Campsite Electrical

Simplest way to check electrical at the pedestal at the campground is with a volt meter and one of those little LED testers that you can plug in to check for open ground, mis-wiring, etc. You need a 30a to 15a adapter though to check the 30a outlet with the LED tester. Surges are a different topic and can cause real damage even if everything is wired correctly.

Oaklevel wrote:
Having an issue at a campground electrical pedestal is very rare....But..... if something goes wrong, storm down line or whatever, the surge protector is well worth having & should protect your electrical system.

Oak.. I plugged into the site I'm on, Then I unplugged and called park security and had her Hubby (the park handyman) come out and put all new innards in my box. And I'm still having low voltage issues (the first time it hissed at me, bad connections, Bad inverter, Bad outlet)

This is the 3rd time its happened to me.. Last summer it was a 50 amp site and the outlet and connections were good but 5 minutes after the electrician pulled the breakers (I was cutting down to minimum power less than 20 amps per leg) they were still too hot to hold comfortably Those were two BAD breakers. (Technically one dual-ganged).

And in that park , The site is newer than this RV, and at the time the RV was 8,, So the site perhaps 5.

It seems like you are going through testing the campground outlet the hard way. Just buy a 30 amp male to 15 amp female adapter and get a voltage meter and a polarity/ground tester both with 15 amp plugs. Plug the 30 amp end into the electric box at the campground and plug each of these into the 15 amp socket on the adapter. You will immediately test the polarity and ground and you will know the voltage coming through the outlet at that moment. Which would be nice if the voltage did not vary - but it can for a number of reasons which is why you want the Surge Guard or Progressive Industries Surge/Voltage Protector.

This will not only test what you just did when you first plug it in, but while it is connected between your RV or trailer and the campground box it will keep monitoring the voltage and should that voltage drop below acceptable limits or increase above acceptable limits it will cut off power to your electric system immediately saving frying your wiring and electronics inside. This is not uncommon to occur. It also provides surge/spike protection and will blow in the event of a spike or surge from a storm, etc. cutting off the connection.

Is it worth a repair and replacement bill in the thousands to save $250 to $300 to buy a Surge Guard or Progressive Industries unit? That is a decision only you can make. I never hook up without it.

Having an issue at a campground electrical pedestal is very rare....But..... if something goes wrong, storm down line or whatever, the surge protector is well worth having & should protect your electrical system.

You got it half right, which is better than most folks do.

rwbradley wrote:
- If I use a dog bone to connect to a 50A service, there should be no danger as the master breaker will protect me from drawing too much current

True, the 30 amp breaker in your RV will protect you.. There is a very very very (I can't type that many verys) small tiny tiny chance the cord could overload but,,, Basically outside of an electronics lab, that is not possible.

- If I use a dog bone to connect to a 15/20A service, there is danger, as I could draw the full current and even try to draw more.

No, since the outlet will be protected by either a 15 or a 20 amp breaker depending on the wires behind it and the type of outlet.. Thus you will trip the supply side breaker instead of the one in your RV, but you are still fully protected.

In short, use of dogbones is safe.

And remember, a circuit breaker will NOT trip at 80% of its rating unless it is defective, worn out, or in a 110+ degree environment.

I will make testing super easy

First you need 3 items.

15 to 30 adapter, Puck style

Note: you can use a dog bone style or a round puck instead of this shape, none of this matters, Only the plug and socket matter.

I am not a fan of Wal*mart but this is the type of tester to check polarity

And finally: Something to do the job of the following:

Analog version, very easy to use

Digital version, also monitors frequency

Advanced version digital, does many things, I use one myself


Use the 3 light tester and adapter to decide if the polarity is right

use one of the volt meters to decide if the voltage is right

You can also use a multi-meter for that but alas,, They do not always have probes long enough to make contact these "We have to protect the user" days (old days they did) but the devices I liked to all come with 15 amp plugs.

Also worth mentioning is that some surge protectors monitor for low and high voltage, then disconnect if detected. I think the "SurgeGuard" disconnects RV at less than 102 and greater than 132 volts. I opted for the hardwired unit mounted in the trailer. I also have a Hughes Autoformer that boosts incoming voltage when park power is marginal.

A voltage higher than 125/ leg is indicative of an open neutral, even if your plug in tester shows neutral good.
Camp wiring layout is done in 2 ways, 'spider' or 'loop'.
In spider, each site is wired individually to the distribution panel, master breakered there for the amperage the wire to that site is rated for. A 'cheater' will not give you more amps in this layout.
In loop cabling, the master breaker is sized for the cable that serves multiple sites. vis a vis, and in then out to the next. In either, if the service pedestal is equipped with a gfci outlet, an amperage increaser device will not work
Voltage is dependent on the utility, length and size cabling to site, amperage draw at that location.
our Utilitiiy providers are permitted a 10% variable in voltage transmission, with 120v the basis. Thus, plus or minus 5% = 126v max., 114v min. at the distribution metered point.

rwbradley wrote:
Thanks for all the replies, I really wish I had taken Electricity in High School. One additional question that just came to mind.
This time, when dealing with Amperage:
- I am assuming that the circuit breakers are what protect me from drawing too much current
- I also assume that the TT should than have a 30A master breaker that will protect me from trying to draw more than 30A (from all sources inside the trailer)
- If I use a dog bone to connect to a 50A service, there should be no danger as the master breaker will protect me from drawing too much current
- If I use a dog bone to connect to a 15/20A service, there is danger, as I could draw the full current and even try to draw more. In this scenario, there is no protection (from myself) and I could damage equipment, and a Surge Protector will do nothing to help.
Again, are my assumptions correct?
Thanks

Actually, connecting to 15/20 service, everything on your RV is protected within ratings by that 15 or 20 amp breaker. But connected to 50 amp service, your power cord between dogbone and your own main is unprotected for overload conditions, which would have to be from a fault in the cord itself, or connections at either end. Plugs burn up, and their can be overheating of loose or faulty connections at the entrance.

50 amp breaker will catch a short, but there are possible problems other than shorts.