Forum Discussion

Tizi's avatar
Tizi
Explorer
Oct 08, 2014

What is this plug for?

This receptacle is in the compartment where by 30 amp shore power cord is stored. What is it for?

10 Replies

  • The other end of that outlet should be your genny. You fire up the genny and plug your shore power cable into it.
  • Any Lance owner with a onan genny knows what that is comeon.
  • Yup, what NRALIFR said ^^^

    It's an outie and not an innie.

    Solar is connected to the DC voltage side of the camper this plug is the AC side.
  • NRALIFR wrote:
    stevenal wrote:
    If this is really wired as an inlet, either for shore power or a generator; get it rewired. Energized prongs on the plug (male) needed to plug into this thing are not a good idea. Use a real inlet rather than the receptacle pictured.

    Alternatively, it may just be a way to daisy chain another RV. Plug your TC into shore power and plug your travel trailer into the TC.


    I think you're misunderstanding what the receptacle is for. If the camper has a built in generator, the receptacle (not the power cord) is the OUTPUT from the generator, and it's power is fed back to the camper by plugging the shore-power cord into it. That is exactly the setup my TC has. No transfer switch is needed, as the camper can only be plugged into one power source at a time: either shore power or generator power.

    It's a simple, safe, and common setup.

    :):)


    I am pretty sure this must be the correct answer. My camper is wired for generator, but does not have it installed. I am wondering if I can use this to supply Solar power to the RV?
  • stevenal wrote:
    If this is really wired as an inlet, either for shore power or a generator; get it rewired. Energized prongs on the plug (male) needed to plug into this thing are not a good idea. Use a real inlet rather than the receptacle pictured.

    Alternatively, it may just be a way to daisy chain another RV. Plug your TC into shore power and plug your travel trailer into the TC.


    I think you're misunderstanding what the receptacle is for. If the camper has a built in generator, the receptacle (not the power cord) is the OUTPUT from the generator, and it's power is fed back to the camper by plugging the shore-power cord into it. That is exactly the setup my TC has. No transfer switch is needed, as the camper can only be plugged into one power source at a time: either shore power or generator power.

    It's a simple, safe, and common setup.

    :):)
  • If this is really wired as an inlet, either for shore power or a generator; get it rewired. Energized prongs on the plug (male) needed to plug into this thing are not a good idea. Use a real inlet rather than the receptacle pictured.

    Alternatively, it may just be a way to daisy chain another RV. Plug your TC into shore power and plug your travel trailer into the TC.
  • Our toy hauler was set up that way with 50A service. It was easy to run the built in generator and power the house or shop tools off that plug.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    I would fire up your generator and use this pictorial to measure the 30AMP RECEPTACLE PINS and see what you read.

    It might also be a user add-on coming from a high wattage INVERTER if you have one installed.

    It is most likely intended to be able to plug your 30AMP Shore Power cable into it to power up your your 30AMP Trailer.


    Roy Ken
  • If you have a built-in generator, then that's the AC output from it. You plug your shore power cord into it to power the camper. I prefer this setup to an ATS as it's one less thing to malfunction.

    If you don't have a built-in generator, I'd say it's part of the pre-wiring for one and is not functional now.

    :):)
  • Generator plug in would be my guess. In place of an auto change over many RV's use a plug to connect your shore power cord.