How often are campgrounds 50A only?

Look at my signature. My Minnie Winnie was a fried mess, so I traded it in and bought my Arctic Fox - If I only had the PI (Progressive Industries EMS) I'd still have the Minnie Winnie!

I have stayed in a few private places that only had 50A. They would loan an adapter but I preferred to use my own fresh connector.
I also prefer to use the 50A if using my AC - even if 30A is available. Much better capacity and the plug doesn't get as warm because 30A plugs are always somewhat worn.

cdevidal wrote:
The more I look into this, the PI protector is a really good idea. Insurance.

Whereas buying the 50AM-30AF adapter is more like "convenience insurance" :B

I bought the PI EMS protection after a few years and seeing low voltage a few times. Have since encountered bad ground, high voltage cut off, low voltage cut off. Not a lot but it does happen.

The 'insurance' to me is not necessarily to protect the RV from the cost of trouble but more to prevent the loss of use if something happens while on limited vacation time. Your boss is not giving you a replacement week when your RV burns out and you return early.

But again you don't need this to go out the very first time. Outlet tester and voltmeter are pretty good determining if your connection is good.

When we had a 30 amp coach we used our 50/30 adapter fairly frequently. In a few cases, because the site was 50 amp only, but most of the time because the 30 amp outlet was loose, cracked, or burned. For about $15 at Walmart, it's pretty cheap insurance against being inconvenienced. Now we have a 50 amp coach, and our 30/50 adapter gets used from time to time.

I've never been to a 50 amp campground only. But I have been on a couple 50 amp only campsites. When that happened, I was glad I had the 50 to 30 amp connection! I keep it in the camper all the time ... just in case. You may never need it, but the one time you do and it throws you off guard, you'll be glad you had one tucked away in your camper somewhere.

In 15 years if RVing We only have been in a 50A only site once. In that case the people at the desk loaned us an adapter, no charge.

That being said, we now own an adapter and have never used it.

...

cdevidal wrote:

FrankShore wrote:
Yes, you'll need one of these, plus get yourself a 30amp stepdown as well.

Oh? Need to also stepdown the voltage?

30 amp and 50 amp are all 110V for our purposes. The 50 amp is really 2 50 amp circuits of 50 amps each for a total of 100 amps. If the posts are all properly wired you will only get 110v from any.

cdevidal wrote:

cdevidal wrote:
Since FrankShore brought up surge protectors, here's a question I asked in another thread that didn't get answered:

I'm on 30A, and comparing the price of a standard surge protector ($70) to the Progressive Industries PT30C 30 ($270) is a sticker shock.

How commonly is this an issue? If it's very common it's worth the extra $200. But if I'm staying only at highly-rated campgrounds I don't know if the extra cost would be justified?

The more I look into this, the PI protector is a really good idea. Insurance.

Whereas buying the 50AM-30AF adapter is more like "convenience insurance" :B

You get the idea. Just like insurance they are only there in case you need them. Also like insurance you are SOL if you need it and don't have it:S.
The time to buy that adapter/insurance is before you need it not after.
Ever try to buy insurance just after the accident happened?..:@

Most 30 amp are well used and if theres a choice I always select the 50 amp and adapt it down to a 30 amp. Started this practice after smoking the 30 amp plug off just running AC on a triple digit temp weekend...