30 amp to 50 amp conversion?

Installing a new power inlet and plugging into the 15/20 amp GFCI recept. on a pedestal is a good option and much cheaper than upgrading to 50 amps. You could perhaps use the 20 amp pedestal recept. for a dedicated connection to the water heater. Then if the 20A isn't available on a pedestal, you can convert to propane for the duration of the stay at the CG.

You could also buy a commercially available load shedding unit but these aren't cheap.

What I would do is make your own load shedder . A coffee pot, toaster or microwave are on for only minutes, whereas the water heater can run for much long periods on electric to adequately heat up the water. You could dump the heater when an appliance is plugged in by using a simple current sensing relay setup. A CR Magnetics CR4395-EH-120-330-X-CD-ELR-I would work well. Available on Amazon here: current sensing relay This model has instantaneous operation of the control contacts. There are several versions of this relay so make sure you order the right one.

Mount this relay in a suitably sized box behind the converter/panel and run the hot wire for the kitchen counter plug circuit through it before it goes into the panel. Connect the heater circuit to the output contacts and then back into the panel. The relay is adjustable and would probably be set at 15 amps. Total material cost should be under $150.

When thinking about and calculating max. loads, something to note about the 30 amp pedestal breaker or the one in your panel is that they do not trip the instant they exceed 30 amps. There is an inverse time-current characteristic as shown in the generic graph. The higher the overload, the faster the breaker trips. The graph is hard to read, but say at 35 amps, the breaker would trip after something like 5-6 minutes. At 40 amps,, it would trip in 2-3 min. However, the pedestal breaker could possibly trip earlier due to use and abuse and years of being outdoors. Point is, don't panic if you think the load will go a few amps over the 30 amp rating for short periods.

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aclay wrote:
This has probably been covered, but in my cursory search I didn't see much.

I have a Sprinter 311BHS and it has 30A service. I have to do a lot of power management not to trip the breaker. What all would be involved in changing it, and how much would it cost? I realize new inverter, probably new breaker panel, and a new outside plug/cord. I have to imagine the last bit would be the biggest pain as it would require cutting. I would probably want a professional to do this, but I would like to know just how much it would cost.

Before all the questions about loads; this is what could potentially be running at one time: Outside fridge, inside fridge, hot water heater, AC, TV, possibly 2nd tv in bunkhouse, coffee pot or microwave. Obviously we can time some of this, but usually if I have to run the AC i have to switch the hot water heater to propane. This isn't a deal breaking situation, I'm just looking for an improvement.

The next model year Sprinter offered 50A service as an option...

Anyone done this change? Anyone know about the pros/cons? Costs?

Thanks.

I had the same issue and instead of simply running an extension cord from like the 110V source on the pedestal I that would be limited to 15 or 20A and require running cords into the trailer and then extension cords to where I wanted the power I decided to upgrade my service to a dual 30A (60A total) service which required zero mods to the existing 30A service and cost a small fraction of what a true 50A upgrade would cost. The details of what I did with specific descriptions and where and how much the various items cost in the captions are in THIS ALBUM

Larry

I have a 50A coach and you will still have the same issues when you are on 30A.

I'd suggest a simpler approach. I added an aux power cord that plug into the extra 120/15-20A plug that almost all pedestals have. I power an extra receptacle placed for you know whose hair dryer but you could wire it to your AC then everything else would have plenty of juice. You could even add a recep wired to the OEM ac breaker and plug your ac into in case there wasn't a 15A pedestal recep.

Way less expensive.

The outside fridge is in the outside kitchen (the large "hatch" at the rear of the TT behind the 2nd door in the photo). It's one of those dorm fridges and it only runs on 110v. It is plugged in and I"m able to unplug it.

Thanks for the info.

Roughly a $1000 for parts and another $2000 for a professional to install. This would be good quality parts. Installer must be qualified and be insured against his errors for maybe 3 years.
It maybe less expensive to install a power management system.
Outside fridge? Is this one in a compartment or stand alone?
new Inverter no, converter depends on where it is and whether it is interval to the power distribution panel?
Big cost is new power distribution center including 120 volt and 12 volt systems. New shore power cord, and wiring.