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Thread: Explain shore power please.
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07-25-2019, 08:16 AM #11
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Bruce and Nancy
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07-25-2019, 09:50 AM #12
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Wiring for trailers is different than how a house is wired. A trailer sitting on wheels has to be grounded differently. I am not an electrician, i'm sure one will chime in here soon to help out. Your salesman was right. Even Lowe's sells electric box's for rv's. If you don't know how to do it I would recommend getting someone who knows about wiring an RV.
Marcy & Gary
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07-25-2019, 09:56 AM #13
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I am confused. I have assumed that a 50 amp plug is no more than 50 amps. Even though there are two "hot" sides it is still a max of 50 amp per side and that does not make a total of 100 amps. Is this not correct?
2018 Solitude 375 RES 2022 F450 Powerstroke Dually
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07-25-2019, 09:59 AM #14
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Hello Dick,
That is not correct. Because they are out of phase each phase has the potential to deliver 50A which can deliver a maximum of 100A to the RV.
Regards,
Kevin2015 Ram Laramie 3500 4x4 LB Dually Crew Cab
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07-25-2019, 10:06 AM #15
@SJMaye,
Since you have a 30A trailer, you do not need to worry about the 50A "split" electrical supply used by the larger trailers. A 30A 120V trailer electrical plug looks similar to an older clothes dryer 240V plug, but they are not identical and not interchangeable. The "caution" that your dealer was talking about is that you can't just change the outlet on an old dryer 240V feed and plug in your 120V RV.
WRT cooling down your fridge . . . either shore power or propane will supply about the same amount of cooling (if the fridge is working correctly). Something to remember is that even when running on propane, the fridge requires a significant amount of 12V (battery) power to run the control circuits and the back-of-fridge cooling fans. Without shore power to keep the RV battery charged, your limitation on cooling down the fridge on propane is likely to be discharging your RV battery.
RobCate & Rob
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07-25-2019, 10:33 AM #16
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Well yes and no. Your dealer person is right make sure you get it right or you will damage your RV. Your thinking is correct though. You can just get an RV dog bone adapter to reduce the RV 30amp cable to a 15 amp house hold plug and be done. But as others have said you will be extremely limited on what you can run in the RV. You can even reduce a 50 amp RV cable down to a 15 amp house hold plug with RV adapters. Both 120VAC sides of the 50 amp RV cable will be powered from the household plug. The RV dog bone adapter does this for you. But in any case you can not pull more than 15 amps from the household plug in, because that plug is being feed from a 15 amp breaker in your distribution panel..
No the plugs dont all look the same. Thank goodness all of the different type of high voltage plugs RV, Dryer, Stove, Welder and so forth are all different (mostly). Notice that a dryer 4 wire plug has a dog leg neutral. So you can't physically plug an RV cord into a dryer outlet, it wont fit.
I should add for clarity line AC voltage is typically 110 -125 VAC.
The problem comes from people wiring the receptacles wrong. I have also heard of people who hired an electrician to wire up an RV outlet and they did it wrong and blew their RV. The vast majority of electricians know what they are doing.
For the benefit of others that may find and view this thread. Lets help and try to add a couple of pictures. It would be my strong advice to only ever use the correct plug, cable and power receptacle for the device your trying to connect.Last edited by Steven@147; 07-25-2019 at 01:40 PM.
Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
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07-25-2019, 12:01 PM #17
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Now I'm even more confused. I know that the main line in can deliver a lot of amps but we can only use (draw) up to 50 amps. Anything over 50 amps will cause the breaker to blow, so we can never draw 100 amps even though more than that is delivered by the electrical company.
2018 Solitude 375 RES 2022 F450 Powerstroke Dually
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07-25-2019, 12:15 PM #18
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I'm no expert but I believe you cant draw more than 50 amps PER LEG. so yes you can pull 100 amps. The 50 amp breaker is actually 2 50 amp breakers linked together.
Any triple air unit would pull more than 50 amps if more than 1 started at the same time. Add in microwaves, hair dryers, etc and I'm sure they pull more than 50 amps quite oftenLast edited by JKellerJr; 07-25-2019 at 12:20 PM.
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07-25-2019, 12:50 PM #19
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I would say it has a lot to do with how the campground power pedestal is wired and up stream to a distribution point, how cheap they wired it, and or what size beakers they have in the panel and how old they are. If the power pedestal for the 50 amp RV connector is feed by two 50 amp breakers, (usual) then you should be able to theoretically pull a maximum of 50 amps from both legs or 100 amps total. However, these breakers are not really a switch and from prolonged use, neglect and age, they may not be able to sustain up to a 50 amp draw from both legs of a 50 amp connector. They get weak and trip. Since the two 50 amp breakers are tied together with a single bar, one gets weak, trips and causes the other to trip.
Then too how is the camp ground feeding the 50 amp power pedestal from a central distribution point up stream. They may be limiting you to only pull up to say 70 amps total.
See this link on how a power pedestal should be wired. http://www.billgehr.com/images/MH_20...r_Trip_101.pdf
They really should call these things 100 amp connectors because that is what they really are.Last edited by Steven@147; 07-25-2019 at 02:17 PM. Reason: Silly nomenclature we use
Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel
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07-25-2019, 03:17 PM #20
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As said, the 30A 120VAC dedicated outlet is wired with a Single Pole CB so it has a Hot, Neutral, Ground and only supplies 120VAC to your TT.
The caution is if a electrician wired the outlet by mistake using 2 Pole CB with Hot, Hot, Ground which would be 240VAC and damage the TT's electrical appliances.
Side note, I always like video/pictures when it comes to explaining electricity.
Found some I like by Engineering Mindset that have some use in our home and RVs:
* Ground Neutral and Hot wires explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-W42tk-fWc
* 120V 240V Electricity explained - Split phase 3 wire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJeRabV5hNU&t=188s
edit: Above video shows how our house panels are wired. The RV panels are a bit different, they're like a Sub Panel w/o Neutral to Ground Bond.
* Voltage Explained - What is Voltage? Basic electricity potential difference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w82aSjLuD_8
* What is CURRENT– electric current explained, electricity basics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Posj4WMo0o
* How does a Transformer work - Working Principle electrical engineering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UchitHGF4n8&t=22s
* How Inverters Work - Working principle rectifier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln9VZIL8rVs
* Solenoid Basics Explained - Working Principle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbmocfETTFo
* 3 Way Switches Explained - How to wire 3 way light switch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u5ORnhqn8gLast edited by gbkims; 07-26-2019 at 10:45 AM.
- Gene
Kim & Gene
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