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]

AllegroD wrote:
As other have said, you can do this but there is a risk of using too much and causing a brown out. What that does is is when voltage drops below 105 volts. Some things are not affected by that low voltage, like a space heater. Many appliances are. Extension cords and hockey puck adapters can be affected. They can over heat and cause fires.

I would get a Kill-A-Watt and not go below 105 volts.

Yea, I've read that too, however I'm opting out of using the electrical heater, and will only be interested the RV when I need to use the computer or feel like using the game console, and as far as sleeping goes, well, I have lots of blankets. So far with just the monitor, one overhead light and the console running at the same time it comes to 2.96amps so estimated 5amps maybe 6amps max to account for trickle charge and other background "parasite" components. Would that cause a dip in voltage? I'm trying to keep the distance as low as possible. To get the most voltage pushed.

[Heisenberg]

Small problem for a trained licensed experienced electrician. There are several solutions here and we have read some. When I had a 30A RV I wired a cord to an outlet inside my Dolphin to use a heater on the 15A 120 volt outlet found at most RV parks next to the 30A and 50A receptacles. When I boondocked in a driveway I had the 30A on one circuit in the host house and the heater cord to another outlet on a different circuit in the host house.

[AllegroD]

As other have said, you can do this but there is a risk of using too much and causing a brown out. What that does is is when voltage drops below 105 volts. Some things are not affected by that low voltage, like a space heater. Many appliances are. Extension cords and hockey puck adapters can be affected. They can over heat and cause fires.

I would get a Kill-A-Watt and not go below 105 volts.

[86CoachmanR]

crcr wrote:

86CoachmanR wrote:

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!!

Here are several 30 amp RV extension cords on Amazon. CLICKY
They are the same heavy gauge as your RV power cord, and have the same 30 amp male and female ends.

Only problem is that where the driveway is and my dogtail is this extension won't reach the power outlet, it's hard to find the 30amp female to 15amp male extension cord longer than a foot or two, I need approximately 6 to 8 more foot of wire to reach the outlet. I'm having rouble finding an RV extension that long :h

[crcr]

86CoachmanR wrote:

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!!

Here are several 30 amp RV extension cords on Amazon. CLICKY
They are the same heavy gauge as your RV power cord, and have the same 30 amp male and female ends.

[tropical36]

Ahhh, yes, don't get me wrong, he is a decent electrician, but self taught, and doesn't really know the science/physics behind it all, and only has knowledge from what he was taught from job experience and famlily trade. So he's a self taught pro. Pro being used very loosely based on his work experience.


He's what we call, a familiarity electrician, then....
I've seen them very loose, as well and then I've seen some, that were closer to engineers. Very few without a formal education, however.

[86CoachmanR]

howdy35 wrote:
Why don't you and this "Pro" electrician just go to the box and put in an accessory 30 amp RV outlet. Problem solved and it will not cost much money. I have done that at least 3 times at my kids house. Lowes has all the parts.

This will help everyone feel better about the situation and you can run pretty much what you need to run. Good luck with your situation.

I suggested that, however this "pro" insists that it will burn all the wires I. The house...I am having an actual certified electrician coming to the house tomorrow to have this case closed...It's very frustrating. Thanks for the good luck!

[howdy35]

Why don't you and this "Pro" electrician just go to the box and put in an accessory 30 amp RV outlet. Problem solved and it will not cost much money. I have done that at least 3 times at my kids house. Lowes has all the parts.

This will help everyone feel better about the situation and you can run pretty much what you need to run. Good luck with your situation.

[86CoachmanR]

86CoachmanR wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

It is best to add up all the items and keep the wattage below 1440 on a single 15 amp circuit. I can't imagine the loads you want to run being more than about 800 watts. That would include 325 watts for the fridge.

30 amps should trip the breaker. It would be easy to test that by deliberately turning on items.

86CoachmanR wrote:
So, being that the RV has a 30A system, when plugging into a 120V 15A circuit, is it going to draw all full 30A? And will it cause that particular circuit to become hot and cause a fire? The literal only things being used in the RV 1 overhead light in the bedroom, a computer monitor and deskot computer.

Thanks, this is what I expected...For someone who claims.to be an electrician I sure am having to go through a lot of basic electrical 101 with him.

[86CoachmanR]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

It is best to add up all the items and keep the wattage below 1440 on a single 15 amp circuit. I can't imagine the loads you want to run being more than about 800 watts. That would include 325 watts for the fridge.

30 amps should trip the breaker. It would be easy to test that by deliberately turning on items.

86CoachmanR wrote:
So, being that the RV has a 30A system, when plugging into a 120V 15A circuit, is it going to draw all full 30A? And will it cause that particular circuit to become hot and cause a fire? The literal only things being used in the RV 1 overhead light in the bedroom, a computer monitor and deskot computer.

Thanks, this is what I expected...For someone who claims.to be an electrician I sure am having to go through a lot of basic electrical 101 with him.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It is best to add up all the items and keep the wattage below 1440 on a single 15 amp circuit. I can't imagine the loads you want to run being more than about 800 watts. That would include 325 watts for the fridge.

30 amps should trip the breaker. It would be easy to test that by deliberately turning on items.

86CoachmanR wrote:
So, being that the RV has a 30A system, when plugging into a 120V 15A circuit, is it going to draw all full 30A? And will it cause that particular circuit to become hot and cause a fire? The literal only things being used in the RV 1 overhead light in the bedroom, a computer monitor and deskot computer.

[DrewE]

The RV (and any other electrical device) doesn't really draw current. Current flows depending on the load applied in accordance with Ohm's law. In your case, it would probably be on the order of a couple or three amps assuming you're correct about the load (i.e. the fridge isn't on AC power, and there's no electric water heater or space heater in play, and so forth). The RV is basically just acting as a power strip in this case.

The concern here is that there's nothing preventing the circuit from being overloaded accidentally if the breaker doesn't work properly. The RV would not consume more than 30A due to the main breaker in the RV's panel. If there were a short circuit somewhere before that breaker, the current could be higher. 30A on a 15A circuit (and particularly through a possibly worn 15A socket) could cause things to get pretty warm.

[86CoachmanR]

So, being that the RV has a 30A system, when plugging into a 120V 15A circuit, is it going to draw all full 30A? And will it cause that particular circuit to become hot and cause a fire? The literal only things being used in the RV 1 overhead light in the bedroom, a computer monitor and deskot computer.

[Terryallan]

So, heres what you do. run down to Northern tool, or tractor Supply, and get you a cheap generator. say a 2000 watt. or something like that. Crank it up, and plug in. Good to go.

But he may not like the noise

[86CoachmanR]

DrewE wrote:

86CoachmanR wrote:
****** UPDATE TO SITUATION *****
I was just informed that the circuit breaker is an outdated out of code Federal Pacific Energy board, which, the landlord refuses to update. The concern is that, with these breakers known to be 1 out of 4 faulty, that the breaker wouldn't trip causing a fire...However they've been in this house for 13 years, and have used the 30A dryer on a 20A circuit...Proving my point that the RV would barely use any energy compared to that dryer...It's difficult using facts and logic to prove a point to the paranoid.

Given that it's that kind of panel--an FPE Stab-Lok panel--I think their concern is not entirely unwarranted. These breakers are known to have a very unacceptably high rate of failure, most commonly a failure to actually shut off power. There have been a good many fires associated with these panels that most any other breaker or fuse would have prevented. The proper solution, of course, is to replace the panel with equipment that is known to work reliably.

I would suggest that they talk to the landlord's insurance agent (if they can find out who they are) and make sure that they understand what panel is there. Many insurance companies will require that the panel be changed/replaced. (And yes, it does stink if you're a landlord or homeowner stuck with the bill. I did read an analysis that concluded that, on average, it's actually a savings of money to replace the panel vs. the increased risk of losing the building in a fire, just taking into account property damage.)

I agree, it's not completely unwarranted but considering that he has me using an extension cord to run all my electronics from one 15A socket pretty much negates his worries he has with the crappy FPE system. Had I known this I would have made different arrangements, but now I'm suck here for at least a month given my current situation.