Why connect to 50 amp when you don't need it?

wdk450

Well-known member
Gang:
I was just reading an RVing couple's blog, mentioning how their protector showed that a campground's 50 amp plug they plugged into had an open neutral. Without the protector this would have put 220 volts on their 110 volt RV appliances and devices, probably frying most of them. Their solution was to connect to the 30 amp outlet. This made me think, if we (most of us) don't have a 2nd air conditioner, why plug into the 50 amp outlet anywhere??? As far as I know, the 2nd air conditioner is all the 2nd phase on a 50 amp outlet powers. So why even run the risk of an open 50 amp neutral, when you don't use the extra 50 amp capacity? Just use a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter on your supplied trailer power cord all the time.
 

TedS

Well-known member
No reason you can not chose to always plug into a 30-amp, unless your rig uses both legs of the 50-amp. Then whatever is on the one unpowered leg will not work.
 
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bdb2047

Well-known member
You would be putting everthing on 1 leg 30a.It can be done but running a/c.micro,coffe pot,hair dryer ect would probabaly trip campgroung breaker.Also when using 2 legs,50a splits load should help w/votlage.In camper w/50a the one leg is not just for 2nd a/c load for camper is split between both legs.Using 30a when necessary just means being careful how much you put on at a time.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
With a Progressive EWS-50C on board, I'm not overly concerned about the dreaded open neutral. I bought the rig to enjoy it, not worry about every possibility. If I did start to worry, I'd take a trip to the Grand Canyon and push it over the side. When we're at the rig, I can look at the Progressive display and see both legs are in use. Running on a 30A adapter is not something I choose to do.

At our seasonal CG, the owner is VERY proactive. If there were a problem, he'd take care of it.

Open neutral protection:
If the source has an open neutral condition the display will not light, and will not allow power to the RV.
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
Gang:As far as I know, the 2nd air conditioner is all the 2nd phase on a 50 amp outlet powers. So why even run the risk of an open 50 amp neutral, when you don't use the extra 50 amp capacity? Just use a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter on your supplied trailer power cord all the time.

The second leg does not only power the second A/C. It powers half of your circuits. Take the cover off your AC Panel board and look at the bus bars and you will see that the bars are staggered so that each consecutive breaker plugs into the opposite hot leg. The 30 amp adapter simply jumps on 30 amp hot leg to both your 50 amp connections.

You could connect to a 30 amp outlet, but you are not protected from an open neutral, as it is the same neutral as the 50 amp internal to the pedestal. You can have an open neutral that causes voltage issues because of the grounding and bonding. Neutral (current carrying) is normally bonded to ground (non-current carrying), but with an open neutral some loads will use the ground as a current sink, causing voltage fluctuations up to 230 volts. Here's an article. http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/mnpn.htm

A surge protector will sense the loss of either hot, neutral, or ground in addition to over-voltage, under-voltage, and short-cycle protection.

As far as the capacity 50 amp is 11,000 watts, while 30 amp service is 3,300 watts.

You can connect to 30-amp service, but you're not gaining enough "protection" to worry about it and you're giving up 2/3 of your capacity.
 

Birchwood

Well-known member
How often does someone get 220 volts to their electrical system.Is it a common occurance or is it
just protector companies trying to sell RVers another piece of worthless equipment that takes up space.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
How often does someone get 220 volts to their electrical system.Is it a common occurance or is it
just protector companies trying to sell RVers another piece of worthless equipment that takes up space.

There are 2 ways it can, and does, happen. You can plug into a 30A RV outlet that has been miswired as a 220V outlet. This happened to me with my first RV when the house was under construction. Lots of damage and the electrical contractor paid. The second way is to encounter a faulty 50A service with an open neutral. I have also encountered this, but my Surge Guard prevented any damage.
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
How often does someone get 220 volts to their electrical system.Is it a common occurance or is it
just protector companies trying to sell RVers another piece of worthless equipment that takes up space.

You might want to search the Owners Forums and see.

I lost a power convertor as well as several appliances about 15 years ago in a CG in Michigan when an overhead line burned in two. It was Fourth of July weekend and we had awesome fireworks in the middle of the day. Within a month, the television and battery also died, perhaps a coincidence

It would have cost me about $400 except the campground owner wrote me a check. I'll bet most CG operators wouldn't have done that. I'll bet my power surge protector trips out 30 times a year, mostly from under-voltage conditions. I believe that most campground electric systems are terrible, as they have been cobbled up by every hack electrician within 50 miles and highly overloaded.

I guess it's a matter of when you want to pay to play.
 
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wdk450

Well-known member
OK I guess I had a poor understanding of how the 2 phases of the 50 amp service are applied to the rig. If I don't run air conditioning, I don't think I would overload a 30 amp service, even running the microwave. I only have a 30 amp service on my generator.

Thanks for setting me straight.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
Last year was the first time I ever took the 50amp cord out of my rig. I use a 30amp cord all the time and have never had a problem running one AC unit and anything else I need.
 

porthole

Retired
Before I put the electric reel in the trailer I used a cord I made up. Old marine 30 amp cord with a 50 on one end and 30 on the other.
Used it probably 90% of the time. And still use it when in the driveway.

I don't think it is any different then when we had our travel trailer, has almost everything the 5th wheel has less one TV,one AC and one W/D. That trailer only had a 30 amp service.
Why fight with that anaconda of a power cord if you don't have too.

BTW, as to balance - balanced loads was not something on our trailer. The 2nd AC was split, but all the other high draw circuits were on the same leg, main AC, HWH, micro, outlets in kitchen (coffee pot) GFI etc.
 

ericandalice

Senior Question Asker
There are 2 ways it can, and does, happen. You can plug into a 30A RV outlet that has been miswired as a 220V outlet. This happened to me with my first RV when the house was under construction. Lots of damage and the electrical contractor paid. The second way is to encounter a faulty 50A service with an open neutral. I have also encountered this, but my Surge Guard prevented any damage.

Newbie question: when you encountered the 50amp neutral, what did you do about it? Do you plugin somewhere else or does your surge protector protect you the whole time you're hooked up? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the eletronics issues with RVs. Certainly don't want to fry my RV. Hopefully we'll have decided on a surge protector soon. :)
 

danemayer

Well-known member
when you encountered the 50amp neutral, what did you do about it? Do you plugin somewhere else or does your surge protector protect you the whole time you're hooked up?

A smart device like the SurgeGuard will not allow power to go to the RV if there's a problem. From the product description:
Built-in intelligence lets these units reset automatically at power restoration. Each shuts off power in the event of an open neutral, low (under 102 volts) and high (over 132 volts) voltage or reverse polarity to protect your RV and its electrical components from damage and fire.

It also has a 2 minute delay so if the power drops for a couple of seconds, you don't harm the A/C compressor by immediately restarting.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
Newbie question: when you encountered the 50amp neutral, what did you do about it? Do you plugin somewhere else or does your surge protector protect you the whole time you're hooked up? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the eletronics issues with RVs. Certainly don't want to fry my RV. Hopefully we'll have decided on a surge protector soon. :)

We were staying at an RV park in southern Oregon with a lot of reconstruction going on and when the Surge Guard kicked off the power, we told the management they had a problem. By the time I got to the office there were already a couple of other folks ahead of me. I would never be without some sort of EMS.
 
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