequate to carry the 15 or 20 amps without too much voltage drop and without overheating. Normally there would be no extension cord. The Y adapter would simply plug into the 30 amp receptacle and adjacent 15/20 amp receptacle at the park pedestal. But codes now require the 15/20 receptacle be GFCI making the Y adapter useless except at older parks that haven’t been upgraded.
__________________
Bill & Patricia
Riley, our Golden
2007 3075RL (recently sold, currently without)
BB_TX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2020, 12:45 PM   #27
TN road dog
Established Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Somerville
Posts: 27
M.O.C. #13347
Connecting 30amp and 15amp recepticals to 50 RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by dieselguy View Post
This question is about taping off the 15 amp circuit in many 30 amp campground power pedestals to run a second 13500 BTU A/C. Yes, I'm aware that some 30 amp pedestals available wiring may not support tapping off the 15 amp plug.

I'm looking at adding a 15 amp Marinco plug in in the side of a fiver and running that separate line to a stand alone 15 amp receptacle in the storage bay near the A/C power line to the front air conditioner. That OEM A/C line will be interrupted by male and female 20 amp plugs so I can plug it in to the stand alone 15 amp receptacle when the need arises. With the fiver thermostat controlling both A/C's ... do you think there will be an issue with 2 separate inlet power feeds off the campground power pedestal as far as damaging the thermostat's common control to both A/C's?

Thanks in advance
Dieselguy, you might try what’s called a DOGBONE adapter.
It allows you to plug into a 30amp receptical and a 15amp on a 30amp power pedestal then your 50amp cord plugs into the adapter. It works. However, depending on the CG electrical feed (circuit breaker) to that Post there could be possible tripping of that breaker. Not likely but possible. I’ve used this at the house as well as a CG. My unit has a permanently installed surge protector, for it to close and pass power to the unit, both sides of the input side of the surge protector must have power. Thus, my need to have the DOGBONE adapter.
Try this link:

https://www.ebay.com/i/183305747335?...yABEgJI3fD_BwE

Hope the link works. First time I inserted a link.
__________________
Michael
2011 Big Sky 3400RL
2011 Chev 2500HD 4WD CC
TN road dog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2020, 12:49 PM   #28
TN road dog
Established Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Somerville
Posts: 27
M.O.C. #13347
I believe I basically just repeated what BB TX said
My bad
__________________
Michael
2011 Big Sky 3400RL
2011 Chev 2500HD 4WD CC
TN road dog is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:42 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.