Neat power adapter

[norty1]

Many of Georgia's state parks have two 30a outlets. With the proper adapter you can make a dog bone that has 2 -30a plugs wired into a 50 a outlet.
When you plug the Rv 50a into it you have 30a on each leg of the 50a Rv panel.
This allows you to operate almost normally as if you had 50a service.
A buddy gave me one a few years ago and it comes in handy on occasion.


Don't make one unless you know what you are doing.

[jayfowler]

Sounds sketchy?

[norty1]

Works like a champ. You can buy them commercially.

[Paintinfool3]

Well most camp sites I have stayed at only had one 30 amp outlet per box ... But it looks like it would give you more definitely

[slabat]

That should work fine

[wags999]

Hopefully the pedestal is wired in phase or you could have issues. Not sure I would trust them. Why would they wire two 30 amp receptacles?

[Socco1]

Originally Posted by wags999

Hopefully the pedestal is wired in phase or you could have issues. Not sure I would trust them. Why would they wire two 30 amp receptacles?

This would be my concern. That plug looks like a dead short looking for a place to happen.

[norty1]

Here is a commercially available one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...BJ1H1H83W6SEF5



It is just the way they do it in Georgia state parks. I have no idea why but I do know how to take advantage of it for my 50a rig.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by norty1

Here is a commercially available one.
Amazon.com: Conntek RV 50-Amp Power Optimizer (2) RV 30-Amp Plug to 50-Amp 125/250-Volt 14-50R Female Connector: Sports & Outdoors

It is just the eay they do it in Georgia state parks. I have no idea why but I do know hoe to take advantage of it for my 50a rig.

Interesting, i've never seen a pedestal with 2 30amp outlets. I would assume they have it phased properly so you would not have an issue. Be interesting to hear their reason for installing two 30 amp plugs. Thanks for the education, learn something new every day!

[Locky66]

Originally Posted by wags999

Interesting, i've never seen a pedestal with 2 30amp outlets. I would assume they have it phased properly so you would not have an issue. Be interesting to hear their reason for installing two 30 amp plugs. Thanks for the education, learn something new every day!

A lot of campgrounds the adjoining site gets the other 30 amp outlet.

[ddrueckh]

I have heard of people doing this with the 30 amp and 20 amp plugs to get a little more juice...

I have not had a reason and don't plan to try it.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Locky66

A lot of campgrounds the adjoining site gets the other 30 amp outlet.

I have not seen two camp sights sharing one pedestal, but I'm sure it happens. This is what would scare me. If it was designed for adjoining camp sights, then it could be on the same leg (incoming hot wire) which means you could have an issue since it is not phased properly.

I have seen adapters that use a 30 amp and the 20 amp plugs, just never two 30 amps.

It is very common that a feed from the main panel serves two camp sights, typically, we set them up so they are not adjoining camp sights to eliminate this issue.

[tnchuck100]

This thread contains some misinformation and a lot of electrical misunderstanding.

norty1's power adapter is perfectly safe and will do the job it is designed for.

As for the fear of a "dead short" if the 30 amp receptacles are on the same "phase" this is not so. You would get 2 120V supplies to the 50 amp at the adapter receptacle. You would have 0 volts between the two hot legs of the receptacle. At the RV you would have the same thing that a 30 amp male to 50 amp female dogbone would provide.

In all likelihood when two 30 amp receptacles are found in the same pedestal they will be on different legs of the 240V circuits available.

The "phase" that is being referred to in these threads is the result of a 240 V center tapped secondary winding at the transformer. The center tap is the neutral and the two hot legs which are 180 degrees out of phase with each other.

Note: I am assuming the 30 amp receptacles ARE properly wired.

[wags999]

Actually you would have more power with this arrangement, assuming it is all wired correctly than you would with a 30 to 50 dog bone. A single 30 amp circuit has only one hot, this would give you two hots, for a total of 60 amps of power or 7200 watts, twice what the single 30 amp would give you. This is why it is imperative the two 30 amp circuits be on apposing legs. If they were on the same leg, you would potentially have up to 60 amps on the neutral, something that is cancelled out when you use two phased legs.

When using a typical 50 to 30 amp dog bone, the two hot legs are fed by a single 30 amp hot leg, so a single neutral is not an issue. You get power to both sides of your breaker box, but total only 3600 watts.

Bottom line, yes, this will work, if the pedestal is wired correctly, which we have to assume it is. Other than cost to run a 50 amp line vs the second 30 amp line I can see no reason to have two 30 amp plugs on one pedestal, unless it is designed to be shared by two sights...something I have not seen either, even in very old campgrounds.

Enjoy camping, spring starts TOMORROW !