There is nothing wrong with having 2 GFCIs in series for safety or technical reasons. The only that will happen is when there is a ground fault, you can't predict which one will trip. Lots of info. on the internet about this. A good source is the mike holt electrical forum (for electricians, engineers, etc.). If the pedestal GFI trips, it could be due to leakage current in the shore power cord and/or the 20 amp GFCI is old and tired.
One downside could be increased voltage drop depending on how the pedestal is wired from it's supply source. If there's only one 30 and 20 amp on a pedestal in an older CG, it's likely fed by only a 120 volt 30 amp feeder as the NEC only allowed for a demand factor of 3600 watts for a 30/20 amp pedestal, thus a 30 amp feeder. Drawing 50 amps could cause a significant voltage drop. Nowadays pedestals are usually loop-fed with a heavy feeder (like 200 or 300 amps) and much less likely to be an issue. And as westernrvparkowner said, you could trip a 30 amp breaker back at the distribution panel that you have no access to.
The first thing I would do is measure the voltage at the pedestal. If it's rather low to start with, it's only going to get worse, and maybe a lot worse. Keep in mind too, that if running an AC unit in the summer and the voltage goes down, you'll draw even more current and that adapter may not help at all. Don't want to damage the AC either. Isn't one reason to have a 50 amp service to run a 2nd AC? How's that going to work with that adapter?
I wouldn't doing this sort of thing without an EMS. As mentioned, I think it's better to into load management mode. A generator would be a good thing to have for some situations if you have the space and $$ for one.
If you're heading to an older and unfamiliar CG, you just don't know what you'll find. The photo is from one of our trips last year. They had removed the 20 amp recept's. plus the pedestals were downright scary looking. They were all like that. We were at another older CG this year and the pedestal was 106 volts before even plugging in (plus had an open ground). The EMS kept tripping and we had to try 2 more sites to get usable voltage. No way this adapter would have worked at either CG.
A few years ago I read a post about a guy who called himself and electrician was going to make up his own home brew adapter to be able to plug into 3-4 adjacent pedestals to make up a 50 amp service. Despite everyone saying no, he was adamant it would work. Wish I could find the post...
One downside could be increased voltage drop depending on how the pedestal is wired from it's supply source. If there's only one 30 and 20 amp on a pedestal in an older CG, it's likely fed by only a 120 volt 30 amp feeder as the NEC only allowed for a demand factor of 3600 watts for a 30/20 amp pedestal, thus a 30 amp feeder. Drawing 50 amps could cause a significant voltage drop. Nowadays pedestals are usually loop-fed with a heavy feeder (like 200 or 300 amps) and much less likely to be an issue. And as westernrvparkowner said, you could trip a 30 amp breaker back at the distribution panel that you have no access to.
The first thing I would do is measure the voltage at the pedestal. If it's rather low to start with, it's only going to get worse, and maybe a lot worse. Keep in mind too, that if running an AC unit in the summer and the voltage goes down, you'll draw even more current and that adapter may not help at all. Don't want to damage the AC either. Isn't one reason to have a 50 amp service to run a 2nd AC? How's that going to work with that adapter?
I wouldn't doing this sort of thing without an EMS. As mentioned, I think it's better to into load management mode. A generator would be a good thing to have for some situations if you have the space and $$ for one.
If you're heading to an older and unfamiliar CG, you just don't know what you'll find. The photo is from one of our trips last year. They had removed the 20 amp recept's. plus the pedestals were downright scary looking. They were all like that. We were at another older CG this year and the pedestal was 106 volts before even plugging in (plus had an open ground). The EMS kept tripping and we had to try 2 more sites to get usable voltage. No way this adapter would have worked at either CG.
A few years ago I read a post about a guy who called himself and electrician was going to make up his own home brew adapter to be able to plug into 3-4 adjacent pedestals to make up a 50 amp service. Despite everyone saying no, he was adamant it would work. Wish I could find the post...
RoyB wrote:
This is a special adapter that connects two 30 amp outlets to a 50 amp outlet. By using adapters, 15 amp outlets can also be used. If two 30 amp outlets are used, you could get up to 60 total amps into you 50 amp service RV. This is not the normal 100 amps capability but better than only 30 amps.
Please NOTE the two two HOT pins will be feeding separate legs on the RV two separae 50AMP Electric ZONES in the trailer.
Like mentioned above you can use an adapter on one of the 30A MALE PLUS to adapt to the 20AMP Service plug.
You can find sources on-line for a molded version cheater cord like shown here...
As long as the rules are followed by keeping both HOT wires separated this idea is safe to use...
What you don't want to ever happen is having one MALE side plugged into a power source and it presents AC power to the unplugged MALE SIDE plug. This would be a dangerous situation. There should not be a way for this happen with a proper setup using the two 50-AMP SEPARATE ZONES in the RV 50AMP Distribution panel.
Usually speaking if you can order one from a well known suppplier like AMAZON it will be safe to use... Ordering one from home made EBAY source might be risky...
Roy Ken
I may be missing something but I have never seen a breaker box with 2 30 amp receptacles. Wouldn't that be necessary foe that adapter to work?
This is a special adapter that connects two 30 amp outlets to a 50 amp outlet. By using adapters, 15 amp outlets can also be used. If two 30 amp outlets are used, you could get up to 60 total amps into you 50 amp service RV. This is not the normal 100 amps capability but better than only 30 amps.
Please NOTE the two two HOT pins will be feeding separate legs on the RV two separae 50AMP Electric ZONES in the trailer.
Like mentioned above you can use an adapter on one of the 30A MALE PLUS to adapt to the 20AMP Service plug.
You can find sources on-line for a molded version cheater cord like shown here...
As long as the rules are followed by keeping both HOT wires separated this idea is safe to use...
What you don't want to ever happen is having one MALE side plugged into a power source and it presents AC power to the unplugged MALE SIDE plug. This would be a dangerous situation. There should not be a way for this happen with a proper setup using the two 50-AMP SEPARATE ZONES in the RV 50AMP Distribution panel.
Usually speaking if you can order one from a well known suppplier like AMAZON it will be safe to use... Ordering one from home made EBAY source might be risky...
Roy Ken
Please NOTE the two two HOT pins will be feeding separate legs on the RV two separae 50AMP Electric ZONES in the trailer.
Like mentioned above you can use an adapter on one of the 30A MALE PLUS to adapt to the 20AMP Service plug.
You can find sources on-line for a molded version cheater cord like shown here...
As long as the rules are followed by keeping both HOT wires separated this idea is safe to use...
What you don't want to ever happen is having one MALE side plugged into a power source and it presents AC power to the unplugged MALE SIDE plug. This would be a dangerous situation. There should not be a way for this happen with a proper setup using the two 50-AMP SEPARATE ZONES in the RV 50AMP Distribution panel.
Usually speaking if you can order one from a well known suppplier like AMAZON it will be safe to use... Ordering one from home made EBAY source might be risky...
Roy Ken
