50 amp vs 30 amp

[Jabawaki]

Hello,

I heard that some camp sights have 30 and or 50 amp plugs and that they use the same exact prong arrangement.

It this accurate? I don't know much about how this works, but I'm sure if you use the wrong amperage it will
burn up the electronics in a camper.

Do the Jayco featherliites uses different amps?

Do I need to keep some kind of converter handy?

Thanks,
Jay
2005 Jayco Jay featherlite sport

[mwebber78]

Standard 30amp/50amp female/male connectors are not the same.

[Paulx213]

No reason it would damage anything. The voltage remains the same only the available current changes. If you use the adapter plug to plug your trailer into your house you are now on a 15 amp service. Works the same but if you draw more then 15 amps you'll pop a breaker.

I believe the 50 amp service is used on large trailers with two AC units. It's the only thing you might have that would draw that much power.

[Jabawaki]

Thank you - I started looking at converters and the plug configuration seemed different

I appreciate the help.

[tinlizzie23]

All 50 amp plugs have 4 prongs - 1 for ground, 1 for neutral, and 2 for the two 110V circuits. All 30 amp plugs have 3 prongs in a triangular arrangement - 1 ground, 1 neutral, and 1 110V circuit. Voltage is the same, but with 50 amps, you can run more things at the same time. For example, my trailer is wired for 50 amps, but only one A/C. But I can run the microwave and a small space heater and the A/C - all at the same time. Hope this helps.

[wwsmith111]

30 amp plugs do NOT all have the same triangular arrangement. Only the 30 amp RV plug does.

[rog4kneer]

My trailer has a 50 amp connection and have an adapter cord to hook up to a 30 amp connection.

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by tinlizzie23

All 50 amp plugs have 4 prongs - 1 for ground, 1 for neutral, and 2 for the two 110V circuits. All 30 amp plugs have 3 prongs in a triangular arrangement - 1 ground, 1 neutral, and 1 110V circuit. Voltage is the same, but with 50 amps, you can run more things at the same time. For example, my trailer is wired for 50 amps, but only one A/C. But I can run the microwave and a small space heater and the A/C - all at the same time. Hope this helps.

AC and Space heater at the same time? Where are you camping :-)

[tinlizzie23]

Originally Posted by clubhouse

AC and Space heater at the same time? Where are you camping :-)

I obviously do not run the A/C and heater at same time. But have tried it for a short period of time, just to see if any breakers would pop, and none did. The statement was just to make a point. Sorry if I confused you.

[msturtz]

To be clear RV 30 amp power is single phase 120VAC circuit, 50 amp is two separate opposite phase 50 amp 120VAC circuits. If you wire across the two phases you get 240VAC however this arrangement is uncommon in RVs. Usually, the circuits are used separately to power 120VAC loads. If you use a 50 to 30 amp adapter you are using one leg of a 50 amp circuit. Interestingly enough this is why you cannot combine two 15 amp circuits to get to a 30 amp single RV circuit but you can use a 30 amp plus 20 amp adapter cord to power more of a 50 amp RV (obviously you can't draw the same as you could with 2 50 amp circuits) setup. The reason for this is in 50 amp RVs the AC panel is split into two poles one fore each phase. 30 amp RVs only have one pole.

[Tail_gunner]

Originally Posted by Paulx213

----I believe the 50 amp service is used on large trailers with two AC units. It's the only thing you might have that would draw that much power.

While true trailers with dual AC units have 50 amp service, I may have learned the hard way in the past that the combined load of refer, water heater, power converter, microwave and AC unit is way too much for a 30 amp service.

According to my Jayco owners manual:
AC: 18 amps
Water heater: 12 amps
Refer: 6 amps
Power Conv: 8 amps
Microwave: 12 amps
Total load: 56 amps

Now I'm not saying I had all these things going at the same time. But it gives an idea how quickly a few of the common things can add up to almost double the limit of a 30 amp service.

Anytime I plan on using my single AC in the future, I'm going to use 50 amp service if available. If not, AT LEAST the water heater is going to get switched to gas.

[msturtz]

Yes @Tail_gunner however as I mentioned above plugging your 30 AMP RV into a 50 amp adapter this will give you 50 AMPs @ 120VAC at the pole however won't help because your main circuit breaker in the RV is only 30AMPs. I have found that using an "autoformer" helps a lot. Frequently RV park pedestals have low voltage, for example 30 AMPS @ 125VAC produces 3750 Watts (for this calculation I am assuming a power factor of 1 for you engineers out there) if the voltage drops to only 100 VAC you only get 3000 WATTS a drop of 750 watts! If the voltage drops to only 90VAC you can only draw 2700 watts. An autoformer automatically increases (or decreases) within its limits the voltage to a preset point. I have been successful at running my AC unit and another appliance at the same time even when other people in the same park were having problems due to low input voltage. This is especially true when the AC cycles on causing a voltage sag.

[wwsmith111]

Originally Posted by Tail_gunner

While true trailers with dual AC units have 50 amp service, I may have learned the hard way in the past that the combined load of refer, water heater, power converter, microwave and AC unit is way too much for a 30 amp service.

According to my Jayco owners manual:
AC: 18 amps
Water heater: 12 amps
Refer: 6 amps
Power Conv: 8 amps
Microwave: 12 amps
Total load: 56 amps

Now I'm not saying I had all these things going at the same time. But it gives an idea how quickly a few of the common things can add up to almost double the limit of a 30 amp service.

Anytime I plan on using my single AC in the future, I'm going to use 50 amp service if available. If not, AT LEAST the water heater is going to get switched to gas.

I had the same idea of switching my hot water heater to the gas setting on a recent trip to the Keys since our A/C was working overtime. Three of us went through a 30 lbs propane tank in one week due to setting the hot water to gas.

[NewBlackDak]

Originally Posted by wwsmith111

I had the same idea of switching my hot water heater to the gas setting on a recent trip to the Keys since our A/C was working overtime. Three of us went through a 30 lbs propane tank in one week due to setting the hot water to gas.

Do you just leave it on, or turn it on/off based on need? Our 20 lb propane lasted for 23 nights running the fridge, furnace(all but 3), and water heater.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by NewBlackDak

Do you just leave it on, or turn it on/off based on need? Our 20 lb propane lasted for 23 nights running the fridge, furnace(all but 3), and water heater.

+1
floating a 30 lb tank seems like a lot of propane for just the water heater...