Pulling more than 50 amps ?
Our park electrician says that some of the big rigs with 3 ACs and electric everything can sometimes draw more than 50A from a 50A pedestal. Truth or BS?
Forum Discussion
cavie wrote:fcooper wrote:
100 amps available....50 amps per leg x 2 legs...so answer is yes
100 amps available never came out of the mouth of a true electrician.
It would require a very precise balanced load. If one leg goes over 50 amps the breaker will trip. Period.
True. However, if L1 is providing 50 amps to its appliances, and L2 is providing 50 amps to its appliances, add up how many amps the appliances are using.
The 100 amps figure is an analogy to get the idea across to someone who knows nothing about electricity. No one ever claimed that it was a technical description of exactly what is going on.
As a Pharmacist, people ask me how aspirin prevents heart attacks. I tell them that some heart attacks are caused by platelets sticking together forming a clot that obstructs blood flow in the small vessels of the heart. (That is what platelets do, to clot off after a cut.) Without blood flow, the tissue dies. The aspirin greases the platelets so they can't stick together nearly as easily. That is an analogy. Aspirin does not cause grease to coat the platelets, but the patient gets the idea that the platelets don't clump up and block blood flow.
The 100 amp statement is an analogy that Joe Blow can grasp.
