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bama5er's avatar
bama5er
Explorer
May 23, 2014

50 amp wiring

I have a question concerning 50 amp wiring in fifth wheel and generators. My idea is that if the two 120 volt lines are separate, meaning no device will use the 2 hot wires, could I run two separate generators. I have a "Y" cable adaptor for the purpose of using 2 power outlets (30 amp & 20 amp). If I run 2 separate generator sources they would be out of phase but would that be an issue considering the two 120 volt legs would remain separate. The only thing the 2 legs would have in common would be the common wire and the ground wire. Would the out of phase generators see each others phase and/or would it effect them in any way? I have 2 Honda 2000 generators that could power 1 leg. I would like to buy 2 more to power the other leg. I'm just wanting make sure this won't be an issue.

Thanks for your expert advice.

19 Replies

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  • john_bet's avatar
    john_bet
    Explorer II
    May 23, 2014
    NO,NO,NO,and did I say NO. Where I use to work we had two 700kw 480v 3p Cummins gen sets running in parallel with out a common load controller. They were a head ache. Aircraft use a fancy thing called a freq./load controller for generators running in parallel.
  • Allworth's avatar
    Allworth
    Explorer II
    May 23, 2014
    The neutral is sized to take a split phase load. Gens running out of phase could (theoretically) double the current in the neutral.


    Bad idea!!
  • ol_Bombero-JC's avatar
    ol_Bombero-JC
    Explorer
    May 23, 2014
    Not going to "vote", but.....

    Your question may have been on the *Tech Issues* forum in the past.

    Everything "generator" (and electrical) is usually found there.

    Try a search.

    ~
  • BB_TX's avatar
    BB_TX
    Nomad
    May 23, 2014
    The two hot legs are separate, but they share a common neutral. So you would be tying the neutrals of both generators together. Don't know what the two generators would do with the phases out of sync and the neutral connected but I don't think I would try it without a go ahead from the generator manufacturer.
  • Roadpilot's avatar
    Roadpilot
    Explorer
    May 23, 2014
    I agree with hmknightnc. In theory it'll work unless you have a 220 load in the 5th wheel. We have a dryer in our MH that runs on 220 so it wouldn't work for us. Your 220 or the difference between the two hots would vary slowly as the frequency of the two gens is slightly different. The voltage would slowly vary from 0 to 220.
  • chevor's avatar
    chevor
    Explorer
    May 23, 2014
    I think the safest thing to do is buy a bigger generator.
  • ChooChooMan74's avatar
    ChooChooMan74
    Explorer
    May 23, 2014
    In my opinion, it won't work unless you get them perfectly phased. A common neutral is shared.
  • hmknightnc's avatar
    hmknightnc
    Explorer
    May 23, 2014
    In theory what you propose will in fact work. An alternative that would be less complex would be buy a 30 (male) to 50 (female) amp adaptor. This adaptor powers up both 50 amp hot lines at the same phase and would only require your current generator set-up. Of course you are now limited to the twin Hondas capacity (3200 watts) so no dual AirCon operation.

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