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gtnsmlr's avatar
gtnsmlr
Explorer
Sep 17, 2018

For gen techs

I'm running my 50A rv service with a Honda EU6500 connected to the 30A 240V receptacle. Everything works fine. My question is, would long term durability be improved if I switched to the110V only setting and fed the RV panel with the hot legs from the 30A 110V receptical and the 30A 240V receptical, Note: when the gen set is set to 110 only, the 240V receptical only has one leg energized.

18 Replies

  • you ask about rewiring plugs, using two plugs while in 120v mode
    to spread the load, take load off one winding

    you have inverter generator, the only windings are in the output transformer of the inverter

    the 'best' way to solve the perceived issue is to balance the loads in the breaker panel
  • MrWizard wrote:
    what else is using 120v power
    fridge ? water heater ? converter ?

    might be better to just swap some breakers around in the power center
    to balance the load
    put them on the other leg

    you have 23amps per leg in the 240v mode using the (4) wire 240v outlet

    moving circuit breakers to shift and balance your load is the best option

    you have an unbalanced load , it will still be unbalanced even on 50amp shore power

    this is NOT a generator problem

    Never said it was a generator problem.
  • what else is using 120v power
    fridge ? water heater ? converter ?

    might be better to just swap some breakers around in the power center
    to balance the load
    put them on the other leg

    you have 23amps per leg in the 240v mode using the (4) wire 240v outlet

    moving circuit breakers to shift and balance your load is the best option

    you have an unbalanced load , it will still be unbalanced even on 50amp shore power

    this is NOT a generator problem
  • DrewE wrote:
    I don't think it would make a big difference in your case in terms of durability. I would suggest using the 240V setting
    . (In theory, it could be possible to work better with an unbalanced load where one leg is more heavily loaded than the other with proper wiring of a cordset combining the two 120V outputs from the two twist-lock connectors when running in 120V mode, but errors in making or using such a cord could be problematic or even dangerous and I think the gains would be minimal in practice.)

    This is my line of thought. Currently with the 15k AC running and the gen in 240V mode on leg is running at around 75% of max load. With 0 on the other. It would seem to me, going to the 110V mode would bridge the two outputs and run at around 50% with less wear and tear on the windings in the long term.
  • I don't think it would make a big difference in your case in terms of durability. I would suggest using the 240V setting.

    The voltage switch basically controls whether the two outputs of the generator itself are wired together in series (forming a 120/240V split phase output) or in parallel (producing a single 120V output). In either case, you have a maximum of 30A that you can use from any of the hots on the twist-lock connectors. The 240V setting in my opinion makes more sense for powering a 50A RV. (In theory, it could be possible to work better with an unbalanced load where one leg is more heavily loaded than the other with proper wiring of a cordset combining the two 120V outputs from the two twist-lock connectors when running in 120V mode, but errors in making or using such a cord could be problematic or even dangerous and I think the gains would be minimal in practice.)
  • What adapter are you using now
    Imo the best option is to use a (4) wire 240v 30 amp adapter
    To a (4) wire 240v 50 amp RV plug

    Is the existing 240v plug (4) wire or (3) Wire
  • wnjj's avatar
    wnjj
    Explorer II
    For the same total wattage, the current is half at 240V which would be slightly better IMO.

    EDIT: Reading more carefully I see that there are 2 different receptacles in 120V mode. If they are in phase with each other, the RV cable neutral has to carry the total current of both of them instead of the difference between them while in 240V mode.

    If they are not it phase, it’s no different than just using the 240V receptacle except the connections are more complicated.

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