I need to run a vacuum, the fridge, and the fans while the RV is at home tomorrow. Basically, we're just having it home to prep before we go on our shakeout trip. The coach has a 50 amp plug and i have all the adapters to get it down to a 15 amp 2 prong plug.Thing is, i just have a regular orange utility extension cord. Is it safe to plug the RV into our home using this cord or am I going to be pulling too much power? It seems like the fans, fridge and vacuum wouldn't pull that much power, but i could be wrong

I've done it before, HOWEVER: The vacuum can draw quite a bit, so I would use a separate extension for temporary items, like the vacuum, certainly for a heater, or a hair dryer. Use the 15amp cord only for the frig. If you draw too much the cord could get hot. I'm NOT an electrician, not even close. I'm only telling you what I did.When traveling and visiting friends we have parked by the barn and plugged into the 15am lamp circuit for the evening. We would run the Norcold on electric, the 12v lights, perhaps a fan, and otherwise keep things functioning without a problem.Happy Trails.

elhajj33 wrote:I need to run a vacuum, the fridge, and the fans while the RV is at home tomorrow. Basically, we're just having it home to prep before we go on our shakeout trip. The coach has a 50 amp plug and i have all the adapters to get it down to a 15 amp 2 prong plug.Thing is, i just have a regular orange utility extension cord. Is it safe to plug the RV into our home using this cord or am I going to be pulling too much power? It seems like the fans, fridge and vacuum wouldn't pull that much power, but i could be wrongAlso be aware that if your batteries are not fully charged or even if they are, your battery charger in your Converter or Inverter will draw 15 -20 amps or more at times. That will pretty much suck up what your cord can handle. Turn off the converter/inverter if you can.

This is just me but the only way I would use one of those orange WALMART extension cords would be to run thru the open door of the trailer and plug in one item at a time...You may want to purchase a good 12-gauge (12-3) or even better yet a contractor grade 10-gauge (10-3) 50-foot extension cord... Then you can use your adapters and plug in the RV UNIT using its shore power cable...I found a couple of the 50-foot 10 Gauge extension cords at a yard sale... The RV places use them to hook up all of their RV units on display... You might be able to make a good deal with them. Especially from the RV DEALER where you got your RV from... I had them throw in a couple of their used 25-foot long HD extension cords when I purchased my unit.... That was sort of a funny thing - After I had made the point I would like to have a couple of them the sales lady said I'll be right back and pointed at a couple of the cords laying on the ground not hooked up... I didn't catch on what she was meaning so she came back and noticed I didn't load them into the trailer so she said it all over again and left for a few minutes... I loaded them puppies right up haha....Another thing I will not do is use one of the small round RV ADAPTERS... All of mine are the long DOGBONE type RV Adapters. What will happen using the smaller low amp type extension cords is you will burn up the adapters or even worse burn up your Shore Power Cable connector... Not worth it for me to short change myself... You could also burn up some important items like the Air Conditioner or high wattage microwave by trying to use them from a weak extension cord and have alot of voltage drop...Roy Ken

Why not run your generator for the first hour as part of your shake out? Check the oil and altitude setting (if not injected). On the genny, run the ac's and vacuum. That will run the genny , do the initial charge on the batteries, run the ac's (even if not necessary). Shut off the ac's, then switch to shore power for the battery top off and fridge for hours. In the long run you may want to have a 50 amp receptacle installed and 50 amp cord long enough to use.The vacuum is a lot of amp draw, and your charger can draw a lot of power as well.

A 10 or 12 ga extension cill work fine unless it get hot, Just check the connections every once in a while. Most of your house is wired on 12 ga, and works fine, I would limit to 25 feet if possible, but I have run on 200 feet of 10 ga contractor cords. Don't recommend, but it can be done.

regular extension cord to run some appliances | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

elhajj33
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
joethesmoee wrote:
Johno02 wrote:
With 20' of 50A cable, into 25' of 30A cable (10G), plugged into 30A RV outlet with 30A Breaker. Running 1 AC, TV, vacuum, lights, and anything else I want to. Have run 2 AC at times. Have NEVER seen voltage drop below 125V. Normal is about 128V.. Unless approaching overload, voltage drop is not a problem. Of course, we have TVA power, and the river is full.

yes that's fine but not what the op asked about

I'll actually be doing that this weekend. 30A service but a 50a RV. I have a dog bone for the conversion. I'm hoping to run 1 Ac. Two would be heaven!
J-Rooster
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
It works for me!
time2roll
Nomad
Oct 09, 2015
Plug the cord into a power strip with a 15 amp breaker.
If the breaker trips reduce the load and reset.
koda55
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
Be careful of the 120 adapter. I melted 2 of them. They get very hot if you run to many items at a time.
Johno02
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
With 20' of 50A cable, into 25' of 30A cable (10G), plugged into 30A RV outlet with 30A Breaker. Running 1 AC, TV, vacuum, lights, and anything else I want to. Have run 2 AC at times. Have NEVER seen voltage drop below 125V. Normal is about 128V.. Unless approaching overload, voltage drop is not a problem. Of course, we have TVA power, and the river is full.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Oct 09, 2015
What is missing from that reasoning is voltage drop.
With AC and 1200 W charger on undersized cord the beaker might stay on simply becouse at the end of the cord the voltage will drop to less than 100V and the cord resistance will not allow current big enough to pop the breaker.
Charger will deal with such low voltage just fine, but at some point you might face replacing AC motor, what usually means whole new unit.
tahiti16
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
I do what you are talking about BUT my orange cord is a 12 gauge and I set the inverter for 15 amp input. I have even mistakenly had the AC come on and not popped the breaker, only other thing on would have been the fridge.

Large cable as short a distance as possible.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Oct 09, 2015
Beware that common orange cords are 16 gauge.
They are good for just few amps, like small leaf blower or light, but not for anything that takes significant power.
Go to HD or other hardware and get at least 12 ga extension cord or if you can find #10.
Also pay the attention to clean prongs on plugs. Even good cords will not perform better than the weakest link.
For prolonged use of RV on 20 amp supply the hospital grade outlets and cords might save you nasty surprises.
BB_TX
Nomad
Oct 09, 2015
I do that very thing at least once a year using a Hoover steam vac to clean the carpets. Never a problem in many years.
Roadpilot
Explorer
Oct 09, 2015
As Gemert mentioned, don't underestimate how much current the converter uses to charge the batteries. I would think in your MH that your inverters might run everything you mention for awhile, then as someone said, run the generator to recharge the batteries.