Forum Discussion

cross_country's avatar
Aug 01, 2015

30 amp adapter

A well spoken and polite lady arrived at the office to proclaim that the site she had taken would not run the air conditioner.

Office personnel informed her that the site provided only 15 amps which would most likely not run an air conditioner.

The lady was soon to come back to the office exclaiming that she could still not run the air conditioner; even though her camping friend next door lent her a 30 amp adapter.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    I could make a political statement here but will not.

    Clearly the lady had a 1/4 amp brain.
  • Chris Bryant wrote:
    She obviously needed a 50 amp adapter.


    Beat me to it. :B

    I think there are a LOT more people who don't understand this than we might think.
  • Golden_HVAC wrote:
    I heard a report of British campgrounds and those in Europe are normally only supplied a 7 amp circuit for the campers over there.


    That's 7 amps @ 220 - 240 vac / 50 Hz, not 7 amps @ 120 vac / 60 Hz ... BIG difference. :R

    World Electrical Standards

    I don't know that I would ever want to camp with limited shore power. 30 amps is small enough. Anything smaller, and I would rather be dry camping. . .


    Although I'd normally use campsite 30 amp service when available we typically pull well below that maximum rating even when running A/C simply by managing our power draw. If we want to temporarily use another high draw device we simply dial back the A/C thermo so the compressor kicks off, then dial it back up when we're done ... as long as the unloaded source voltage is reasonably close to a nominal 120 vac and the run to the power source isn't excessively long I can easily power what I need to in the camper, including A/C, with just 15 amp main service.
  • I heard a report of British campgrounds and those in Europe are normally only supplied a 7 amp circuit for the campers over there. I don't know that I would ever want to camp with limited shore power. 30 amps is small enough. Anything smaller, and I would rather be dry camping. . .

    Normally I only use the solar power anyway, unless it is warm, and then I will want a 30 amp circuit to run the A/C. The A/C should use about 1,200 watts on a moderate temp day, while it can use upwards of 1,500 watts on a hot day. If the power into it is only 105 volts on a hot day, that can be a little over 15 amps just for the A/C.

    HAve fun camping!

    Fred.
  • cross country wrote:
    A well spoken and polite lady arrived at the office to proclaim that the site she had taken would not run the air conditioner.

    Office personnel informed her that the site provided only 15 amps which would most likely not run an air conditioner.

    The lady was soon to come back to the office exclaiming that she could still not run the air conditioner; even though her camping friend next door lent her a 30 amp adapter.