Quick Question to the group...

[samsberr]

I have a outdoor 50amp recept. on the outside of the house to run my TIG welder and my cnc plasma...
The question is When I drag the SP220 home is there an adapter that i can get and is it safe to use to hook up the 30amp trailer to it...

Thanks in advance...

Steve
Pendleton...

[wmtire]

If you are talking about these kind of ADAPTERS, the answer is yes provided your 50 amp outlet has two 120 volt hot lines, a neutral, and a ground. The adapter will just take one leg of the 240 volt 50 amp outlet, to provide 120 volts to your trailer. It terminates the second leg of the 240 outlet inside the adapter so it does not provide any power to anything.

Wal-mart carries these adapters in their RV section.

Just remember that although you are plugged into a 50 amp outlet, you are still limited to just 30 amps by your travel trailers electrical system.





If your 50 amp welder outlet isn't one with a neutral, then read the following link, where you can read about welder service and 50 amp service on the left hand side tabs:

http://www.myrv.us/electric/

[samsberr]

Thanks...that is exactly what I need...

[wmtire]

I forgot to add something. The pics posted are for two types of adapters. The first one is called a dog-bone type, cause it looks like a dogs chew bone.

Wal-mart usually sells both types and I prefer the dog bone type, especially if you have a cover on the 50 amp outlet. This type will usually let you close the cover, whereas the straight type won't.

Even without an outlet cover, the straight type are bulky at the outlet and have a lot of weight with the trailers cord plugged into it...which is harder on the plug-in connection.

It's a good idea to have one of these adapters with you when camping at parks too. Sometimes the 30 amp outlet at the parks power pedestal may be loose/bad/faulty since these outlets get used the most. When you encounter these bad 30 amp outlets, you can use the adapter to plug into a 50 amp outlet if the pedestal is equipped with one. There are also times when you may be at a park that ONLY has 50 amp outlets.......thus you have to use an adapter to plug your 30 amp RV into it.

[RudysWorld]

Check, double check and then have a licensed electrician check! Not sure on welder but a lot of 50 amp plugs are 220 and will fry your RV which should be 110/120, there are many posts on the forum that have done that. I am not the one to ask but be very careful.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by RudysWorld

Check, double check and then have a licensed electrician check! Not sure on welder but a lot of 50 amp plugs are 220 and will fry your RV which should be 110/120, there are many posts on the forum that have done that. I am not the one to ask but be very careful.

RudysWorld, Campground 50 amp outlets are split phase 120/240 volts. This split phase is what confuses everybody to begin with (moi included).

Here are some links that may help understand how the 50 amp service for RV's work.

RVcruzer.com Electrical Tutorial - Chapter 3 - 30 Amp versus 50 Amp

AC Electricity

RV Electric

When the OP uses the proper adapter, he is only utilizing one 120 volt leg of a 50 amp 120/240 volt split phase service.

Where just about everyone fries their RV is when they inadvertently hook up to a 30 amp single phase service that is 240 volts. RV's with 50 amp service usually only fry their stuff when they use an adapter and hook up to a 240 volt 30 amp service, which then places 240 volts across both legs of their RV.