Power question

[Poke It & Smoke It]

Heading out to a competition for the first time with an RV with a 30 amp hook up I'm told that they are going to supply three separate 20 amp runs will this run my RV . The RV company said I can get converter and the 20 amp will work . Then another person at rv company said that it will not work . And will not run everything. suggestions ?

[yakdung]

Dog bones.

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[SDAR]

Most older air conditioning units have to have more than 20 amps to start them. Some newer smaller btu units will start on 20 amp services, but not many.

[Ron_L]

20A will work but you probably won't be able to run the AC.

You just need one of these...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/PowerFit-...1599/203209167

[Smoke'n Ice]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

20A will work but you probably won't be able to run the AC.

You just need one of these...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/PowerFit-...1599/203209167

the problem with these beasties is they will overheat and become soft and pliable and develop additional resistance and heat up a bit more and start to melt and can catch on fire. Not that I would have any first hand experience in this area because being an electrical engineer I would know this and not try to run the AC on it.

[sdbbq1234]

Try it before you leave. Get a 30amp to 15/20amp converter from Walmart, and try it at home. We run our trailer (30amp shore cord) off the 15/20amp connectors all the time. Run the air conditioner (13,500 BTU), portable fan, 4 fluorescent lights, GURUs, stereo all at the same time. Run for hours and hours on end.

No problem. When I am at home and working inside the trailer, I'll run a 50ft extension cord and plug it into the GFI outlet in the front of my house and run all the same components. No problem.

Again, try it at home.

The converter from Walmart I think was about $5.00.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by Smoke'n Ice

the problem with these beasties is they will overheat and become soft and pliable and develop additional resistance and heat up a bit more and start to melt and can catch on fire. Not that I would have any first hand experience in this area because being an electrical engineer I would know this and not try to run the AC on it.

We've been using one for 5 years and never had an issue. But as I said above, we don't run the AC when stuck with 20A power.

[Smoke'n Ice]

Originally Posted by sdbbq1234

Try it before you leave. Get a 30amp to 15/20amp converter from Walmart, and try it at home. We run our trailer (30amp shore cord) off the 15/20amp connectors all the time. Run the air conditioner (13,500 BTU), portable fan, 4 fluorescent lights, GURUs, stereo all at the same time. Run for hours and hours on end.

No problem. When I am at home and working inside the trailer, I'll run a 50ft extension cord and plug it into the GFI outlet in the front of my house and run all the same components. No problem.

Again, try it at home.

The converter from Walmart I think was about $5.00.

The type of extension cord is important. The use of a 50 foot 14 ga cord is not recommended due to resistance, inductive reactance and safety. A 50 ft 12 ga is probably ok for most uses and they are the contractor ones found at Home Depot and Lowes. The ones found at Wally world and Target are good for running your drill motor or weed eater but will definitely heat up if used to run a comp trailer.

Why is this important. The voltage and current available to the equipment is a function of a general restatement of ohms law for AC -- I=E/Z. Change one of the units of the equation and the others will also change. Motors and other devices will run on reduced voltage but the current requirement increases due to the Z (inductive reactance and resistance) but continued use will cause internal heating to windings and shorten the life expectancy of those devices. For those of you who do it, feel the heat of the cord after using it for a half an hour. Continued use of cords with inductive loads will cause a breakdown of the insulation and, in some cases, cause a failure which can be rude to someone who is grounded and using the equipment.

Just saying, just because it works does not make it safe or reliable.

[Scottie]

I am able to run mine. Although I switch my fridge to propane.

[sdbbq1234]

Originally Posted by Smoke'n Ice

The type of extension cord is important. The use of a 50 foot 14 ga cord is not recommended due to resistance, inductive reactance and safety. A 50 ft 12 ga is probably ok for most uses and they are the contractor ones found at Home Depot and Lowes. The ones found at Wally world and Target are good for running your drill motor or weed eater but will definitely heat up if used to run a comp trailer.

Why is this important. The voltage and current available to the equipment is a function of a general restatement of ohms law for AC -- I=E/Z. Change one of the units of the equation and the others will also change. Motors and other devices will run on reduced voltage but the current requirement increases due to the Z (inductive reactance and resistance) but continued use will cause internal heating to windings and shorten the life expectancy of those devices. For those of you who do it, feel the heat of the cord after using it for a half an hour. Continued use of cords with inductive loads will cause a breakdown of the insulation and, in some cases, cause a failure which can be rude to someone who is grounded and using the equipment.

Just saying, just because it works does not make it safe or reliable.

Yes, I agree with the wire size. But heck, I sometimes will run mine at home on a 16gauge cord. Just saying that the 15/20 amp outlets will run air conditioner units and extras. We have even used the coffee pot while the AC is running and we did notice a drop in the power, but it worked. Once we remembered the AC was on, we would turn it off until the coffee was done brewing.

Unless you have a really, really old AC unit, the 15/20 amp outlets will work fine. And then if did have one that old, you could do a larger start capacitor mod on the AC unit and it should solve the AC problem.

[Candy Sue]

I can run on 20 amp. But if I need to make a pot of coffee, turn the AC off. The AC, pellet Jambo, fan and lights are all good with 20 amps.

[Ribeye Republic]

Last weekend I ran AC, small fridge and lights with 20A. Not saying it was right, but it happened.

[CBQ]

I run my AC on 15 amps at contests all the time. My AC is relatively new, and draws only 13 amps. I run the water heater and fridge on propane only, so the RV draw is only 2 amps with the AC off.

Note this does require a fully dedicated 15 amp circuit, not an outlet you are sharing with other teams. If the contest organizer says the power is for "lights only" I don't use the AC or run the generator.

I use a 10 gauge cord for my 15/20 amp connections.

I don't think you can reliably combine multiple 15 amp outlets to give you 30 amps. There are "cheater boxes" to do this for 50 AMP RVs, but 50 AMP wiring is substantially different than 30 in how it works. Trying to link 2 15 amps together could potentially create a short circuit, and will trip GFIs in most cases anyway. I would try to make due with one AC and 15 amps. (Some RV AC units draw 15 amps, not 13. If yours is a 15 amp unit, you probably won't be able to run it, as the RV converter will draw some power.)