DIY 50 amp to 20 amp pigtail

[KnowNuthin]

I want to plug my tractors block heater into our 50 amp RV service for the upcoming winter months…

Our panel has 1 - 50 amp and 2 - 20 amp breakers… both 20 services are taken and currently used year round… (chicken heat lamps, water bowl heaters etc.)…

What I’m envisioning is a 50 amp plug with a 3 wire pigtail connected to the common, neutral and one hot leg… leaving the second hot leg vacant…

This would give me 120v 50 amp at the pigtail end… no?

This would be used STRICTLY for a 600 watt engine block heater…

Is this a bad, terrible or workable idea?

[toedtoes]

LittleBill wrote:
so do all you guys who have 15 amp circuits in your house, where your lamps are plugged in use a 1 amp circuit breaker to each individual lamp?

No, but anything that produces significant heat is put on a GFCI outlet or is connected via a surge protector with internal circuit breaker. But I admit I have a healthy fear of electricity.

[wa8yxm]

enblethen wrote:
Your 50 amp should be a double pole breaker.
I think it is a bad idea for what you are thinking.
I would suggest getting thin breaker with two 20-amp breakers and installing a new receptacle. Some call breakers, wafer or tandem.

The short answer is yes it would however there is a danger

The longer answers #1: You need not DIY you can easily adapt from 50 amp RV to TT-30 and from there to a common 15 outlet (Why they always make it a 15 and not a 15/20 I will never understand)
in fact...
Here you are

But I'd not do that

I'd use a box that lets you put a 15 or 20 (Depending on the outlet) breaker in with the 15/20 amp outlet. You need to protect the smaller wireing

Your proper adapter would look like this

50 amp plug & pigtial== Box with 20 amp breaker---15/20 amp outlet---Tractor
Or use a 15 amp breaker and a 15 amp outlet

The breaker need not be teh "Square D" type you can use a "push to reset) if you have a box with enough room.

As you surmized one black (or red) wired is NOT connected.

[LittleBill]

so do all you guys who have 15 amp circuits in your house, where your lamps are plugged in use a 1 amp circuit breaker to each individual lamp?

[time2roll]

enblethen wrote:
The lite wire becomes a fuse if you use the 50 ampere's circuit. Failure in the heater could cause wire to melt down and create a fire situation.

This could happen on a 15 amp circuit also.
Probably #18 wire in the cord.

[enblethen]

The lite wire becomes a fuse if you use the 50 ampere's circuit. Failure in the heater could cause wire to melt down and create a fire situation.

[time2roll]

No issues with 600 watts.

[Grit_dog]

KnowNuthin wrote:
My original idea is officially axed... somewhere in the back of my brain having 50a running through an extension cord didn't seem like a good idea,



Mitch's idea works too... I already have the 50a - 30a dogbone...

Remember, you're not automatically pulling 50A through your ext cord. You only have the ability to, in the scenario you mentioned. If the "load" only takes say 2 amps, or whatever, that is what the cord "experiences." The danger mentioned is the "potential" to draw the theoretical 50A of current and not blow the breaker, thus heating up and damaging the weakest link in the chain.

There are a few options, not entirely clear without seeing your sub panel, but seems the easiest and safest no brainer is get a 30-20A pigtail and not ever touch the hot side of the box.

[toedtoes]

KnowNuthin wrote:
My original idea is officially axed... somewhere in the back of my brain having 50a running through an extension cord didn't seem like a good idea, but, hey... I'm not an electrician...

I like the options presented by Dutch and Toed... it appears both of them are limited to 20a ... a much better solution...

One is more simple, the other offers the ability to close the front of my 50a box...

Mitch's idea works too... I already have the 50a - 30a dogbone...

decisions... decisions...

Any of them will work. I like the one I posted simply because it has internal circuit breakers. And it's only one connection versus the two connection points with the 50-30 to 30-20. But that's just personal preference.

I'd consider potential use off season for the adapter. Would the 50-20 or the 30-20 give you any options for use when RVing?

[Cummins12V98]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Generator/RV 50 Amp 125/250-Volt NEMA 14-50P Plug to Household 15 Amp 5-15/20R T-Blade Connector RV ...

That will do the job but I would rather have what was mentioned earlier as this will give you the 30A/120V option.

"You can buy what you need off the shelf. Get a 50a-30a adapter. Then get a 30a-20a adapter."

[KnowNuthin]

My original idea is officially axed... somewhere in the back of my brain having 50a running through an extension cord didn't seem like a good idea, but, hey... I'm not an electrician...

I like the options presented by Dutch and Toed... it appears both of them are limited to 20a ... a much better solution...

One is more simple, the other offers the ability to close the front of my 50a box...

Mitch's idea works too... I already have the 50a - 30a dogbone...

decisions... decisions...

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Build a 50 to 20 break out box. Have a 15 amp circuit breaker "in line" (or in the break out box.

My own break out box has one 30 amp (l1) and two 20 amp (l2) breakers with plugs. It is, of course, unbalanced if it is fully loaded. (i.e. 30 amps one leg, and 40 amps other leg).

[ktmrfs]

KnowNuthin wrote:
I want to plug my tractors block heater into our 50 amp RV service for the upcoming winter months…

Our panel has 1 - 50 amp and 2 - 20 amp breakers… both 20 services are taken and currently used year round… (chicken heat lamps, water bowl heaters etc.)…

What I’m envisioning is a 50 amp plug with a 3 wire pigtail connected to the common, neutral and one hot leg… leaving the second hot leg vacant…

This would give me 120v 50 amp at the pigtail end… no?

This would be used STRICTLY for a 600 watt engine block heater…

Is this a bad, terrible or workable idea?

there is a potential safety/fire issue. I'm going to assume the cord to the block heater is a 12ga cord. Now you hook this up and end up with a low resistance high current draw. The breaker won't trip till it exceeds 50A, so you could end up with 50a through a 12ga cord, NOT a good idea, it would get quite hot, maybe even hot enough to melt the insulation and start a fire.

you want the upstream breaker in this case to be a 15A or 20A breaker.

[toedtoes]

Would this work for you? It has a built in circuit breaker for added protection:
50amp to 4x 15/20amp adapter

[Dutch_12078]

Generator/RV 50 Amp 125/250-Volt NEMA 14-50P Plug to Household 15 Amp 5-15/20R T-Blade Connector RV ...

[MitchF150]

You can buy what you need off the shelf. Get a 50a-30a adapter. Then get a 30a-20a adapter. People do this all the time when plugging in their 30 or 20a only rigs..

Difference is that the rigs themselves will have their own 30-20a breaker, so it's still protected to that amount.

If you just plug right into the adapter with the 600w heater, it'll still be connected to the 50a breaker. It'll work just fine, just not pop until it exceeds the 50a breaker if something grounds out for some reason.

Good luck! Mitch