Shore Power Question -- (15A+30A=45A)

I am scratching my head as to what it's actually for. In a decade of camping all over I have never had the need to even ask if such a thing exists. Is the theory to provide a 50A coach with power when you only have 30 and 15 at a pedestal? In my rudimentary knowledge based on the way 30a and 15a is supplied being very different to how 50a is supplied I don't see how it would work. It's like adding 2 oranges together to make a basketball. Sorry, I don't get it.

dcmac214 wrote:


How well does a dual-pigtail like this Camco item work for 15A plus 30A giving you a nominal 45A when they don't have 50A? Reviews at amazon etc are pretty good.

To answer original poster's question, for the reasons already mentioned, I think this is pretty much useless for any campground. You are better off with a "standard" 50A to 30A dog-bone.

There are a few potential situations where it might be useful, assuming you understand the limitations. A couple of examples are:

• Running both air conditioners off of separate generators that aren't running paralleled.
• At your home or another private location where you have a 30A outlet and a separate non-GFCI 20A outlet.

dcmac214 wrote:


How well does a dual-pigtail like this Camco item work for 15A plus 30A giving you a nominal 45A when they don't have 50A? Reviews at amazon etc are pretty good.

Works fine for what it is.

Does not combine power so you have 15 on one side of your panel and 30 on the other side.
Will trip a GFCI outlet.
If you are OK with these limitations then it will work well for you.

For most people a 50/30 adapter works just fine also putting the 30 amps on the full panel.

jdc1 wrote:
One question, three different answers. That's why this forum is so popular. Everyone gets their say, and they don't get ridiculed for it.

Only if something else is wired improperly. This highlights a common misconception. A lot of people think the difference between 30A and 50A service is 20A. But that's not really accurate. Really the difference is 70A. 30A service is 30A at 110V where 50A service is 2 50A 110V circuits. This is almost always implemented as a 50A 220V circuit on the power pedestal. Any time you use a 50A to 30A dog-bone though, it connects both legs together supplying the single 30A 110V circuit to both of the 50A circuits in the RV. This dual circuit adapter does not connect the 15A circuit and the 30A circuit together internally, so unless something within the RV connects them, connecting one but not the other should not result in voltage to the disconnected plug. However, as DrewE suggested, if there is a fault in the RV wiring or "true" 220V appliance in the RV, it could result in voltage on the unattached plug.

However, the biggest reason not to use one of these is that unless you have special circumstances, they almost always gain you no additional capacity. Most power pedestals that offer a 30A circuit and a 15/20A outlet aren't powered by separate circuits and the pedestal is limited to 30A not 50A. So in this case, using a standard 50A to 30A dog-bone gets you the same amount of power. Now you could, in theory, use this adapter to get power from two different pedestals, but even if campgrounds would allow this, as already suggested the required GFCI on the 15/20A receptacle would likely immediately trip.

D.E.Bishop wrote:

jdc1 wrote:
One question, three different answers. That's why this forum is so popular. Everyone gets their say, and they don't get ridiculed for it.

Read the first two pages of the post "Long Arm of the Law".

This is my first post in a long, long time and probably my last for even longer. Gary's post was a good one, answers 18 thru to the end are in left field and off topic.

Bye.

.

As other said, not a good idea. It will not work with any GFCI outlet, which you'll (properly) find most everywhere.

If there should happen to be a fault or bad connection in one of the neutral connections, you would have a potentially dangerous overload. This is especially true if the fault is in the 30A neutral and the two outlets are on the same leg of the power supply (which is not uncommon); you could have up to 45A or 50A going through the one neutral that's rated for 15A or 20A without any circuit breaker tripping or anything.

If you have any 240V devices in your RV, or if one of the outlets is miswired, having one side plugged in makes the other side hot even when its unplugged. A male plug that can be hot when unplugged is dangerous.

For these reasons, among others, this device (and practically all others like it) are not UL approved.

D.E.Bishop wrote:

jdc1 wrote:
One question, three different answers. That's why this forum is so popular. Everyone gets their say, and they don't get ridiculed for it.

Read the first two pages of the post "Long Arm of the Law".

This is my first post in a long, long time and probably my last for even longer. Gary's post was a good one, answers 18 thru to the end are in left field and off topic.

Please come back sometime in the fUTURE with some "MORE" informative information. ;)

Older campgrounds have the 15 amp and 30 amp on the same leg of power source. The unit in question normally have a disclaimer about this.
50 amp rigs are specified the feed to be 120/240 four wire.

jdc1 wrote:
One question, three different answers. That's why this forum is so popular. Everyone gets their say, and they don't get ridiculed for it.

Read the first two pages of the post "Long Arm of the Law".

This is my first post in a long, long time and probably my last for even longer. Gary's post was a good one, answers 18 thru to the end are in left field and off topic.