Forum Discussion

late_bloomer's avatar
late_bloomer
Explorer
Apr 05, 2016

50 amp surge suppressor, 30 amp rv

I have a 50 amp suppressor from a previous rv. My current rv has 30 amp service. Do I need a new suppressor, or can I use a 50 amp to 30 amp dogbone?
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Yes 30 amp plugs get fried.. This is common, Does not matter if you do it as you did or if it's a 30 amp RV into a 30 amp box.. 30 amp plugs get fried.

    Epically if you do not clean them.. Cleaning them is important.. I've fried a few myself.. I have since started cleaning before plugging in and I carry a spare plug to boot.

    Many threads around here about fried 30 amp plugs

    (MY Rv is a 50, but I also have a 30 amp cord for it which I like to use on 30 amp sites cause the cord is a superflex and way easier to wrangle than that big stiff 50)
  • wa8yxm wrote:
    If it is a portable unit... use a pair of dogbones.. (one 30-50 one 50-30) and not only will it work,,, perfectly... but these devices serve multiple functions.

    ONE is spike supression (Fast short transint high voltage) and the 50 amp unit (when used on a 30 amp circuit) is far far better at this than the 30 amp unit is.

    If it is a hard wired......

    You have two legs.. Bridge them,, The current sensors,, Put 'em both on the combined wire.. It will still work just like the above.


    This IS NOT A GOOD IDEA on our last outing, there were no 50 amp plugs, only 30; so, I plugged the 30 amp male to 50 amp femail dogbone into the 30 amp plug; the 50 amp Progressive industries surge-protector was plugged into the femail side of the 30 amp to 50 amp dog-bone; our 30 amp trailer cable was plugged into this. It all worked fine for about 4 or 5 hours, then the power went out. One of the dog bones femail plugs were fried to a crisp. We purchased a 30 amp power protector this week: lesson learned.
  • late bloomer wrote:
    I have a 50 amp suppressor from a previous rv. My current rv has 30 amp service. Do I need a new suppressor, or can I use a 50 amp to 30 amp dogbone?


    Make and model would be useful.
  • Sure thing. I use a 50 amp portable from Progressive Industries for my 50 amp fiver and thn add dog bones, in my case 2, for my 30 amp TC.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    If it is a portable unit... use a pair of dogbones.. (one 30-50 one 50-30) and not only will it work,,, perfectly... but these devices serve multiple functions.

    ONE is spike supression (Fast short transint high voltage) and the 50 amp unit (when used on a 30 amp circuit) is far far better at this than the 30 amp unit is.

    If it is a hard wired......

    You have two legs.. Bridge them,, The current sensors,, Put 'em both on the combined wire.. It will still work just like the above.
  • You can use the dogbone, possibly in combination with a 30 to 50 to plug the suppressor into a 30A outlet.

    If it's not an EMS that monitors voltage, but just a surge suppressor like a slightly glorified outlet strip surge suppressor, I'm not sure I would bother stringing together various adapters to use it. They don't provide a whole lot of value in my opinion. The EMS units that protect from overvoltage and undervoltage conditions, on the other hand, are quite worthwhile.