First: I know this has been discussed in detail....Hi, I am a new travel trailer owner and saw this in other threads but wanted clarification. We have a 2014 Starcraft AR-One 16 BH. It is a 30 AMP trailer. I was told by a guy who works in camping world that I just needed an adapter to be able to plug into a 50 amp tower. We bought the adapter in case we came to a place that had only 50 amp. We were camping this weekend and there was only 50 amp. I just didn't have the warm fuzzy feeling that I connect to it, although I had seen in these forums that it should be no problem with the dogbone adapter and that the trailer would only draw 30 amps.I just read through my starcraft manual (worthless---a one-size fits all manual full of "if so equipped" statements). It says in bold letters to connect to 30 AMP power only.So, I'm confused. Is starcraft just covering that butts in case something happens or do some trailers really not have the capability to operate with 50 amps, or don't have the appropriate circuit breaker?

You should not have a problem using a 50 to 30 amp adapter.

If your starcraft has a 30amp main breaker on your panel, then you are fine. Anything over 30 amps will trip that breaker. If, for some strange reason, you don't have a 30 amp main, then don't use it. My friend's coleman popup has a 30 amp plug that has no main breaker. Just a 20 amp for his ac and 15 amp for his outlets/converter. In reality, he could draw 35 amps on his 30 amp cord if he is connected to a 50 amp outlet.

Don't sweat it. Starcraft probably has it written, "Connect shore power cord only to 30amp 120V receptacle". That is a two-fold admonishment: only 120V (not 240V) and for full functionality of the trailer 30 amp service is required (not your garage 15 A circuit). Here's what happens when you use your 30 A adaptor on a 50 A pedestal: There are four wires to the 50A pedestal receptacle. Two of these wires are 120V powered, one neutral and one ground. Your adaptor connects to one leg of the power, one neutral, and one ground. Your RV's 30 amp load center will limit the draw of any electrical devices to 30 amps (not really that precise as the main breaker has it's own specification but accurate enough for this discussion). I would suggest you buy two things, a handheld multimeter and a 120V circuit tester that has the small lights and will alert you to potential power source problems. Both of these can be had for less than $10.

You'll be fine with the adapter. I think the manual is doing a cover our rear end type of disclosure. Reasons why is below but probably won't make much sense.I'll probably get beat up for this because I'm not sure I can adequately express what I'm trying to say. But In simple terms the only difference between a 30 amp hookup and a 50 amp hookup is the shape and number of slots on the plug. The plug by itself does not limit the amount of electricity that can flow through it. The circuit breaker that feeds the plug is what limits it to 30 or 50 amps. Let me try this a different way as it suddenly came to me that this might make more sense. This is hopefully a very simplistic easy to understand analogy. Picture your RV as a big empty cardboard box with an air conditioner sitting on top of it. Now you want to run that air conditioner so you go to Home Depot and you buy an extension cord and plug it in. This in essence is your 30 amp hookup.Now you're still hot so you buy a second air conditioner and put it on top of the box. You go to Home Depot and buy a second extension cord and plug it in. Now you have a 50 amp hookup.DISCLAIMER HERE: No you cannot really just plug two Home Depot extension cords in and you have a 50 amp hookup, I'm just trying to convey a mental picture. :)Now instead of two cords going to the RV, picture that they both go to a 50 amp plug in the power pedestal for people to plug into. If you notice on your adapter there is an extra blade on the 50 amp side of the plug. Think of this extra blade as the second extension cord that you used for your second air conditioner. All your adapter does is lets you plug into the 50 amp outlet, but it never connects the second extension cord anywhere. So essentially you have one extension cord powering your RV and the adapter has disconnected or unplugged the second cord at the wall.

ChooChooMan74 wrote:If your starcraft has a 30amp main breaker on your panel, then you are fine. Anything over 30 amps will trip that breaker. If, for some strange reason, you don't have a 30 amp main, then don't use it. My friend's coleman popup has a 30 amp plug that has no main breaker. Just a 20 amp for his ac and 15 amp for his outlets/converter. In reality, he could draw 35 amps on his 30 amp cord if he is connected to a 50 amp outlet.That's a bit misleading. 50A service is 240v service (two 120v legs) the adapter picks off one of those two legs. The main breaker on your panel only protects from an overload in the rig. Believe me, plug a 120v appliance into a 240v circuit and the sparks will fly!Use the adapter in confidence and read this for more info.

Already asked--30 to 50 amp | Good Sam Community

TubaPete
Explorer
Jun 02, 2014
For those not intimately familiar with electrical circuits, 30A and 50A are little more than labels, I.E. a 30A circuit rarely draws a full 30A, a 50A will not force more electricity into a 30A circuit than it can handle.

If you have the right adapter and the plug fits the receptacle, you shouldn't have a problem. If you do have a problem it is likely outside the scope of someone unfamiliar with circuits.
hmknightnc
Explorer
Jun 02, 2014
smkettner wrote:
Plugging any 30a RV into 50a service with the proper adapter is fine in all conditions.
As for the manual I believe that is a minimum 30a to be able to operate the accessories as expected.
You are still limited to 30a by your main breaker. If the cord itself shorts out it will still trip the 50 amp breaker at the pedestal.

Exactly
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2014
If you use a 30 to 50 amp dogbone there is a small chance (think one in the entire population of the world, 2 at most) chance that you could get a partial short in your 30 amp cord that would cause damage and not trip the 50 amp breaker.

This is offset and further reduced by several facts, one of which is that the cord is rated for 30 amps in a WALL, and it's in free air. which gives it greater heat dissipation ability. The 30 amp breaker inside your RV will protect you.

HOWEVER: Owner's manuals are proof read by LAWYERS who's motto is "Cover your .... Rear exposure" and thus. that is why they give useless warnings.
ChooChooMan74
Explorer
Jun 01, 2014
jmcgsd wrote:
ChooChooMan74 wrote:
If your starcraft has a 30amp main breaker on your panel, then you are fine. Anything over 30 amps will trip that breaker. If, for some strange reason, you don't have a 30 amp main, then don't use it. My friend's coleman popup has a 30 amp plug that has no main breaker. Just a 20 amp for his ac and 15 amp for his outlets/converter. In reality, he could draw 35 amps on his 30 amp cord if he is connected to a 50 amp outlet.

That's a bit misleading. 50A service is 240v service (two 120v legs) the adapter picks off one of those two legs. The main breaker on your panel only protects from an overload in the rig. Believe me, plug a 120v appliance into a 240v circuit and the sparks will fly!

Use the adapter in confidence and read this for more info.
Where did I say something misleading. I use a 50a to 30a adapter on my rig, so I know how it works. All I said that there are a handful of campers out there that DO NOT HAVE A MAIN BREAKER. On those campers, I wound not advise to use a 50a to 30a adapter because you could potentially overload the cord.
TXiceman
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2014
Horsedoc wrote:
Of all the years we have been out, I guess I have never seen a service post with 50 amp only. Wow!

Where we are now has 4 prong 50 amp and two 15 amp 120 volt plugs with circuit breakers...no 30 amp plug.

Ken
Horsedoc
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2014
Of all the years we have been out, I guess I have never seen a service post with 50 amp only. Wow!
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jun 01, 2014
MFG Disclaimer....CYA Legalese.
time2roll
Nomad
Jun 01, 2014
Plugging any 30a RV into 50a service with the proper adapter is fine in all conditions.
As for the manual I believe that is a minimum 30a to be able to operate the accessories as expected.
You are still limited to 30a by your main breaker. If the cord itself shorts out it will still trip the 50 amp breaker at the pedestal.
lawrosa
Explorer
Jun 01, 2014
Plugging to 50 amp is beneficial at times...

1. My 30 amp plug in at the campground had an open ground. So I plugged into the 50amp with the pigtail adapter.

( If there was no 50amp I could have plugged into the 20amp. Or I could have asked for a repair person to fix thier socket.."" good luck with them fixing it day of stay though..LOL""" )

2. Was at a site and so many were using the a/c the voltage drop for the campground was horrible. Was running at 100volts at times. Kind of a brownout condition. I said no way. I went out and hooked to the 50amp with no issues with power fluctuations..

Now when I am camping I hook to the 50amp if its available before the 30amp. Most of the older campsites have bad electrical fluctuations..
jmcgsd
Explorer
Jun 01, 2014
ChooChooMan74 wrote:
If your starcraft has a 30amp main breaker on your panel, then you are fine. Anything over 30 amps will trip that breaker. If, for some strange reason, you don't have a 30 amp main, then don't use it. My friend's coleman popup has a 30 amp plug that has no main breaker. Just a 20 amp for his ac and 15 amp for his outlets/converter. In reality, he could draw 35 amps on his 30 amp cord if he is connected to a 50 amp outlet.

That's a bit misleading. 50A service is 240v service (two 120v legs) the adapter picks off one of those two legs. The main breaker on your panel only protects from an overload in the rig. Believe me, plug a 120v appliance into a 240v circuit and the sparks will fly!

Use the adapter in confidence and read this for more info.