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Old 07-03-2007, 08:02 PM   #1
coolchas11
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OK. Let's assume the RV is parked at home and connected via an extension cord to an outlet in the garage. What can be operated in the rig? A/C? Also, should I use a heavy duty electrical cord? Really getting into this electrical stuff! Thanks, Charlie
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Old 07-04-2007, 05:31 AM   #2
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Charlie, What Amp is the outlet ? And I would use a heavy ex. cord. Before I installed the 50amp outlet for the MH I ran about 20 ft of #12 ex cord I ran the fridge on it and the heater at times but the air was a little too much as it was only a 15amp outlet. I think you are safe with just the fridge and charging system and occasional lights on that setup.

Earl
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Old 07-04-2007, 10:15 AM   #3
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Charlie,

Anytime you are plugged into any outlet, you can only use up to that rated amperage of the outlet and breaker. I assume you are talking about a regular 15 amp outlet in your garage, in that case you can run anything you want as long as it does not draw over 15 amps. If it does you will trip the breaker. If there is anything else on this circuit that is on, this will lower what is available for use at that outlet.

Of course the air conditioners use more than 15 amp on start-up so they should not be used on a 15 amp outlet.

The extension cord should always be rated at least what the outlet is if you plan on using up to the capacity of outlet and also to prevent voltage drop due to wire size. This not only applies to RV use, but any use of electricity.

Ron
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Old 07-04-2007, 12:01 PM   #4
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Again, Ron has said it so well. A couple hours ago, I had written a book to answer. Luckily for you all, my system crashed & all was lost.

I can run my A/C off my 20 amp (dedicated) household circuit, connected with (gasp) 100 ft of #14 extension... BUT:
1) nothing else can be turned on in the MH
2) the A/C fan MUST be turned to "on" rather than "auto" so that it does not cycle on & off.

I use this just to get rid of heat quickly. There real reason this is not good (as Ron pointed out) is due to voltage drop, the A/C motor must draw more current to operate. More current heats the extension cord and MUCH MORE importantly, heats the windings in the A/C motor - shortening life & maybe burning out.

If you "need" to run your A/C, microwave and TV in your MH and you have only "house outlets", then purchase from Camper's World or make an adapter that takes 2 household circuits & provides a single 50 amp recepticle for your MH cord to plug into. It MUST by the 50 amp receptacle. No - NO - NO to 30 amp receptacle!!! Also, the house outlets must be on separate circuits in your house. It doesn't matter which circuits, just separate with no other house loads. You will get 30amps (15amps x 2) or 40amps (20amps x 2) available in your MH.

You will still need to balance the load in your MH. You have to pick the A/C unit (mine is the rear unit) that is not on the same side as the TV or microwave. You'll know if it is wrong because a house breaker will trip.

Lastly, don't attempt to make your own adaptor unless you are truly comfortable with wiring.
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Old 07-04-2007, 10:34 PM   #5
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"I can run my A/C off my 20 amp (dedicated) household circuit, connected with (gasp) 100 ft of #14 extension"

That reminds me of a friend of mine when we were at a campground about 7 years ago and his trailer 30 amp cord could not reach the campground power box and he did not have a 30 amp extension cord.

He used a #14 extension cord that was 50 ft. long but only needed about ten foot to reach the box to plug in and left the rest coiled tightly up. He used an adapter to plug the extension cord into the 30 amp plug at the box. A #14 gauge cord is only good for 15 amp!! In the afternoon he decided to run his air conditioner, after about a half hour, I happened to look over at his site.

The smoke was coming from the #14 cord especially the "coiled" part of the cord. I ran over and shut off the breaker. Yelled for Red to come out and look at his cord. It had melted the insulation into a solid mess at the coiled part and also melted the insulation on the appox. ten foot part that was unrolled. It had also melted itself to the 30 amp adapters on both ends of the cord and everything was so hot that we couldn't touch it with getting gloves on.

Of course the 30 amp breaker hadn't tripped before I shut it off, but he had pulled more amperage than the #14 cord was rated for and therefore made a "heating coil" out of the small wires.

If I hadn't seen the smoke when I did, I am sure it would have burst into flames, but of course when the wires became completey bare and touched then the breaker would have tripped.

After it was all over, we had a good laugh. Then I loaned my 30 amp extension cord to him for the rest of the week until he purchased his own.

We kept that melted cord for a while to show people what can happen when not using the proper cord for the load and having the proper breaker in effect for the wire/cord being used.

I bet there is a voltage drop on a 100 ft. #14 15 amp cord especially trying to run an Air conditioner. If it goes below 104 volts there is danger of ruining the unit.

Ron
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Old 07-05-2007, 07:27 AM   #6
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To everyone...thank you for your posts. I never thought I would be learning so much about electricity on the Forum. It's been too easy for me to call Joe (service mgr) at Long View day or night! Charlie
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Old 07-05-2007, 07:52 AM   #7
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Here is a link to the adapter that RJ82much referred to in his post to enable you to plug your 50 amp service into two 15 amp boxes using 15 amp feed on each leg:

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus ... unum=25774

It can also be used in some campgrounds that only have a 15 amp and 30 amp plug. Of course if a GFCI is on the 15 amp circuit, it will not work, it will trip the GFCI.

Ron
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Old 07-05-2007, 08:23 AM   #8
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Ha Ha Ha, Ron said it so elequantly. The REALLY long version of my original response that vaporized into computer-byte heaven, went into the GFCI problem with the adaptor. What Ron said in one line, I had written a page full. Thank you Ron!

It has been said that the worst examples of plumbing occures in a plumber's house; the oldest, smokiest, noisiest cars belong to a mechanic. Well, my 40+ year career has been in the electrical power field, so yup, I have more "wrong" wiring around my house than anyone; cords, patches, over-rides, etc. You should never do what I do; instead, do what I say (my Mom's quote & she's just shy of 90). I say: "Long, #14 guage extension cords on 20 amp circuits are for fools." "Taking a chance of ruining an expensive A/C unit is lunacy."

Hope everyone had a fun 4th
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Old 07-05-2007, 08:42 AM   #9
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Yep, The painter's house is the last one to get painted, ETC, ETC.

Shhh.... Not so loud...my wife might hear...might want me to finish installing new baseboards in the house I started 4 years ago.....

We all push the envelope to an extent because we know we can to a point.

Ron
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Old 07-05-2007, 09:07 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GStream40
Here is a link to the adapter that RJ82much referred to in his post to enable you to plug your 50 amp service into two 15 amp boxes using 15 amp feed on each leg:

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus ... unum=25774

It can also be used in some campgrounds that only have a 15 amp and 30 amp plug. Of course if a GFCI is on the 15 amp circuit, it will not work, it will trip the GFCI.

Ron
OK...so you guys got me to thinking. Can I use an adapter like this on my generator to plug into my 30 amp and my 20 amp and be able to use my 50 amp cord? Would I get any benefits from it at all?

I always take my camper and generator to a christian music festival and host a lot of kids and need my air running just about all day as it is held in the hottest part of the summer! So far, I have run my air with my genset and 30 amp only plug and it does ok but I am wondering if my Yamaha generator would accomodate this connector adapter box and allow me to properly use the 50 amp plug on my RV? My genset is the 3000 extended run model.

I learn a lot lurking here!!!
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Old 07-05-2007, 12:47 PM   #11
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I must proceed carefully here instead of jumping in with both feet.

I am understanding that your campground has a 30 amp pedestal. You also have a 28 amp generator. You are looking to get 60 amps of power?

Yes, you could use the adaptor box into your 50amp MH cable, but there are a couple of things that must or must NOT happen.

* You must NOT use the "dogbone" 50amp to 30amp adaptor in any way shape or form.... Lock it up someplace so that you're not even tempted.

* You must be absolutely certain that the shore supply is wired correctly. ie: the nuetral and the ground are at the same potential at the pedestal receptacle, on the correct pins. Very advisable to have a voltmeter & know how to use it.

You would use a 230volt x 30amp male to 120volt x 15amp female adaptor. I got mine at Home Depot in flourescent orange. That plugs into one of the adaptor-box 120volt - 15amp cords. The other adaptor box-cord plugs into your generator outlet.

A word about 15 amp vs 20 amp plugs/receptacles: sometimes the blades are slightly different to prevent mixing the circuits. 5amps is nothing between friends (some may take issue with me). Look at what you need to plug into & make sure what you are buying will fit. It's frustrating, but this is what keeps we engineers employed!

The last thing I would do is make sure that I have a clip lead of some sort, reasonable guage, from my generator frame to the pedestal ground to prevent any surprises if everything is not as it is supposed to be.

What you asked is possible, if I understand what you are describing. I would try it in a heartbeat, but I'm NOT telling you to go do it because you've said you're just learning. I would have checked each path thru the adaptors with an volt/ohm meter(continuity meter) before any power combinations were applied.

If you decide to proceed, email me for better instructions on what pins should be what in that 230volt x 30 amp receptacle.
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Old 07-05-2007, 02:55 PM   #12
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Bob-

To try and clarify what I was asking.....

When at a place where boondocking without shore power....cow pasture... open pit mine....etc- is there any point in trying the adapter on ONLY my generator that has the 30 amp and 20 amp receptacles. The genset will only produce so much power and I am guessing that the answer to my question is no, otherwise Yamaha would have put a 50 amp receptacle in the thing to begin with right?

When running the a/c with the 30 amp receptacle in my genset I cannot run the microwave or I am tripping breakers. That is originally why I posed the question. Also concerned that running my a/c on 30 amp MIGHT be bad for it in some way shape or form. I don't do this type of camping but once a year so this isn't a huge issue with me....but the topic raised the question in my mind......and it was fun to have something there today!!!!(in my mind)

Thanks for all your help....along with the others! It makes me realize that if I am to do anything unusual with electricity.....I am hiring it done! Scares the .............out of me!!!!
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Old 07-05-2007, 04:02 PM   #13
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I originally assumed you might mean just the Yamaha, but thought it might be interesting to pursue this other route for additional power.

The Yamaha generator schematic that I looked at for the EF3000iSE & EF3000iSE/B have all connectors in parallel. Your assumption is correct that there is no reason nor benefit to applying the adaptor box. The maximum current available is 28 amps.

From the looks of the picture (I could be wrong) it appears that the round connector is merely a 120v-rated, 30amp twistlock connector (L5-30R).

You must use your "dogbone" 30amp to 50amp adaptor to connect to your MH 50amp cord. Does your "dogbone" plug directly into the connector on the Yamaha, or must you adapt to it?
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Old 07-05-2007, 09:14 PM   #14
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My dogbone needed an adapter that I got from CW to use in the genset to use my cord/dogbone.

Thanks for the clarification.....kinda what I thought!

Kevin
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