2014 1/2 - 4100 King with 3 way a/c switch question/problem

[HornedToad]

Man I dug myself a deep hole on this thread… please give me a chance to post my way out of it!!! I couldn't get the 100 amps shore power & 50 amps generator to add up... so I kept digging!!!

I think I found what brings the generator and shore power together in regards to the 3 way AC switch this post is all about. Again I’m going to qualify my post with an open invitation to please correct me if I’m WRONG!!!!

My original post about the main AC being on a dedicated 20 amp breaker and the rest of the house on a separate 30 amp breaker was based on when I installed an Onan 5500 Generator and tested the breakers on the front of the generator to make sure the 20 amp line was connected to the 20 amp breaker for the main AC on the Distribution Panel and the 30 amp line powered the rest of the house. OK that adds up to 50 amps.

When the moderator told me I was “not quite right… you have a 100 amps available” I knew he was right... as I remember buying a Double Pole 50 amp breaker that totaled 100 amps, for the electrician to hook up a 50 amp RV plug on the side of my house.

The wiring diagram on pg 5... http://www.progressivedyn.com/pdfs/110537A-English.pdf for an Automatic Transfer Switch threw me off, the generator and shore power go in separately, but come out together. So how can the 20 amp line & 30 amp line from the generator come out of the ATS with the shore power and stay separate, on a 100 amp distribution panel?

I think the answer is in the diagram for what’s called a 50 amp "Split" Distribution Panel.

So I looked at the power lines in the diagram of the 50 amp "Split" Distribution Panel as if they were coming out of an Automatic Transfer Switch as in the ATS wiring diagram. I'll call the Generator HOT1 the 30 amp line that piggy backs on the BLACK HOT1 Shore power line to the distribution panel, and the Generator HOT2 the 20 amp line that piggy backs on the RED HOT2 Shore power line to the distribution panel.

When I realized it is not a 100 amp Distribution Panel, but the 100 amps are “Split” into two separate 50 amp lines, then it all seems to made sense. So the RED line is 50 amps shore power or 20 amps on the generator and the RED AC is the main AC which is the only connection on this line to protect the 20 amp breaker on the generator, and the BLACK line is 50 amps shore power or 30 amps on the generator for all the rest of the house including any other AC’s.

Note in the photo of my Distribution Panel, behind the 50 amp double pole main breaker, there are two separate "bus bars" (not sure if that's the right term, Dave?) with the 20 amp breaker for the main AC on the RED side by itself and all the other breakers for the rest of the house on the BLACK side, including the 20 amp breaker for the pre wire to the front bedroom AC and I guess if you had a garage AC it would also be on this side.

So I hope I can stand by my original post if I correct it to read…
“A trailer with 50 AMP electrical service is really a combination of a 50 amp shore power / 20 amp generator line dedicated to the main AC and a separate 50 amp shore power / 30 amp generator line to power the house (everything else). For a total of 100 amps on shore power or 50 amps on the generator”
“The switching combination should be determined by the AC on the dedicated line, which should be the main AC (living area), and which two of the other AC's are on the house circuit that would need to be switched back and forth… you cannot run 2 AC's each pulling 15 amps off the 30 amp generator line”

"You may be wrong but you may be right" - Billy Joel 1980

 

[cookie]

Buss bars are correct.
One buss for neutral, the white wires and one for ground, the bare copper or green.

Peace
Dave

 

[Ultraclassic]

Supposedly our 4114 that shot out of the factory yesterday will be wired so that the living area is primary with the option to run living and bedroom or living and garage. It was explained to us that the new units are wire for garage and master bedroom, we did not like that setup. We are not going to use the garage for sleeping that much. Guess will find out soon enough. The garage and master bedroom is popular for those that sleep people in the garage and was told by Heartland that is why they changed it

 

[alex00]

Supposedly our 4114 that shot out of the factory yesterday will be wired so that the living area is primary with the option to run living and bedroom or living and garage. It was explained to us that the new units are wire for garage and master bedroom, we did not like that setup. We are not going to use the garage for sleeping that much. Guess will find out soon enough. The garage and master bedroom is popular for those that sleep people in the garage and was told by Heartland that is why they changed it

I asked Heartland the same thing about our new unit. I was told that it would be wired living room as main and that there was not a new wiring scheme. We too shall see.

 

[gpshemi]

I thought about this when I installed an AC in my garage. A person might modify the setup and string the garage AC to it's own 30 cord. Then you could plug in the 50amp to power the house, living room AC, and Bedroom AC, but also the 30amp for when you want to run the garage. As it turns out, my two AC's (garage and living room) keep up the whole coach just fine all summer provided the kids don't leave the doors wide open for extended periods when it's above 95 out.

 

[Dpa4747]

Why cant someone just use the 20 amp breaker that's for the washer/dryer ( if they dont plan on using it like me) and just put the 3rd AC on that it would be no different if a Washer was running while the bedroom and living room AC's were on....right ??

 

[scottyb]

Why cant someone just use the 20 amp breaker that's for the washer/dryer ( if they dont plan on using it like me) and just put the 3rd AC on that it would be no different if a Washer was running while the bedroom and living room AC's were on....right ??

I think that's a great idea. If you're hooked up to 50A shore, you can run all 3. if you are on gen, you turn 1 of them off. If your on 30A, you turn two of them off. Easy Peasy.