AC operation in Driveway 120 hook-up

Nighthawk65 · 09-28-2016, 06:01 AM

On my 2016 Precept 31UL the Bedroom AC control does not come on when operating from house power. All other systems are go.

LkptRvPilot · 09-28-2016, 06:44 AM

I'm assuming you have a 50A plug with a dogbone or other adaptor that mates with your house 20A plug?

Has it worked before, and now suddenly it doesn't? Or is this your first time trying?

Check your circuit breakers?

My guess, if everything else looks OK and with the limited info I have, I would suspect your dogbone may be faulty and only supplying to one of the phases.

Nighthawk65 · 09-28-2016, 06:57 AM

Thanks for the reply, first time in driveway. Everything was operational at the PDI, checked breaker under the bed, going to check the fuse. Tried on Gen and it still didn't operate.

LkptRvPilot · 09-28-2016, 07:53 AM

When you tried the generator, did you unplug from house power?

abarkl · 09-28-2016, 08:23 AM

Whether you are plugged in or not if you start the generator and it doesn't work you are either doing something wrong or there's a problem.

Dustdevil · 09-28-2016, 08:51 AM

Are you connecting your 50 amp power cable to a standard 3-prong household 120v outlet with adaptors?

bansai · 09-28-2016, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abarkl

Whether you are plugged in or not if you start the generator and it doesn't work you are either doing something wrong or there's a problem.

x2

Kim Gass · 09-28-2016, 11:36 AM

Can I Plug In A RV To A Home Electrical System?

two problems.. Need a couple of adapters first and second limits on what that probably 20 amp circuit will run.

What wattage of Generator?

Still lots of questions unanswered.

bdreinv · 09-28-2016, 12:27 PM

I plug my 15000 ac into my dryer plug using the dog bone, its on a 30 amp breaker. I should say never tried to run both 15000 on 100 plug.

Dustdevil · 09-28-2016, 01:40 PM

So, the way I understand it, when an RV has a 50 amp power system designed into it, it's essentially two separate 25 amp systems. The high power applicances are split up, so the two AC units will be on the two separate systems. When a 50 amp is adapted to a single 15/20 amp house circuit for 115vac, it's not supplying both circuits with 7.5 to 10 amps. It's supplying either one or the other circuit in the RV with 15/20 amps of 115 volt power, and the second circuit gets nothing. If that second AC unit is on the second circuit, it won't get power. Anything that is assigned to the second circuit is not powered, and which appliances and outlets that might be is up to the electrical engineer who designed the RV electrical circuits, and how they shared the load.

But there's more to the story. While your one roof AC might be on the circuit you see has power, and it may turn on, it is wise to check the voltage of that circuit inside the coach. If you are on the end of a long extension cord in addition to your RV's main power cord, going through several plug/receptacle combinations, you will see a voltage drop. The lower that voltage is at the coach, the more likely your AC compressor and fan motors will run hot. The lower the voltage, the hotter they run, and the sooner they fail. Running the AC and, say, a microwave at the same time on a long extension cord to your 115 volt 20 amp circuit in the garage is going to drop the ultimate voltage down even further. Personally, I would not run anything below about 108 or 109 volts, while these appliances are running.

bansai · 09-28-2016, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdreinv

I plug my 15000 ac into my dryer plug using the dog bone, its on a 30 amp breaker. I should say never tried to run both 15000 on 100 plug.

Confused.. are you saying you are using a 'Dryer' plug to power stuff? I won't get into the 240 volt discussion if that's not the case... I probably read your post wrong.

**norty1** · 09-28-2016, 02:19 PM

If I were you, I would not do any more experimenting until you know a little more about the electrical system.

mohok1 · 09-28-2016, 02:21 PM

I would not plug anything set up for 120 V into any household dryer connection until I knew for sure it was 120 versus 240V. Being a non-electrical type, I thought all h/h dryers ran off 240V due to the high heat requirement.

drk98 · 09-28-2016, 02:29 PM

Adapting a dryer vent has burned a number of RV people.

RV 30 AMP is 110/120v where a dryer 30 AMP is 220/240.

RV 50 AMP is 220/240.

If your AC isn't working on the generator then my vote is you have an issue somewhere. Hopefully it wasn't caused by plugging into the wrong power source.

**norty1** · 09-28-2016, 02:41 PM

RV 50a service is actually 2 separate 120v -50a feeds with a common neutral. Effectively 100a of total power available to your rv. When you use a dog bone, you are limited to the current capacity of the source breaker.

I still suggest you back off until you have more information.

drk98 · 09-28-2016, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

RV 50a service is actually 2 separate 120v -50a feeds with a common neutral. Effectively 100a of total power available to your rv. When you use a dog bone, you are limited to the current capacity of the source breaker.

I still suggest you back off until you have more information.

Correct... I should have been more specific in my 50 AMP description.

Another good reason for a EMS unit.... If you plug a 30 AMP unit and it detects 50 AMP it'll kill the flow.

Dustdevil · 09-28-2016, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

RV 50a service is actually 2 separate 120v -50a feeds with a common neutral. Effectively 100a of total power available to your rv. When you use a dog bone, you are limited to the current capacity of the source breaker.

I still suggest you back off until you have more information.

Oh, so it's TWO X 50 amp 115 volt circuits, not two X 25amp? Geez. I also read somewhere that the two 115 volt circuits are out of phase with one another, which means you would normally measure 230 volts between them, but only 115 volts between each line and common neutral. Is this correct?

Dustdevil · 09-28-2016, 03:05 PM

Sorry to hijack the thread, by the way, but I think it's germane to the OPs topic, as well as anyone using a 230v dryer outlet to power the RV.

wags999 · 09-28-2016, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dustdevil

Oh, so it's TWO X 50 amp 115 volt circuits, not two X 25amp? Geez. I also read somewhere that the two 115 volt circuits are out of phase with one another, which means you would normally measure 230 volts between them, but only 115 volts between each line and common neutral. Is this correct?

Yes, same as any 240 volt circuit. If you use a dog bone and plug into a 120 volt plug you will only power a portion of your RV appliances. If you have two AC only one will have power.

As others have said, I would back off until what your situation is. A dryer is typically a 30 amp 240 circuit...

Dustdevil · 09-28-2016, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags999

Yes, same as any 240 volt circuit. If you use a dog bone and plug into a 120 volt plug you will only power a portion of your RV appliances. If you have two AC only one will have power.

As others have said, I would back off until what your situation is. A dryer is typically a 30 amp 240 circuit...

Oh, it wasn't me using the dryer outlet. I was told, though, that each AC unit operates from a different 115 volt line in a 50 amp RV circuit.

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