Swapping 50 Amp cord for a thirty.

DrewE wrote:

rjsurfer wrote:

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
Just to clarify - is your desire to hook up to a 30a pole as well? Or, are you wanting to use adapters to run a 30a cable from a 50a pole?

The former, I would presume, would be fine if you don't have a call for the power. You don't want to run a 30a cable between a 50a pole and a 50a breaker, however, as the cord is not rated to carry that much power.

Good question......

I have a 50 to 30 amp adapter, so I would use the 50 amp twist lock on the camper to the 30 amp adapter then connect to the 30 amp recepticle in the power pole.

Is there an advantage to using the 50 amp power pole receptacle? Then I would need two 50 to 30 adapters?

Ron W.

You would be well advised to avoid putting in a 50A male to 30A female adapter at the power post, and then running a 30A cord which connects to your 50A RV, as there would not be adequate overcurrent protection for the 30A cord. This isn't quite the same situation as plugging a 30A RV into such an adapter since the RV main breaker provides protection for the cord under ordinary circumstances. (There are a few abnormal fault conditions where the cord could still be improperly protected, such as a short at the cord connection to the RV, but they are exceptionally rare, doubly so given the fault current would need to remain low enough to not trip the 50A breaker.)

Alternately, you could build (or may even be able to find) a 50A to 30A adapter with a 30A circuit breaker built into it, protecting the 30A cord that gets attached.

Sometimes the 50A receptacles in campgrounds are in better condition than the 30A receptacles, which is a decent reason to prefer that 50A receptacle.

Yep! SOMETHING has to make sure that you don't try to draw more than 30a through the 30a cable. If you are drawing from a 50a supply and feeding a 50a breaker, nothing offers that protection unless you build something else in.

If I were in your shoes I would carry a 30a cord as my 'general usage' cable, making sure to always supply that from the 30a pole. Then, in the back of storage somewhere, I would carry the 50a cord just in case I hit a circumstance in which I needed the greater power, ended up in a location where the 30a pole wasn't work and I needed to tap into the 50a (been there), or checked into a site that only had 50a service (been there too!).

rjsurfer wrote:

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
Just to clarify - is your desire to hook up to a 30a pole as well? Or, are you wanting to use adapters to run a 30a cable from a 50a pole?

The former, I would presume, would be fine if you don't have a call for the power. You don't want to run a 30a cable between a 50a pole and a 50a breaker, however, as the cord is not rated to carry that much power.

Good question......

I have a 50 to 30 amp adapter, so I would use the 50 amp twist lock on the camper to the 30 amp adapter then connect to the 30 amp recepticle in the power pole.

Is there an advantage to using the 50 amp power pole receptacle? Then I would need two 50 to 30 adapters?

Ron W.

You would be well advised to avoid putting in a 50A male to 30A female adapter at the power post, and then running a 30A cord which connects to your 50A RV, as there would not be adequate overcurrent protection for the 30A cord. This isn't quite the same situation as plugging a 30A RV into such an adapter since the RV main breaker provides protection for the cord under ordinary circumstances. (There are a few abnormal fault conditions where the cord could still be improperly protected, such as a short at the cord connection to the RV, but they are exceptionally rare, doubly so given the fault current would need to remain low enough to not trip the 50A breaker.)

Alternately, you could build (or may even be able to find) a 50A to 30A adapter with a 30A circuit breaker built into it, protecting the 30A cord that gets attached.

Sometimes the 50A receptacles in campgrounds are in better condition than the 30A receptacles, which is a decent reason to prefer that 50A receptacle.

It's my understanding that some 50 amp cables are more flexible than others - if I was considering swapping cables I would at least price out what an upgraded/flexible 50 amp cable might cost.

@50A you can run refer, water heater, and AC all at once.
@30A you will have to choose what is important to you to run on AC.

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
Just to clarify - is your desire to hook up to a 30a pole as well? Or, are you wanting to use adapters to run a 30a cable from a 50a pole?

The former, I would presume, would be fine if you don't have a call for the power. You don't want to run a 30a cable between a 50a pole and a 50a breaker, however, as the cord is not rated to carry that much power.

Good question......

I have a 50 to 30 amp adapter, so I would use the 50 amp twist lock on the camper to the 30 amp adapter then connect to the 30 amp recepticle in the power pole.

Is there an advantage to using the 50 amp power pole receptacle? Then I would need two 50 to 30 adapters?

Ron W.

Just to clarify - is your desire to hook up to a 30a pole as well? Or, are you wanting to use adapters to run a 30a cable from a 50a pole?

The former, I would presume, would be fine if you don't have a call for the power. You don't want to run a 30a cable between a 50a pole and a 50a breaker, however, as the cord is not rated to carry that much power.

I would have never thought a small fiver with one air would come with 50a service.

Is this a detachable cord? If so, you can keep it and just get a 30A cord that connects to the existing 50A connector, reserving the 50A cordset for times when you find it needed. If it's a permanently attached cord, I'd suggest leaving a short 50A cord and turning the rest of the existing cord into a sort of 50A extension cord, and then having a 50A socket on your 30A cord so you can go back and forth if needed.

If you have an electric water heater, you could not use it and the air conditioner and much else (such as the microwave) simultaneously on 30A power. Obviously in cold weather the air conditioner would not be required.

Advantage is less voltage drop (larger gauge wire and 50 amp CG outlets often have larger gauge wire feeding them.

You can certainly make a 30 male to "50 amp RV inlet" adapter to use when voltage is OK.

And, your RV may have a standard inlet in which case you may be able to find a pre-made adapter.

You could also leave the 50 amp cord coiled up and use an off the shelf 30 male to 50 female adapter.