Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-01-2014, 08:41 PM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Vail
Posts: 55
Running the A/C with lower Amps

During our last trip, we spent a few days at a friend's house. The friend was nice enough to install a 30A socket for us; however, the socket was on a 20A circuit.

I was able to successfully power the 15k BTU A/C without tripping the breaker, as long as the water heater was running on propane (water heater would trip the 20A breaker). Both my fridge and A/C were running on the 20A circuit.

Am I potentially causing damage to the A/C by running it on a 20A circuit? If the A/C needed more than the 20A, then it would just trip the breaker right?
slinger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2014, 08:48 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
us71na's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: McKean, PA
Posts: 1,071
Probably not, if the voltage stays at 120 in your trailer when the A/C is running. Look in your electrical panel, if the A/c is on a 15 amp breaker then you are good to go. If you are worried, run the fridge on propane as well then it only uses some 12 volt power for the controls.

If your voltage drops below 110 when the unit is running you could damage the A/C.
__________________
2011 Skylark 21FKV
us71na is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2014, 09:36 PM   #3
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 47
If the supply voltage drops below its requirement, the amperage draw goes up. So you'll trip the breaker before damage will occur.
__________________
2014 Jayco Jayflight Swift Baja 184BH
Socco1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2014, 10:39 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Fort Worth
Posts: 355
Generally they say anything that has a underwriter labratory label will run safely if the voltage is within 5% of 120 volt
__________________
KELLY & LINDY ( SEMI RETIRED)
FORT WORTH,TEXAS
2000 FORD F-150 V-6/4.2
2006 JAYCO JAY FEATHER 23B EXP
EQUILIZER HITCH
Kellys is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2014, 06:15 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Grumpy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Where ever the boss says we're going.
Posts: 15,946
Agree with all of the above. Been running the a/c on 20 amp breakers (when forced to, Rallies at fairgrounds or at home) since 1977 with no issues. Also some of the newer a/c units will shut the compressor off on low voltage conditions.
__________________
DISNEY LOVERS
Grumpy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2014, 07:17 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Missouri City, The Republic of Texas
Posts: 5,063
We successfully ran the A/C and Fridge using a 20A circuit (I used a Dog-Bone adapter) quite a few times when we owned the X23B. I don't recall having the TV on at the same time tho. A 15A circuit would not run the A/C.
__________________
Cheers,
T_

2013 F-350 CC SB 2WD 6.7PS
2013 Eagle Premier 351 RLTS
-SOLD- 2012 X23B
-SOLD- 2003 Ford Expedition 5.4, Bilstein shocks
RedHorse1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2014, 07:40 AM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Vail
Posts: 55
Thanks for all of the responses. This gives me peace-of-mind.
slinger is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:34 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.