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Old 01-28-2013, 10:29 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by RoadTrip View Post
Ok - I googled dogbone and it's just a regular adapter?

Are you saying that with the adapter, I can plug my 30amp MH into a 50amp/220v outlet and everything's cool? I only ask b/c I was under the impression 220 is bad for 110 items - but i have to admit I'm clueless about this.
50 amp RV service is actually two 110 volt 50 amp circuits. The easiest way to get that is to use two side by side breaker spots. Side by side breaker spot uses a single phase of your 2 phase 220 VAC incoming power. That power zig-zags through the panel. If you look from top to bottom on the left hand side of the panel, the breakers will be 110 volts but alternate phases due to the zigzagging.

A; then B; then back to A again. Hook two together and you have the POTENTIAL for 220 VAC (across the hots) or two 110 volt circuits.

The 50 AMP RV service just uses the side by side connection as 2 110 volt circuits and the return current comes back via a single neutral wire.

By tying the individual breaker trips together with a connector bar (commonly called a 220 breaker) if one side of the circuit trips due to overload it will automatically kill the other side as well.
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:30 PM   #22
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Roadtrip-Yes you are correct. That is what I have at my house for my 5er.
All 50 amp plugs are 220/240- its just that rvs only use each leg individualy.

Here is the adapter I always use- I always plug into 50amp service and adapt down to 30

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Old 01-28-2013, 10:34 PM   #23
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Here is my setup at my house-
-50amp plug, then 50-30 amp adapter, then surge protector, then trailer cord
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:35 PM   #24
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ok - so herk and miller, then what happens if the electrician DIDN'T run the neutral? That means it's a true 220, right?

And if it's a true 220, then won't it fry anything labeled 110 - regardless of adapter?

That's my concern. Right now the electrician who installed it confirmed its 220, but when I followed up and asked about "true 220" versus running the neutral (I quoted you, herk) - I haven't heard back.

So now I"m confused - if the dogbone adapter will take care of everything - then do I still care about the neutral?
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:43 PM   #25
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There has to be a neutral or a neutral/ ground.
Neutral is usually white wire and ground is green or bare.
Some surge protectors will show if the neutral is good
Here's a pic of mine


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Old 01-28-2013, 10:47 PM   #26
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so the smart and easy thing to do is get the surge protector - use that to test the electrician's work, and if it lights up correctly - then plug in the RV?

Or am I running down a rabbit hole of "only terrible electricians will do this" - and I'm focusing all this energy on something that is highly unlikely?
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:49 PM   #27
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Easyest way to check on a 30 amp plug is to probe every conection hole from every hole to every hole with a volt meter and if you never have a reading over 120 volts you should be good. If you take the cover off the plug and pull the plug out of the box(with breaker off) just look at the wires. You should not have a black and red both unless one is marked with white tape.
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:49 PM   #28
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If there is no neutral in the 50 amp RV socket panel you have a problem because there would be true 220 across the main "hots" with no 110 return neutral.

Have you run the metered tests? It would show an open neutral. (NO voltage at all between the left or right blade sockets and the middle blade socket)

Plugging in your camper with no neutral could cause appliances that were turned on to "see" 220 volts coming in across the 2 blades of the duplex plug. The current would "come in" on one leg, go through the appliance and come out returning to the "floating neutral" and find a path back to the panel through a closed circuit on the other leg. This is why there are multiple failures in the scenario. (Like the second air conditioner and the TV, as an example) The AC to DC converter usually "blows up" as well.
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:52 PM   #29
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If you put in a 50 amp plug- it's pretty much idiot proof in my opinion. Its the 30 amp 3 prong plugs that most don't understand- since old style 3prongs, like herks dryer were 220, most just assume its a common/ground and 2 positives
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:58 PM   #30
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If you put in a 50 amp plug- it's pretty much idiot proof in my opinion. Its the 30 amp 3 prong plugs that most don't understand- since old style 3prongs, like herks dryer were 220, most just assume its a common/ground and 2 positives
"Idiot proof" would be a name-brand I'd buy over and over....
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:59 PM   #31
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If you put in a 50 amp plug- it's pretty much idiot proof in my opinion. Its the 30 amp 3 prong plugs that most don't understand- since old style 3prongs, like herks dryer were 220, most just assume its a common/ground and 2 positives
Too true. But without a neutral a 50 amp socket is heartbreak waiting to happen.
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Old 01-28-2013, 11:05 PM   #32
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True, I guess sometimes the impossibe is possible- the news is full of it.
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Old 01-28-2013, 11:09 PM   #33
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So now I"m confused - if the dogbone adapter will take care of everything - then do I still care about the neutral?
The dogbone only uses one hot and the neutral (and the copper ground of course). If the neutral is not there; there will be no power to a 30 amp camper since there will be no return path for the 110 volts.
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Old 01-29-2013, 11:52 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
The dogbone only uses one hot and the neutral (and the copper ground of course). If the neutral is not there; there will be no power to a 30 amp camper since there will be no return path for the 110 volts.

AWESOME!

Thanks so much!!!

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Old 01-29-2013, 03:14 PM   #35
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Why can't you use 3 wires? Two wires are hot and the other is used as a neutral and you put a jumper to the ground. If you look inside your panel box both the neutral and the ground bars are basiclly connected to one common ground wire that comes in the main service enterance and also connects to a ground rod driven into the ground outside. The older style dryers and stoves used this system with 220v. and they had part of their systems running off 110-timers and clocks and motors were all 110v not 220. By using three wires as discribed above you have 220v across the two hot wires but you also have two 110v circuts if you go from each hot wire to the neutral.
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Old 01-29-2013, 03:26 PM   #36
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It's called National Electric Code.
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Old 01-29-2013, 08:36 PM   #37
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Here's pics - I noted that someone said a 50amp outlet has 4 prongs for the RV outlet. So.....does that mean this is wrong?
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Old 01-29-2013, 08:49 PM   #38
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That is not a 50 amp 4-wire receptical nor a 30 amp RV receptical. It looks like an older three wire 220 VAC receptical, which would have 220 VAC between the two vertical slots and a ground wire.

What ever you do DO NOT PLUG YOUR RV INTO THIS RECEPTACLE!!!!!

Great damage will be done, costing you thousands of dollars.
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Old 01-29-2013, 08:52 PM   #39
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That is a 220 V outlet for a dryer. That is not a 50A RV outlet. If you look at millertimes post he shows a 50A TO 30A adapter you need a plug that the 50A side would fit into.
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Old 01-29-2013, 08:54 PM   #40
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ROFLMAO - seriously???

Time to call another electrician....
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