30 & 50 amps?

[Lola33]

I am a spouse whose trying to make reservations in the absence of hubby. Our camper is a small one (26 ft) with 30 amp electrical (I suppose) I know it's 30 amp something. So many of the parks we visit have full hook-ups for 50 amp only. Can we use a 50 amp hook-up with our small camper?

Thanks, Lola

[James.]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Can you take a picture of the plug you use for your camper?

[toedtoes]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

To my knowledge: you can get a dogbone adapter that will have a 30 amp female end on one side and a 50 amp male end on the other side. Plug your 30 amp cord into the dogbone and then the 50 amp end into the 50 amp hookup. One of the 50 amp "legs" in the adapter is dead (not connected to anything), so you will only pull up to 30 amps into your camper.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Just so the OP knows, James and I are both electricians and if you post a pic, we can help.

[MacGyver]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

You can certainly use 30 amps on a 50 amp line. What you don't want to do is try to run the other way around - putting a 50 amp draw on a 30 amp line. All you need is an adapter like this:


Found on Amazon but available at any RV dealer or any store with a decent selection of RV supplies.

[toedtoes]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

I think the question is simply "can I use 50 amp hookups if my RV is set up with a 30 amp plug?"

[MacGyver]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

I think the question is simply "can I use 50 amp hookups if my RV is set up with a 30 amp plug?"

Just like you explained it - The answer is yes, with the adapter you described. I figured a picture would make it absolutely clear what was needed.

[toedtoes]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Thanks MacGyver - I was going to post a photo of the plugs for the OP, but I couldn't get the photo to load quickly (and it was a small photo), so I gave up on that. I was clarifying the question for James and Kingquad as they were addressing the "we have 30 amp (I suppose)" comment rather than the direct question of compatibility between the 30 amp and 50 amp.

[MacGyver]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

I couldn't get the photo to load quickly (and it was a small photo), so I gave up on that.

It took me a while to figure out pictures on here - every forum seems to be different. I found it best to save a picture to your hard drive, then load it as an attachment (The paper clip icon while using the advanced reply)

[James.]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Ok, just to be clear (and I apologize if this come out sounding like a tplife post. Ive been drinking tonight :drunk but the plug in the picture converts a 240volt 50 amp plug to a 240volt 30 amp plug. What toedtoes described was an adapter that converts a 240volt 50amp plug to a 120volt 30 amp plug. Definitely NOT the same thing.

Both work for their respective problems but not interchangeable....which is why I asked for a picture of the plug.

Just sayin'

[James.]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Also....this smiley is kind of racist :jap:

[toedtoes]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

James - I didn't mention the voltage of the adapter. All RVs (as far as I know), use 110/120 volts, not 240. But the amperage varies. Here's how I have been taught to understand it:

Newer RVs are set up to run on 50 amps, older RVs and smaller RVs are usually 30 amps. The shore power is run directly from the outlet to the 110/120 volt outlets in the RV and all electrical items (fridge, lights, water pump, etc.) pull directly from the shore power. When you unplug the shore power, the converter changes the 12 volt battery power into 110/120 volt power to run the lights and water pump. The fridge and the 110 outlets in the RV do not run on the converted power.

You can get various dogbone adapters to ensure electrical connections at different campgrounds, RV Parks, etc.

50 amp to 30 amp (like pictured above) allows you to plug your 30 amp RV into a 50 amp outlet. I have been told that the adapter doesn't connect one of the 3 50 amp prongs to the 30 amp end so that you don't risk pulling more amperage into your 30 amp system. You can also use this dogbone to plug your 50 amp RV into a 30 amp outlet - but you have to be careful not to run too many things at once because you can overload the 30 amp outlet/plug/cord and have a meltdown, power blowout, etc.

30 amp to 15/20 amp - this dogbone allows you to plug a regular household 110 volt plug into a 30 amp outlet. More commonly in the RV world, you use it to plug your 30 amp RV into a 110 outlet at your home. Similar to the 50 amp RV plugged into a 30 amp outlet, you have to reduce the number of items you run or risk meltdowns, blowouts, etc.

Some people will even run a 50 amp RV to a 50/30 dogbone to a 30/15 dogbone to a regular household outlet. And some people will wonder why their fuses are all blown and their 14 gauge extension cord melted into the outlet.

The plugs on the 50 amp and 30 amp setups are very similar to a 240 plug (like on my dryer), but the flat prongs aren't V'd - they're straight. And the 50 amp plug is distinctly different from the 30 amp plug so there is no way to use one in the wrong outlet without an adapter.

[toedtoes]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

Also....this smiley is kind of racist :jap:

It could be a mushroom smiley... Well, until I saw the code for it...

[James.]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

James - I didn't mention the voltage of the adapter. All RVs (as far as I know), use 110/120 volts, not 240. But the amperage varies. Here's how I have been taught to understand it:

Newer RVs are set up to run on 50 amps, older RVs and smaller RVs are usually 30 amps. The shore power is run directly from the outlet to the 110/120 volt outlets in the RV and all electrical items (fridge, lights, water pump, etc.) pull directly from the shore power. When you unplug the shore power, the converter changes the 12 volt battery power into 110/120 volt power to run the lights and water pump. The fridge and the 110 outlets in the RV do not run on the converted power.

You can get various dogbone adapters to ensure electrical connections at different campgrounds, RV Parks, etc.

50 amp to 30 amp (like pictured above) allows you to plug your 30 amp RV into a 50 amp outlet. I have been told that the adapter doesn't connect one of the 3 50 amp prongs to the 30 amp end so that you don't risk pulling more amperage into your 30 amp system. You can also use this dogbone to plug your 50 amp RV into a 30 amp outlet - but you have to be careful not to run too many things at once because you can overload the 30 amp outlet/plug/cord and have a meltdown, power blowout, etc.

30 amp to 15/20 amp - this dogbone allows you to plug a regular household 110 volt plug into a 30 amp outlet. More commonly in the RV world, you use it to plug your 30 amp RV into a 110 outlet at your home. Similar to the 50 amp RV plugged into a 30 amp outlet, you have to reduce the number of items you run or risk meltdowns, blowouts, etc.

Some people will even run a 50 amp RV to a 50/30 dogbone to a 30/15 dogbone to a regular household outlet. And some people will wonder why their fuses are all blown and their 14 gauge extension cord melted into the outlet.

The plugs on the 50 amp and 30 amp setups are very similar to a 240 plug (like on my dryer), but the flat prongs aren't V'd - they're straight. And the 50 amp plug is distinctly different from the 30 amp plug so there is no way to use one in the wrong outlet without an adapter.

You are correct except for the bold which is wrong....and you have it backwards. The 50amp rv plugged into a regular houshold outlet will not burn up anything. The breaker will trip long before that happens. It is what the breaker is for. It is the 30amp rv plugged into that 50 amp outlet that you have to be careful of.

[Bigdog57]

Re: 30 & 50 amps?

RV's generally have a combined Inverter/Converter.
Properly, the Inverter changes 12VDC from the house batteries to 110VAC for powering your wife's hair dryer.
The Converter changes shore-power 110VAC to 12VDC to charge your batteries.