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Old 05-31-2016, 02:07 AM   #21
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Something just don't sound correct here. If the surgeguard is correct, then it is stating that the A/C's are pulling near 30 amps. From what I have seen, most RV air conditioners are on their own 20 amp subcircuit and thus have a 20 amp circuit breaker controlling that subcircuit.
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Old 05-31-2016, 05:49 AM   #22
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Something just don't sound correct here. If the surgeguard is correct, then it is stating that the A/C's are pulling near 30 amps. From what I have seen, most RV air conditioners are on their own 20 amp subcircuit and thus have a 20 amp circuit breaker controlling that subcircuit.
I agree. I don't understand and have been reading the SurgeGuard manual for clues. I'm wondering if anyone on this board has a SurgeGuard with a digital readout who could tell us what their readings are with and with an AC running.
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Old 05-31-2016, 06:14 AM   #23
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I've considered this and I'm asking campground managers as I move from campground to campground.

Thanks,
I would be surprised if 1 out of 10 even know the answer. Would you even trust the answer, as they might just tell you what you want to hear.
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Old 05-31-2016, 09:14 AM   #24
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I would be surprised if 1 out of 10 even know the answer. Would you even trust the answer, as they might just tell you what you want to hear.
You may be right, but I don't know of another way to check. I do know that years ago I had a cheater cord that allowed me to hook up to a 30 amp outlet and a 20 amp outlet to let me use 50 amps and it seemed to work pretty good. When I'm north in the winter I use the 50 amp outlet for the RV and then the 20 amp outlet for a heated hose and a 100w bulb to keep the water outlet from freezing. And then there's the parks I've been in that cater to Prevosts with two 50 amp outlets. I'm fairly confident that I could get some use out of such a setup.

But from the kind people on this and another forum I'm now leaning toward getting an electrician to better balance the load on out breaker box and I'm looking into maybe installing an intelligent energy management system.

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Old 05-31-2016, 09:45 AM   #25
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Stoney:

What size are the circuit breakers for each of your A/C units?
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Old 05-31-2016, 09:56 AM   #26
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I do have two heat strips, a heat pump and a 1500 watt electric fire place and I can run all of that in cold weather with no problems.

I'm purely spitballing here trying to consider all options. We have had many members with digital thermostats, that when the fan is not set to auto, that when they run their furnace, their air conditioner fan also comes on.

I am wondering if there is perhaps any kind of similar thing going on with your heat strips via the thermostat, and that maybe they are somehow coming on too when the air conditioner cools the RV off to a set temp. This may possibly explain the added amps if they are perhaps wired to a separate circuit breaker somehow.

Like I said, this is just a wild *** guess, and is spitballing.

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Old 05-31-2016, 10:13 AM   #27
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Stoney:

What size are the circuit breakers for each of your A/C units?
They're 20 amp and I see now that one is shared with my electric dryer. That won't work.
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Old 05-31-2016, 10:16 AM   #28
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I'm purely spitballing here trying to consider all options. We have had many members with digital thermostats, that when the fan is not set to auto, that when they run their furnace, their air conditioner fan also comes on.

I am wondering if there is perhaps any kind of similar thing going on with your heat strips via the thermostat, and that maybe they are somehow coming on too when the air conditioner cools the RV off to a set temp. This may possibly explain the added amps if they are perhaps wired to a separate circuit breaker somehow.

Like I said, this is just a wild *** guess, and is spitballing.

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And I appreciate that. But, with the help of our forum members, you included, I've gotten a good education and I think I've got an idea what needs to be done.
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Old 05-31-2016, 10:32 AM   #29
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I've been misreading the current draw on the SurgeGuard. The digital display sequences through L1 and L2 with voltage and I've assumed the next screen showed the amps for a single leg, the one where the voltage was previously displayed and now think that each of those displays has to be the amp draw with the L1 on top and L2 on the bottom. With the front AC and middle AC on L1 shows 37-39 amps and L2 shows 1-3 amps. With one AC L1 shows 15-17 amps. I turned on the electric side of the hot water and show a draw on L2 of 12-13 amps.

My middle AC is on the same circuit breaker that the clothes dryer is on and I need to fix that.

I'm now of the opinion, with the help of forum members, that I may be able to run everything by adding a separate circuit breaker for the clothes dryer and doing a better job of balancing the load on the breaker box and if that doesn't work, my better option is to install an intelligent energy management system.

I'm grateful for the input so far and welcome any comments/criticism of my findings to date.

Thanks,
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Old 05-31-2016, 12:44 PM   #30
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Sounds like you are on the right path now.
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Old 07-20-2016, 07:35 PM   #31
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I finally got to a trusted technician and added a breaker to separate the washer and dryer from the center AC and had him test and balance the load. We can now run everything at the same time showing about an 80 amp load which is beyond what I had thought possible. I still don't know why 100amp service is called 50 amp service. Thanks for all your help.
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Old 07-21-2016, 09:05 AM   #32
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I finally got to a trusted technician and added a breaker to separate the washer and dryer from the center AC and had him test and balance the load. We can now run everything at the same time showing about an 80 amp load which is beyond what I had thought possible. I still don't know why 100amp service is called 50 amp service. Thanks for all your help.
50 amp service max current each of two legs, providing 100 amps of service in parallel, not additive. I.e. You can't apply 60 amps on either branch, it will trip at 50 amps. That's why it's important to keep the two phases in balance or even load.

Therefore "50" amp service" is truly three times the capacity of single phase 3 wire "30 amp service".
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Old 07-27-2016, 07:59 PM   #33
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I believe this answer is wrong
A 50 amp rv service has one 30 amp and one 20 amp leg. You have 50 amps total. If you separate the washer and dryer, you will have to use a separate cord connected to a different power source
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Old 07-27-2016, 08:12 PM   #34
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I believe this answer is wrong
A 50 amp rv service has one 30 amp and one 20 amp leg. You have 50 amps total. If you separate the washer and dryer, you will have to use a separate cord connected to a different power source
No,
50 amp service is 2 legs of 120 V each with a 50 amp breaker feeding them. Total draw of all items in the trailer can be 80% of 100 amps for safety margin.
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Old 07-27-2016, 08:13 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VinceU View Post
50 amp service max current each of two legs, providing 100 amps of service in parallel, not additive. I.e. You can't apply 60 amps on either branch, it will trip at 50 amps. That's why it's important to keep the two phases in balance or even load.

Therefore "50" amp service" is truly three times the capacity of single phase 3 wire "30 amp service".
This is correct for total load 90 amps is 3 times 30 amps but with only 10% safety margin.
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Old 07-27-2016, 08:15 PM   #36
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I believe this answer is wrong
A 50 amp rv service has one 30 amp and one 20 amp leg. You have 50 amps total. If you separate the washer and dryer, you will have to use a separate cord connected to a different power source
A 50 amp rv service has two legs of 50 amp for a total of 100 amps. I did the wiring for 27 sites at a local CG. The post at the site has the 50 amp plug (two legs of 50 amp) a 30 amp and 20 amp which are tapped off one of the 50 amp legs.
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Old 07-27-2016, 09:25 PM   #37
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I am wrong. Thanks for correcting me
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Old 07-27-2016, 09:50 PM   #38
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Good thing about this site is someone will say you are mistaken without calling you a DA like many other forums know what I mean
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