30amp to 50amp

Jimmy Longbone · 08-03-2016, 09:58 PM

I am a new 3051s owner and I am currently living in it for the year while mobilized for the Army. I have the ability to have 30 or 50 amps, so I am asking if it would be better for me to convert to 50 amps. I have my dogs in the RV while I am gone for the day, so my concern is the AC. I am afraid that the 30 amp would blow while I am gone and the Texas heat is 100 plus during the day. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated since I am new to the RV world. Thanks

RN4L

Blackhat6mike · 08-03-2016, 10:08 PM

IMHO, anytime you have 50 amp available, take it. If you don't need but 30amps, then no big deal. There will be times that you will be running the AC and coffee pot [big current draw] and want to use the microwave [also big draw]. With 50 amps, you don't have to worry about tripping a breaker. With 30 amps, you will have to pay close attention to what can use at one time. Also, much less chance of losing your AC while you are away.
Since you will be away from the unit and your dogs are inside, you might want to ask someone at the CG to keep an eye on your unit. I would hate to see harm come to your critters. We travel with two cats.

Jimmy Longbone · 08-03-2016, 10:26 PM

Thanks for the reply. What is the best way to hook up to the 50 amp. I searched around, but wasn't sure what I needed to get to hook up to the 50 amp

RN4L

Blackhat6mike · 08-03-2016, 10:44 PM

First of all, what do you mean by you have the ability to use 30 or 50 amps? Is your unit wired for 30 or 50 and what power cord do you have? Is the plug end of your cord 30 or 50 amp?

rapiniii · 08-04-2016, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Longbone

I am a new 3051s owner and I am currently living in it for the year while mobilized for the Army. I have the ability to have 30 or 50 amps, so I am asking if it would be better for me to convert to 50 amps. I have my dogs in the RV while I am gone for the day, so my concern is the AC. I am afraid that the 30 amp would blow while I am gone and the Texas heat is 100 plus during the day. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated since I am new to the RV world. Thanks

RN4L

I have the same unit. It's only wired for 30 amps. Plugging into 50 amps with an adapter won't give you 50 amps. Sorry.

**Bama Rambler** · 08-04-2016, 06:55 AM

As Rapiniii said, there's more to it than just getting a dogbone and plugging into a 50 amp receptacle. If you really wanted to utilize 50 amp service, you'd need to replace the power center with one that's designed for 50 amp service and replace the power cable with a 50 amp one.

If you're worried enough that you think a second A/C is warranted, then you need to add a second one and run separate power to it.

aceinspp · 08-04-2016, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

As Rapiniii said, there's more to it than just getting a dogbone and plugging into a 50 amp receptacle. If you really wanted to utilize 50 amp service, you'd need to replace the power center with one that's designed for 50 amp service and replace the power cable with a 50 amp one.

If you're worried enough that you think a second A/C is warranted, then you need to add a second one and run separate power to it.

X 2 and it will cost much to convert. Later RJD

JCCarr · 08-04-2016, 07:03 AM

Your unit will still have a thirty amp breaker in it's panel (distribution center). So hooking up to 50 won't allow you to use anymore power than hooking up to a properly functioning 30 amp source.

The key being properly functioning.

I was at a Thousand Trails campground in New Jersey and kept blowing the 30 Amp circuit with nothing running but the converter charging the battery for some LED lights and the A/C. I checked my draw (22 amps) and then reported the issue. While waiting for them to fix it I hooked into a 50amp with an adapter. The campground tech came. I use the term tech in the same way my father who was an elevator operator during his college years called himself a vertical circulation engineer. At any rate the tech said you should always hook up to 50 these campers draw too much power for 30 amps.

I know I shouldn't bother... but I tried to explain it to him. No luck.

Hooking up to 50 amp will give you 50 amps to the distribution panel in your camper. There you hit a 30amp breaker. As soon as you draw about 10% (varies depending on age of breaker) more than thirty or sustain even a slight overdraw and over heat the breaker it will trip. But if it's properly wired, and the breaker is in good condition, and all you leave on while your gone is a single A/C unit it will not draw anywhere near enough to trip it.

Until a power outage happens. If you get a power blink, the compressor in the A/C will not unload. So when the power comes back on a second later the motor will overdraw trying to restart the A/C. This may cause the A/C circuit or the camper circuit to trip. No more A/C until its manually reset.

A quality RV surge system will include a delay circuit so it will wait to restore power for 120 (varies) seconds so that the compressor unloads and you can safely send power back into the unit.

In PA we use a fantastic fan that's temp controlled so that if we lose the A/C while out the camper won't get hot enough to harm the pets. Our toy hauler has vents that we leave open to create the cross draw. But if parked in the blazing sun of texas in summer with pets and the nature of campground electrical... I would want a auto switchover generator.

ScottBrownstein · 08-04-2016, 07:04 AM

But plugging into 50 amps with a dogbone will assure that the campground pedestal won't trip on only 30 amps, since it will wait for 50 amps. That does reduce at least one source of potential problem, especially with the known issues at campgrounds concerning worn plugs and old breakers on the 30 amp side.

Since the OP controls the load side, leaving only the AC on and turning off any other major 120 volt loads will reduce the possibility of any issues.

Jimmy Longbone · 08-18-2016, 11:43 AM

That's for the guidance. Sorry for the late reply, got pretty busy the past few weeks. Again, thank you, I know I will be hitting the forums a lot for things all year.

RN4L

Gidyupgo · 08-19-2016, 09:03 AM

Jimmy, tagging on to what was said above. We have 30amp Sunseeker 3010 and have had the pedestal 30amp breaker give nuisance trips at campsites on multiple occasions. We added a Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C and a 50amp adapter and always plug into the 50amp if available now. We have not had a pedestal trip since then. On a recent trip, AC, coffee pot and hair dryer tripped the 30amp inside the coach, but it was more convenient to reset than going outside in the rain to reset the pedestal.

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