While walking around Camping World today, I saw an adapter that had two make 30 amp and one femal 50 amp. Intrigued I came home to do some reading, since we are always at a 30 amp spot, would be nice to have closer to 50 amps. I see where people state that they use an adapter on one of the 30 amp for the 15 or 20 amp socket at the pedestal and that they don't work if there is a GFCI installed...why would it not work with GFCI? Here is what I am referring to: ConntekOrCamcoThanks,Cale

Save your money.Most parks the box has either 50/30/20 or 30/20The 20 amp outlet in most parks is a GFCI outlet.. These cords and boxes will trip the GFCI.Now, if you can find a site where you can plug into two 30 amp outlets (I do have a couple of those I park at) They work well.

This got started in the late 80s. RVers had 30 amp plugs but two A/Cs. Both A/Cs would run on the generator but not plugged into a 30 amp outlet. On 30 amp power yu had to select which A/C you wanted to run. Many RVer including me modified our RV by adding a 20 amp plug. The A/CS would think it was receiving power from the generator and both A/Cs would run. That was before the gfi stuff.That sure brings back memories. The mod just required an extra cord and a heavy duty refer switch like the one in the overhead cabinets. The switch was available from Fleetwood.

Hi,GFI's are required on 20 amp circuits (or less amperage) when installed in "Wet" locations by National Electric Code. Outside where a RV plugs in is considered wet, so is the garage in your home, and anything within 6 feet of a sink or washing machine. The GFI carefully measures the incoming and outgoing power on both lines. If there is ever a in-balance of more than 0.006 amps, the device is designed to detect this and trip off the power output. So if you are getting shocked, it will shut off the power very quickly! And this sort of splitter will not 'return' all the neutral power to the GFI, so it will trip it as soon as there is in-balance. You can however change some loads over to the 20 amp GFI manually. In other words run a extension cord into the RV and power some things with the 20 amp cord. It would be a pain, so I would not recommend it for anything less than a 30 day stay in one location. Most of the time when parked in 30 amp campgrounds, the voltage will drop a lot in the summer, while everyone has the A/C running. I have seen 108 volts at many campgrounds. I have a voltage booster, that boosts the voltage from 108 back up to 120 volts! You might consider one of these if you stay in many 30 amp parks. I would not bother with a 50 amp voltage booster, as 50 amp parks are normally wired with much larger wire, and do not have low voltage most of the time. Have fun camping!Fred.

Golden_HVAC wrote:Hi,GFI's are required on 20 amp circuits (or less amperage) when installed in "Wet" locations by National Electric Code. Outside where a RV plugs in is considered wet, so is the garage in your home, and anything within 6 feet of a sink or washing machine. The GFI carefully measures the incoming and outgoing power on both lines. If there is ever a in-balance of more than 0.006 amps, the device is designed to detect this and trip off the power output. So if you are getting shocked, it will shut off the power very quickly! And this sort of splitter will not 'return' all the neutral power to the GFI, so it will trip it as soon as there is in-balance. You can however change some loads over to the 20 amp GFI manually. In other words run a extension cord into the RV and power some things with the 20 amp cord. It would be a pain, so I would not recommend it for anything less than a 30 day stay in one location. Most of the time when parked in 30 amp campgrounds, the voltage will drop a lot in the summer, while everyone has the A/C running. I have seen 108 volts at many campgrounds. I have a voltage booster, that boosts the voltage from 108 back up to 120 volts! You might consider one of these if you stay in many 30 amp parks. I would not bother with a 50 amp voltage booster, as 50 amp parks are normally wired with much larger wire, and do not have low voltage most of the time. Have fun camping!Fred.Thanks, good info. But why would this item cause a GFCI to trip? You would essentially be using the 20 amp circuit as a leg on the 50 amp cheater box, with the big assumption that is how they have it wired. Sorry, I just like to know the how/why stuff works...We do stay at a lot of parks with 30 amp, the pits of finding gems in the middle of nowhere. What kind of voltage booster do you have? Is it just a big step up transformer? We have been to some parks where our Progressive Industries box cut power to the FW when the voltage was low. Thanks,Cale

calewjohnson wrote:Thanks, good info. But why would this item cause a GFCI to trip? You would essentially be using the 20 amp circuit as a leg on the 50 amp cheater box, with the big assumption that is how they have it wired. Sorry, I just like to know the how/why stuff works...You have a common neutral for the 50 amp service, so the current on the neutral from the GFI circuit will not be balanced with the load on the GFI- the 30 amp neutral will carry some of it as well.

Power Y-adapter | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

DSDP_Don
Explorer
Jan 05, 2015
We just used ours this weekend. There's some inaccurate posting here....Yes, they don't work with a GFI, but as Hershey stated, most of the older campgrounds don't have GFI outlets. Because they're older, they don't have 50 amp either.
hershey
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
You've heard all the reasons that they won't work but....I used one on my previous 50 amp MH and it served me very well. It absolutely won't work on GFI systems but most parks 10 years ago didn't have GFI shorepower.
calewjohnson
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
All, thanks for the good info. I now have a better plan, that will fulfill my needs much better.

I am going to install a power inlet, similar to a Marinco On Board Charging Inlet. Then install a single outlet in the garage. I will just need to use a short, high quality extension cord to power that single outlet, which can be used for anything in the garage. Heater, tools, etc....

Cale
Water-Bug
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2015
You will NEVER see a UL or Underwriters Labratories sticker on one of those Y devices. Anything that routinely trips a GFI won't get approval. The reason is obvious.
gotsmart
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
DrewE wrote:
gotsmart wrote:
In many cases that 20 amp GFI outlet is daisy-chained off of the 30 amp socket. I work on pedestals, amongst other jobs. When I come across a 20 amp outlet (with or without its own breaker) that is daisy-chained off of the 30amp socket, it gets removed and a cover plate is installed in its place.

If you're in a 30 amp site I recommend asking a member of the park staff if the 20 amp outlet in the site is daisy-chained or runs down to the busbar. This is especially true during the summertime if one is in a 30 amp site, the AC is running (hair dryer, toaster, yadda, yadda) and the voltage is heading south below 110V.

Too many times someone will plug into the 20 amp outlet on a 30 amp (only) pedestal and will trip the 30 amp breaker on the pedestal - and they don't know why.

If you remove the only 20A outlet at the campsite, I believe you've just created a violation of the NEC. A 20A outlet is required at every campsite with electrical power, even if there is also a 30A and/or 50A socket.

No, I don't claim that everything in the NEC makes perfect sense.

So you're saying that if you go into an older park that only has 30 amp service and you lift the hood on a pedestal and only find a 30 amp socket and breaker - that the park is in violation? There are hundreds of parks like that. In fact many of these parks started life as 20a parks from the ealy days of RVing when a shore power cable was a heavy duty 110V extension cord. These 20a pedestals are wired with what looks like stripped romex. Years later upgrade the park's main/mains for 30 amp service, replace the 20a faceplates with 30a faceplates and several 30a/20a faceplates. Did you notice what I ommitted? The faceplates got upgraded to 30 amp sockets. The pedestals still are wired from breaker to busbar with stripped romex. I get to see the scorch marks of cooked wiring on the inside of the pedestals. If you ask me how they could they have passed inspection, the laughing won't stop. At least when I rewire a pedestal I start by installing #2 stranded from the busbar to the breaker.

Why remove the 20a outlets? Because I am told to. Any other reply is above my pay grade.

calewjohnson wrote:
...
Back to what you were saying, if they have separate breakers, they have separate grounds, this item may work? I have a built in power management system, it works pretty well, it does a good job of shutting stuff off without tripping the pedestal.

Cale

That's all well and good. I'm tasked with repairing wiring hack jobs and under-volting pedestals. I replace undersized wiring and if a 20a outlet is getting higher voltage at the busbar than the 30a socket is getting at the busbar then the 20a is pulled and the 30a is moved to the 20a's spot on the busbar. If a breaker at a main has too many sites on it then those sites lose their 20a outlets (if present) in order to reduce the chance of one site taking out a row of sites. These are my marching orders.
calewjohnson
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
gotsmart wrote:
In many cases that 20 amp GFI outlet is daisy-chained off of the 30 amp socket. I work on pedestals, amongst other jobs. When I come across a 20 amp outlet (with or without its own breaker) that is daisy-chained off of the 30amp socket, it gets removed and a cover plate is installed in its place.

If you're in a 30 amp site I recommend asking a member of the park staff if the 20 amp outlet in the site is daisy-chained or runs down to the busbar. This is especially true during the summertime if one is in a 30 amp site, the AC is running (hair dryer, toaster, yadda, yadda) and the voltage is heading south below 110V.

Too many times someone will plug into the 20 amp outlet on a 30 amp (only) pedestal and will trip the 30 amp breaker on the pedestal - and they don't know why.

Where we stay 90% of the time, it is 30 and 20 amp. Each has their own breaker. The park is looking to upgrade the electrical, but they don't want to put up the cost for 59 amp er ice, since AC is only needed three days a year here. I could suggest to them to ensure the pedestals are wired such that items like this would work.

Back to what you were saying, if they have separate breakers, they have separate grounds, this item may work? I have a built in power management system, it works pretty well, it does a good job of shutting stuff off without tripping the pedestal.

Cale
DrewE
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2015
gotsmart wrote:
In many cases that 20 amp GFI outlet is daisy-chained off of the 30 amp socket. I work on pedestals, amongst other jobs. When I come across a 20 amp outlet (with or without its own breaker) that is daisy-chained off of the 30amp socket, it gets removed and a cover plate is installed in its place.

If you're in a 30 amp site I recommend asking a member of the park staff if the 20 amp outlet in the site is daisy-chained or runs down to the busbar. This is especially true during the summertime if one is in a 30 amp site, the AC is running (hair dryer, toaster, yadda, yadda) and the voltage is heading south below 110V.

Too many times someone will plug into the 20 amp outlet on a 30 amp (only) pedestal and will trip the 30 amp breaker on the pedestal - and they don't know why.

If you remove the only 20A outlet at the campsite, I believe you've just created a violation of the NEC. A 20A outlet is required at every campsite with electrical power, even if there is also a 30A and/or 50A socket.

No, I don't claim that everything in the NEC makes perfect sense.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jan 03, 2015
There used to be a company called PSRV, they sold a 90 dollar box that did magic, real magic,, I can tell you how it worked with a couple line drawings

Original circuit to rear A/C in many motor homes

Shore-Breaker box---(optional switches)----------------Air conditioner

new configuration

Shore-Breaker box---(optional switches)----Socket/Plug--breaker--Air conditioner

The 2nd breaker is 20 amp, same as the one in the park power box so if you trust the park breaker you may omit it, That said, you should include it.

This completely removes the rear A/C from the motor home power wise, since it is independent, no common anything (Save for the 12 volt control lines) the GFCI is happy as can be and lets it work without issue.

Additional feature: When I needed compressed air on the SERVICE side of the RV,,, Fired up ye old Onan, plugged in sears Huffer Puffer (150 PSI pancake compressor) and had what I needed, no need to pass hose under coach.
gotsmart
Explorer
Jan 03, 2015
In many cases that 20 amp GFI outlet is daisy-chained off of the 30 amp socket. I work on pedestals, amongst other jobs. When I come across a 20 amp outlet (with or without its own breaker) that is daisy-chained off of the 30amp socket, it gets removed and a cover plate is installed in its place.

If you're in a 30 amp site I recommend asking a member of the park staff if the 20 amp outlet in the site is daisy-chained or runs down to the busbar. This is especially true during the summertime if one is in a 30 amp site, the AC is running (hair dryer, toaster, yadda, yadda) and the voltage is heading south below 110V.

Too many times someone will plug into the 20 amp outlet on a 30 amp (only) pedestal and will trip the 30 amp breaker on the pedestal - and they don't know why.
calewjohnson
Explorer
Jan 03, 2015
Chris Bryant wrote:
calewjohnson wrote:

Thanks, good info. But why would this item cause a GFCI to trip? You would essentially be using the 20 amp circuit as a leg on the 50 amp cheater box, with the big assumption that is how they have it wired. Sorry, I just like to know the how/why stuff works...

You have a common neutral for the 50 amp service, so the current on the neutral from the GFI circuit will not be balanced with the load on the GFI- the 30 amp neutral will carry some of it as well.

Yes thanks.. HVAC posted that as well (caught on second read). I was still on the first cup of coffee, didn't catch it. Thanks again.

Cale

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Power Y-adapter

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