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tadpole54's avatar
tadpole54
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014

Electric box at campsites

The electric box at our permanent site has the 3 way plug for the main service, a 30 amp breaker for the camper too (?), and a 30 amp 2 plug outlet for "other" uses. Should I use the outlets for all things outside the camper to avoid power stress to my camper's converter and avoid using the outlets mounted on the outside of the camper? HELP....
  • I use the 30 amp outlet for my trailer, and I run an extension cord into my trailer from the 120 outlet on the outside electric box thru the storage compartment, and use that to plug in other things so I don’t overload my converter box.

    My converter box can handle about 4,000 watts so anything over that I plug into the extension cord. If you trip a fuse in your converter box then most likely you have reached the max on your converter box and it is helpful to have a secondary electric source like an extension cord attached to the outside electric box. But I don't think it is wise to plug 2-sources of electricity into your converter box.

    If you trip a fuse just open your converter box panel and turn the breaker box switch off and on to reset it. If your 120 outlet within the RV goes out find the GIFC outlet, it has a button it, and reset it by pushing in the button located on that outlet. Now you don’t have to use an extension cord, because you can set things outside next to the electric box and plug them in there. It is also okay to use the outlets on the outside of the camper.
  • Hi new member.

    Your converter supplies 12V DC power and recharges your battery so using a 120V AC outlet mounted to the outside of your trailer won't affect it.

    I would use whichever outlet is handiest so cords are not in the way.

    If you are using a lot of AC items inside RV and having problems with tripping your 30A breaker then using the pedestal outlets may help limit overloading the breaker.