Shore power option

[capjclark]

If you don't use the units shore power cord but plug in an extension cord from a 115V source to any RV electrical outlet, will it power the unit and maybe charge the batteries through the charger/ inverter?

[Dave_H_M]

:S

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"And furthermore (a Jacques Clouseau moment) someone who gets shocked by this can leave you standing stark naked inside a barrel"

Any lawyer would fall to his knees in ectasy representing a plaintiff

[ScottG]

Please dont do this to save a buck. It is insanely dangerous - much more so than you realize.
An adapter is less than 5 bucks and a lot less work.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Like at age 8 my older brother licking the door handle of a 51 Hudson Hornet - to see if it would stick. Problem? Great Falls, Montana. Christmas Day 1952

[wnjj]

RoyB wrote:
Amazing what some folks will do just to save $10...

A bit of an assumption there. Perhaps the OP has a missing or unusable shore power cord and just needs the battery charged with what he has on hand. Maybe it's miles to an RV supply store.

OP: If you just want the batteries charged, get battery charger and just plug that directly into the extension cord, bypassing the RV power system or jumper cables from a vehicle works too.

[rhagfo]

RoyB wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:


And doubly dangerous because the male end of the normal RV cord will also be hot.

Good point on the shore power connector having hot male blades as well... Just waiting for someone to grab them...

Amazing what some folks will do just to save $10...

Roy Ken

Someone looking for a Darwin Award!!!!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Wonderful. Feeding an RV via 14 gauge outlet wire. Sigh.

[wa8yxm]

Use of the proper adapter or adapters means you use your RV's inlet as an inlet, And can plug into 50, 30 or 15/20 amp outlets for battery charging.. I like to use a 12 ga cord for the 15 amp run.

DO NOT EVER use an outlet as an inlet. put power in via an OUTLET, NEVER do that, NEVER. Danger, Death, Destruction, Damage, NEVER DO IT.

[RoyB]

CA Traveler wrote:


And doubly dangerous because the male end of the normal RV cord will also be hot.

Good point on the shore power connector having hot male blades as well... Just waiting for someone to grab them...

Amazing what some folks will do just to save $10...

Roy Ken

[CA_Traveler]

naturist wrote:
Because doing that requires making an "extension cord" with two male ends on it, a thing that is a dangerous risk to life by it's mere existence, DON'T DO IT.

There's a reason you can't buy one like that. That reason is that sooner or later somebody is going to pick up one end, not realizing that the other is plugged in, and somebody will get electrocuted.

You want to supply power to your rig via a 15 amp circuit, buy a proper 15 amp to 30 or 50 amp adapter and plug in that way. The lives of both you and your family and all your friends are in your hands.

X2 Potentially very dangerous.

And doubly dangerous because the male end of the normal RV cord will also be hot.

[RoyB]

If you have a 30A Shore Power Cable then all you need is a $7 dollar 30A to 15A long dogbone adpater from WALMART... Looks like this


Then you plug your 30A Shore power cable into this adapter and the other of the adapter then plugs into a 10Gauge extension cord coming from your garage or house. You can use up to 50-feet of 10Gauge Heavy Duty contractor type (YELLOW) extension cord here. All three conductors have to be used... Its best to use the garage and maybe you have a dedicated 20A circuit there for an air compressor etc. This is best place to get your 120VAC with nothing else on the circuit.

I would use one of these circuit testers the first time to be sure your garage 120VAC source is wired correctly.


AS stated do not plug something in your 120VAC receptacle and plug that into the house (Two male connections)... that is called a widow maker... Guess which one is going to be the widow...

You also have a safety ground to consider as well. The trailer frame ground comes from the shore power connection which in this case would be coming from your house ground. Otherwise you cold get shocked by standing on the ground and touching the trailer frame.

Lets be safe doing all of this...

Does this make sense from some of the other posts on here commenting about not doing this...

Roy Ken

[RoyB]

When you use the proper long adapter cord to plug your shore power cable into the standard 120VAC 15A/20A house receptacle the 120vac will feed the trailer 120VAC Power Distribution Panel the same as the shore power cable source did. The only difference is you only have the 15A or 20A Service available to use.

You have to go and trip the AC breaker for any of the high wattage items and maybe only have your 120VAC receptacles turned on and most important to have the breaker for the converter/charger ON. This is what charges your battery as well as providing 12VDC to the 12VDC Power Distribution.

You can have the same question for plugging your shore power cable into your generator set. It provides 120VAC to everything but you will be limited to the wattage of the generator...

My generator is a 2KW and my converter/charger will want to draw 1KW when it is charging my batteries. So I only have around 600watts left over to run a few of my low wattage appliance...

All clear as mud huh... I am plugged into my 20A Service receptacle in my garage here all the time when my trailer is at home...

Roy Ken

[time2roll]

Use an adapter and extension to the main cord.
Then you will safely maintain charge on the battery.

[naturist]

Because doing that requires making an "extension cord" with two male ends on it, a thing that is a dangerous risk to life by it's mere existence, DON'T DO IT.

There's a reason you can't buy one like that. That reason is that sooner or later somebody is going to pick up one end, not realizing that the other is plugged in, and somebody will get electrocuted.

You want to supply power to your rig via a 15 amp circuit, buy a proper 15 amp to 30 or 50 amp adapter and plug in that way. The lives of both you and your family and all your friends are in your hands.