30 amp vs 50 amp

[bvbullock]

Sorry for the stupid question but we are new to all of this. We have a 2012 37' Georgetown and have not sure what our amp is. When going to RV campsites we seem to always use the 50 amp spaces and have no issues. I know when home we use a converter to hook up to the house. We are looking at a campsite that offers just 30 amp...is this ok?

[Iwannacamp]

You will need a 50 to 30 amp adapter and will only have 30 amps service.


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[bvbullock]

thanks...will everything still work with 30 amp? Not sure what the difference in service would be

[Iwannacamp]

Just not as much useable amperage as 50. This time of year unless you are running 2 a/c units I doubt you would ever need more than 30 amps. JMO


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[aceinspp]

As long as using one ac you are good to go on 30amp Later RJD

[Harkerr]

With 30 amp. One AC and run hot water on propane typically works.

[wrapperman]

Keep in mind with 30 amp service you only have 30 amps total for all electrical items in you MH. With 50 amps service you have a total of 100 amps for everything.
So just add all of your electrical items you want to run at one time and don't exceed 30 amps.
Some of the items are:
1 AC 15 amps
Residential fridge 8 amps
Lights up to 8 amps
Water heater 15 amps
Hair dryer 15 amps (wife's nessecity)
TV 2 to 3 amps

Like Harkerr says use the propane for the water heater will help a bunch.
So you see it can add up fast.
Just keep it under 30 amps.

[Trempert]

Wrapper man, can you explain the 100 amps? Is thus because it's 50 at 240v so at 120v it's double that? I just bought a home with 30amp and I was wondering if running a 2nd 30amp service and using a pigtail I saw online would be the same as 50amp. Sounds like it wouldn't be as it would only be 60 amps and not 100 amps?


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[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Trempert

Wrapper man, can you explain the 100 amps? Is thus because it's 50 at 240v so at 120v it's double that? I just bought a home with 30amp and I was wondering if running a 2nd 30amp service and using a pigtail I saw online would be the same as 50amp. Sounds like it wouldn't be as it would only be 60 amps and not 100 amps?


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In my uneducated view of the world- 50amp service has 2 legs of 50amp service on each leg.

So, two 30amp legs would be close but not the same.

[wrapperman]

Yes.
For a MH
30 amps: 1 branch120 volts 30 amps. Total 30 amps
50 amp: 2 branches each 120 volts 50 amps. Total 100 amps

For residential homes a 30 amps circuit is (most of the times) 240 volts.
Never think you can connect to a 30 amp circuit, like a dryer, to a 30 amp MH. You will fry all of you appliances and electronics.

Your MH needs to be connected correctly.
On this site Iggy has great information on how to connect a 30 amp circuit for your MH. Just run a search.

I'll try to find some articles and post them.

[wrapperman]

I just reread your statement and I am thinking you mean this.
If you are running 2 separate 30 amp lines then you may be leaving an open ground somewhere. May be an issue with safety. I would think if you run 2 separate 30 amp circuits to a 50 amp receptacle then that may work but you would only have 60 amps total (two 30 amps).
You have to have a ground connect somewhere in the circuit (not. Just a neutral). Meaning 4 wire in all going to your MH.
Make sure you use the correct breaker for your circuit.

[bend302]

Just remember an electric heater uses about as much power as an AC

[ScottBrownstein]

It is generally correct that a home 30 amp connector is setup for 30 amps at 240 volts. The problem is often that there is no neutral as it is only a 3 wire cable containing black, red (both hot) and a ground. This means that there is no neutral which is absolutely required for an RV connection. If your house connector has 4 contacts, it will contain a neutral and ground and can be re-configured for powering a 50 amp RV connection, although it will probably only supply 30 amps per leg and not the full 50 amps that a standard RV connector offers. In general, this should not be a problem and the wiring would be protected by the feed breaker in the box to 30 amps per leg.

[Vince and Charlette]

One added piece of advice...invest in a good surge protector. They can be a bit pricey, but worth it. Last week, after two years of no incidents, I plugged into the campground service and found no ground and reversed polarity. Without a surge protector, it could have resulted in a lot of lost $$$.

[ScottBrownstein]

Vince...tell me more. No ground is not the end of the world, but reverse polarity? Was this a 30 amp or 50 amp connection?

[wrapperman]

Scott, reverse polarity means one leg of the power, which should be the neutral needs to be connected to the neutral leg. One must not connect the hot leg to the neutral leg of the MH or you will end up electrifying the ground of the receptacles. Highly possibility of getting electrocuted.
With the 50 amp connection it is 240 volts across both hot leads, 1 ground and 1 neutral and a 30 amp connection it is only 120 volt across 1 hot lead, 1 neutral and 1 ground.
One a dryer connection there is 240 volts across 2 hot leads and one ground.

[Vince and Charlette]

ScottBrownstein, The outlet was 30 amp. The term "reversed polarity" came up on the surge protector screen and would not allow a connection to our MH.

[ScottBrownstein]

So, at the very least we know that the ground was missing and the surge protector felt that the neutral and hot were reversed on the single 120 volt line. The ground and the neutral are isolated in your box so perhaps it was wired backwards.