50 Amp service question
My new travel trailer has 50 amp service and two air conditioners. When running both air conditioners the draw is 43 Amps does that mean I’m almost maxed out??
Forum Discussion
Skipg wrote:
My new travel trailer has 50 amp service and two air conditioners. When running both air conditioners the draw is 43 Amps does that mean I’m almost maxed out??
Not even close if the RV is properly wired YES if it is not.
What's the difference
30 amp service is like this Hot-120V-Neutral That's all folks (There is a 3rd wire the safety ground)
50 amp is 4 wire hot1-120v-neutral-120v-Hot2 and safety grond
I call it 50 amps at 240 volts divided
Properly wired means hot1-ac1-Neutral-Ac2-Hot2
Several other things are also divided between 1 and 2
WHY: well it's a voltage loss issue. but I don't want to type the full course today. Take my word for it please that this reduces voltage loss and makes life easier and less expensive for the electrician and park.
But it also means you can eventually use every one of those 50 amps TWICE (Practically impossible but can be done in theory) So if you are properly balanced 43 amps is about half your power.
On the other hand after the install of an inverter.... I found Camping World had moved both A/Cs to the same power leg. I fixed it.- Sounds like there is more to the story.
OP doesn't know what 50amp service is but knows the air/cons are on one leg?
Plus as mentioned, 43 amps is way more than 2 air/con units should be pulling. - What is giving you a reading of 43 amps? 43 is way too much for 2 A/C's only. Should be 30 or less.That sounds like total amprage with other things running. 2 A/C's are not usually on the the same leg. Yes you are almost make out. At 50 amps the breaker will trip.
- Startup on each is probably 13-15 amps and running at 8-10 amps each. If you are seeing 43 amps, could you be counting the electric element in the water heater and the charger in the inverter?
time2roll wrote:
There's the question we need an answer to. All else is pure speculation, with no data.Skipg wrote:
What is telling you 43 amps?
My new travel trailer has 50 amp service and two air conditioners. When running both air conditioners the draw is 43 Amps does that mean I’m almost maxed out??- The amp designation is for the highest voltage. Hence your 120/240V RV is 50A at 240V = 12,000 watts. Few RVs have 240V appliances so it's common in RV land to think of the power as 2*120V*50A = 12,000W.
My home has a 200A service which is also 120/240V so that's 200*240 = 48,000W or 48kW. And I have a mixture of 120V and 240V loads like all homes. jdc1 wrote:
And that 43 amps is probably on start-up.
Correct about 13amps running.- 43 amps is more than two air conditioners.
How much on the other side or is this a combined reading? - Having two AC's on one leg is not so uncommon. I know on my 96 Vogue(not a cheap rig in its day) the main breaker panel is divided into loads that operate on the inverter and loads that don't operate on the inverter. This configuration may be more common in motorhomes than other rvs.
- If both ac’s are on one leg and everything else is on the other you should be ok as long as you’re plugged into a 50 amp post. The question I have is what happens when you’re limited to 30.
