Will a house 15A line run my air conditioner?

[gw1800]

Originally Posted by dshome

https://www.microair.net/collections...-soft-starters

Install one of those and you can power most everything.

That unit only minimizes the start current. One running the A/C will draw 12-14 amps. Not enough left to run much else. Microwave up to 10 amps, coffee pot 12 amps. The converter also draws power to keep the batteries charged and run 12 volt items.

[poppytoymaker]

If your talking about plugging into house current don't. Bring a newbie in 2015 I had my fairly new 2015 Forester in my driveway getting ready to go the Keys and I had the A/C running. Next day stopped in Davie Fl for the night and it was in the high 90's. I waited for the sun to go down about 8pm then I turned on the a/c and waited and waited and then leaving my rv at the campsite and checked into a motel and the next morning headed home. Leason learned.

[Freetyme]

May or may not on 15 amp. I would minimize any other current draw where you can, microwaves, electric water heater etc. As for using a dryer outlet. There are many doggone adapters that take 50 amp down to 30 amp. There may be some kind of adapter or diy connection to remove one leg of of the dryer outlet, but then cord end compatibility may be an issue. I'm no electrician, but one could give better guidance .

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by poppytoymaker

If your talking about plugging into house current don't. Bring a newbie in 2015 I had my fairly new 2015 Forester in my driveway getting ready to go the Keys and I had the A/C running. Next day stopped in Davie Fl for the night and it was in the high 90's. I waited for the sun to go down about 8pm then I turned on the a/c and waited and waited and then leaving my rv at the campsite and checked into a motel and the next morning headed home. Leason learned.

Funny, my travel trailer has been plugged into "house current" whenever at home for 8 years and the trailer before it for 22 years. Not a single problem. 120v single phase power is the same whether at home, a campground, or anywhere else on thevUS power grid where 120v single phase power is supplied. Just need enough current capacity fir the devices being powered.

If one doesn't understand electricity they should avoid playing with it------- and offering advice on it.

[darrellr]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Actually...

This is going to be a little surprising. Whether this will succeed or not depends on whether the host's house is well air-conditioned or not. If the 15-amp breaker is at 70° the air conditioner in the trailer (with no other loads except maybe the converter) will probably operate. If the ambient temperature in the host's house is warmer, the house breaker is more likely to trip.

I am not sure I follow you here. The AC doesn't change the power drawer whether it is 70 or 90 degrees. If the thermostat calls for it to start, that startup current is really what will dictate, more than anything else, whether or not the breaker will trip. That said, if the compressor runs for a long time on a high resistance circuit, it will build heat and also trip the breaker.

[darrellr]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Aha! Never underestimate the ignorance of the American people.

You mean people that don't understand all 50amp RVs are running from 240v?

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Funny, my travel trailer has been plugged into "house current" whenever at home for 8 years and the trailer before it for 22 years. Not a single problem. 120v single phase power is the same whether at home, a campground, or anywhere else on thevUS power grid where 120v single phase power is supplied. Just need enough current capacity fir the devices being powered.

If one doesn't understand electricity they should avoid playing with it------- and offering advice on it.

X2!!! As a retired master electrician there have been plenty of examples in this thread of folks who should not be offering advice.

[Riich]

Everyone keeps mentioning using a heavy gauge extension cord, which is right, but the real problem I see that a lot of people overlook is this. A 15 amp garage circuit fed from a house panel is typically going to be 14/2 wire. No issues there, but when you take into account the distance from the breaker in that house panel to the garage receptacle and you are already dealing with what may already be significant voltage drop when a load is applied.

If you are going to plug into your son's 15 amp receptacle, I'd recommend using a multimeter to measure your actual voltage while the AC is running. You can read this from any receptacle in the RV. Low voltage is a killer for AC units. If you don't see a voltage drop over 5% you should be ok. Assuming nothing else is going to be running on that circuit.

[dwilli1]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Funny, my travel trailer has been plugged into "house current" whenever at home for 8 years and the trailer before it for 22 years. Not a single problem.

x2. Never had a problem. My dealer actually supplies this: https://www.campingworld.com/dw/imag...?sw=800&sh=800

although for my new garage I had my electrician install a 30A RV outlet outside.

[GnS]

Originally Posted by dedobias

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE THE DRYER OUTLET IT S 240V. 110v/220v hasn't existed for A very long time. Everything is now 120v/240v. Your camper is now 120v only! Your sons dryer will NOT HAVE A NEMA 14-30r outlet unless someone wired the wrong outlet. Electric Dryers never use 120v. If you use that outlet you WILL FRY YOUR TRAILER ELECTRICAL.


Most electric dryers are rated at 240 volt. The nominal voltage is 240 volt, but homes may have 208V, 220V, or 240V power supply. Any appliance that is rated for 240 volts can also be used on a 220V or 208V outlet.

You could add a soft starter and probably use a 12 ga cord safely. Not 14 or 16 ga.

This is incorrect. Some homes will have a 3 prong dryer outlet which is 240 volts ONLY. A home with a 4 prong dryer outlet will have the addition of a neutral wire to give 120 volts across one leg. This is done to provide 120v to the internal circuitry while the dryer heating element utilizes both legs to run on 240 volts.

This is the reason that new dryers don’t include a cord. You are expected to buy the correct 3 ore 4 prong cord to match the dryer outlet in your home.

IF the home has a 4 prong outlet and IF it is correctly wired, there are adapters available as posted earlier in this thread to convert one of those 120 volts legs into a 3 prong, 120v 30A RV outlet.

[MontanaWill]

The breaker inside my RV for the AC is 20 amps and the house circuit I am plugged into is 20 amps. I can run the AC with nothing else running. 15 amps will not do it. The AC draws the most amps on start up. I installed a soft start on my AC so I can start it using the portable generator with nothing else running. I would recommend you get a 30 amp outlet installed for an RV plug. only one leg is hot, not a 240 volt dryer outlet. I believe there are dog bone connectors to go from a 240V outlet to an RV 30 amp plug, look online.

[MontanaWill]

My AC unit has a thermal breaker on the top of the compressor that will trip if it gets hot. During start up is when it gets hot. If there are several failed starts that breaker will trip and will not reset until it cools down. It will appear that your AC has failed, buts its just the breaker doing its job.

[Diesel Greg]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

garage panel?

all he needs is a outlet that cam handle his load
a 15000 BTU a/c will only draw 12.5 amps (120v)
if the breakers are in good condition they should handle the surge

I would replace the breaker if it is OLD and trips at startup of the a/c before I went out and got a expensive softstart


PS used 1500BTU as example
more than likely the OP has a 1350BTU

Aussie you are correct I installed a soft start on my 15000 btu Coleman Mach v unit and keep it plugged in at my house on a 20amp circuit and can also run the fridge and tv with no problems. Use a 20amp circuit if possible.

[Wizrd03]

Originally Posted by dedobias

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE THE DRYER OUTLET IT S 240V. 110v/220v hasn't existed for A very long time. Everything is now 120v/240v. Your camper is now 120v only! Your sons dryer will NOT HAVE A NEMA 14-30r outlet unless someone wired the wrong outlet. Electric Dryers never use 120v. If you use that outlet you WILL FRY YOUR TRAILER ELECTRICAL.

Most electric dryers are rated at 240 volt. The nominal voltage is 240 volt, but homes may have 208V, 220V, or 240V power supply. Any appliance that is rated for 240 volts can also be used on a 220V or 208V outlet.

Actually, the dryer (3 prong) are two hots L1 & L2 with a neutral. The controls and motor are 120V, the heating element is 240V

The neutral is tied to ground in the breaker box. I built an adapter that I use at my daughter's house where we put a 240V 30A plug (old dryer type) to run a 240V compressor in the garage. Using a dryer cord wired to a NEMA 14-50R receptacle in a handy box with neutral and ground tied together at the receptacle. A 50A to 30A dog bone will provide 30A to the trailer.

My Southwire 50A surge protector had no issues with this setup. Nor did both 15000BTU airs running on 30A per leg capacity this past weekend along with all the other loads in the coach.

A NEMA 14-30R outlet can't be used with a 50-30 dog bone, the neutral connector is L shaped and the straight blade in a 50A plug doesn't fit in the hole. I actually ran across a fairgrounds years ago where these outlets were present and folks were trying desperately to pound the 50A plugs into those.

Tom

[5picker]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Funny, my travel trailer has been plugged into "house current" whenever at home for 8 years and the trailer before it for 22 years. Not a single problem. 120v single phase power is the same whether at home, a campground, or anywhere else on thevUS power grid where 120v single phase power is supplied. Just need enough current capacity fir the devices being powered.

If one doesn't understand electricity they should avoid playing with it------- and offering advice on it.

Originally Posted by Mike134

X2!!! As a retired master electrician there have been plenty of examples in this thread of folks who should not be offering advice.

X a bazillion!
There is so much misinformation in this thread the mods should delete it.
All the bull crap about R/V's not plugging into a 4 pole, 240v outlet to "house current" being somehow 'different' than campground current.

wmtire has published several, very informative threads on R/V power and adapters and it would behoove many who posted on this thread to find those posts and read them.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by Outsider

Just for the record, according to the manual this is a 13.5K BTU AC and no, I do NOT have a soft start device installed.


I think all my questions have been answered and I appreciate all the responses.


Outsider

Based on this response from the OP (who hasn't returned since) the site team has decided to go ahead and close this thread.