Electrical hook up question

myredracer wrote:
30 amp seems like the only way to go. If for some reason there are no 30 amp pedestals at a cg, all you need to do is use a 30 to 15 amp adapter on the end of the 30A cord and go into energy conservation mode. At home you just need to use the same adapter to keep your unit plugged in if you want.

If using a 20 amp receptacle, you really should be using a 20 amp rated #12 gauge extension cord to the source but I doubt many, if any would in a cg. As long as you plug just one appliance like a toaster or coffee maker in, you'd be okay, but if you were trying to plug in more than that in your trailer, you could end up burning up a 15 amp cord. Many extension cords for 15 amps are only 16 gauge (15A = #14 ga.) and not capable of a continuous 15 amp load.

However, if the 20 amp breaker in the pedestal is GFCI, which many (most or all?) are and you have a GCI receptacle in your trailer, the two won't work together in series. You can find info. on this by googling such as:

GFCI on pedestal

But what RV has a 20 amp service in them?

Related tip: Never plug your cord into the pedestal unless the breaker is turned off. The converter inrush current will cause pitting on the contacts eventually leading to resistance high enough to burn out a plug or receptacle. You can hear a snap, crackle, pop when you plug in live and in the dark, also a flash. That's why you'll often find a pedestal breaker turned off when you get there.

Thanks for the tip about turning the breaker off before plugging in, I never considered that before.

To add to your post... I had a plastic burning smell last trip out while the A/C was running at the same time as a heated blanket (yes I get the irony in that) I shut-down the A/C and opened the windows and left the blanket running for my wife. The smell was still there. I turned off her blanket and went to bed. Middle of the night, burning smell again. The only load should have been the fridge and the battery charger. I found the fuse box very hot to the touch. I unplugged the shore power and disconnected the battery positive in the middle of the night. After driving home I took the fuse box apart and found the entire neutral bar destroyed. Melted plastic, burnt wiring. I tore it all out and found that the main shore power neutral wire had a slight split in the insulation and corroded the wiring. Eventually the resistance got too high and we nearly burned-down our trailer. I'm just glad I choose to react rather then ignore... my kids sleep 3 feet away from that fuse box.