Can I hook up to a house from a 30A plug to a 15A circuit

[86CoachmanR]

I have an 1986 30A class A and am a full time RV'er and have been on campgrounds regularly but recently have been "Driveway mooching" with family.

My question is this, with the 30A male dogtail connected to a 30A female to 15A male adapter, can I safely plug into a 15A outlet with this setup?

I'm only looking to run a small LED LCD Monitor, a 120v Electric space heater PlayStation 4, Desktop computer, and the interior lights. Not all at the SE time of course. At most the monitor will be operating with either the computer on or the game system and maybe one lightbulb on.

I've had the motorhome plugged into aunt's house on a 15A garage circuit with the space heater, monitor, game system, and 1 light on at the same time for about 3 weeks. She is moving so I'm hopping over to another family members driveway. However they are concerned with running the 30A to 15A adapter plug through their circuit saying that it will cause a fire.

If I've done this at one house already, with no issues, no trips or anything, is it safe to say that I will not run into any issues here? By the way this scenario is running off of a split circuit board not the main one.

Thanks in advance, sorry for the lengthy post!

[86CoachmanR]

cmcdar wrote:
Perhaps the 'electrician' knows all of this info. very well.

Maybe he just does not trust the ability to resist the temptation to exceed promised electic usage.

No amount of 'internet knowledge' is going to pursuade a professional.

Use your propane and house batteries. Purchase a portable solar panel set up to replenish your house batteries.

This way you are beholding to no one.

Yes, that is one option however that costs money to which I don't not have at the moment. But he is a self taught uncertified pro, and I have plenty of practical electeician knowledge between my military and RV experience, Im just unfamiliar with the semantics of it all. He believes that because it's a 30A system that it's using 30A constant...Which is fR from it. I can go without the electrical heater, I'll take the hit from propane bills, however I need to be hooked up to shore line power at the moment. Thanks for your insight, highly appreciated!

[cmcdar]

Perhaps the 'electrician' knows all of this info. very well.

Maybe he just does not trust the ability to resist the temptation to exceed promised electic usage.

No amount of 'internet knowledge' is going to pursuade a professional.

Use your propane and house batteries. Purchase a portable solar panel set up to replenish your house batteries.

This way you are beholding to no one.

[86CoachmanR]

pianotuna wrote:
GFCI is not a surge device. It won't trip from an overload, only from a ground fault.

15 amps should not be run at more than 12 amps continuously. Translating that to watts means you can use any combination of devices that total up to 1440 watts.

I run oil filled type heaters that have switches so I can reduce the load. It is best to measure each device with a kill-a-watt meter.

I carry #12 cords for running from residential outlets.

Thanks this helps! So would a high grade surge protector work? I'm just trying to put my relatives mind at ease at this point. I've don't the math and I know everything is safe, I've had this setup run with no problems, I.e. wires heating up, while running the heater even on high while connected to shore line 15amp power, and for 3 weeks at that.

[pianotuna]

GFCI is not a surge device. It won't trip from an overload, only from a ground fault.

15 amps should not be run at more than 12 amps continuously. Translating that to watts means you can use any combination of devices that total up to 1440 watts.

I run oil filled type heaters that have switches so I can reduce the load. It is best to measure each device with a kill-a-watt meter.

I carry #12 cords for running from residential outlets.

[86CoachmanR]

If i hook up to a GFCI 15Amp socket, and something causes a surge, isnt the GFCI going to trip first, therefore saving the actual circuit breaker from tripping?

[86CoachmanR]

coolmom42 wrote:

86CoachmanR wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I have a 50 amp coach and when visiting some friends I have to plug in to their 15/20 amp circuit. This allows us to run one AC unit/or electric heater and our lights and TV. If we need to run the microwave, I turn off the AC for a few minutes. I also put the water heater on propane as well as the refrigerator and make sure that my inverter/charger is set to low charge.
Since you are just using an adapter the draw of a heater will not cause your 30 amp power cord to overheat, as you found out with three weeks at your other location.

Thanks, this is what i figured, owning an RV necessitates that one understands basic and intermediate electrical theory and math, and the relative at hand is an Electrician, and I am sure that his professional knowledge is making him paranoid to the worst case scenario.

NEVER let this person do any wiring for you. He clearly doesn't understand how current works.

who? rgatijnet1? or the family member in question? Im guessing the latter?

[86CoachmanR]

Also i have the original dogbode that came with the RV and would be using that adapter whenever he decides to let me hookup to the house power, I am currently running an extension cord from the house, into a strip, with my electronics hooked into that, I am not hooked up to any shore line power yet.

[coolmom42]

86CoachmanR wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I have a 50 amp coach and when visiting some friends I have to plug in to their 15/20 amp circuit. This allows us to run one AC unit/or electric heater and our lights and TV. If we need to run the microwave, I turn off the AC for a few minutes. I also put the water heater on propane as well as the refrigerator and make sure that my inverter/charger is set to low charge.
Since you are just using an adapter the draw of a heater will not cause your 30 amp power cord to overheat, as you found out with three weeks at your other location.

Thanks, this is what i figured, owning an RV necessitates that one understands basic and intermediate electrical theory and math, and the relative at hand is an Electrician, and I am sure that his professional knowledge is making him paranoid to the worst case scenario.

NEVER let this person do any wiring for you. He clearly doesn't understand how current works.

[86CoachmanR]

coolmom42 wrote:
If the circuit can run a hair dryer, it can run a space heater. Maybe not much else at the same time, but it will work. I do it all the time when the trailer is not used much, just to keep the moisture out.

DO get a the heaviest gauge extension cord you can find, and as short as will work. DON'T leave it coiled up with one loop over the other, that holds in heat (not likely a problem in the winter.) DO get THIS TYPE of adapter, which is much sturdier than the short straight plug in versions.

Explain to your friends that the camper only pulls as much current as it needs. Just because there is a 30 amp supply does not mean it will use 30 amps. Current is a draw on demand, not a constant supply. Voltage is the constant supply, so the current can get there.

Yes! This is what i was trying to explain to him, that its a 30A capacity system, not a constant 30A demanding system, I did all the math and provided that I use at most 10.5A out of 15A which is well below the 75% max constant use...OH I forgot to mention the 15A socket im plugged into is a GFCI socket, which will protect the house wires from any damage. Its his electrician mind thinking of the worse case scenario and making him a bit paranoid.

[coolmom42]

If the circuit can run a hair dryer at 1000-1500 watts, it can run a space heater. Maybe not much else at the same time, but it will work. I do it all the time when the trailer is not used much, just to keep the moisture out.

DO get a the heaviest gauge extension cord you can find, and as short as will work. DON'T leave it coiled up with one loop over the other, that holds in heat (not likely a problem in the winter.) DO get THIS TYPE of adapter, which is much sturdier than the short straight plug in versions.

Explain to your friends that the camper only pulls as much current as it needs. Just because there is a 30 amp supply does not mean it will use 30 amps. Current is a draw on demand, not a constant supply. Voltage is the constant supply, so the current can get there.

FYI--to get the max current you are pulling, divide the watt rating on the appliance by 120 volts. Your heater at 750 watts will pull 750/120 = 6.25 amps.

Many items have an amp rating stamped on them. Add up all the amps you will use at the same time.

Your RV has a 30 amp supply so you can run a bunch of stuff at once, INCLUDING the air conditioner, which pulls the most on startup. Most everything else can run just fine on the 15-20 amp supply.

The worst thing that will happen is you trip a breaker.

[86CoachmanR]

artman wrote:
If he is an Electrician then I don't think anything good we say will change his (assuming) mind.

Yes, but facts are facts, I get what youre saying but, this is also a man who wont give out his wifi password because he thinks he will run out of internet...:R

[86CoachmanR]

only other appliances on that circuit is a very small coffee pot and a small night light. As for the heater, Im assuming this, I know its a no no to assume with electricity, but as per the manual this heater is supposed to only use max wattage on the highest setting, It most likely uses 1500W on start up, but I usually power down all my other electronics while it kicks on, 90% of the time the heater is on alone.

[artman]

If he is an Electrician then I don't think anything good we say will change his (assuming) mind.

[artman]

What else in the house is on the same breaker ?

Depending on how the heater is designed it could pull full power just not as often so being at half makes no difference.

Did you measure the AMP draw our assume it was half max power ?

[86CoachmanR]

crcr wrote:
We've safely done it many times in our RV driveway next to the house when cleaning up or loading up our TT. The 15/20 amp circuit has no problem running the AC, though once DW started running the vacuum cleaner while the AC was on and tripped the circuit breaker. I asked her not to run anything else when the AC is on.

Just be smart, as someone said, don't use an electric space heater, use your built in propane heater for heat. And if running the AC, don't run anything else extra at the same time.

Also, do NOT use a household or even a construction type extension cord. Go from the RV power cord to the dogleg adapter to the 120V outlet. If you need an extension cord to reach power, buy an RV extension cord. I always carry one of those in the RV anyway.

Everything ive read so far says that a 10G extension cord is more than sufficient, ive never read anything about an RV Specific cord. Im just curious as to the difference, I can google it but would rather get your personal experience on the matter. Also, If the space heater i running at half of max 1500W power, is that really an issue? Im just trying to wrap my head around the details as the wiring diagrams included with the RV are a bit out of my league of understanding. Thanks again for the fast replies!!