Newbie questions about extension cords

[sunnyone]

We will be picking up our new Scamp 13 at the factory and taking our first camping trip next week. Our Scamp is pretty basic - no AC, no furnace, no water heater or pump. We will have a Maxx fan, a 3 way frig, and a stove. We will be bringing along a little space heater when the weather gets colder.
I expect most of our camping to be at state parks and national forests.
What amp extension cord should I get? Do we need a 30 amp? And do I need to get a converter for other amperages?
Thanks for any help. My understanding of electricity is pretty basic.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

We will be picking up our new Scamp 13 at the factory and taking our first camping trip next week. Our Scamp is pretty basic - no AC, no furnace, no water heater or pump. We will have a Maxx fan, a 3 way frig, and a stove. We will be bringing along a little space heater when the weather gets colder.
I expect most of our camping to be at state parks and national forests.
What amp extension cord should I get? Do we need a 30 amp? And do I need to get a converter for other amperages?
Thanks for any help. My understanding of electricity is pretty basic.

Your onboard cord will be a 30A long enough to reach most power posts in most campsites. A good 20A conventional extension cord (12GA) with an adapter from 30A to 20A will work fine for your application.
Get both adapters so that you will be prepared for every contingency.

A dedicated 30A cord would be nice, but they are bulky and expensive and you will seldom have a need for it.
I have a 2004 Scamp13D with every conceivable option and have carried a 12GA 20A cord for reaching distant power posts since the trailer was new.
I only recently switched to a 30A extension cord since it was a gift,...turns out I now carry both

[sunnyone]

Thank you, Floyd.
When you say both adapters, which one besides the 30 to 20 amp?

[Kevin A]

He is referring to both a male and female adapter for 30-20 amps. One has the smaller 15/20 amp male ends sticking out and the other has the large 30 amp male ends sticking out.

[herons]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

We will be picking up our new Scamp 13 at the factory and taking our first camping trip next week. Our Scamp is pretty basic - no AC, no furnace, no water heater or pump. We will have a Maxx fan, a 3 way frig, and a stove. We will be bringing along a little space heater when the weather gets colder.
I expect most of our camping to be at state parks and national forests.
What amp extension cord should I get? Do we need a 30 amp? And do I need to get a converter for other amperages?
Thanks for any help. My understanding of electricity is pretty basic.

Good luck finding electrical hook-ups at state parks, etc. They usually don't offer electric or water at individual sites.

[LarryB.]

Hello Diane and welcome to the forum,

To determine extension cord requirements, the simple approach is to simply add up the amperage “draw” of each “appliance”.

The stove, being propane, does not draw electric current.

The electric items on your list:

• The PD9245C converter that Scamp installs can draw up to 6.2a of 105v-130v input depending on the 12v “appliances” in use at any one time (lights, Maxx fan, TV?, cell phone?, etc).
• The RM8501 fridge that Scamp installs can draw 1.1a.
• The wild card in your list is your space heater. If it does not list the amperage, divide the wattage by 120. As an example, the small ceramic heater that I carry, has a max wattage of 1500w which would equate to 12.5a.

By rapid mathematical addition, the above three items together would add up to 19.8a of current draw.

As Floyd pointed out, a 12 gauge extension cord would be “ok” to use if the Scamp’s cord is not long enough to reach your electric outlet. Also, as Kevin pointed out, the adapters do not add any current draw, they simply allow you to “adapt” the plug on the Scamp cord to a standard household outlet or to a 220v/50a outlet that some campground pedestals provide.

As others might point out, the length of the extension cord and the wire construction (stranded vs. solid) could be factors in the amount of amperage that the cord would support. In those cases “common sense” should prevail. :-)

I hope that helps….

[sunnyone]

We made a point of reserving sites with electric hookups at Itasca State Park in Minnesota and Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin so that we can test the Scamp’s electric system.
It’s true though that the majority of sites in both of those parks does not offer an electric hookup. And Governor Knowles State Forest, the other park we’re staying at, had no electric hookups at all.

[sunnyone]

Thanks for the clarification, Kevin.

[sunnyone]

Larry, our little heater is also 12.5 amp. So the 20 amp cord would be ok for that?
Do we also need 30 to 50 amp adapters?
(I warned you guys my knowledge of electricity was basic . ��)

[Tony D]

So a bit of a different take from me. I’m going to assume you park close enough to the shore power post to use the 30 amp power chord that comes with the trailer and plug it directly into the 30 AMP outlet.

Did you get any 110 V AC outlets like you have in your house? I thought one came standard. Also I imagine you will have a 12 V DC outlet as well. You should also have 2 lights and a combined carbon monoxide / gas alarm. To my point, I think you will have a converter in your camper with some circuit breakers for any AC circuits and fuses for any DC circuits.

I think that you will be able to plug your space heater right into the 110 V outlet Inside the camper using a normal grounded extension chord. The trailer is small so keep the chord on the shorter side. You can also plug your personal electronics into the 12V DC outlet if you get an adapter. Think cigarette lighter outlet in your car. They make them so you can plug in 2 separate USB chords.

If you already got all this sorted out forgive my post. Enjoy your camper. I remember picking ours up just over a year ago. Very exciting.

[LarryB.]

Originally Posted by sunnyone

Larry, our little heater is also 12.5 amp. So the 20 amp cord would be ok for that?
Do we also need 30 to 50 amp adapters?
(I warned you guys my knowledge of electricity was basic . ��)

Hi Diane,

If you need an extension cord, a 20 amp cord should work for you.

You only need an adapter when you realize that the cord you have in your hand is not compatible with what you are plugging into.

So, if your Scamp has a cord with a "30a plug" and you want to plug it into a standard household outlet (either directly or using an extension cord), then you would need to use something like one of these on the end of your Scamp cord.