Yesterday when I picked up my new fifth wheel, I had an orientation and the gentleman giving it was showing me the adapters from 50 amp 2 30 amp to standard household receptacle. He told me that if I didn't have it plugged up to 50 amp that I would burn up my AC unit????I don't know what to think about that, I use a generator to provide power to my 25 year old Southwind Motorhome and it hasn't seemed to affect the air conditioners on it???

It's a shame that some people doing this don't have a clue. There probably won't be a problem if the batteries are charged and nothing else is running. I run my AC at home on 20 amp circuit and don't have a problem.

Well I would say that is likely incorrect. Does your 5er have an energy management system? How many AC units? What is the start-up amp draw of the AC(s)?

It is hard to fathom, but so many RV sales people and even worse, technicians are so ignorant about RVs and electricity.It is possible to run ONE RV A/C on a 20 amp circuit, provided there is nothing else on the circuit and the A/C is the only thing on in the RV and the extension cord is not too long.Ken

My 50 amp service 5er is currently plugged into my home 120v 30 amp rv receptacle / plug on a 30 amp breaker and I can run both ac's with no problem. Its over 90 degrees outside as I write this. Also when camping in many state parks 30 amp is the highest amp power available and I run 1 ac with no problem & the hot water heater and microwave. I have also run 1 ac on 20 amp service with no problems in the past.

The gentleman was uninformed. You can run your AC on a 30 amp power source. If you have two AC units you will want to only run one of them at a time unless you have a good power management system. I would avoid trying to plug into a 20 amp circuit, just to many "Maybe's".

Roof top ac require 50 amps? | Good Sam Community

rskeans
Explorer
Sep 11, 2015
I run my 50A 5ver on 30A at home. I can only run one AC though without popping the house breaker.
I just installed a 5500W generator and at the same time installed in this order -
Pwr Cord Winder
Hughes Autoformer to kick up low park voltages 10%
Progressive Industries Surge Protector.
I ran the Autoformer before the Surge Protector 'cause the surge protector will cut off the power with low voltage.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Sep 11, 2015
rskeans wrote:
I run my 50A 5ver on 30A at home. I can only run one AC though without popping the house breaker.
I just installed a 5500W generator and at the same time installed in this order -
Pwr Cord Winder
Hughes Autoformer to kick up low park voltages 10%
Progressive Industries Surge Protector.
I ran the Autoformer before the Surge Protector 'cause the surge protector will cut off the power with low voltage.

I tied my AutoFormer before anything in the outside compartment. Made it a easy plug N play setup.
rskeans
Explorer
Sep 11, 2015
Excellent! I have 50A plugs and receptacles on everything so that I can bypass anything if necessary to the point of running a power cord directly to the main 5ver if necessary.
joshuajim
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2015
donn0128 wrote:
General rule, 20A no AC.
30 or 50A AC no problem IF!
People generally do not understand power managment. Have one fella in the park right not upset because he can't run his AC on 20A. If you install a hard start capacitor, switch refer and water heater to gas you might start a AC. Personally even on 30A I switch everything to gas before I try my air

I'm about to head out for a 2 week boondock trip, so I decided to test my A/C on my Yamaha 2400is. I got my professional quality Amprobe clamp meter and clamped it on a test extension with split wires so I can isolate just the hot side. I'm at 3,500MSL and I plan to camp at less than 1,000 MSL so it should be a good test. It was also near 100 degrees during the test.

The A/C is a 3 year old previous generation Brisk Air 13.5.

Started the gen and let it warm up. Plugged in the power cord and the amperage indicated a spike of 12.4 amps as the A/C kicked on. Even a good meter is probably not able to record the full spike as it happens too quickly. The amps then settled down at 11.4 for several minutes. As the A/C got hotter along with the generator and cords the amps slowly creeped up and after about a half hour it peaked at 13.5 amps.

I've never had a problem running the A/C on a 20 amp circuit, but I also make sure the water heater and refer are on gas.
Onespeed405
Explorer
Sep 12, 2015
I have a 50amp service on my rig. Only 1 A/C unit.

The reason it is wired for 50amp is to accommodate the optional washer/dryer that I chose not to install.

I only plug in to 30 amp service on the road.

I plug into a 20amp at home. I am okay at home running the A/C as long as I do not go crazy with other high draw appliances.

All is well since 2008.
laknox
Nomad
Sep 12, 2015
And to muddle things even more... IMO, you can run a 13.5k A/C on a 20A plug PROVIDED you have 1) quality adapters, 2) as short of cords as humanly possible and 3) any extension cords are as heavy gauge as you can find, as well as short. A 15k A/C =might= run on a 50>30>20 gang, but it's iffy, IMO. I might even pull a battery cable so the battery charger isn't working, in that situation. Either that, or put an external battery charger on the batteries that's plugged into a totally separate circuit to take that load off the coach's system.

Lyle
azrving
Explorer
Sep 12, 2015
On the other hand maybe during the short amount of time the guy who has to do your pdi he has to keep it basic. Maybe they default to telling you that so that they dont have people plugging into a 20 amp plug and then go in and turn everything on and start popping breakers and having low voltage issues. Just maybe.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2015
I do not have a hard start kit on my 13500 ac. I have run it for years when in the drive off as 20 amp circuit plus the reefer on AC.
RetiredSquid
Explorer
Sep 12, 2015
rjxj wrote:
the guy has to do your pdi he has to keep it basic.

GOOD POINT!
Mile_High
Explorer
Sep 12, 2015
I run 1 AC on 20A at home when loading. Just make sure you're extension cord is designed for 20A to carry the load. I burned up a few yard cords. You won't find one easily for 20A, but 15A or 12/3 is good.