30 amp to 110?? adapter..?

[23jayco]

Hello. i have 2016 Jayco travel trailer. it runs on 30 amps via the thick cord in the back side of the trailer. after i purchased at camping world i got a bunch of accessories and supplies... the salesman highly suggestion a small cord that plugs into my 30 amp cord and the other plugs into a regular house plug in... Im not sure exactly how to use it though... I was hoping i could get some insight here.



Thanks,
new jayco owner

[oldmanAZ]

Congratulations on your new trailer and welcome to the JOF.

That adapter allows you to plug into an outlet at your house, for example. Then you can use that power to charge your batteries, run the refrigerator without using propane, power your trailer's outlets, etc. However, don't expect it to supply enough power to run your air conditioner or the microwave.

[23jayco]

ah thank you... if i am out some place is there a way to tell if i can run certain things only? for example can u run the tv off the plug and use gas for the refrigerator?

i figured it wouldn't run the ac. is there any kind of safety features that will shut off the power or stop the device if its using too much power?? or any protector thats available to protect from over power...?

[Levinehikeski]

You have 15 amps to work with (as opposed to 30amps) you can run the same as you could off a 15amp circuit in your house. The fridge needs 12volts and propane, nothing to do with shore power.

The safety feature is your circuit breaker in the panel (in your house). It will trip just like overloading any outlet/circuit in the house.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by 23jayco

ah thank you... if i am out some place is there a way to tell if i can run certain things only? for example can u run the tv off the plug and use gas for the refrigerator?

i figured it wouldn't run the ac. is there any kind of safety features that will shut off the power or stop the device if its using too much power?? or any protector thats available to protect from over power...?

The circuit breaker ('fuse') of the circuit you plug into will limit the power you can use. You won't 'over power' anything in the trailer. You will be able to watch tv, use the lights, run the refrigerator (using electricity) all on the smaller (house) outlet.

[23jayco]

Originally Posted by Levinehikeski

You have 15 amps to work with (as opposed to 30amps) you can run the same as you could off a 15amp circuit in your house. The fridge needs 12volts and propane, nothing to do with shore power.

The safety feature is your circuit breaker in the panel (in your house). It will trip just like overloading any outlet/circuit in the house.

Ok that makes sense... Any way to see how many Amps the tv uses. Or microwave etc??

I'm prettier sure there's a circuit breaker and fuses in the trailer. Will those stop anything from being hurt by trying to draw too much power..?

[Levinehikeski]

Yes, a little investigating on the power supply of the tv will tell you the amps. Your microwave will show power in watts, 1000 watt ~8.3amps, 1500 watt ~12.5amps.

As long as the fuses are sized correctly

[anav8or]

Originally Posted by 23jayco

Ok that makes sense... Any way to see how many Amps the tv uses. Or microwave etc??

I'm prettier sure there's a circuit breaker and fuses in the trailer. Will those stop anything from being hurt by trying to draw too much power..?

Our portable surge protector / power conditioner shows the amp draw of the coach - useful for turning things on and off to see how many amps each item draws.

The circuit breakers in the trailer probably won't come into play. The breaker in your house protecting the 110v outlet will trip before anything in the trailer could draw enough power to trip one of the trailer breakers.

I often plug our Seneca into a 110v outlet while loading up - I can run the fridge, lights, and one of the A/C units without a problem.

[olyelr]

Just use whatever you want to use. If you draw too much power, it will trip the breaker in the house. No biggy.

[ninjahbob]

23Jayco If you take the microwave and the AC out of the equation and you can run about anything you want. If you have the 13,500 ac you should be able to use it sparingly.

[Hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by Levinehikeski

The fridge needs 12volts and propane, nothing to do with shore power.

Actually, if the fridge is set to auto when you connect to shore power, it will in fact run off the ac power from the shore outlet. It uses about 6 amps of ac power to operate the electric heating element.

[23jayco]

Originally Posted by olyelr

Just use whatever you want to use. If you draw too much power, it will trip the breaker in the house. No biggy.

The main reason I bought the trailer was for work I travel around the state and sometimes a bit further for work. It beats staying in motels. I usually just park in a free place like Walmart or SAMs and have been using my generator... Then I came across this rv plug accessory and started wondering.. I could stay on location work sites which is usually church buildings... So I'd want to make sure I wasn't tripping a breaker there..

I should be able to test at home though and see what if anything I would really use would trip a breaker..? Right..

[oldmanAZ]

You could test it to find the limits at your house, but IMO, the better plan would be just don't use your trailer's high current draw items; microwave and air conditioner. In addition, don't bring in electric heaters, toaster ovens, hair dryers, etc. to use in your trailer.

So, what high current draw items to you use?

[BuddyRay]

Need to be careful here. I know IN THEORY the home circuit breaker will trip before damage is done but there is one more thing to be concerned with - the extension cord.
I had a 50ft orange extension cord plugged into the house on a 20 amp circuit. DW got hot loading the trailer and turned on the AC without realizing what she was doing.
That 50ft extension cord is probably 14 gauge wire. 20amp breaker didn't trip but the voltage reaching the TT was probably very low. AC quit working after a few minutes. I fixed it myself by replacing the fan motor - which was toast.

[23jayco]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

You could test it to find the limits at your house, but IMO, the better plan would be just don't use your trailer's high current draw items; microwave and air conditioner. In addition, don't bring in electric heaters, toaster ovens, hair dryers, etc. to use in your trailer.

So, what high current draw items to you use?

Really the main thing is I watch a movie or tv at night for a while.. Sometimes use the microwave to warm up dinner.. The only other thing is charge my computer and I know that is 160 watts to charge it.

[23jayco]

Originally Posted by BuddyRay

Need to be careful here. I know IN THEORY the home circuit breaker will trip before damage is done but there is one more thing to be concerned with - the extension cord.
I had a 50ft orange extension cord plugged into the house on a 20 amp circuit. DW got hot loading the trailer and turned on the AC without realizing what she was doing.
That 50ft extension cord is probably 14 gauge wire. 20amp breaker didn't trip but the voltage reaching the TT was probably very low. AC quit working after a few minutes. I fixed it myself by replacing the fan motor - which was toast.

Yea I know to use a heavy duty rv extension cord.

[wags999]

Your 30 amp service on the TT is 30 amp at 120 volts, or 3600 watts. Most likely if you plug into a commercial standard outlet it will be 20 amp at 120 volt. A 13,500 BTU AC will draw 1600 watts or about 14 amps. I have on many occasions while plugged into a home 20 amp service used the AC with no issues. The Refrigerator uses from 400 - 1200 watts. again I always ran the Frig on shore power with the AC on the 20 amp circuit with no issues. I would dare say yours is closer to the low end of the range. 25" TV is about 300 watts. I would run your water heater on propane as that alone can use 12 -13 amps.

If you want to use the MW turn your AC off while using the MW, no issues. You could change out lights from tail light bulbs to LED which would help a little. I would try it at home, on a 20 amp circuit and see what you can use, it's amazing how little you actually use.

When plugged into a 30 amp receptacle we use electric hot water, AC, MW, TV lights, computers etc with never an issue.

If you have a longer run up to 50', I would get a 30 amp cord and you should experience no voltage drops or other issues. Remember anything with a heating element will draw the most power, hair dryer, toaster etc.

Good Luck and enjoy your TT !

[23jayco]

Originally Posted by wags999

Your 30 amp service on the TT is 30 amp at 120 volts, or 3600 watts. Most likely if you plug into a commercial standard outlet it will be 20 amp at 120 volt. A 13,500 BTU AC will draw 1600 watts or about 14 amps. I have on many occasions while plugged into a home 20 amp service used the AC with no issues. The Refrigerator uses from 400 - 1200 watts. again I always ran the Frig on shore power with the AC on the 20 amp circuit with no issues. I would dare say yours is closer to the low end of the range. 25" TV is about 300 watts. I would run your water heater on propane as that alone can use 12 -13 amps.

If you want to use the MW turn your AC off while using the MW, no issues. You could change out lights from tail light bulbs to LED which would help a little. I would try it at home, on a 20 amp circuit and see what you can use, it's amazing how little you actually use.

When plugged into a 30 amp receptacle we use electric hot water, AC, MW, TV lights, computers etc with never an issue.

If you have a longer run up to 50', I would get a 30 amp cord and you should experience no voltage drops or other issues. Remember anything with a heating element will draw the most power, hair dryer, toaster etc.

Good Luck and enjoy your TT !

thank you, ill be doing some testing tomorrow. all the lights are led already.

[wags999]

Concerning voltage drops. A 100' 14 ga. ext cord pulling 15 amps will experience a voltage drop of about 9 volts, which is right at the point an electrical management system will cut power off (10 volt drop). A 100' 12 ga ext cord pulling 20 amps will experience a little less than 8 volt drop. A 10 ga ext cord at 100 ' pulling 30 amps will experience about 7 volt drop.

An electrical management system will typically shut power off at a plus or minus 10% or 132 volts and at 108 volts. Inside those ranges you should experience no issues.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by 23jayco

thank you, ill be doing some testing tomorrow. all the lights are led already.

U should listen to what he said, plugging into a standard 15 or 20 amp outlet vs a 30 amp rv post is enough power to run just about anything in your TT, just not all at the same time. Want to defrost something in the microwave, turn off the AC. U should also get a good HD extension if necessary to reach an outlet. Otherwise this "testing" you say you plan to do is really unnecessary as the folks here have been there and done that. I personally have ran my AC for multidays using a standard outlet at a friends home with no problems. There is nothing on your TT that could be adversely affected and the only thing you might do is trip the breaker on the outlet you plug into if you put to heavy a draw on the circuit. Exactly like trying to plug 2 electric heaters into the same circuit in your house. That would exceed the capacity of the circuit and trip the breaker.

Move forward with your plan to stay at worksites and just make sure you have permission from the site owners as you will be poaching their electricity.