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Old 04-01-2017, 10:36 PM   #1
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50 amp question

I had a situation at an RV park the other day and I need some help to understand what happened. Of course, this happened late at night.
My surge protector showed low voltage (108 volts) on one of the incoming legs of the park's 50 amp service (the other leg was normal 120 volts) and eventually my surge protector shut down everything connected to that leg. The other leg was working normally. After a little while, the voltage on that leg returned to normal level and the items that were shut down began working again. A little later the same thing happened, but this time the voltage didn't return to the normal level. My wife suggested that I try hooking up to the 30 amp connection on the pedestal (I carry both 30 and 50 amp cords). I unhooked the 50 amp cord and connected the 30 amp cord and everything worked normally.
I'm no electrician, and I'd like to know how the 30 amp and 50 amp services operate. Please keep your explanations simple and in layman's terms so this old fart can understand.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Old 04-01-2017, 11:16 PM   #2
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I'm no expert by any means. I believe when you use a 30 amp adapter on 50 amp service, the two legs are combined. This should give you ample voltage to run. In other words, one leg picks up the slack if the other is low. I may be wrong, but I'm sure someone with a lot more experience than me will chime in.


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Old 04-02-2017, 04:23 AM   #3
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If no storms we evident probably a loos wire inside the padastal
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Old 04-02-2017, 05:26 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by ccso2213 View Post
I'm no expert by any means. I believe when you use a 30 amp adapter on 50 amp service, the two legs are combined. This should give you ample voltage to run. In other words, one leg picks up the slack if the other is low. I may be wrong, but I'm sure someone with a lot more experience than me will chime in.


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This is incorrect.

A 50 amp service is actually 2 - 120V 50A circuits. When you use a 30A adapter to connect your 50A RV you are connecting both of your RV circuits to one line. The 30A receptacle is connected to one of the two legs in the pedestal. You will be limited to 30A.

The condition you describe sounds like a poor connection on one of the 50A legs.

Typically if you have different voltages on each leg there is a neutral problem. In that case one leg goes low and the other goes high. But this is NOT the problem in your case.
ie: Normal = 120V/120V Bad neutral would be like 90V/150V.
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Old 04-02-2017, 03:54 PM   #5
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Thanks for the info guys.
I didn't use a 50 - 30 amp adapter, I used my 30 amp cord and plugged it into the 30 amp connection on the pedestal. I guess I got lucky, and the good leg of the 50 amp service was the one used by the 30 amp plug.
I now have a better understanding of the difference between 30 and 50 amp service.
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Old 04-02-2017, 04:21 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by tnchuck100 View Post
This is incorrect.

A 50 amp service is actually 2 - 120V 50A circuits. When you use a 30A adapter to connect your 50A RV you are connecting both of your RV circuits to one line. The 30A receptacle is connected to one of the two legs in the pedestal. You will be limited to 30A.

The condition you describe sounds like a poor connection on one of the 50A legs.

Typically if you have different voltages on each leg there is a neutral problem. In that case one leg goes low and the other goes high. But this is NOT the problem in your case.
ie: Normal = 120V/120V Bad neutral would be like 90V/150V.
X2 remember when plugged into a 30 amp outlet rather than 50 amp you have less than 1/3 of the power available. Also its not a surge protector it is an EMS Electrical Management System...a surge protector does not monitor your power or shut off for low voltage. The low voltage could be because of high usage on that leg of the power. Most times you will find multiple campsites on the same circuit, typically no more than 2 but sometimes more. A high usage on that leg could cause a voltage drop. Your EMS did exactly what it was meant to do. If it continues I would contact the campground and let them know what happened.

Good Luck.
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