50 Amp hook up

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I adapt from 50amp to 30amp to 20amp (same as 15) but I'm hook to a 20amp breaker and it's the only thing on the line.

I had it hooked to an outdoor outlet on my house (15 amp plus other stuff on that outlet) at first, and it blew the circuit breaker with very little running on the line.

Once I switched to a 20amp breaker (solo) (at another building) I have had no problems.
I can run 1 heat pump or the furnace and the refrigerator with out a problem.  It also powers battery chargers etc.

You asked if it will work with a 15amp GFI - sure it will but it doesn't take to much to use up 15amps.
 
Redandsilver, I am talking about a connector that hooks a 30 amp and a 15 amp receptacle and allows you to use 45 amps in your trailer.
 
Hmmm I'm certainly not an electrician.
But wouldn't the lowest amp breaker at the site still trip with too much draw?
In this case the 15A? And trip routinely under a good load?

On a side note I'm sure the RV grounds appreciate it when someone is paying for 30A and is drawing 45A. ;)
 
If you have a 50 amp RV, you have two circuits going through the 50 amp plug.  The splitter will put one circuit on it's 30 amp plug and one on it's 15 (20) amp plug.

Unfortunately, there's no way of telling which side of your RV wiring contains the heaviest loads.  You have a 50/50 chance of having the water heater, refrigerator and one AC on the adapter's 30 amp plug and only the second AC on the 20 amp plug.  Or vice-versa.

The other drawback is all outdoor 20 amp outlets are required by code to have GFCI protection.  You may occasionally run across an older park that hasn't upgraded, but now the vast majority of RV pedestals incorporate GFCI breakers or outlets.  The splitter won't work on a GFCI circuit due to the common neutral conductor between the two circuits on the 50 amp plug.  There's no way to make the return current divide the same as what the two plugs on the adapter are providing.  This looks like a ground fault to the GFCI protection so it trips.
 
Abrnth3 said:
Has anyone used the 15+30=45amp adaptor? How does it work and will it work with a 15amp GFI outlet ?

I sure would like to see this miracle adapter !

Jack L
 
Yes Good for keeping batteries charged and other light duty stuff.  Can, in theory run an A/C or Water Heater (I don't recommend trying)

GFCI is mixed, some do some don;'t
 
It could work, but the camper must be wired to connect to the 30A per normal, then have a SEPARATE CORD AND CIRCUIT BREAKER, completely independent of the 30A service.  It could power whatever was plugged into it up to the 15A limit.  Would work well for an electric heater or similar.

There is no way to combine the 30A and 15A to supply 45A through a single system..
 
Abrnth3 said:
Redandsilver, I am talking about a connector that hooks a 30 amp and a 15 amp receptacle and allows you to use 45 amps in your trailer.

First off is WHY do you want to do this?

What kind of trailer do you have?

Are you looking to do this at a campground?        Or someplace else?

 
There is no way to combine the 30A and 15A to supply 45A through a single system..

Sure there is, as long as neither source is GFCI-protected and the phase is the same. It's just two power sources in parallel.  A 50A "cheater box"  does this and you can buy them in stores. I just sold one that I used to use myself.
https://accessories.lazydays.com/progressive-ind-cheater-box-adt230-19-0449

Whether the RV can utilize more than 30A is a different question. An RV designed for 30A power cannot, but one with a 50A shore power system can.
 
X2 on Gary's post except that 99% of all 15AMP outlets at campgrounds use a GFI breaker due to wiring codes on electricity in outside use where water can be present.
 
I should also point out that, as a practical matter, putting a 30A and a 15A in parallel rarely yields a full 45A capability if they feed a single hot wire. Theoretically each source can deliver its rated amount, but in practice the 15A breaker will trip well before the 30A reaches its max. That's because both sources try to respond as the loads suck power and odds are the 15A side will overload and trip before the 30A side picks up the load. This often happens when a large load is added, but small loads added incrementally will often let a higher total be reached.  A combined 30A+15A to one load wire might deliver only 35-40A. It's even possible that the 15A breaker will trip as soon as the total load exceeds 15A, so the net available might be as little as 30A. There are several real-world variables involved, so it's hard to generalize.

This isn't an issue when they feed a 4-wire plug like the RV 50A, The two hots remain separate and the loads are isolated to one or the other.
 
Gary RVer Emeritus said:
I should also point out that, as a practical matter, putting a 30A and a 15A in parallel rarely yields a full 45A capability if they feed a single hot wire. Theoretically each source can deliver its rated amount, but in practice the 15A breaker will trip well before the 30A reaches its max. That's because both sources try to respond as the loads suck power and odds are the 15A side will overload and trip before the 30A side picks up the load. This often happens when a large load is added, but small loads added incrementally will often let a higher total be reached.  A combined 30A+15A to one load wire might deliver only 35-40A. It's even possible that the 15A breaker will trip as soon as the total load exceeds 15A, so the net available might be as little as 30A. There are several real-world variables involved, so it's hard to generalize.

This isn't an issue when they feed a 4-wire plug like the RV 50A, The two hots remain separate and the loads are isolated to one or the other.

Precisely what I was driving at in my post.
I imagine the primary reason for the 50A is to run both a/c units.  Can't imagine them cycling along with the routine items required and not trip the 15A breaker, and often.

Seems like a gimmick to me, but I've been wrong before.
 
I have one of those adapters. and if either of your outltes is GFCI protected it will trip the GFCI.. 100% of the tome  15/15, 15/30 or 30/15  If Either outlet is GFCI, Click goes the GFCI, every time

If non-GFCI then you need to know which leg is which. because one leg will be limited  Make sure that the heavy loads (IE: water heater or Microwave) are on the 30 amp leg.

Mine lets me choose which leg is which (Two 30 amp plugs one with an adapter)

It works well on twin 30's that are NOT GFCI, Have done that several times at one site.

And in another park some sites are also 30/30 no GFCI (Older parks I happen to belong to) WOrks well there as well.
 
One other thing to check or be aware of, is that you may not be able to use a 30amp and 15amp outlets at the same time
from the electric box at all campgrounds.

I was at a KOA once and I hooked up a 30amp plug and then wanted to hookup a 15amp cord and it kicked out the 30amp breaker
when I plugged in the 15amp cord.  Flipping the 30amp breaker back on then flipped off the 15amp breaker.
So I couldn't hook both up at the same time.  I don't know if this was a fluke or it's normal at a campground.
 
It is not common for the 30 amp outlet to be GFCI, but it does happen.. I have been at two parks that had 30 amp GFCI, but one only on selected sites.

I just made sure I parked on a site without GFCI and it worked.

But if there is a GFCI on either outlet, that "Cheater box" or cord will simply trip it. if it does not trip (I have had people insist theirs did not trip the GFCI) the GFCI is defective and needs replacement. 

I do understand how the things work, on the technical level (GFCIs that is) and also how the box is wired.... And there is simply no way to use it with a GFCI other than some very expensive add on hardware (Isolation transformer or transformers) Those will defeat a GFCI, however, additionally...... They eliminate the need for the GFCI but 20 amp 1:1 Transformers are kind of large (think 30 amp autoformer large) heavy (likewise) and expensive (And again likewise)..
 
Perhaps Abrnth3 could tell us what sort of rig he has, e.g. 30A or 50A, and how he expects to use this adapter. That way we can avoid conjecture and get to the specifics. His question is not as simple as it may appear.

The topic title says "50 amp hook up", so I'm guessing he has a 50A rig and wants to try using 30+15 where 50A is not available.
 
I believe the OP is looking at one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-55025-PowerGrip-Maximizer-Adapter/dp/B0024E70L2

It states that it won't work on a 15 amp GFCI receptacle. I think one would have to do some funky math to get 45 amps out of it as implied. No way will it provide 45 amps like one could assume. They make it sound like your going to be able to get 10800 watts of power but you won't. Personally, I wouldn't waste my money.
 
kdbgoat said:
I believe the OP is looking at one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-55025-PowerGrip-Maximizer-Adapter/dp/B0024E70L2

It states that it won't work on a 15 amp GFCI receptacle. I think one would have to do some funky math to get 45 amps out of it as implied. No way will it provide 45 amps like one could assume. They make it sound like your going to be able to get 10800 watts of power but you won't. Personally, I wouldn't waste my money.

Yes, this is the product I was referring to. I have come to the conclusion that this is not going to work for my situation. Thanks for all your replies.
 
Back
Top Bottom