50 amp to 30 amp & Surge Protector

[RvNewbieFl]

I noticed a few places on my route only have 50amp service available... I bought a "dog-bone" (50 amp to 30 amp adapter) however, I was curious if my 30amp surge protector will still function properly? And does it then just connect into the adapter?

[RvNewbieFl]

This is going to sound stupid... but it's honest stupid.. so here goes... I'm originally from Kansas... where we know and help our neighbors and your "word" is all that's needed...Not saying there's no crime... I'm sure there is... but it wasn't until I moved to Florida... that i really even thought about it... seems to be alot of theft here... I always had the attitude that if someone stole something... they obviously needed it more then I did... However i also don't like driving my boat back without trailer lights for one example... After having 2 different adapters stolen from my truck... I finally started locking up the 3rd one... it wasn't till I moved to Florida that I had ever locked my doors or even took the keys out of my car... I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore...
I refuse to be afraid, however I understand I definitely need to be more mindful of certain things....

[hohenwald48]

fpmtngal wrote:
I stand corrected -the outlets are similar but not the same. I was judging more from the experience of a friend of mine who had an electrician install his 30 amp RV service, and who hooked it up to 240 volts, thereby doing expensive electrical damage to his RV. Another person I know said it was a common error and to make sure I checked mine before plugging my RV into it, which I did and found that it had been installed correctly.

In any case, 50 amp is not 240 volt.

Actually, 50 amp RV service is 240V and in fact some high end RVs actually use 240 volts to operate some of their appliances. Most 50 amp RVs only use the hot-neutral 120 volts and not the hot-hot 240 volts. However, the 240 volts is available for use from a standard RV 50 amp supply circuit. A 50 amp circuit can supply 100 amps at 120 volts or 50 amps at 240 volts (or a combination of the 2) for a total of 12,000 watts.

A 30 amp circuit can only supply 30 amp 120 volt service for a total of 3600 watts.

Again, be cautious when getting electrical advice from a web forum.

[fpmtngal]

I stand corrected -the outlets are similar but not the same. I was judging more from the experience of a friend of mine who had an electrician install his 30 amp RV service, and who hooked it up to 240 volts, thereby doing expensive electrical damage to his RV. Another person I know said it was a common error and to make sure I checked mine before plugging my RV into it, which I did and found that it had been installed correctly.

In any case, 50 amp is not 240 volt.

[hohenwald48]

fpmtngal said - "The common house-hold 240 volt plug looks the same as the 30 amp plug at a campground, and your power line could plug into it.'

This is not a true statement.

The 30 amp RV plug/receptacle (TT-30) is unique to RVs and is not used for anything else.

Be very cautious when getting electrical advice from web forums.

[fpmtngal]

I've only had trouble with a 30 amp connection once, and was very happy I had the 50 to 30 dog-bone as it was hot and I wanted to run the AC. The EMS-PT30X won't have any issues with it.

240V isn't the same thing as 50 amp. 50 amp is the same 110 (approx.) volt as either your trailer or your house. 240 volts is a higher voltage and one that would damage your trailer regardless of the amperage.

The common house-hold 240 volt plug looks the same as the 30 amp plug at a campground, and your power line could plug into it. The main times I hear about problems like this is when an electrician is installing a 30 amp service at your house, and doesn't pay attention to what he is doing so that he hooks it up to 240v (the most common household use for that type of plug). When I had mine put in, I made sure to plug in the Progressive Industries EMS first, just to verify he hooked it up correctly (he had).

[SoundGuy]

RvNewbieFl wrote:
Has anyone one had these stolen from the power supply...

Simple solutions - lock your EMS to the post OR locate the EMS at the trailer and run out to the post with an extension cable OR install the EMS inside the trailer.

or stealing the weight distribution hitch when gone in the truck...??

Leave the WD head locked to the truck's hitch receiver, store the spring bars inside one of the trailer's locking cargo compartments.

No need to overthink this. :W

[bobndot]

re: theft and installing locks.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26676549/print/true.cfm

[RvNewbieFl]

Thank you all so very much... I ordered the EMS-PT30X from Progressive Industries... I noticed it said something about detecting 240v... (50amp) and wasn't sure if it would still work or not... also because these things are not exactly cheap, and I will be traveling alone... Has anyone one had these stolen from the power supply... or stealing the weight distribution hitch when gone in the truck...??

[bobndot]

Some members here have suggested it might be a better option to use the 50 amp connection at a pedestal because its often a cleaner plug , it gets less use and it made good sense to me.
I now use the 30 amp adapter on a 50 amp pedestal whenever its avl., along with my 30 amp SP.

[westend]

You're good to hook up!

[Old-Biscuit]

50a to 30A adapter only has 1 hot leg, 1 ground and 1 neutral so 30A surge guard sees it as 30A power source and will provide same protection as if connected to 30A source.

[DrPepper1010]

Yes, the dog-bone connects to the 50 amp connection, the 30 amp surge protector connects to the dog-bone. Then your TT power cable connects to the surge protector.
You should be ready to go.