50 amp adapter

[Chazinn]

Ok not sure if this is the right area, but seems like a tech question.

I camp a lot at state parks in Ohio. The electrical grid in a lot of the parks is 50 plus years old. When I 1st pull in I typically trip the main breaker on the pole when the AC, water heater, a fridge all start doing their thing. Sometimes just the AC is enough to trip it.

The solution has been to plug into the 50amp socket using a 50 to 30 adapter and the problems go away. I've checked the cord and the plug and everything is cooler than when plugged into the 30 amp socket.

So here's the question, the adapter essentially uses only 1 phase of the 2 phase 50 amp service. Is it possible to power 2 campers from one 50 amp/240 volt plug? Essentially one phase for each camper? Seems like a fairly straightforward project, right?

[Florida Camper]

Check out the "Buddy Box" on Camping World's web site. Probably available elsewhere as well

[clutch]

I bet the 30 amp breakers are about shot from being used all the time and trip easily. I believe that half of the 50 amp service is only 25 amps. I don't think the 50 amp is a 240 V.

[Chazinn]

That'll work great! Thanks

[Chazinn]

Originally Posted by clutch

I bet the 30 amp breakers are about shot from being used all the time and trip easily. I believe that half of the 50 amp service is only 25 amps. I don't think the 50 amp is a 240 V.

I'm pretty sure that there are 2 legs on a 50 rv service. That would mean 240 volts at 50 amps is available, or 100 amps of 120 volts.

[RoyBraddy]

This is a drawing of the 50A-30A standard dogbone adapter which you can see only is connected to one HOT leg of the 50A service. Having the correct wiring you could use two 30A circuits from one connection. Of course my question is where are going to park the second 30A RV trailer. I have also heard alot of camp grounds are policing the use of the split cable adapters... Some are not safe to use I guess...

This is a RV50A MALE to RV30A FEMALE dogbone adapter drawing from DMBRUSS.


I do this all the time at camp ground location with my 30A trailer setup. The first thing I do is look at the condition of the Pedestal 30A Service receptacle and if it shows any signs of burned contacts etc i will use my RV50A-30A dogbone adapter and hook up to the 50A service if available.

The only drawback is the 30A Shore Power Cable will most likely have a 120VAC 50A source present on it at all times even when a 30A circuit trip has occurred in the 30A Trailer. These 30A trailer overloads will probably NOT ever trip the Camp Ground Pedestal 50A service circuit breaker. Lots of recent posts on RV NET Forum on this subject as being SAFE to do or not.

Just my 2-cents
Roy Ken

[tnchuck100]

There should be no safety issue here. The breakers in the pedestal are not there for your protection. They are there to protect the campground equipment. The breakers in your RV are for your protection. If you have a fault or load in your RV that exceeds 30 amps the RV breaker will trip. This removes all 120V electric power in the RV. The only thing that would cause the 50 amp pedestal breaker to trip would be a fault in the RV cable up to the point it connects to the main RV breaker. The likelyhood of anyone coming in contact with the wiring connections between the cable and the RV breaker is less than that of winning the lottery 3 months in a row. There is no compromise in safety.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Chazinn

I'm pretty sure that there are 2 legs on a 50 rv service. That would mean 240 volts at 50 amps is available, or 100 amps of 120 volts.

It's still only 50 amps. Each 110 volt leg is protected by a 50 amp breaker the current rating doesn't double.