50 amp sore cord question
I want to make my 50 amp shore cord out of 6/4 soow or stw cord. When I look at the amp ratings on these two cords its 45 amps. When I looked at a 50 amp shore cord with moulded plugs at the rv su...
Forum Discussion
Kpackpackkelley wrote:
Thank you ken . I understand you i just want to make sure if i build a shore power cord the neutral can carry 50 amps not 45.
Kpack, most service centers have a somewhat balanced load center so the current in the neutral is always less than 50 amps, that is why a smaller conductor is used.
The wire part of the cable gets hot but will not melt unless very high currents, called fusing currents, are present.
The insulation is what melts at currents higher than rated, but less than fusing.
So, build your extension cord and load it heavily and take some measurements or just see how hot it feels.
Quality plugs/receptacles and the cable selected should work fine as long as the cable length is not excessive.
If you plan on making a very long cable, then you may want to drop down a wire gauge or two.
