Forum Discussion
Bumpyroad
Oct 07, 2014Explorer
Bobbo wrote:
There are 2 hot legs at 120v, 50 amps, each. They are out of phase with each other, so if you test from one to the other, you get 240v, 50 amps. There is a neutral that tested against either of the hot legs gives you 120v, 50 amps. There is a safety ground that measures exactly the same way as the neutral.
So, you either have 240v with 50 amps available, or you have 120v with 100 amps (divided between 2 legs) available.
FOR THE OP:
It sounds like there was a problem with the neutral wire to the BIL's outlet and they were getting 240v through a line that should have been 120v. If one of the hot wires was swapped with the neutral wire, you would get 240v through 1/2 of the RV's circuits, and 120v reverse polarity through the other 1/2 of the RV's circuits. That is exactly what it sounds like happened to me. The reverse polarity would not have caused a problem, but the 240v would have burned out whatever was on that circuit, leaving the items on the other circuit untouched.
the OP said it was a 50 amp RV. lets drop the discussion of a 30 amp plug which only confuses the matter. I think Bobbo got it right.
bumpy
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