Can I plug my 50amp cord from my class A into a dryer outlet?

[Boat Bum]

In my thrift to piggy back off the 220 help thread, after a solution to the original question was reached, I fear I just confused things; apologies.

The previous owner of my 50amp coach fashioned a length of heavy gauge cord that one end accepted the 50amp male plug from my RV and the other end plugged into his dryer outlet in his house. He apparently used this successfully, how often I have no idea. I'm asking if this is safe.

This is the cord he constructed, one end accepts a 50amp male plug (from RV) and the other end plugs into the dryer outlet.



This is a picture of the dryer plug and the dryer outlet. They all seem to have the same pattern.



Does this look viable?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Boat Bum]

The outlet says NEMA 14 30 30 amp 125/250v

 

[Jim18655]

You're OK. 4 wire dryer to 4 wire RV. Limited to 30 amps so you might not be able to run the entire RV.

 

[DonTom]

This is a picture of the dryer plug and the dryer outlet. They all seem to have the same pattern.

"Can I plug my 50amp cord from my class A into a dryer outlet?"​

Yes, as long as you do not go over the safe ratings and change the plug. The ground prong is different on a drier plug than on a 14-50P.

I have charged EVs on drier outlets before.

-Don- Phoenix, OR

 

[DonTom]

Limited to 30 amps so you might not be able to run the entire RV.

30 amps per 120 VAC line is a total of 60 amps when used for 120 VAC.

It's 30 amps max only at 240 VAC: Across both hot lines.

7,200 watts total to use total either way:

240 times 30amps =7,200 watts. The full limit but:

120 times 30 amps is=3,600 watts PER LINE. There are now two lines. Each line to neutral can have a 30-amp draw.

Total capacity is the same either way. Two 30-amp limes to use at 120 VAC.

7,200 watts total power capacity either way.

-Don- Phoenix, OR

 

[John From Detroit]

Short answer is YES. that's safe.. on the RV side.. I'd have to look at the wires on the house side.

So I will tell you how to decide. In the outlet there are 4 wires. The "Round" or Roundish pin is safety ground.. the wires to the other 3 terminals need to be the same size as each other (The ground lead can be smaller) and that's how you tell. NOTE this should be the situtation 3 wires are like 10ga and one 12 but I never trust.

 

[Boat Bum]

Thank you all for your time.

 

[Boat Bum]

I expect to see at least one post in the Why didn't anyone tell me thread that mentions being able to plug into your four prong dryer outlet at home.

This is huge for me.

 

[Ernie Ekberg]

Then you have to change the end whenever you leave the house.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Be aware that if you try to draw 50 amps through that (30 amp) dryer outlet you will blow the CB like folks do drawing 30 amps through a house 20 amp outlet.

Why not just install a 50 amp RV outlet?

 

[Boat Bum]

Then you have to change the end whenever you leave the house.

I'm not sure what you mean by changing the end, do you mean the end that I plug in my dryer outlet?

Upon further inspection, the cord seems to be just an extension cord; i.e. one end male 4 prong and one end female 4 prong.

Given this, it would seem I could just plug my 50amp from the coach directly into the dryer outlet, if it would reach. Is this right?

 

[Boat Bum]

Be aware that if you try to draw 50 amps through that (30 amp) dryer outlet you will blow the CB like folks do drawing 30 amps through a house 20 amp outlet.

Why not just install a 50 amp RV outlet?

I'm currently renting.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I'm currently renting.

I was a renter as well when I put in my RV outlet.

What you are proposing will work but you won't get 50 amps out of it.

 

[Boat Bum]

Honestly, I couldn't keep it parked close enough, for any length of time, to run a cord into my apartment. I would foresee me doing it prior to a trip to get everything up to snuff.

We are leaving the state in March to start final retirement. Sold the family home a little over a year ago at the boom here in the Northeast. The RV was a major milestone on our timeline to retirement. Paid cash for the RV and have cash for new home, still waiting for prices to come down more as interest rates go up.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Honestly, I couldn't keep it parked close enough, for any length of time, to run a cord into my apartment. I would foresee me doing it prior to a trip to get everything up to snuff.

Oh... So how will you plug in a dryer cord?

 

[Boat Bum]

I can do it, it will reach, I just can't stay parked there for more than a couple hours to do it.

 

[Kirk]

I'm asking if this is safe.

The outlet says NEMA 14 30 30 amp 125/250v

The key is that you have the 125/250v or it might read 120/240v and that also always has 4 pins. I think that most of us thought of the old fashioned dryer outlets that were only 3 pin, 2 hot and ground with no neutral lead. In looking at my electic supply site, it seems that the old one isn't sold now but there is one that has 2 hot and a neutral now with no ground. While it is rated 125/250v, I would not use it either because of the lack of a ground connection. Notice that the only difference in the two plugs is the shape of the neutral pin. Both of them are 125/250V rated but the RV is a 50a plug and the other is a 30a plug.

In any case, now that we have realized what his adapter was you have nothing to be concerned about, as long as he wired his cord properly. It was a false alarm.

 

[Boat Bum]

I appreciate the vote of confidence.

 

[Kirk]

Part of the reason we old-timers tend to get excited by a post like yours, it used to be that home dryers all used the 3 pin plugs with no neutral as everything in them used 240V power and so no neutral was needed. When that was true the outlet that was used looked very similar to the one for a 30A, 120V cord and so it was not rare that someone would modify a plug to fit, or make an adapter, or by some other means connect the typical 30A RV power cord because they both have 3 pins and look similar. Today nearly all dryers use timers that are only 120V and they usually have the heating elements split into 2 sections of 120V each with a neutral connected in the center so that if one heating element should fail the other will work but it will take longer to dry the wash. That is the reason that nearly all dryers today plug into the 4 pin outlets such as yours. I suspect that younger electricians would have caught on much more quickly than we did. It also used to be veary rare than any RV had 50a service as 30a was the standard for many years.
30A-120v 30A-240V

 

[Boat Bum]

I'm just shy of 65, does that make me an old timer? We always had gas dryers in our houses.

I'm glad I caused a little excitement at The Home.