Help me understand 50 Amps and Two AC's

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by Sphere Guy

We beg to differ.

While on 50 AMP service, running both AC's water heater on electric and kicking the microwave on WILL trip a breaker.

How do we know? Experience.

Never have had that experience.
That is why I love, love, love my 50 amp trailer and will never ever never have a 30 amp trailer again.

[MelGoddard]

wkerfoot:
At some rallies, you have to share pedestals and use both the 30A and the 50A to support two trailers. At the Farmington International the pedestal we have access to had only a 50A plug and we needed 30 A.

To some degree, same here.
I was at a rally, where they had 30A., on a Hot June weekend.
We all had our ACs on, and brownouts were common in the afternoon.
Finally, one day, the camp system 'blew' and there was NO power for a number of hours.
That was when I purchased a 50-30 dogbone.
The 50 amp service was still in operation.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

This is going around in circles that are getting a bit crazy.

1) If your *trailer* is wired for 30A, it does not matter if you are plugged into a proper 30A or a proper 50A outlet. The most you will get is 30A. If you got *more* than 30A, it would fry your wiring.

2) If your *trailer* wired for 50A, you have 100A at 120V available. That's a lot of current. I only have a little 30' version. I have yet to find a combo I can't turn on when hooked to a proper 50A pedestal.

3) A dogbone that goes from 50A to 30A is not the same as one that goes from 30A to 50A. Both are limited to 30A. They are wired differently and are used for different things. One is very common, the other is rare.

4) 30A is not enough for two AC units. There are a *lot* of combinations on a 50A trailer that will trip a 30A breaker. You have less than 1/3 the current the trailer expects to have. Using the breaker to work this out is not recommended (= good way to start a fire).

5) The most common problem with a pedestal is a worn out socket. If the thing feels hot after running for a bit, that's not a good sign. A bad socket will damage the plug on the end of your cord. Ask the staff to fix it or to allow you to move.

6) A 30A cord plugged into a 50A breaker is not fully protected. How big an issue that is depends on what sort of a problem there is. It's not something you want to do on a regular basis. You *can* have a problem as a result ( = I've actually seen it happen, more than once).

So, lots of variations, lots of possibilities.

Bob

[james.mileur]

Originally Posted by Sphere Guy

We beg to differ.

While on 50 AMP service, running both AC's water heater on electric and kicking the microwave on WILL trip a breaker.

How do we know? Experience.

With out an EMS to tell you the input voltage, your breaker may have tripped on high current due to low voltage, not because it doesn't work with proper voltage.

[cwf]

The surge protector I installed shows voltage and amps on the electrical system.

When I converted from 30 to 50, I did my best to "balance" the circuits. Result? Both AC's, water heater, converter, MW, fridge, hair dryer and curling iron.. going.. Momma happy

[dasams]

OP here and we picked up our 2018 27FC with two AC's earlier today. Our first experience with 50 amp and darn is that power cable a big one.

What we've learned is that both AC's can be programmed to run while on 30 amp service but of course your breaker will trip. So on those occasions, we'll have to turn off one of the zones and it can be either one. Lots of flexibility. I like it

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Breakers pretty much ignore surge. Properly functioning AC units pull < 20A each. Microwave, hair dryer, converter / charger are all below 15A. LED lights plus the entire electronics empire will be below 10A. It's really tough to come up with a list of things in an AS that add up to 100A of load at 120V. That's what you have available on a 50A hookup.

Bob