Set me straight...AC on 120/20amp outlet.

Which kill a watt do you currently use?

X2 on the Kill-a-watt. You can also use it to verify small appliance amp draw.

I use my RV as my home office on work from home days. I have a kill-a-watt visible and run my laptop with two big monitors and the Coleman Mach III 15k air conditioner. I'm in a 20 amp circuit off the garage and my voltage in the RV is 120-124 unloaded. When the AC kicks on it drops to 115-118 so no problem.

- Jeff

DinTulsa wrote:

My concern is that a 110/20 amp outlet will damage the unit?

No, you have it backwards.

IF.....the breaker doesn't trip AND the extension cord doesn't get hot at either end, you should be fine.

Hi,

Add an autoformer.

TurnThePage wrote:
I can rarely reach an hour of operation before the kill-a-watt is reading lower than I'm comfortable with.

Something like a Kill-a-watt that plugs into an easily viewed outlet. That's what I do. My home voltage slowly decreases too. I can rarely reach an hour of operation before the kill-a-watt is reading lower than I'm comfortable with.

DinTulsa wrote:
What is the best way to check the voltage? Do you prefer a hand held voltmeter or a plug into the outlet style?

Either is fine. At home the voltage should be fairly stable so once you are verified as good you can just get on with loading.

If you are running from your house, remember everything that runs through that one breaker in your panel subtracts from the availability of AMPS from the trailer. If you have a lamp inside the house on that same circuit, and it's drawing 5 amps, that leaves only 15 of the 20 for the trailer. So make sure there is nothing else running on that circuit.

Second, you can run your air conditioner all day and night on your current configuration, IF that is the only thing running. It's no different than running a window air conditioner on a long extension cord. BUT, you also have to remember, there is more AMP draw in your camper than what meets the eye.

Water heater on electric? Microwave? AC powered appliances? Electric clocks, phone chargers, everything .... pulls from that original 20 amps.

But, if you watch what you are running on AC power, you CAN run the air conditioner indefinitely. We did it that way for many, many years. We'd get the camper cool at home, then turn the air off so we could enjoy the camper in the evenings and sleep in it at night. But when running the television, or anything else, the air conditioner was always off. 20 AMPS gets used up pretty fast.

We finally installed two 30 amp RV plug at different spots on the property so we can move the trailer around. Now, now problems at all.

time2roll wrote:
Check voltage stays 108+ in the RV and you are good to go all day..

x2

This is important because as voltage sags, amps increase, which can cause your sockets and plugs to heat up. If they don't get scalding hot in 15 minutes you're probably ok.

What is the best way to check the voltage? Do you prefer a hand held voltmeter or a plug into the outlet style?

I never heat the water at the house. The only things that normally run are the fridge and a few lights.

Check voltage stays 108+ in the RV and you are good to go all day.
Also mind the electric water heat.
If the house battery is a bit low you may want to let them charge for a couple hours before the air comes on.