Power Y-adapter

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.

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

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.

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.

Save your money.

Most parks the box has either 50/30/20 or 30/20

The 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.