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?

[rk911]

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.

that model does have an EMS and a 30-amp main breaker. the genny on our 35U was 4000-watts. a 50-amp version of the Suncruiser and Adventurer was offered and I wish we would have ordered that one. the cost of that upgrade was miniscule compared to the overall cost of the MH.

[usersmanual]

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

[rk911]

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.

[Romer1]

Ed_Gee wrote:
The original poster has a coach with an AC unit that requires 50A service, but only has a 30A cord. I wonder if the previous owner had changed the cord in the past? I would take a look at the AC breaker panel in the RV to see if the shore power breakers are 50A or 30A. Examining the generator/shore power transfer relay might also shed some information. I cannot understand how a RV with 50A accessories would be wired with a 30A shore power cable.
Additionally, what is the generator capable of? Is it a 50A generator with two AC lines out, or a 30A generator with just one AC hot line out? Finding the answers to all these clues might shed some light.....

A 30 amp power cord is standard for this model, however a 50 amp power cord was an option. It's wonderful what factory spec sheets tell you.

[23hotrodr]

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.

[usersmanual]

Ed_Gee wrote:
The original poster has a coach with an AC unit that requires 50A service, but only has a 30A cord. I wonder if the previous owner had changed the cord in the past? I would take a look at the AC breaker panel in the RV to see if the shore power breakers are 50A or 30A. Examining the generator/shore power transfer relay might also shed some information. I cannot understand how a RV with 50A accessories would be wired with a 30A shore power cable.
Additionally, what is the generator capable of? Is it a 50A generator with two AC lines out, or a 30A generator with just one AC hot line out? Finding the answers to all these clues might shed some light.....

I disagree .does not require 50 amps and 99% of the time especially in his year and gasser vertion the gens are always 30amp never 50 and the basement AC will run both compressors on 30 amps just have to manage the power, it most likely has a power management system of some sort
why in the world would anyone remove a 50 amp cord and install a 30 amp anyhow?

[Ed_Gee]

The original poster has a coach with an AC unit that requires 50A service, but only has a 30A cord. I wonder if the previous owner had changed the cord in the past? I would take a look at the AC breaker panel in the RV to see if the shore power breakers are 50A or 30A. Examining the generator/shore power transfer relay might also shed some information. I cannot understand how a RV with 50A accessories would be wired with a 30A shore power cable.
Additionally, what is the generator capable of? Is it a 50A generator with two AC lines out, or a 30A generator with just one AC hot line out? Finding the answers to all these clues might shed some light.....

[usersmanual]

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?

that same panel system was used on diesel pushers that had 50 amp service.You have not learned it all otherwise you would not have tried the 50-30 thinking your now getting 50 LOL