A/C on 20 amp

pianotuna wrote:
Monitor the voltage my comfort zone is 107 volts and up.

the most important factor IMHO
bumpy

My AC plugs into a 20 Amp plug on a 20 amp breaker in the camper. When I want to run AC at home I pick up power at the outlet near home breaker box, (on 15 amp breaker) and run the cord to the AC.

We don't know how long the total circuit is from distribution box to trailer inlet so advice on cord length and gauge is problematic. One of the better things you can buy for your RV'ing (and other household use) is a Kill-a-watt device. One side is connected to the power source and the KAW has a receptacle for the device needing power. Mine will measure amperage, voltage, and watts consumed. Handy thing to have around when there is a question of amounts of power needed and what is happening inside the copper wires.

FWIW, I power a table saw with a longer cord. I bought a length of 8 AWG and attached an industrial male plug to the cord. I've never measured the power consumed since it has never tripped a breaker or sagged under the biggest loads. I mention it as an example of how larger wire gauges can bring reliability to the application.

MitchF150 wrote:
Are you using any kind of extension cord to plug in? If so, make sure it's a beefy cord and not just your everyday orange one that's 50' long!

If you do, you'll lose a lot of volts and it will get hot pretty quick.

If you are connecting directly from the 30a trailer cable to the adapter to the outlet, you should be fine as long as you don't run anything more than a few lights.. No water heater on electric, no fridge on electric, no microwave and no hair dryers for sure!!

Good luck!

Mitch

50' of 16 gauge wire @120V with 18A of current is only 7V of drop, add the 1V of drop from 25' of 10 gauge RV cord and you're still at 112V, plenty. You'd only have a problem if the source voltage was 115V in which case you'd be close to the minimum for most motors. Step up a few dollars to a 12 gauge extension cord and you're under 4V of total drop which should be plenty even at 115V source.

Are you using any kind of extension cord to plug in? If so, make sure it's a beefy cord and not just your everyday orange one that's 50' long!

If you do, you'll lose a lot of volts and it will get hot pretty quick.

If you are connecting directly from the 30a trailer cable to the adapter to the outlet, you should be fine as long as you don't run anything more than a few lights.. No water heater on electric, no fridge on electric, no microwave and no hair dryers for sure!!

Good luck!

Mitch

Thanks all. I've got a wedding coming up this summer and may need the trailer for housing some of the bridal party.

pianotuna wrote:
Monitor the voltage my comfort zone is 107 volts and up.

Exactly, just because the AC will run doesn't mean that it will not be damaged by low voltage.

I turn off the breakers for the microwave and electric water heater, so they don't get accidentally used. My extension cord is short and 10 gauge. Works fine.

No problem at all

Guy