Itasca. Shore power.

[Vibrant93]

Thanks for taking the time to read this. My wife and I have had our 2000 Itasca Suncruiser for 8 months or so now and have officially almost figured out everything there is to know about it! Ha, how's that for confidence?! There is one thing that I do not quite understand though. This coach (35U/Ford) has a 30amp power cord yet on the power panel inside the motorhome has a selection for 50/30/20 amp service. We've figured out that the basement A/C unit has 2 compressors and that selecting the correct amperage rating for the service provided has a major influence whether or not breakers are tripped. My question. How would we ever utilize 50 amp service if the power cord into the RV isn't a 50 amp cord? We recently went to a park that had 50amp service and I plugged in using a 50 to 30 amp reducer on my cord yet was still not able to select the 50amp selection inside the RV on the power panel. Does this make sense?

[4x4van]

Although my 2004 Itasca is a 30A system with only a single ducted roof A/C, it had the option of a second roof A/c along with an EMS (still on 30A). So yes, an EMS IS available on a 30A coach, and in fact is pretty much required on a 30A coach with 2 A/C units.

[dougrainer]

To add to this discussion about the Genset AMP ratings. IF you have a Genset--and have a 50 amp RV and the Genset is a 5.5 or 6.0 0r 6.5 or 7.5 or 8.0. AND you also have a 50 amp EMS system. On Genset, the EMS amp shed system will start to shed the sequence of appliances if the RV goes OVER the amp rating of the Genset. Lets take the 8.0 genset that is actually rated at 67 amps. Once the RV goes OVER the 67 amps rating and tries to draw MORE amps than 67 amps, the EMS shed system will start to shed the selected appliances in the Shed order. That is why on Genset the EMS amp display still shows the amp draw. 10k and 12.5 k gensets will actually put out 2 phase current and disable the EMS system just like on 50 amp shore power. The EMS board knows what the amp rating is of the RV's particular Genset, because the installer sets it up on jumpers on the board. This can create problems when people replace the EMS control module and do not know to set the Genset load factor for their specific genset. Doug

[wolfe10]

usersmanual,

Thanks for the clarification. Just did not want to confuse the OP.

[usersmanual]

wolfe10 wrote:
I am confused again.

67 amps times 120 volts= 8,040 WATTS.

5500 Watt generator doesn't put out 8,040 Watts.

Onan 5500: http://power.cummins.com/content/rv-qg-5500-evap

wolf hes referring to my 8K diesel gen set I do beleive

[wolfe10]

I am confused again.

67 amps times 120 volts= 8,040 WATTS.

5500 Watt generator doesn't put out 8,040 Watts.

Onan 5500: http://power.cummins.com/content/rv-qg-5500-evap

[usersmanual]

Ed_Gee wrote:

usersmanual wrote:

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

YOUR Generator is capable of 67 Amps....and that 30A breaker you refer to is a dual pole breaker.

yes correct.its actually a 35amp breaker two pole with single throw reset
the thing was the fellow thought his generator put out the same 50amp dual pole system as his SP and it does not as mine does not either.
where he said his coach is 50 amps and so is his gen set. Agreed "" but"" like wolf said 50amp shore power is actually 100amps and 50 amp gen set is well 50 amps

[Ed_Gee]

usersmanual wrote:

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

YOUR Generator is capable of 67 Amps....and that 30A breaker you refer to is a dual pole breaker.

[usersmanual]

exactly what I was trying to tell him(them) look at the gen set itself I bet it has a 30amp breaker not a 50!!!!

[wolfe10]

rk911 wrote:

usersmanual wrote:

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

no, you're wrong or maybe confused. our current MH...a 2016 Suncruiser 38Q...is a 50-amp coach with a 50-amp cord and a 5500-watt genny capable of handling a 50-amp load. my latest response was referring to our 2000, 30-amp Suncruiser.

While I agree this is ALMOST true, am concerned it might mislead those not familiar with RV wiring, so a little clarification/RV math:

50 amp coach with 50 amp cord= 2 50 amp hots for 100 amps total available.

5500 watt genny divided by 120 volts= 45.8 amps total. Yes, it is close to being able to produce a total of 50 amps, but I don't want those not familiar with RV wiring to thing that the generator can handle anywhere close to the same load as 50 amp shore power.

BTW, I see absolutely nothing wrong with having a generator of lesser capacity than shore power.

[usersmanual]

rk911 wrote:

usersmanual wrote:

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

no, you're wrong or maybe confused. our current MH...a 2016 Suncruiser 38Q...is a 50-amp coach with a 50-amp cord and a 5500-watt genny capable of handling a 50-amp load. my latest response was referring to our 2000, 30-amp Suncruiser.

so your 5500 onan has 50 amp wiring(4 wire) from it and has a 50amp main breaker on the gen set?
seems odd my diesel pusher 8K gen set is only a 30amps Breaker

[rk911]

usersmanual wrote:

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

no, you're wrong or maybe confused. our current MH...a 2016 Suncruiser 38Q...is a 50-amp coach with a 50-amp cord and a 5500-watt genny capable of handling a 50-amp load. my latest response was referring to our 2000, 30-amp Suncruiser.

[usersmanual]

our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

means nothing- your genny is only wired to produce 30 amps
I have a 8K onan diesel and the breaker on the gen set is 30 amps

[rk911]

usersmanual wrote:

rk911 wrote:

Vibrant93 wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to read this. My wife and I have had our 2000 Itasca Suncruiser for 8 months or so now and have officially almost figured out everything there is to know about it! Ha, how's that for confidence?! There is one thing that I do not quite understand though. This coach (35U/Ford) has a 30amp power cord yet on the power panel inside the motorhome has a selection for 50/30/20 amp service. We've figured out that the basement A/C unit has 2 compressors and that selecting the correct amperage rating for the service provided has a major influence whether or not breakers are tripped. My question. How would we ever utilize 50 amp service if the power cord into the RV isn't a 50 amp cord? We recently went to a park that had 50amp service and I plugged in using a 50 to 30 amp reducer on my cord yet was still not able to select the 50amp selection inside the RV on the power panel. Does this make sense?

we had that same coach until august 2015. the panel you refer to is a std panel used across different models both 30 and 50-amp. a 50-amp version of the 35U was offered (and we should have ordered that rather than 30-amp version. in the large scheme the cost of that upgrade was minor).

you CAN use both air conditioners while on a 30-amp hookup but not much more. the panel (an Energy Mgmt System) will shed loads such as AC2, the electric wtr heater if equipped), etc to prevent an overload. it mostly worked for us. we ended up just running the water htr on LP in hot weather and killed the AC while running the microwave.

we really enjoyed the 35U and consider it the best floorplan we've ever seen including our current MH.

BINGO just what I tried to tell u in my first posts. Thanks RK911
on a side note a poster claims if it has a 5500 onan its supposed to have a 50 amp cord??
That would seem strange as the generators only produce 30 amp system

the genny on our Suncruiser was 4000-watts or roughly 30-amps. but it doesn't matter how big the genny is in terms of watts as the Suncruiser's main panel used a 30-amp circuit breaker. our current Suncruiser (2016 38q) is a 50-amp coach with a 5500-watt genny.

[dougrainer]

23hotrodr wrote:
I've never seen this EMS (energy management system) on a 30 amp coach. It is designed for a 50 amp service and automatically detects whether plugged into a 50 or 30 amp service. It cannot automatically determine the difference between whether you are plugged into a 30 or 20 amp service and you would have to manually select 20 amp if connected to a 20 amp service. It is designed to turn off certain equipment and stagger start the air conditioner compressors when on 30 or 20 amp service. Can't imagine why someone would replace a 50 amp shore cord with a 30 amp cord, except for easier handling of the 30 amp cord.

Look at your 120 volt ac breaker panel and see if the main breaker is a 30 amp single handle breaker or a 50 amp 2 handle breaker. I'm guessing it will be a 50 amp 2 pole breaker. Also, If the generator is 5500 watts, the coach is supposed to have a 50 amp cord.

I hope this helps clear things up for you. Also, you can find the wiring diagrams for your coach at the Winnebago website.

Before you make such a statement, you need to list your expertise. Intellitec makes both a 30 AMP EMS and a 50 AMP EMS. BUT, I have never seen a 30 amp RV with a 50 amp EMS system(WHY? Not needed). (I am currently a 37 year RV Tech and still am). Now, if you only have a 30 amp plug, you will NEVER be able to see or select 50 amp on the EMS system. 50 amp systems, they "see" the out of phase 120 legs and when they see that they automatically go to 50 amp and once it knows you are on 50 amp, you CANNOT select 30 or 20 on the panel. On 30 amp EMS systems, you can select less than 30 amp IF you know you are on marginal or less than 30 amp service. On most Basement airs that are on 30 amp service, either the EMS will shed the 2nd compressor if you go over the 30 amp limit, or some actually had a manual switch in a storage compartment, that you selected 50 or 30 amp service IF your RV was a 50 amp RV and they did not use a EMS system. Doug