Plugging in precept at home

[Solbkeston]

Hi, just bought my 2019 precept 31ul. I am trying to understand how to plug it in at home and what I can run with that. The dealer walk through was provided by someone who admitted he had never operated a jayco!. He sold us two adapters for our power line. One is a standard household 110 connector. I think the other is supposed to be a 30amp to 50 amp plug although I don't see how a cord converts amperage. My main goal is to cool down the RV before going on a trip, it's as high as 90 degrees in it.

I tried plugging in the standard 110 in a garage outlet but the AC powers but is not blowing so my guess is I need to have an electrician install a 30 or 50 amp circuit/outlet. Am I right?

[oldmanAZ]

Congratulations on the new Precept and welcome to the forum.

"I tried plugging in the standard 110 in a garage outlet but the AC powers but is not blowing so my guess is I need to have an electrician install a 30 or 50 amp circuit/outlet. Am I right?"
The short answer is 'Yes'. A standard 110v outlet does not have sufficient power for standard air conditioners.

Your on-board generator (I'm assuming all Precepts have those) should power your air conditioner so that would be the way to cool off yours.

Your Precept probably has a 50amp cord, so the adapter would allow you to plug into sites that only have 30amp outlet.


That's a start. I'm sure you'll hear from others before too long.

[Partsbob]

Assuming your AC unit is 120v, you would need to have at least a 30a 120v RV outlet (NOT the same as the old dryer outlet!) added from your home breaker panel using the proper sized wiring for whatever distance it has to be run. This would require using your 30a to 50a adapter and would be simpler & less costly than running a 50a 240v circuit, which certainly would be adequate to run 1 AC unit and pre-cooling the frig before trips. I’ve done that recently for my 18’ Jayco when we added a garage to our home, allowing us to also have guests use the camper for overnight if they desire.

[1955farm]

Go ahead and install the 50A outlet versus the 30A. It won't cost much more and with the 50A you will be able to run both AC units, refrigerator and lights at the same time while prepping for a trip.

[Rice1951]

Welcome to the JOF and congratulations on your new coach. With your 50 to 30 amp adapter and 120 volt connector you can plug into a standard outlet at home and run the fridge, TV and pretty much anything (maybe not all at once) except for the AC. You might be able to run the furnace but that could be iffy. As previously mentioned you will need to either run your generator to run the AC or have a separate 30 amp circuit/outlet installed. If you live in a climate with consistently hot weather then it’s probably a very worthwhile investment. Good luck and happy travels.

[norty1]

Welcome to JOF! From across the river on James Island.

I run my AC in the yard from a 30a outlet. It should be fine for your home needs. Just make sure you get an electrician who knows what he's doing.

With the proper adapters, you can run the converter and a few lights but the ac will overload the extension cord or trip a breaker.

The 12a, 30a and 50a adapter only adapts the different type plugs between 15a, 30a and 50a cord to allow them to mate together. The source will determine how many amps you have. The cords are sized appropriately.

[Cannon]

I can run 1 a/c and fridge on 20a plug

[hawkster]

From your 110 volt adapter you can run the fridge starting a day before stocking it. Might also open windows and run fan to keep air flowing. Before leaving turn on generator a half hour before and cool interior.

[namusmc65]

[QUOTE=norty1;683871]Welcome to JOF! From across the river on James Island.

I run my AC in the yard from a 30a outlet. It should be fine for your home needs. Just make sure you get an electrician who knows what he's doing.

X2
Key sentence is an electrician who knows what he is doing. Some of these residential electricians look at the 30 amp plug which is wired for 110 and immediately think 220. I have had that happen twice to me in setting up home outlets. Had to explain to them the outlet was for 110 and not 220.

[Southernman]

2015 UL31. Several times I have plugged into a 110 outlet and run one A/C unit and a few small power items. Usually the front unit unless I'm sleeping. In either case I run the fan on the other unit for circulation. Works fine even in high heat. Fridge runs on propane.

I HAVE tripped 20 amp breakers in some situations, but switching to an outlet on another circuit always solved the problem. Not my first choice of course, but worked when I needed it to. Want to get a much better extension cord =- maybe 8 gauge.

[tsmatx]

A lot of good advice here, most of which I agree with. I would be very cautious about running either of the A/C units when plugged (with an adapter) into a standard household outlet. Low voltage/amperage on the power source can damage the A/C compressor.



As mentioned, your best option is to have an electrician install a RV 50amp outlet in your garage, or wherever you can reach with the Precept power cord. Hopefully it can reach somewhere near the house's circuit box as this will be much easier and cheaper. Make sure it is an RV 50amp outlet. Don't plug into a dryer outlet. There are lots of videos on YouTube about how to test for a properly wired 50amp RV outlet.



Or, as mentioned, if this is just for occasional use, just run the generator. It will power both A/C units and most other accessories at the same time.


Have fun and stay cool.

[GerryB54]

As others have noted, if you install a dedicated circuit for the RV, install a 50A service, benefit will exceed the minor additional cost. I had a 30A service installed years ago, then moved to Class As that required 50A so had to upgrade...50A initially is the way to go.