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Topic: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home (Read 774 times) previous topic - next topic

50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

We are new.... ( obviously).  We want to begin to learn about our new to us 86 GV3300...  we have checked our home breakers and see that we have 15, 20 and 30 amp service on some outlets throughout the house and garage.  If we took out 50 amp cord and stepped it down with adaptors to a 30 amp grounded house outlet.. what could we run as shore power to give us lighting, electrical outlets for small tools, we nee to mount a flat screen TV after hours ( after our work day) and want to park in our home driveway and hook up to something... we know we won't be able to run our AC but all ok in the evening in Boulder Co..
1986 Grand Villa, 454 Chevrolet, 33 SBI tag axle
Build # 2658
2nd owner, original owner was Newman/Freeman Racing, racer Bill Freeman and actor/racer Paul Newman

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #1 –
30 amp would let you run all you have mentioned even a microwave.
1999 40 ft. U-320 wtfe build 5563 Chuck & Lynda's "Rollin' Inn"  2030 watts solar
prev. mh's 71 GMC 5 yrs. 73 Pace Setter 1 yr. 78 Vogue 5 yrs 81 FTX 40ft all electric 18 yrs. 1996 Monaco Signature 3 yrs.
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland
Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die today.  James Dean

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #2 –
Make real sure how that 30 amp outlet is wired. A 220 volt drier outlet will fry many components in your rig.
Dan - Full timing since 2009
2003 U320 40' Tag 2 slide

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #3 –
BE CAREFUL ^.^d

I WIIL BET THAT 30A IN YOUR HOUSE IS 22OV !

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My advice and experiences are Free, you decide if they are worth anything .

John - driving Old Faithful
1994 U280 GV
C8.3, Banks, Pacbrake, 900 watts, Resonator, XLHD tow dolly
Retired Army Warrant Officer

Life is what you make of it - if it is lemons, make lemonade!
Former Coaches:
1988 GV 40' ORED 300HP CAT - 9 years
1990 Winnebago LeSharo - 3 years
2000 Newmar London Aire - 3 years (#18 of 23 produced)

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #4 –
The outlet needs to be 30 amp/120 VAC= ONE hot, one neutral and one ground.  Period.
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #5 –
Heed the warnings lest you liberate the smoke...
1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #6 –
Understood.  I will check our breaker box labels and switches.... might be just 20 amp for household use.  We understand the issues with the DRYER plugs....  not the same....  so.. i can step down from the 50amp RV cable with adaptors all the way to the 120 V 20 amp and use for powering up some things in our driveway..... is the house battery ( salesman's switch ON or OFF...  inverter ?  Or automatic once all plugged in. ?   
1986 Grand Villa, 454 Chevrolet, 33 SBI tag axle
Build # 2658
2nd owner, original owner was Newman/Freeman Racing, racer Bill Freeman and actor/racer Paul Newman

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #7 –
Quote from: craneman –
30 amp would let you run all you have mentioned even a microwave.
As long as no one gets the wrong idea: we're in a 30 amp park that will change voltage in the aft. with high usage. We can only use one AC, nothing else, during that time. That's where a EMS is a must!
1993 U-240 "La Villa Grande"..CAT 3116 w/ Pacbrake PRXB...Allison 3060 6-speed..
Previous: 1983 Airstream 310 turbo diesel, 1979 Airstream 280 turbo diesel
                                      Build # 4297
                                      PNW natives
                      Home base:  'Cactus Hug' (Ajo, Arizona)
                        DW Judy & Chet the wonder dog
                        Full-Timers 'Sailing the asphalt sea'

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #8 –
Subsilked:

Be nice if you had a set of electrical schematics for your coach - makes it a lot easier to understand how stuff is connected.

NORMALLY, when you plug your coach into shore power (regardless of what kind of adapter is used), the shore power goes to a ATS (automatic transfer switch).  The ATS also has a input from the generator.  If the generator is not running, then the ATS passes power on to the main breaker panel.  From there it is distributed to the different circuits in the coach.  So if you are just plugged into a common household 20 amp socket, you will have the 20 amps available to all the 110V outlets in the coach.  You can't put any more load on those circuits than you would be able to in your house.  20 amps is 20 amps.

The salesman switch doesn't have anything to do with the 110V power circuits in the coach.  It is normally used to turn off some (but not all) of the 12V circuits in the coach.
1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Subsilked –
  so.. i can step down from the 50amp RV cable with adaptors all the way to the 120 V 20 amp and use for powering up some things in our driveway.

Yes, you can use a 15/20 male to 30 amp female adapter AND a 30 male to 50 female adapter and plug right in-- as long as you do not exceed the total amp draw of the 15/20.  And if other things in the house on the same circuit, the total counts.
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #10 –
I will BET he has a 12v converter mounted upside down in the plumbing bay on the pilot side near the rear wheel. If the battery's are down this will take a lot of juice... can turn it off by the bed circuit panel..
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My advice and experiences are Free, you decide if they are worth anything .

John - driving Old Faithful
1994 U280 GV
C8.3, Banks, Pacbrake, 900 watts, Resonator, XLHD tow dolly
Retired Army Warrant Officer

Life is what you make of it - if it is lemons, make lemonade!
Former Coaches:
1988 GV 40' ORED 300HP CAT - 9 years
1990 Winnebago LeSharo - 3 years
2000 Newmar London Aire - 3 years (#18 of 23 produced)

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #11 –
And it hurts the batteries over the long run
"Riding and rejoicing"
Bob
1997 U320 40' Mid entry, build 5132,  wtbi ce27, 4th owner
2007 Solara convertible
2 prodeco tech outlaw ss electric bikes

1095 watts solar
08 Ls 460 and a sc430
2000 Ford F-250 superduty 4x4

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #12 –
Sounds like time to search all the nooks and crannies. There's lots of them. My guess is the ATS is below the port bed.
Old Phart Phred, EIEIO
89 GV ored 36' #3405 300 hp cat 3208 ATAAC side radiator, mountain tamer exhaust brake

Re: 50 amp cord to 20 amp household wall socket at home

Reply #13 –
If you have a 30A outlet, make sure that it is also on a 10ga wire to a 30A circuit breaker and that it is a dedicated (nothing else on it) circuit.  This does not guarantee that you are getting 30A to the outlet if you are using a lot of electricity in the house (central A/C, electric dryer, etc) or if you aren't getting sufficient amperage to the main breaker.  We have a built in surge protector (Progressive Ind.) that not only protects our coach from spikes, but will not allow electricity to come through if it drops below about 110v.  We can only run one A/C on 30A.

If you only have 20a available, I would only use it to keep your batteries charged, with a 10ga extension cord.
2000 U320 mid entry  #5688
2006 Jeep Liberty


USMCR retired
SDFD retired
FEMA US&R TF8