30A or 50A Choice

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Unless I am using the tongue test to see if the circuit is live, 50A service is my choice. I would chose it either in the coach I am looking to purchase, or in the site I am looking to set up in. It offers much more flexibility.

Thank you Western.. Best laugh I've had all day since I know what that test is (I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING IT FOLKS Not even on a flashlight battery).

I would choose a 50 amp RV and a 50 amp Rig. and if I had known about it before I got there one with an Intelletec EMS. I know it is more to go wrong but on a 30 amp site it lets you run everything.. Just not at one time. (It handles the shutting off and turning on of selected loads)..

WHY choose 50.. Well
20 amp. One A/C if you are lucky and nothing else is on or the water heater or the microwave or the house electroics (TVRadio) and all this provided the batteries are full up.

30 amp.. One A/C and the water heater OR the microwave and house electronics if it's a good site. But never 2 A/C's at the same time. I've been on 30 sites were even one A/C was pushing it.

50 Amps.. All you can eat.

RobWNY wrote:
Here's some food for thought. We have a 5th wheel with a 50 amp system. When we tried to make reservations at a KOA near Pittsburgh last summer, we were denied because they only had 30 Amp sites left when we were going to be in the Pittsburgh area. Even though we don't have a washer/dryer or a second air conditioner so there would be no extra draw than what a 30 Amp camper would pull, our camper is wired in case we were to add those things. We have a 30 Amp to 50 Amp dogbone to make the pedestal connection when necessary and explained all this to the campground owners, but they still would not let us book a site. From what I've been told, many KOA campgrounds are going to this policy and other campgrounds will likely follow this business model in the future.

Maybe older KOA. If they were worried about that then you wouldn’t want to be there anyway. Chances are they are experiencing low voltage when all the 30 amp sites are running their AC’s on probably too small supply wires. That alone could increase amps through too small a wire resulting on burned up underground supply.

Here's some food for thought. We have a 5th wheel with a 50 amp system. When we tried to make reservations at a KOA near Pittsburgh last summer, we were denied because they only had 30 Amp sites left when we were going to be in the Pittsburgh area. Even though we don't have a washer/dryer or a second air conditioner so there would be no extra draw than what a 30 Amp camper would pull, our camper is wired in case we were to add those things. We have a 30 Amp to 50 Amp dogbone to make the pedestal connection when necessary and explained all this to the campground owners, but they still would not let us book a site. From what I've been told, many KOA campgrounds are going to this policy and other campgrounds will likely follow this business model in the future.

I'd choose the 50 amp camper, and I'd choose the 50 amp campsite.

We camped with our previous TT on a 50 amp campsite and with the dogbone adaptor, had no problems with a 30 amp trailer.

We currently have a 50 amp 5er now, and it's currently plugged into a 30 amp power source at home now. I've not installed a 50 amp service yet.

The difference between the 30 and 50 usage? So far, really ... nothing. We've not had to run both air conditioners on the new 5er yet at all. We always were aware of our power usage on all of our 30 amp TT's, so power management is just a way of life for us. So, even though we have a 50 amp camper, being plugged into the 30 amp service is no different than when we were at campgrounds with 50 amp service.

Big Katuna wrote:
No reason to go with a 30ARV.

Sure there are reasons.....Not everyone wants or needs a 30' or 40' RV, and when your down around 20' to 25' or smaller, most will be 30 amp. 50 amp will not be an option.

TX heat? 50
2x air conditioners... 50

Mostly off-grid... maybe 30 but would not avoid 50.
No reason to specify 30 if 50 is available.

No reason to go with a 30ARV.

A 50A RV can do anything a 30A RV can do but not the other way around.j

BB_TX wrote:
Since you are in Texas, as I am, I would recommend an RV with 50 amp and two A/Cs.

X2^^. In addition, what a lot of folks don't understand is that 50 amp service isn't just 50 amp service. It's two legs/phases of 50 amp service capable of supplying 100 amps total to your RV. There's a HUGE difference between that and single-phase 30 amp service.

Rob

Another way to think of it: the wall socket in your house is most likely protected by a 15A breaker. If you plug in a 1A phone charger to that socket does the charger get damaged?

badsix wrote:
what about this, if your R/V is setup as 30AMP.and you plug into 50amp with adapter you could overload your 30amp system before the 50 amp breaker would kick. CAN THIS HAPPEN?
Jay D.

If you mean will your 30 amp main breaker in your RV trip before the 50 amp at the pedestal, the answer is yes. If you mean will the 50 amp service somehow cause your 30 amp breaker to trip, the answer is no. Electricity is drawn by your appliances, not pushed by the service. Connecting your 30 amp RV to a 50 amp pedestal connection cannot harm your RV.