Understanding 50A in my RV
I understand there are two legs, each carrying 50 Amps to the RV but I'm having trouble understanding what gets serviced by L1 and what gets serviced by L2 of the 50A service and why are there two leg...
Forum Discussion
Most countries in the world use 240v to power everything. The 240v uses 1/2 of the amps to power anything than an equivalent 120v circuit would use, so you are reducing the amperage draw by doing it that way. Also, you don't need a Neutral wire. Both wires to the outlet are Hot wires, and maybe a Ground wire. A 50 amp circuit has 50 amps at 240v, or 12,000 watts.
The US/Canada does it differently. We use a 120v/240v system. We have the same two Hot legs as everyone else, but, we have a "center tap" than comes in as the Neutral. (It is also tied to Ground voltage at your power entry point.) Now, on our system, we need the same two Hot wires as everyone else, and maybe a Ground, BUT, we also need a Neutral wire. We can wire for either 120v (use one Hot wire, either one as they are interchangeable for this purpose, and the Neutral), or 240v (use both Hot wires, but no Neutral), easily. You just alternate legs when wiring for 120v so you don't overload one leg. When we wire for 120v, we have 50 amps of power, or 6,000 watts ON EACH LEG. That totals the same 12,000 watts you get from the 50 amps of 240v power, if you choose to wire for 240v. Note that a 4 pin RV outlet has, well, 4 pins. It provides both Hot legs, the Ground, AND the Neutral. That means your RV can pick whether it wants to use the power as two 120v circuits, or as a single 240v circuit. Or, some rigs do both. Some higher end rigs have a 240v clothes dryer.
Why does the US/Canada do it differently than the rest of the world? Because, we can. It would have been just as easy to only use 240v here, then you wouldn't have, or need, two legs.
(And, the 50 amp 120v/240v RV outlet is identical to the 50 amp 120v/240v dryer outlet in your house. It is wired exactly the same.)
The US/Canada does it differently. We use a 120v/240v system. We have the same two Hot legs as everyone else, but, we have a "center tap" than comes in as the Neutral. (It is also tied to Ground voltage at your power entry point.) Now, on our system, we need the same two Hot wires as everyone else, and maybe a Ground, BUT, we also need a Neutral wire. We can wire for either 120v (use one Hot wire, either one as they are interchangeable for this purpose, and the Neutral), or 240v (use both Hot wires, but no Neutral), easily. You just alternate legs when wiring for 120v so you don't overload one leg. When we wire for 120v, we have 50 amps of power, or 6,000 watts ON EACH LEG. That totals the same 12,000 watts you get from the 50 amps of 240v power, if you choose to wire for 240v. Note that a 4 pin RV outlet has, well, 4 pins. It provides both Hot legs, the Ground, AND the Neutral. That means your RV can pick whether it wants to use the power as two 120v circuits, or as a single 240v circuit. Or, some rigs do both. Some higher end rigs have a 240v clothes dryer.
Why does the US/Canada do it differently than the rest of the world? Because, we can. It would have been just as easy to only use 240v here, then you wouldn't have, or need, two legs.
(And, the 50 amp 120v/240v RV outlet is identical to the 50 amp 120v/240v dryer outlet in your house. It is wired exactly the same.)
My hot tub and water pump are both 240V with NO NEUTRAL.
yup because it is pure 240V and not using it as 120V. your kitchen range will be 240V with a nutral as it nees the nutral to tap 120V off the one leg for the controls. any pure 240V heating element or motor doesn't utilize a nutral as the split phase acts like a nutral in thoes aplications.
