HELLO ALL. MY WIFE AND I ARE NEW TO THE RV WORLD THIS HAS BEEN A DREAM OF OURS FOR SOME TIME. RECENTLEY WE BOUGHT A 2006 TT AND I HAD BEEN TOLD BY SERVERAL PEOPLE (IN THE RV WORLD) THAT I WOULD NEED A ELECTRICAL ADAPTER TO CHANGE MY 30 AMP TO 50 AMP SO I COULD USE THE MICROWAVE WHILE RUNNING THE AIR. SO I BOUGHT THE ADDAPTER AT WM. AND SURE ENOUGH I AM PLUGED INTO THE 50 AMP PLUG AT THE CAMP GROUND. AND SURE ENOUGH 90% OF THE TIME IT WORKS GREAT. BUT MY PROBLEM IS THE OTHER 10% IT SEEMS LIKE ITS ALWAYS LATER IN THE DAY OH AND BTW WE ARE IN TEXAS SO WE HAVE HAD OVER 100 DEGREES MOST EVER DAY. BUT AROUND 3-5 DURING THE HOTEST PART OF THE DAY WHILE TRYING TO USE THE MICROWAVE AND ROOF AIR IT WILL TRIP THE 50AMP BREAKER ON THE POLE NOT INSIDE MY TT. SOME RESEARCH I HAVE DONE SAYS THE DIRECT SUN LIGHT ON THE BREAKER BOX AFFECTS THIS, ALSO WHEN I GO OUT TO TRUN IT BACK ON THE BRAKER IS VERY HOT. WHILE THIS IS NOT A GREAT PROBLEM IT IS VERY FRUSTRATING. CAN ANY ONE HELP? THANK YOU

First you need to realize that the simple adapter you have does NOT magically change the 30 amp service to 50; it simply makes it possible for you to draw your ~30 amps from ONE SIDE of the 50 amp service......which I'm guessing would be 25 amps.If there is an actual 30 amp service available, you would be better off to use it instead of the 50 socket with an adapter.Depending on what size A/C you have, I think what you report is likely perfectly normal and to be expected under the circumstances. Just don't use any other high draw appliance along with the A/C.There are others on here who likely will explain this in much greater detail.....taking several pages to do so while giving you details you don't need and pointing out why my simplistic explanation really isn't good enough. P.S. Your messages would be MUCH easier to read if NOT in all caps......and with a little white space included.

50 to 30 AMP-I always turn off the Air Conditioner when using the microwave to avoid blowing the breaker fuse.

Hi, welcome to the RV world.People on forums pretty much hate using all caps; its considered shouting.50A service on the pedestal is TWO 50 A breakers and is a better source to power your 30A RV.Im surprised you are popping it and not your rv breaker.You can not reliably run the ac and microwave at the same time. When you can and the breaker doesnt pop the compressor is probably not running.

Since you have a 30 amp trailer, you should not be tripping the 50 amp park breaker with the adapter. The 50 amp breaker is truly two separate hot legs with 50 amp capability each. With the adapter, you are using one of the 50 amp hot legs. So if you exceed 30 amps pull on the trailer, it should trip your trailer 30 amp breaker, not the park 50 amp breaker.I would guess it is a bad or weak park breaker, particularly since the breaker is "very hot". Ask the park management to check it out. You might also leave the cover open for a little extra air flow.And yes, if you have a choice of both a 30 amp outlet and a 50 amp outlet on the same pedastal, the 50 amp outlet with the adapter is the better choice even though you still only have 30 amps available due to your trailer 30 amp breaker.

Moved to Tech Issues from Forum Help and SupportAdminRV.net

TRIPING 50AMP BREAKER.. HELP | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Jul 18, 2015
Vulcan Rider wrote:
BB_TX wrote:
The 50 amp breaker is truly two separate hot legs with 50 amp capability each.

If that is true, why is it not called 100 amp service ?
Because you could pull (near to) 100 amps without overloading it, right ??

Given this, however, the answer to the original question would be:
The campground breaker is defective or is wired wrong and feeding more than one outlet.
Because it's a 120/240V 50A 4 wire 3 pole service and it's called 50A because of the higher voltage of 240V.

It can and does support any combination of both 120V and 240V loads as long as neither hot exceeds 50A.
mchero
Explorer
Jul 18, 2015
Ok How about trying this.....

Turn off ALL 120VAC breakers inside the RV
Now plug the cable in. Does it still trip the 50amp breakers?
SoundGuy
Explorer
Jul 18, 2015
BLAYLOCK65 wrote:
RECENTLEY WE BOUGHT A 2006 TT AND I HAD BEEN TOLD BY SERVERAL PEOPLE (IN THE RV WORLD) THAT I WOULD NEED A ELECTRICAL ADAPTER TO CHANGE MY 30 AMP TO 50 AMP SO I COULD USE THE MICROWAVE WHILE RUNNING THE AIR.

What you're not understanding is that so-called "50 amp service" is in fact 100 amp service because it's 50 amps across two legs which are each capable of providing up to 50 amps, a total of 12,000 watts, whereas 30 amp service is just 30 amps across one leg, for a total of 3600 watts - BIG difference. Secondly, when you use a 30 amp female > 50 amp male adapter so you can plug your trailer which is wired with 30 amp main service into "50 amp" campsite service you're in fact only drawing from one of those 50 amp legs AND you're limited to a maximum draw of 30 amps. No wonder this doesn't work properly when you're running your A/C and then attempt to also run the microwave - you're exceeding the limits of your source power. To solve this, when you want to use the microwave simply adjust the A/C thermostat so the compressor temporarily kicks off and remains off until you finish with the microwave, then readjust the thermo so the A/C can resume cooling your rig. It's called energy management. ;)
john_bet
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2015
Ok OP, you pretty much hit the nail on the head when you said the pedestal and the 50 amp c/b were hot. Sounds like they are in direct sun and they will get HOT from the sun which will effect how they operate. This is because they work on thermal heat generated from pulling current thru them plus the thermal heat of the sun. I run into this problem many times when I worked as an industrial electrician and the panels were mounted on uninsulated walls with metal siding facing the sun. JMHO.
Dtank
Explorer
Jul 18, 2015
Vulcan Rider wrote:

P.S. Your messages would be MUCH easier to read if NOT in all caps......and with a little white space included.

Most important part of the reply by "Vulcan Rider"!!:W

Some/many of us with old eyes won't bother to read the/your post
(I didn't).

And....ALL CAPS is considered SHOUTING...:(

Can live with that....but no paragraphs are a deal killer..:R

.
wolfe10
Explorer
Jul 18, 2015
Yes, most likely a CG breaker/outlet issue.

BUT, if this occurs in different parks, I would sure check your 30 to 50 adapter, your shore power cord and the wiring to ATS and from ATS to RV breaker box.
KD4UPL
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2015
Likely the campground breaker is worn out, defective, whatever. If you're tripping the 50 at the pedestal and not the 30 in your RV then the problem is with the pedestal.
Kit_Carson
Explorer
Jul 18, 2015
smkettner wrote:
FOR BEST RESULTS PUT THE FRIDGE AND WATER HEAT ON PROPANE ONLY.
This is what we do and it works for us.
MrWizard
Moderator
Jul 18, 2015
its 50 amps on two legs, 6000w on each leg 12,000w total
but a MAX of 50amps 6000w on either leg

a 30 amp service is One hot leg of 30amps aka 3600w, so there is a very large difference between a 50amp RV and a 30amp RV

now a 30amp RV using a 50amp adaPTER is only using (1) 50amp leg, but the RV still has 30amp main and can only use a max of 30amps
the advantage is the 50amp breaker and larger wire feeding it will allow for less voltage drop on the hot leg feeding the RV

you still have to turn off any large draw appliance to use another large draw appliance
Put A/C on fan.. Not cool too use the MW or hair dryer etc,,
in HOT weather turn off water heater or put it on LP aka propane, electric heating elements use lots of power, so does a Keurig coffee maker, or an induction plate cooker like a "nu wave"
living in an 30amp RV means using power management
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jul 18, 2015
RV Park 50A breaker hot & tripping before your trailer 30A main breaker means RV Park 50A breaker is weak, loose wiring, worn out connections.

With 30A trailer you can only pull 30A MAX regardless of being plugged into a 50A receptacle.

Have RV Park maintenance change out 50A pedestal breaker OR plug into 30A receptacle

Also minimize your electrical demand when it is hot weather by running fridge & water heater on propane OR turn off A/C when running microwave