50 amp RV outlet
I have a 240 vac 50 amp plug for a welder a previous owner had installed in my garage. I just checked the plug. I have 2 load lines a common wire and a ground wire. Is there any reason I could...
Forum Discussion
Bobbo wrote:wnjj wrote:
The more heavily loaded side pulls down below 120v and the other side goes up. As items blow open, the mismatch is greater until the lightest loaded side goes open circuit. The heavily loaded side will never see more than 120v.
You are correct, if you assume that everything, literally EVERYTHING, on the dead leg blows. If anything, anything at all, keeps pulling current, the other leg does see 240v. A lot of stuff that plugs in, in this day and age, are rated for 100v to 240v and 50hz to 60hz. Those items will keep pulling current. I don't think it is safe to assume that the first leg will completely blow out and the second leg will be saved. But, I don't usually deal in absolutes. It seems much safer to me to say everything in the RV is at risk than to say that half of the RV will be safe. It may, or it may not be.
That's not quite right. Based upon past discussions I know DrewE knows his stuff, but got it reversed in this case. :) Lower impedance means lower voltage across that impedance and higher across the high impedance ones. If some of the loads on the high voltage leg blow, the impedance and therefore voltage across those remaining loads increases which continues to lower the voltage across the other leg. So one side will only see decreasing voltage unless all loads go away on the high side after which the low side sees nothing. Nevertheless, this can still be damaging the some devices that do not like low voltage (e.g. A/C).
