30Amp, 50Amp ???

[stevebell]

I have a '87 SCAMP with a "regular" power cord that would fit any household outlet. However, I have access to a seasonal site that is 30Amp (if I remember correctly, forgot to grab a picture, it might be a 50Amp) I'll ask the owners of the property. My question here is can I just purchase an adapter that goes from my "regular" power, extension cord to the 30Amp at the site? Will this cause any damage to the Scamp? Thanks in advance.

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by stevebell

can I just purchase an adapter that goes from my "regular" power, extension cord to the 30Amp at the site? Will this cause any damage to the Scamp? Thanks in advance.

Yes you can.
No it wont cause any damage.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by widgetwizard

Yes you can.
No it wont cause any damage.

I like that answer Jim! Short and concise, and accurate.

[Larry C Hanson]

Hello,

Common adapter:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Park-Powe...apter/50442236

https://www.amazon.com/Power-3015ARV...gateway&sr=8-2

Larry H

[John in Santa Cruz]

I use the opposite adapter, a 15A extension cord from my house into the 30A plug of my campers, to charge the battery and run the lights and fridge and stuff when its in my driveway. its enough power for anything other than running the AC and microwave at the same time, that will pop a breaker in your house.

FYI, 50A RV service is 4-blade, and is 240V, with neutral and ground on the other two blades... either side of 240 to neutral is 120, so a 50A to 30A or 50A to 15A adapter just connects one phase/side, neutral, and ground to provide 120V 30A or 120V 15A service...



this adapter plugs into a 50A service, and lets you plug 3 15A things in. I didn't find one that was just 50A plug to 1 15A socket, but I'm sure its out there.
https://www.amazon.com/Parkworld-886.../dp/B078XBC37F


ok, here's 50A to 30A,
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Campe.../dp/B06XTSQG3G

and here's 30A to 15/20A...
https://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Dogbo.../dp/B07BZ2B22F

so both of those together would let you plug into anything.

i've not yet been in a park that had 50A but no 30A.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by stevebell

I have a '87 SCAMP with a "regular" power cord that would fit any household outlet. However, I have access to a seasonal site that is 30Amp (if I remember correctly, forgot to grab a picture, it might be a 50Amp) I'll ask the owners of the property. My question here is can I just purchase an adapter that goes from my "regular" power, extension cord to the 30Amp at the site? Will this cause any damage to the Scamp? Thanks in advance.

Yes you can we do it all the time at home to keep the battery charged up in the winter and to cool down the fridge before leaving. Just don't use the A/C since I'm not sure there's enough power to do that. We also put the surge protector on it in case of a power surge or drop. Plug surge protector into the adapter and trailer into the surge protector. The adapters are pretty cheap and can be gotten many places. When getting the adapter pay attention to the angle of the plugs. We got one that when we plugged it in it was upside down in the receptacle and wouldn't let us plug in properly. So now we have more than one.

[Darral T.]

Ok...I'm going to TOTALLY disagree based on ONE thing. What amperage is the cord rated for that's being used to plug into the 30A circuit?

IF it AND/OR the circuitry is not rated for 30A and you pull over 20A or what ever the rating is, you stand the BIG chance for a fire hazard!! Why? Because if you have an overload, the 30A most likely will NOT trip. Just something to think about. Make sure you do NOT over load that cord and that when it gets inside your Scamp, you have the sufficient 15-20A breakers to protect the interior plugs!!

What I'm telling you may not be a popular answer, but I PROMISE you it's sound advice!! I dont want to see anyone hurt.

[SnowballCamper]

Darral,
I think if you plug your 30A cord into a 15A house circuit, the house circuit breaker takes car of the overload protection at the 15A level. So, say, 17A would trip the breaker. But yes, it would be unwise to use a flimsy lamp extension cord for the camper. I think the usual 12ga extension cord will be fine, but to be sure, use a 10ga cord. https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Ok...I'm going to TOTALLY disagree based on ONE thing. What amperage is the cord rated for that's being used to plug into the 30A circuit?

IF it AND/OR the circuitry is not rated for 30A and you pull over 20A or what ever the rating is, you stand the BIG chance for a fire hazard!! Why? Because if you have an overload, the 30A most likely will NOT trip. Just something to think about. Make sure you do NOT over load that cord and that when it gets inside your Scamp, you have the sufficient 15-20A breakers to protect the interior plugs!!

What I'm telling you may not be a popular answer, but I PROMISE you it's sound advice!! I dont want to see anyone hurt.

We do not use an extension cord. We plug the adapter into the wall socket and the trailer into it with the surge protector at home. The adapter is rated for that use. Then we only run the fridge and LED lights to see to load. We keep our trailer in a garage so it is dark in it. We keep a volt meter plugged in all the time and watch it. I vacuum the carpet before I turn on the fridge. Have done this for years in our Casita and motorhome and no problems. I wouldn't even think of using the A/C with it plugged into the 15-20 amp outlet. We tried that at a relatives and it tripped the breaker instantly. The only way that works is to use a power booster.

[Darral T.]

Alex, Maybe I'm "thinking" backwards on what the "op" wrote. But to me, they're taking a "regular"? cord (I can imagine a 15A drop cord) and plugging it into a 30A receptacle? To me that's dangerous and unacceptable.

I also use adapters to plug my 30A into a 20/15A outlet. BUT, IF you go over 15/20A, it WILL trip the circuit breaker as it should. But NOT if you hook it up as I'm thinking the "op" wants to do using a 15A? cord into a 30A receptacle. To me it's extremely dangerous as the breaker will NOT trip even if the cord is overloaded (unless hopefully it would short quickly and throw the breaker preventing a potential fire!) If I'm wrong in thinking, I gladly accept the correction...

Originally Posted by SnowballCamper

Darral,
I think if you plug your 30A cord into a 15A house circuit, the house circuit breaker takes car of the overload protection at the 15A level. So, say, 17A would trip the breaker. But yes, it would be unwise to use a flimsy lamp extension cord for the camper. I think the usual 12ga extension cord will be fine, but to be sure, use a 10ga cord. https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Alex, Maybe I'm "thinking" backwards on what the "op" wrote. But to me, they're taking a "regular"? cord (I can imagine a 15A drop cord) and plugging it into a 30A receptacle? To me that's dangerous and unacceptable.

I also use adapters to plug my 30A into a 20/15A outlet. BUT, IF you go over 15/20A, it WILL trip the circuit breaker as it should. But NOT if you hook it up as I'm thinking the "op" wants to do using a 15A? cord into a 30A receptacle. To me it's extremely dangerous as the breaker will NOT trip even if the cord is overloaded (unless hopefully it would short quickly and throw the breaker preventing a potential fire!) If I'm wrong in thinking, I gladly accept the correction...

I would not use a regular household or tool extension cord. We have the regular RV 30 amp extension cord for those times that the trailer one won't reach. They do make an adapter that goes from 30 amp down to 15 amp plugs for the trailers that don't have a 30 amp plug. I would hope the adapter would compensate for the higher amps at the pole. We've run into the times that there wasn't a 15 amp plug in at the pole. We don't need it except to run outdoor lights or use an appliance and then we run a drop cord for those items off of the pole. But some trailers don't have a 30 amp plug only a 15 amp.

[Alex Adams]

My trailer has a 15-amp breaker wired between the cord and the trailer wiring so if I plug into a 30 amp power source and exceed 15 amps, the breaker will trip protecting the wiring for the cord and the trailer.

[Darral T.]

Your's is protected for exactly what I was describing. But is Steve's? (The op).

Originally Posted by Alex Adams

My trailer has a 15-amp breaker wired between the cord and the trailer wiring so if I plug into a 30 amp power source and exceed 15 amps, the breaker will trip protecting the wiring for the cord and the trailer.

[Darral T.]

Jann, if I follow what you're saying, your Casita has the 30A cord/plug right? If so, stepping down to a 15/20A plug is the not the problem. Even if the trailer isnt protected, all the "Pedestals" in campgrounds I've visited has their 15/20A plugs on a breaker. So these will trip- I'm guess like the one did for the relatives. But again, if there's no protection (Like Alex has) and someone's using a smaller cord and adapt it to the 30A circuit on a pedestal, it will NOT see the over-load on the cord if it happens. That's my point.

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

I would not use a regular household or tool extension cord. We have the regular RV 30 amp extension cord for those times that the trailer one won't reach. They do make an adapter that goes from 30 amp down to 15 amp plugs for the trailers that don't have a 30 amp plug. I would hope the adapter would compensate for the higher amps at the pole. We've run into the times that there wasn't a 15 amp plug in at the pole. We don't need it except to run outdoor lights or use an appliance and then we run a drop cord for those items off of the pole. But some trailers don't have a 30 amp plug only a 15 amp.

[SnowballCamper]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Alex, Maybe I'm "thinking" backwards on what the "op" wrote. But to me, they're taking a "regular"? cord (I can imagine a 15A drop cord) and plugging it into a 30A receptacle? To me that's dangerous and unacceptable.

I also use adapters to plug my 30A into a 20/15A outlet. BUT, IF you go over 15/20A, it WILL trip the circuit breaker as it should. But NOT if you hook it up as I'm thinking the "op" wants to do using a 15A? cord into a 30A receptacle. To me it's extremely dangerous as the breaker will NOT trip even if the cord is overloaded (unless hopefully it would short quickly and throw the breaker preventing a potential fire!) If I'm wrong in thinking, I gladly accept the correction...

Ahhh, I see. You are mostly correct. I generally concur with you now. I was just thinking of plugging the 30A cord into the house outlet (with an adapter) because that is what I do. On the other hand, is every extension cord in your house rated for the full 15A current that could come through the outlet? I know that's not the case in my house (think Christmas light cords, little lamp extension cord)... But yes, it's probably prudent to use some sort of circuit protection for the OPs situation.

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Alex, Maybe I'm "thinking" backwards on what the "op" wrote. But to me, they're taking a "regular"? cord (I can imagine a 15A drop cord) and plugging it into a 30A receptacle? To me that's dangerous and unacceptable.

I also use adapters to plug my 30A into a 20/15A outlet. BUT, IF you go over 15/20A, it WILL trip the circuit breaker as it should. But NOT if you hook it up as I'm thinking the "op" wants to do using a 15A? cord into a 30A receptacle. To me it's extremely dangerous as the breaker will NOT trip even if the cord is overloaded (unless hopefully it would short quickly and throw the breaker preventing a potential fire!) If I'm wrong in thinking, I gladly accept the correction...

So, at home do you have a 7 - 10 amp fuse in every table lamp? After all, you are plugging #18 lamp cord rated 7 amps or so into a 15 or 20 amp circuit.

For an overload in the trailer, the trailer's 15 or 20 amp breaker will trip, protecting it. If there is a short in the cord, even a #14 extension cord will hold long enough to trip a 30 amp breaker.

[Darral T.]

We can start nit-picking this to death. ANYBODY with common sense knows what a light bulb is going to pull in a table lamp. That's ONE item and easily identified. Besides, they were also mentioning plugging it into a 50A receptacle! I guess that would trip too? And who knows what all MIGHT be turned on inside- even if by accident.

Have you ever heard of the occurrence of HOUSE FIRES happening mostly during the winter due to people plugging in heaters using drop cords not rated for the amperage? My point exactly here!

My question has been all along- does the op have the breaker in the RV like Alex has? If not, you can say what you want, it's STILL a dangerous situation and I dont recommend it. But that's just my opinion. I may be in erroring on the side of "Caution", but I'll take that. I'm done.

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

So, at home do you have a 7 - 10 amp fuse in every table lamp? After all, you are plugging #18 lamp cord rated 7 amps or so into a 15 or 20 amp circuit.

For an overload in the trailer, the trailer's 15 or 20 amp breaker will trip, protecting it. If there is a short in the cord, even a #14 extension cord will hold long enough to trip a 30 amp breaker.

[Radar1]

I think as long as the entire load is kept below 15 amps on a suitably rated 15 amp cord (based on distance to outlet) then you can plug that extension cord right into an adapter and into the 30 amp plug. I suspect all the breakers in the camper are 15 amps or lower due to only having a 15 amp cord, and the camper has limited electrical loads, but the problem would arise if you have two or three 15 amp circuits/breakers, and are using both (toaster on one, microwave on another, A/C on another) at the same time. Neither breaker will open, and the 30 amp breaker in the house won't open either, so that extension cord could get pretty hot and maybe melt. I use a 12/3 extension cord if I need 15 amps at a long distance from the house for my electric garden tools, anything less gets pretty hot even though only drawing about 11 amps.

[WizWid]

I wish the OP would get back to us - I assumed his actual, normal, cord was a 15A cord - not an extension lead, and that he had a 15A breaker internally.

[steve dunham]

If plugging a 15 amp rated cord into a 30 amp receptacle is an issue then so would plugging a 500 watt appliance with an 18/2 cord into your home’s kitchen receptacles which are protected by a 20 amp breaker . ( By code the countertop receptacles in a kitchen are required to be on a 20 amp circuit)
The NEC makes allowances for making taps ( NEC 10 ft & 25 ft tap rule )