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Old 05-30-2007, 07:19 AM   #1
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Running Air Conditioning

OK - all you electrical wizards! We have a 2007 T2499, friends have an 03 T1950 & another with an 04 T1950 - this past weekend, the 04 - who complains that their a/c is defective, was running a/c off 20amp service ALL weekend......I cautioned the 03 owner NOT to do it....am I wrong in my logic that we need 30 amp to run our a/c's?

Also - we did not have a meter but I know that we were all connected thru extension cords mainly off one or two plugs - which I assume would decrease the amps going down the line - we were at the end!

Am I being a worry wart? I showed them an article about refrigerators drawing electric in Good Sam - June Highway mag - and Ed was impressed about how it could damage the refrig - I said now translate that into a/c.....


Am I wrong in my thinking? DH leaves this research stuff up to me, so I'm coming to the experts!
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Old 05-30-2007, 07:35 AM   #2
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Kathy,

I'm not an expert in this area, but I run my AC at home when I need to see if it works, and all I have is a 20 amp outlet. I only run it long enough to see if it gets cold, and I don't run anything else at the same time.

I haven't read the article in Highways yet. I've got a stack of MotorHome, Trailer Life, and Highways that I haven't read yet, some of them being as old as six months!

Jon
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Old 05-30-2007, 07:48 AM   #3
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You are correct for being concerned. You can run it no problem, as long as you dont trip the fuse to what ever you are plugged into. We have even run ours off of a 15amp fuse for short periods.

What I've learned from asking the same questions on different forums, is running the A/C with anything less than a dedicated 30amp line coming in, and the motor in the A/C is working much hotter and harder then it has to. If you were to do it for long periods of time, you risk the problems of frying the unit or melting parts. That is what I was told.

So in the long run, if you were to do it just to take some hot air out of the camper after a long day of letting it sit in the sun, I dont think it'd be too damaging, but stay somewhere for a weekend, or longer, running it the entire time, and I think you're going to do some damage.

Buy one of those meters that plug into any outlet in the Coach. Mine is simple, no buttons or anything, we just simply plug it in to an empty outlet. It only cost $15 at General RV, and we can always keep track of what our voltage is. I find it fun to see what the meter drops to when the wife turns on the microwave, or the A/C kicks on, it's amazing to see how much amperage they draw.

I've also noticed if we turn on our Inverter, when we're boondocking, for the first few minutes untill we can switch things over to 110, the meter spikes way above the normal setting. I'm easily amuzed...LOL

Good Luck

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Old 05-30-2007, 08:44 AM   #4
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Hi Kathy,

Pat and Jon are correct. You can run it, but it's not the best thing for it. I've been at a campground where the site had a 30A hook-up but the voltage was so low, the A/C or Fan wouldn't even start.

When the A/C compressor starts, it draws a lot of amps. Over time, running it constantly with low voltage or amps could cause problems and possibly premature failures of the unit.

Hutch
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Old 05-30-2007, 08:58 AM   #5
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Thanks everyone - that is what I thought.....we have 20 amp here at home and we have run it just to make sure it is working order.....we never run it for extended periods of time.

The friends with the 04 have had the a/c replaced already (out of pocket expense) and are complaining that it is slooww running - when I tried to explain, I was told I didn't know what I was talking about. Also they are telling me they have 50 amp service in their 1950 - the plug indicates 30 amp, but then again what do I know

Thanks again everyone!

Kathy
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Old 05-30-2007, 10:26 AM   #6
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Kathy,

The one way to tell if the power supply is 30 vs. 50 amp is the plug. If the plug has 3 prongs, it's 30. If the plug has 4 prongs, it's 50. The cord will also be a lot larger on a 50, but it's easier to tell from the plug.

I can't say I knew of any Solaris Lite's that had 50 amp service. The only reason coaches have 50 amp service is if they have dual AC's (or are pre-wired for it), or have a washer/dryer unit.

Jon
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Old 05-30-2007, 04:16 PM   #7
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Ahhh.....one of my pet peaves......I've got a fifty amp to thirty amp pig-tail, so I have a fifty amp "service" in my trailer....NOT!!!! You have the ability to fry your 30 amp cord going into your trailer because you don't have a big enough wire and that fifty amp breaker is not protecting it. IF you look at the female plug and the plastic is melting...........

At least when your using a 15 or 20 amp pig-tail the supply breaker will trip before you burn up the cord or plug because it's a lower rating.

Think of electric as water. Voltage is equal to pressure, or how fast the water is moving, amperage is equivilent to gallons per minute, or how much there is, and finally we need to have a big enough pipe to move it.

If you look in your breaker box, you'll have a 30 amp main, and then several smaller breaker that feed the air, hot water heater, outlets, etc. All of those smaller breakers feed through the main, and the amperage adds up....so when you turn on the air (20 amps), the hot water (15 amps), the microwave (15 amps), etc. it doesn't take long for the 30 to trip.

The reason the 50 amp has four prongs is they are 220v, two "hot" wires, a nuetral, and a ground. The thirty amp has only one hot leg. The pig-tail just uses one hot wire and leaves the other one dead in the plug.

For comparison, most modern houses have at least a 200 amp service and 400 and 600 aren't unheard of.....so if that main in your trailer is tripping you might want to rethink what you trying to run.
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Old 05-30-2007, 05:47 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunline Fan
Kathy,

The one way to tell if the power supply is 30 vs. 50 amp is the plug. If the plug has 3 prongs, it's 30. If the plug has 4 prongs, it's 50. The cord will also be a lot larger on a 50, but it's easier to tell from the plug.

I can't say I knew of any Solaris Lite's that had 50 amp service. The only reason coaches have 50 amp service is if they have dual AC's (or are pre-wired for it), or have a washer/dryer unit.

Jon
Jon - that is what I remembered reading and the 04 T1950 only has 30 amp - his plug was the same as ours....but someone told him he had 50 so that is what he beleives.

Mack - thanks for the info, it makes sense!
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Old 05-31-2007, 09:25 AM   #9
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Mack, I understand your concern about using a fifty amp to thirty amp pig-tail converter. My favorite campgrounds have only provided 30 amp and 20 amp connections so I have not had to address the conversion problem. Since I have not encountered 50 amp service yet, I have a few questions about the hook ups: (1) Do they usually offer a 30 amp outlet along with the 50 amp service? (2) If you use a pigtail converter, does it simply transmit one hotwire to your trailer, but with a 50 amp rating? (3) Are there any converters available which would incorporate a resister of some sort to drop the amperage to 30 in the conversion process?
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Old 05-31-2007, 10:16 AM   #10
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Al,

Typically, if the shore power has 50 amp, it will also have a 30 amp outlet. I can't remember being at a site with only a 50 amp outlet. But like you, most of the sites we've been at are only 30 amp services.

I would imagine that is you were hook-up to a 50 amp service and you started pulling more the 30amp, your main breaker would pop in the camper.

I think Mac's statement is that even though the trailer is protected by the 30 amp main breaker, your shore power cord is still only rated for 30 amps and does not have the proper size wire to handle 50 amps. However, even though Mac is correct, I would think the shore power cord would also be protected by the main breaker. That is once the main breaker poped due to an over amperage conditions, there would be no load on the shore power cord to draw any current through it.

Hutch
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Old 05-31-2007, 05:34 PM   #11
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running A/C

My contribution to the subject, I just looked up the specs for my A/C in my T-1950. I have the Duo Therm .531 which is 11,000 BTU. It says the total running draw is 11 amps and recommends a 20 amp circuit for start surge. It also says the minimum generator for A/C use is 2.5kw (2500 watts or about 23 amps). I'm sure the 30 amp circuit required by the unit includes worst case which would include the A/C, microwave, lights, pump, and water heater on at the same time. Larger units with two A/C units and perhaps a larger water heater could easily require 50 amps. Even at 11 amps for just the A/C I would be careful if I had the unit plugged into the house with an extension cord. That would require a fairly hefty extension cord.
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Old 06-01-2007, 06:20 AM   #12
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After reading this post, I did the same thing Paul did.

We have a Dometic Brisk Air Model # 57915 which is 13,500 BTU. Dometic also indicates it should be on a 20 amp circuit. Its loading is spec’d at 12.1 amps for the compressor and 2.5 amps for the fan motor. Therefore, when the compressor and fan are both on, it’s drawing a total of 14.6 amps. It also recommends a minimum 2500Watt generator to power the A/C unit.

If you’re running this off a 15amp shore circuit, it doesn’t give you much room to run anything else.

I also checked the loading of running the Atwood water heater on electric. We have the Atwood GC6AA-10E, which is a 6 gallon tank. It’s spec’d at ~12 - 13 amp load (1400 watts). Add that to the A/C and you’re pulling almost 28 amps at peak draw. Now you’re even very close to the 30 amp service limit.

That’s why they say to turn off the A/C or electric WH when using other electrical appliances that draw a lot of amps, such as the microwave or a toaster.

Hutch
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:13 AM   #13
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Hutch: The trailer main will trip, but not instantaneously. In the meantime, heat is building in the cord. The weak link is the actual connections in the plug. They will start to get hot and melt the plastic, which in turn loosens the connections, increasing the resistance and heat. Eventually, after multiple resets, because we all know the load doesn't get shed, the cord will fail.

Al: (1) I've always seen both, but I do carry a pig-tail just in case. (2) You are correct (3) The answer would be to put a 30 amp breaker or fuse inline in the pig-tail, however I've never seen one.
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Old 06-01-2007, 11:04 AM   #14
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Mack,

Thanks for the clarification and explanation.

Hutch
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Old 06-01-2007, 01:13 PM   #15
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I'd like to make one more comment and refer to Hutch's statement about low voltage. Surely low voltage could harm an appliance or not allow it to run at all. Understand that if an appliance requires, say, 2500 watts, at 120 volts it would draw about 21 amps. If the voltage dropped to 90 volts, the amperage required would now be 28. (watts/volts=amps) Significant. In a low voltage condition, everything is requiring more amperage and circuits could start to overload. A voltmeter is not a bad idea where large appliances are being used.
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Old 06-01-2007, 01:30 PM   #16
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Paul,

I read somewhere, can't remember where, that if voltage drops below 104V it's in the danger zone.

I use this type of volt meter to monitor voltage while camping.


I keep it plug in to one of the outlets all the time. This way I have some idea of what the voltage is. I start to get cautious about running appliances when the voltage drops below 110 on the meter, figuring it's a cheap meter and it can't be that accurate.

Hutch
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:25 PM   #17
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Hutch & Mack:
Thank you for your explanations. I guess I'll be picking up a pig tail and a voltage meter. However, I'll try to avoid using the pig tail unless it's absolutely necessary.
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Old 06-04-2007, 10:56 AM   #18
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When Cindy and I hit Florida, most of the larger campgrounds that catered to the Motorcoaches, only had 50amp service. That was something that was new to us, and the campground would sell you a converter/pigtail, but they charged a premium.

We went for the first night without one and then ended up buying one at a local Wally World for only $15. I think the campground wanted $25 or $30. So if you plan on doing any traveling to a parks where the much larger busses and motorcoaches, do yourself a favor and get one in advance.

I tried to look but couldnt find a link, but I seem to remember seeing in the back of a few different camping magazines that they make line condidtioners. These items will make sure that the power coming in is even and doenst allow spikes or low voltage drops. Might be something to look into if you are having troubles.

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Old 06-04-2007, 12:17 PM   #19
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Pat,

Are you're talking about an Autoformers when you mentions line conditioners?

I don't have any experience with them. They're a little (a.k.a. a lot) out of my price range.

Hutch
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Old 06-04-2007, 04:18 PM   #20
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We stopped at Lowes today and they did not have the volt meter - we'll try here locally - I'll bet anything we find it right here in our back yard!
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