Converting 30 amp to 50 amp

**ravenaut** · 09-09-2022, 05:05 PM

Hi everyone..new to the forum..I just bought a 2022 transcend in April and was wondering if anyone had any experience converting a 30 amp to 50 amp. I was quoted around 4800 just for the labor alone at the dealer. I have been seeing it for around 2500 on the web..Does anyone have any experience with this? I won't be doing it myself just wondering on the price range and whether or not it will mess up the warranties on things? Thanks

**Second Chance** · 09-09-2022, 06:05 PM

My first question would be why you would want to convert a Transcend from 30 amp service to 50 amp? Do you want to install more ACs or something?

That said, doing so would require replacing the main inlet connector, the wiring to the power distribution panel, the distribution panel itself and, likely, the converter-charger if it is unitized with the 30 amp power center. Then, you would have to route the appropriate wiring to the location(s) for the new appliances you want to install. It's a lot of labor. And, yes, on a new trailer it would probably void your warranty on anything to do with the electrical systems.

Now... Welcome to the forum. You can create a signature block with your RV and tow vehicle information (see mine below). That way you won't have to repeat that information whenever you post or ask a question - and others won't have to ask. You can create a signature by going to:

Forum Actions (on menu bar) -> Edit Profile -> Edit Signature (under My Settings on the left)

Rob

**SolarPoweredRV** · 09-09-2022, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by ravenaut

Hi everyone..new to the forum..I just bought a 2022 transcend in April and was wondering if anyone had any experience converting a 30 amp to 50 amp. I was quoted around 4800 just for the labor alone at the dealer. I have been seeing it for around 2500 on the web..Does anyone have any experience with this? I won't be doing it myself just wondering on the price range and whether or not it will mess up the warranties on things? Thanks

I can't see any reason you would want to upgrade the Electrical system on a perfectly good coach.

There are several campgrounds that simply do not offer 50 amp service, in those campgrounds you would have to drop back down to 30 amps any way.

I carry a "dogbone" that allows me to plug my 50 amp coach into a 30 amp outlet and everything in my coach runs just fine on 30 amps. I just need to be aware that I can't run the water heater on electric, at the same time I am running my fridge on electric, at the same time I am running one of my A/C units, if I try to add the Microwave to that mix I am tripping the breaker. Otherwise, I can run everything on 30 amps by using Propane for the water heater and maybe the fridge (depends on how hard the A/C is working to keep things cool). I still can run the Microwave at will. At night, I turn off the A/C unit in the living room area and turn on the A/C unit in the upper bedroom.

Your coach was designed to run on 30 amps, why do you think you need an upgrade?

**ravenaut** · 09-09-2022, 07:16 PM

Thanks for the reply..and updated a bit..reason to upgrade to a 50 amp is because I am a full time rver and reasons are..can't run convection oven..instant pot and microwave at the same time or even just instant pot and convection oven or run a lil electric heater and keurig mini in the morning without tripping a breaker..also ac unit has been crap since it hit 90 which I want to upgrade from 14.5 furrion to 15500 furrion since it took a dump on me about a month ago..only 1 more amp yet has to be better than what I have..lots of other things considered on that issue..and that's all with with running a small dehumidifier..thought that might help with the heat..did till it decided not to....and I'd like to add a portable dishwasher as well in the near future..why didn't I get a bigger trailer?..can pull this with work truck most of the year and hitting close to max with personal truck other times..get a bigger truck..yep in the future..till then was just wondering if that ballpark of 4800 just for labor was actually accurate..or any other suggestions is most definitely welcomed...been quite an eye opener for the only having it for 5 months...hail storm beat the front up 2 months in..have to pull the door so hard it might break since day one..mismatched cabinets..list goes on yet I am working on getting all fixed up in off season and just want to make it better cause I love this home of mine

**ravenaut** · 09-09-2022, 07:18 PM

Sorry for the long post..frustration just started coming out..lol

**ravenaut** · 09-09-2022, 07:33 PM

I've learned what I can have on and not to trip breakers..was a lot of this on this off which I'm fine with..always switch the water heater off when not in use yet still all said and done ac can't keep up..idk the ground wire burnt up about 2 inches from the compressor along with partial burn to main wires..I usually stay in 50 amp campgrounds so far..work on the road..just thought it might make a difference is all

**SolarPoweredRV** · 09-09-2022, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by ravenaut

Thanks for the reply..and updated a bit..reason to upgrade to a 50 amp is because I am a full time rver and reasons are..can't run convection oven..instant pot and microwave at the same time or even just instant pot and convection oven or run a lil electric heater and keurig mini in the morning without tripping a breaker..also ac unit has been crap since it hit 90 which I want to upgrade from 14.5 furrion to 15500 furrion since it took a dump on me about a month ago..only 1 more amp yet has to be better than what I have..lots of other things considered on that issue..and that's all with with running a small dehumidifier..thought that might help with the heat..did till it decided not to....and I'd like to add a portable dishwasher as well in the near future..why didn't I get a bigger trailer?..can pull this with work truck most of the year and hitting close to max with personal truck other times..get a bigger truck..yep in the future..till then was just wondering if that ballpark of 4800 just for labor was actually accurate..or any other suggestions is most definitely welcomed...been quite an eye opener for the only having it for 5 months...hail storm beat the front up 2 months in..have to pull the door so hard it might break since day one..mismatched cabinets..list goes on yet I am working on getting all fixed up in off season and just want to make it better cause I love this home of mine

I don't look at the above post as a rant, rather, a lot of information from which I may have found a solution to your electrical problem(s)...

I think the key to most of your electrical issues is your Dehumidifier. The Dehumidifier is essentially a small Air Conditioning unit that creates a cold surface that water condenses on when warm air is blown over it. However, when you make cold air, you also make hot air as a by-product. Essentially, you are creating extra hot air inside your coach, that your Air Conditioner then has to remove by running longer and harder.

The other problem is that the Dehumidifier is probably not very energy efficient and it probably takes as much (or more) energy to operate as your Microwave.

Once you eliminate the Dehumidifier, now you can work on carefully managing your energy usage. For example: do you really run the Convection Oven, Microwave, and Insta Pot all at the same time? Perhaps with a little bit of planning where you only run one appliance at a time while simultaneously ensuring your water heater is not turned onto Electric would solve all your issues.

Is there a chance that you have the large version of the Insta Pot and not the medium or small version? Choosing smaller (read lower wattage) appliances will also help you manage/moderate your Electrical usage.

Speaking of your water heater, this is an appliance that is easy to manage because you have the option of using Propane, or Electric. Switching to Propane can take quite bit of Electrical load off of the shore power connection. Another method to manage your energy usage is to not keep your water heater on all the time. My wife and have developed the habit of turning the water heater on as we are cooking breakfast and as we are cooking dinner, this gives us hot water for washing dishes. We then turn it off after the dishes are done and the water stays hot enough for us to wash our hands throughout the day/night without wasting energy keeping the tank hot when we don't need to. By-the-way, we simply turn the water heater on ten minutes before we shower so the water is hot for our showers. These simple habits save us a lot of money when we are using Propane and the habits also help us manage our Electric usage when we are on 30 amp shore power (we follow these habits whether we are Boondocking, or plugged into a 50 amp shore connection, consequently, having a 30 amp shore connection is no big deal for us [it really does not matter to us]).

I am curious about your Convection Oven and your Microwave. Do you have two separate appliances? Or, do you have a combination Convection/Microwave Oven? If they are two separate appliances, simply only use one at a time.

I am also curious about your "Lil Heater". Is it really that little? How much wattage does it really use. When you are running your "Lil Heater" and your Kureg in the morning, are you popping the main outside breaker or are you popping one of the breakers inside your coach? If you are popping the breaker inside your coach, then you are overloading that circuit and you need to find a different outlet to plug the heater into. If you are popping the outside breaker, then your heater is not really that little and your Kureg might need to be replaced with a smaller version that uses less wattage.

I think that if you make these small adjustments, you will save yourself $5k, even after buying a few new (smaller) appliances.

PS: I wouldn't increase the size of the A/C unit when you get it replaced. You won't really get any appreciable benefit from it and you may just set it up so you will be popping the shore power breaker constantly. I think eliminating the Dehumidifier will give you back the extra cooling you need.

**huntindog** · 09-10-2022, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by SolarPoweredRV

I don't look at the above post as a rant, rather, a lot of information from which I may have found a solution to your electrical problem(s)...

I think the key to most of your electrical issues is your Dehumidifier. The Dehumidifier is essentially a small Air Conditioning unit that creates a cold surface that water condenses on when warm air is blown over it. However, when you make cold air, you also make hot air as a by-product. Essentially, you are creating extra hot air inside your coach, that your Air Conditioner then has to remove by running longer and harder.

The other problem is that the Dehumidifier is probably not very energy efficient and it probably takes as much (or more) energy to operate as your Microwave.

Once you eliminate the Dehumidifier, now you can work on carefully managing your energy usage. For example: do you really run the Convection Oven, Microwave, and Insta Pot all at the same time? Perhaps with a little bit of planning where you only run one appliance at a time while simultaneously ensuring your water heater is not turned onto Electric would solve all your issues.

Is there a chance that you have the large version of the Insta Pot and not the medium or small version? Choosing smaller (read lower wattage) appliances will also help you manage/moderate your Electrical usage.

Speaking of your water heater, this is an appliance that is easy to manage because you have the option of using Propane, or Electric. Switching to Propane can take quite bit of Electrical load off of the shore power connection. Another method to manage your energy usage is to not keep your water heater on all the time. My wife and have developed the habit of turning the water heater on as we are cooking breakfast and as we are cooking dinner, this gives us hot water for washing dishes. We then turn it off after the dishes are done and the water stays hot enough for us to wash our hands throughout the day/night without wasting energy keeping the tank hot when we don't need to. By-the-way, we simply turn the water heater on ten minutes before we shower so the water is hot for our showers. These simple habits save us a lot of money when we are using Propane and the habits also help us manage our Electric usage when we are on 30 amp shore power (we follow these habits whether we are Boondocking, or plugged into a 50 amp shore connection, consequently, having a 30 amp shore connection is no big deal for us [it really does not matter to us]).

I am curious about your Convection Oven and your Microwave. Do you have two separate appliances? Or, do you have a combination Convection/Microwave Oven? If they are two separate appliances, simply only use one at a time.

I am also curious about your "Lil Heater". Is it really that little? How much wattage does it really use. When you are running your "Lil Heater" and your Kureg in the morning, are you popping the main outside breaker or are you popping one of the breakers inside your coach? If you are popping the breaker inside your coach, then you are overloading that circuit and you need to find a different outlet to plug the heater into. If you are popping the outside breaker, then your heater is not really that little and your Kureg might need to be replaced with a smaller version that uses less wattage.

I think that if you make these small adjustments, you will save yourself $5k, even after buying a few new (smaller) appliances.

PS: I wouldn't increase the size of the A/C unit when you get it replaced. You won't really get any appreciable benefit from it and you may just set it up so you will be popping the shore power breaker constantly. I think eliminating the Dehumidifier will give you back the extra cooling you need.

I am on my second dehumidifier in about 13 years of use. I had a 40 pint, then replaced it due to a recall with a 50 pint. Mine do not draw much power. I think my present one is rated at under 600 watts, but in use is 200-300 watts.I know that it can run off my old TTs 600 watt inverter, along with some other loads such as 2 small TVs and a laptop, and dog collar battery chargers, So IMO, not knowing just what the OP has, I don't think getting rid of the dehumifier will help much.
Interesting to me, is we needed it for cold weather camping, but have not needed it in the Momentum so far. Still lugging it around though just in case

**alias100** · 09-10-2022, 07:55 AM

You may already have something like this, but a Kill A Watt meter is great for finding out just how many watts a 120 volt device is using.
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec.../dp/B00009MDBU

**dryfly** · 09-10-2022, 08:29 AM

I have seen similar posts in the past on converting a 30 amp trailer to 50 amp service. I agree it would be a costly and difficult job, and probably just not worth it. But I've got a question.

Would it be possible to come off the 50 amp pedestal AC supply and Y into two 30 amp lines? Since the 50 amp supply is two 30 amp split phase lines, would making L1 and L2 be separate 30 amp supplies possible? Just wondering.........

As to the OP, even if this electrical solution would work at the pedestal, it still would require a lot of modifications at the trailer, and probably cost prohibitive unless a DIY project.