15 amp Questions

uterep wrote:
Can I run my AC ? Can I run my AC on low and use a 1000 watt microwave ?Will run RV fridge on electricity , with the potential of running a second "bar" fridge in a outside shed .

Maybe furnace in the fall ??

Is there any device that can "boost" the amperage up to 30 ?? ( I doubt it ) but it is a standard "household" socket ...combine top and bottom plugs ??

Barely. AC on low usually means just fan, so no. Yes, Yes. Yes. No, but you can use separately.

amps = watts divided by volts.

a 1000-watt microwave will consume 8.3 amps (assuming source is 120-volts AC). that's 50% of your available amps. but depending on the load at the campground you may have less than 120-volts. at 115-volts you'd be consuming 8.7 amps.
I seriously doubt that you could use the AC with the microwave.

No AC unless it's small. MW OK, 2 refers OK, furnace OK.

There is a device that will combine the two plugs in a standard household plug. This provides more contact area. No way to get 30A.

You'll also want to monitor the voltage with a DVM as you may have low voltage. You'll be limited running multiple items including electric HW.

Also is it a 15A plug as in one of several on a 20A CB? If so then you are even more limited. Hopefully it's a 20A plug on a dedicated 20A CB. Plus if it's GFCI then you need to check the rig and eliminate any ground faults.

Whether your AC will run on just 15 amps is something you'll have to try but when we tried plugged in at home our voltage dropped to 108 which can eventually cause premature failure of our AC unit, thus we won't chance it. You have approximately 1800 watts to play with, give it a test run plugged in at home.

You can run your AC, but probably nothing else. Your AC will pull between 10-13 amps, depending upon your brand and style. Anything after that has to fit in within the total available 15 amp range. If you exceed the 15 amps, the most that will happen is, you'll pop the breaker at the service pole (plug).

We used a 15 amp service at home comfortably for many, many years. When the A/C was on, we never ran the microwave. When we ran the microwave, we turned off the A/C first. We ran the water heater on propane. The refrigerator uses about 2-3 amps when it runs, and then we had our cell phones and computers plugged in and television. We never blew a breaker.

Last Fall I took the time and expense to install a true 30 amp service just for the camper. Now we can run everything, just like at a campground.

15 amp plug is rated at 15 amp MAX
Your Roof AC will pull about 12 to 14 amps HI COOL at 95 degrees ambient. Subtract 1 amp for each 10 degrees below 95 degree ambient
Your refer will usually pull 2.8 amps (2 door RV refer)
Your POWER CONVERTER (people forget this appliance) will pull 1 to 3 amps depending on how many 12 volt appliances and lights you have on, but usually 1 amp.
Your M/W will pull anywhere from 8 to 11 amps depending on the wattage
Forget the "bar" fridge.
Remember, these are 30 amp RV's and you want to attempt to run on 50% of the needed amps to run your RV
The Compressor on the roof AC is the big amp draw. There is only about 1 amp difference between Lo fan speed and hi fan speed.
If you give me the model number of your Roof AC and the refer, I can give you exact amp draws. The refer amp draw I posted will be within .5 amp draw of what I posted (2.3 to 2.8) \
Then TV's and other items(Coffee maker/Skillets and anything that plugs into a wall receptacle add up.
On 15 amp service, it is NOT advisable to run a RV roof AC at all because you will be using all available amps just to run the AC unit. The MINIMUM required 120 breaker INSIDE the RV for a RV AC is 20 amp. Doug

CA Traveler wrote:
No AC unless it's small. MW OK, 2 refers OK, furnace OK.

There is a device that will combine the two plugs in a standard household plug. This provides more contact area. No way to get 30A.

You'll also want to monitor the voltage with a DVM as you may have low voltage. You'll be limited running multiple items including electric HW.

Also is it a 15A plug as in one of several on a 20A CB? If so then you are even more limited. Hopefully it's a 20A plug on a dedicated 20A CB. Plus if it's GFCI then you need to check the rig and eliminate any ground faults.

x2

I would say, you might be able to run your AC, if small enough. What size AC do you have? How hot will it get? How big is your rig? You will likely not be able to run anything else 120v.
- that includes your fridge. If running AC, this could be the straw that pops the CB.
- that includes your converter, which charges your battery. I hope you can leave this on as this forces your batteries to support your 12v load, without recharging. This can only go on for a day or 2, unless you have a large battery bank.

Like CA Traveler said, get a DVM. I often suggest a Kill-A-Watt (available at Lowes), plugged in constantly. You don't have to satre at it but check it regularly and if the voltage drops below 110, watch it frequently. Voltage below 108 can cause heat damage to your appliances, such as AC. There will people that will tell you it will run fine at low voltage and I will also, but the heat damage is accumulative and will cause a premature death to appluiances. While it might be tomorrow or in a couple of years, you will pay the cost for not paying attention to low voltage.

You can also look at managing your electricity. If you have to shut off your converter during the day, and the temp is low enough at night to shut off the AC, you can then turn the converter back on and switch the fridge to auto. Now your converter model comes into play. What make and model of converter do you have? The converter, over night (8-12 hour period) will only bring your batteries to an 80-90% state. This is why a DVM is important.

You really need a complete view of your 120/12 volt systems to do this, with AC during the day.

It's going to be really close for the AC. In a Dometic manual I have they show 12.4 amps for the compressor and 2.4 amps for the fan on a 13,500 unit. At 14.8 amps, that's pretty close to your limit.

for a 15,000 BTU unit it's 13.3 for the compressor and 2.0 for the fan for a total of 15.3 amps.

I don't think you'll be able to run the AC and the refrigerator/water heater at the same time unless your ac is smaller or draws quite a bit less that the one I'm referencing.

Try it at home. I have tried mine on 15amp outside plug and 20amp inside the garage. I can run the AC no problem on 20amp. I could start the fan on 15amp but not always the AC's compressor; maybe it would have worked by turning off the converter's breakers selectively.

For a 1-2 night stay you could probably turn off the breakers for battery recharge,water pump,water heater,fridge when using the AC. For a long stay it would be a bother but better than using a generator or not having AC.

Also there is never a guarantee. My wife was camping with 30amps a few weeks ago on a cold night. She started using the <15amp electric heater and campground's breaker tripped. Nobody to contact at night so it ended up being heated by propane.

it takes a lots of amps to start an a/c. I pop my house circuit with a 20 amp fuse in it. so I had my neighbor who is an electrician come over and hard wire a 30 amp service to my TT spot.