2 30amp male plugs to 50 amp female
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Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Yes, have used them several times. My power outlets at home were set up that way, so I could power my own 50A rig from both or share power (one 30A each) if we had a guest. Have also used it in campgrounds that had duel 30A outlets, e.g.g a "buddy site".
https://www.amazon.com/RV-Cord-Adapter-Female-Connector-Handles/dp/B075WRJJBG/
Note that you have less total power available than with 50A service. You have 2x 30A rather than 2x 50A, so you could trip breaker on one or the other 30A outlet. Your 45 ft coach probably has 3 a/c units, so two of them will be on one of the 30A feeds, plus your other electric appliances draw power from one or the other as well.
https://www.amazon.com/RV-Cord-Adapter-Female-Connector-Handles/dp/B075WRJJBG/
Note that you have less total power available than with 50A service. You have 2x 30A rather than 2x 50A, so you could trip breaker on one or the other 30A outlet. Your 45 ft coach probably has 3 a/c units, so two of them will be on one of the 30A feeds, plus your other electric appliances draw power from one or the other as well.
garyb1st
Well-known member
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Please explain for the electrically challenged. Two 30A plugs should be more than 50A. Why would you have less power?
Alfa38User
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Posts
- 6,678
As far as an RV 50 amp connection is concerned, a 50 amp connection is not limited to 50 amps. It is comprised of 2 connections of 50 amps each for a total of 100 amps. Two 30 amp connections would be only 60 amps and they are limited by the 30 amp pedestal breaker or the RV input breaker.
Thus the 50 amp connection is actually a misnomer in the RV world.
Thus the 50 amp connection is actually a misnomer in the RV world.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
There are two or three places I've parked where I can indeed use a "Cheater box" in the manner you describe.. TWO 30 amp outlets. However in one of them I have to be very careful where I park as half the 30 amp outlets are GFCI protected and .. that won't work.
One park I was in all 30 amp. all GFCI no cheater boxes work
Most parks you have a 30 and a 20 (or 50/30/20) and the 20 is GFCI so cheater boxes (Which come with an adapter to plug into the 20) won't work.. One "neighbor" did not know that wondered why it kept tripping the GFCI.. I think he was glad I explained it but not happy about itl.
One park I was in all 30 amp. all GFCI no cheater boxes work
Most parks you have a 30 and a 20 (or 50/30/20) and the 20 is GFCI so cheater boxes (Which come with an adapter to plug into the 20) won't work.. One "neighbor" did not know that wondered why it kept tripping the GFCI.. I think he was glad I explained it but not happy about itl.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Not if the 30A outlets are wired correctly. Once I connected at a friend's barn and the 30A outlets had been wired by a local fellow. He had reversed the hot & neutral on one of them and it got very exciting when I hooked the two together. Only for a 1/4 second, though. Fortunately breakers tripped before any real damage occurred.
dkreuzen
Well-known member
Something that has not been said here is that a 50 amp RV service consists of two 120v legs which are on different phases where the voltage between them is 240v. On my MH the EMS senses the 240v measurement to limit the maximum current draw to 50 amps per leg. If the two 30 amp outlets are wired to the same phase (zero volts between them) the EMS will see it as 30 amps and automatically limit itself to a maximum of 30 amps (total) usage. If your EMS allows the same phase condition then this condition could result in overloading the neutral wire by passing 60 amps.
garyb1st
Well-known member
If I'm reading this correctly, it sounds like the 50 amp service is actually 2 legs, (circuits?) at 50 amps each. So while there may be 100 amps in total, only 50 are available on each circuit. If correct, how do I determine what is connected to each?
Lou Schneider
Site Team
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- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
- 13,231
Your electrical panel is divided into two zones. Each zone is on a single leg.garyb1st said:
The main breaker is two 50 amp breakers with the handles connected together, taking up two breaker spaces.
In a house breaker panel, and in some RVs, the zones are divided up into odd and even placement with the double pole 50 amp main breaker either separate from the rest or at one end of the row. Breakers in positions 1, 3, 5, etc. are on Leg 1, breakers in positions 2, 4, 8, etc. are on Leg 2. This lets you get 240 volts for things like an electric stove or a 240 volt clothes dryer by installing a double pole breaker in two adjacent positions.
Some RV panels have the main breaker in the middle of a single row of breakers. In this case everything to the left of the main breaker is on one leg, everything to the right is on the other leg. This kind of panel only delivers 120 volts to the branch circuits, you can't install a double pole breaker to get 240 volts on a circuit .
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Technically possible but in practice not a worry. The RV's 50A shore cord has 6 gauge neutral and typically uses a wire type rated for 55-65A. Not sure what the neutral in the base of the Y adapter may be, so you might check the specs on whatever brand you consider buying. It should be 6 gauge from the joint of the two 30A legs to the 50A female. The one I used had an actual outdoor-rated box with a 50A outlet, with two separate 10 gauge legs. The neutrals in the 10 gauge legs will share the load pretty much equally, so they stay within their 30A rating.
Many (if not most) 50A coaches these days do have that type of EMS (30A load management), so you may indeed still be limited to 30A total IF the two outlets happen to be in phase. That's strictly dependent on how the outlets are connected to the power source.
I installed an override switch in my EMS to deal with that. Basically it just told my Intelletec EMS that the genset was running and so to skip power source checking. Other systems may not be that simple.
garyb1st
Well-known member
Thanks Lou. The 50 amp breaker on ours is in the middle. There's another fuse box above the panel with a plastic cover that is about 3" x 3". Haven't figured out how to open it yet. My usual brute force technique results in a broken cover that will not go back on. 
Any idea what might be inside.
Any idea what might be inside. 
