Adding 30amp receptacle to Generator ready RV..Question

[yobie]

Hey guys,
I have a generator ready rv and wanted to add a 30 amp receptacle. It is already wired but looks like its for 50 amp.

white - neutral
bare - ground
red - hot
black - hot

I do not have a 50 amp generator and just want to put the 30 amp receptacle in. Can I just cap the unused hot wire and let it be?

So basically only use neutral, ground & one hot.


Thanks!

[Golden_HVAC]

This is what I sent in a private message.

Sorry for the confusion. My buddy has a power cord from his generator to a 30 amp receptacle in the storage compartment where his factory installed power cord is located.

You need the same thing.

Here is what I would do. If you in fact do have a L530R on your generator, buy a L5-30Plug at Home Depot, along with some #10-3 SO wire. Enough to get from the generator compartment to the place where the RV plug is located.

Also buy a 30 amp RV receptacle. If you get the water tight one, it will work. If you get the type that goes into a deep metal box, it will also work, get the deepest box that it will fit into. The guy in Home Depot electrical department can show you both.

Use a 2 screw cable connector to keep the wire from removing itself from the metal box (either system). And I installed a 2 screw connector into each hole I drilled though my storage compartment walls, to protect the wire from the sharp sheet metal. You will need at least one by the generator compartment, unless you have a plan that will keep the wire safe. Use 3/4" 2 screw connectors. they have a lock ring, and 2 screws to clamp the wire in place, so it will not vibrate, or wear through the insulation.

Wire the L5-30plug to the 3 wire SO cord, green to Green, white to silver screw, black to brass screw. At the storage compartment end, the green goes to the round part of the receptacle, the next position going clockwise looking at the face of the plug is white wire (from the side with the screws, it will be green on top, white to the right, black to the left) From the front, after the receptacle is in place, it will be green on top, white on the right, black on the left. (yes it reverses, depending on the side you are looking at.)

Now with the new plug and SO wire in place, new receptacle in the back, you can use a 50 to 30 amp adapter to plug in the 50 amp cord to the new 30 amp receptalce that is hooked up to the generator all the time. No need for a transfer switch.


Fred.

[yobie]

Gau 8 wrote:
Put In a 50 amp receptacle so you can use 50A shore power. Then get a 50 to 30 amp dongle to use the gen set.

I have no need for 50 amp ability up front since I already have that in the rear. I also already have the 30 amp receptacle.

[Gau_8]

Put In a 50 amp receptacle so you can use 50A shore power. Then get a 50 to 30 amp dongle to use the gen set.

[yobie]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Wire it the same way as the older RV's where you need to unplug from shore power and replug into the genset. But you are going to be attempting to power a rig with about 1/3rd the power that it was designed for. I hope you realize it, going in. Few people have automatic awareness of how much power their rig is sucking unless they have a power meter where it can be monitored with ease.

The rewards of loading a generator to "almost where it stalls" are few. Usually the genset will let you know it does not like your duty roster by failing,

That is what I want to do just wire it up as the old ones are. I understand the difference between 50 and 30 amp as I have used both many times as well as my generator.

That is where my question comes in. Wasnt sure what to do wit the extra hot wire.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Wire it the same way as the older RV's where you need to unplug from shore power and replug into the genset. But you are going to be attempting to power a rig with about 1/3rd the power that it was designed for. I hope you realize it, going in. Few people have automatic awareness of how much power their rig is sucking unless they have a power meter where it can be monitored with ease.

The rewards of loading a generator to "almost where it stalls" are few. Usually the genset will let you know it does not like your duty roster by failing,

[Golden_HVAC]

I googled champion 3500 watt portable generator, and found that some have a L5-30R receptacle. This means buy a L5 30P (plug) and you have the adapter that pluges into the RV.

If this has 4 wires, hook it up to a stove type receptacle, if it has 3 wires hook it up to a standard RV 30 amp receptacle. Simple.

But ake sure your generator has a L5-30R receptical. it might be L14-20R or L14-30R, depending on it's design.

Fred.

[Golden_HVAC]

Hi,

WIth a magnafying glass, you can find a model number of all the plugs on your generator. Lest ssay that you find one that says 14L. This will mean something to us.

The normal 15 amp receptacles, like your house are not our concern, you will want to find a receptacle with either 3 or 4 prong on it, then read the number printed into the side of the receptical

Then you fo to the hardware store and buy a 14L P(plug) it will plug into a 14L R(receptical). Camping World sells a short cord with a plug in the end that you can plug into with the factory installed RV cord.

If you have a 50 amp power cord, and the plug on the generator is 4 prongs, then you are in luck. The plug you buy at home Depot or Lowes will have a green screw for the cround, a silver screw for the white wire, and two brass screws. Put the red or black on those brass terminals. It is all color coded, so easy - really easy.

If you have a 30 amp cord, and a 4 wire generator, then use the green ground, white netural, and either of the brass screws, it will work fine.

If you have a 50 amp cord with 4 wires and only a 3 wire generator cord, you can do two things. If you already have a 50 to 30 adapter, then wire up a 30 amp receptacle end to the plug on the generator (3 wires to 3 wires) and then plug your RV into the 50 amp end of the adapter, then the 30 amp end into your new adapter, then that into the generator.


Or (3 wire generator plug and 4 wire 50 amp RV) you could wire both the red and black to one brass terminal, the white to the silver screw, the green always goes to the ground wire.

That will do it.

If you need it all explained again, I am more than happy to help, but you will need to send me a Private Message, I will not revisit this topic..

What problem are you having with the antenna? You can get two answers for the same price here.

If you are wondering if it will work well with your new HD receiver, yes it will. The new digital channels are bascially on channels 14 - 69 of the old UHF frequencies, and the antenna will still pick up those signals.

If you are wondering why your 10 year old TV set is not picking up any signals anymore, it is because it only receives analog signals, and they are not being transmitted in the US anymore, you can still buy a digital to analog converter, it works fine. In my low signal area, I found I could get better reception if I used a good digital converter, then tuned my HD ready TV to channel #3, it picked up some more weak stations that way.

Fred.

[yobie]

Big Katuna wrote:
I assume you are saying the RV came with generator inputs ready to be tied to a genset.

Does it have a transfer switch?

Is your shore power cord have four or three prongs?

Does the RV have an EMS?.

What output does your genset have; one hot, one N (120VAC) or two hots (240)?

I assume you are saying the RV came with generator inputs ready to be tied to a genset.

Yes It was built with a generator option just without the generator.

Is your shore power cord have four or three prongs?
Our rv is a 50 amp

What output does your genset have; one hot, one N (120VAC) or two hots (240)?
I'm not running a genset i just wanted to put a receptacle up front to be able to plug my portable generator into it just like in the back of the rv.

[yobie]

wa8yxm wrote:
Short answer... YES.. the longer answer depends on how the generator is wired internally,

Generators used in RV's come in one of at least 3 configurations

Some are actually 120/240 volt generators, IF yours is like this than a volt meter will show 240 volt AC if hooked black to red If this is the case I'd put in a 50 amp outlet and use a dogbone when needed.

Some are 120 twice, in phase. this means that black to red will read zero, but either of those to white will be 120 volts.

Some are designed to have a seperate power line for a 2nd air conditoner.. These can be a might confusing.

Thks for the answer. I'm just using a champion 3500 watt portable generator. I dont plan on wiring the generator directly to the rv just plugging it in to the receptacle. All this stuff just goes over my head.

[Big_Katuna]

I assume you are saying the RV came with generator inputs ready to be tied to a genset.

Does it have a transfer switch?

Is your shore power cord have four or three prongs?

Does the RV have an EMS?.

What output does your genset have; one hot, one N (120VAC) or two hots (240)?


Wait until others chime in.

My answer would be that if the RV has two hot inputs, you would tie them together and connect them to the single hot output of the genset.

Using only one hot will leave some circuits unpowered.

[wa8yxm]

Short answer... YES.. the longer answer depends on how the generator is wired internally,

Generators used in RV's come in one of at least 3 configurations

Some are actually 120/240 volt generators, IF yours is like this than a volt meter will show 240 volt AC if hooked black to red If this is the case I'd put in a 50 amp outlet and use a dogbone when needed.

Some are 120 twice, in phase. this means that black to red will read zero, but either of those to white will be 120 volts.

Some are designed to have a seperate power line for a 2nd air conditoner.. These can be a might confusing.