Shore power question

[Charley67]

Is it okay to plug 30 amp camper into 50 amp campground receptacle using an adapter? Is there any advantage doing so, if both 30 and 50 amp are available?

[cavie]

bgum wrote:
Yes it is OK. No advantage if you have 30 amps available.

Yes there is an advantage to use the 50 amp outlet. It is less used and the contact blades will be much tighter than the overused 30.

[Cummins12V98]

cavie wrote:

jdc1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You may have less voltage drop on the 50 vs the 30A.

Or you could have more.

There will be no up or down in voltage. Voltage drop has to do with amp draw and wire size and distance, it does not accrue at the plug.What you will have is a better tighter connection with the 50 because of less use. Always plug your 30 into a 50 if available.

Our statements were correct, just did not get into specifics as to why.

[cavie]

jdc1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You may have less voltage drop on the 50 vs the 30A.

Or you could have more.

There will be no up or down in voltage. Voltage drop has to do with amp draw and wire size and distance, it does not accrue at the plug.What you will have is a better tighter connection with the 50 because of less use. Always plug your 30 into a 50 if available.

[Sjm9911]

Charley67 wrote:
Thanks for the responses. My camper is 30 amp, and I can trip that outside breaker pretty easily.

Its not going to give you anymore power. If your tripping stuff now you need to use less stuff, lol.

[CA_Traveler]

No change, you'll just trip the inside CB.

[Charley67]

Thanks for the responses. My camper is 30 amp, and I can trip that outside breaker pretty easily.

[Cummins12V98]

jdc1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You may have less voltage drop on the 50 vs the 30A.

Or you could have more.

True!

[Bumpyroad]

could make adapters so that you could use either side of the 50 amps in case one side was overloaded.
bumpy

[MFL]

With a good adapter, no problem, and the 50A will likely have less wear, with cleaner contacts.

Jerry

[vermilye]

As others have said, it is OK to do. I have found a couple of times I needed to use the 50 amp even though there was a 30. Once when the 30 amp was wired reverse polarity, and more than once when the 30 amp connector was damaged enough that the 50 provided a more reliable connection.

[Lwiddis]

I plug into the 30. If it feels loose, I use an adapter and plug into the fifty. You are checking both first, correct?

[jdc1]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You may have less voltage drop on the 50 vs the 30A.

Or you could have more.

[Cummins12V98]

You may have less voltage drop on the 50 vs the 30A.

[bgum]

Yes it is OK. No advantage if you have 30 amps available.