Rv 30 Amp Vs 50 Amp Service

The first thing needed to use a 50 amp rv plug in a 30 amp socket is an adapter.

Rv 30 amp vs 50 amp service.

Look at a 30 amp plug you will see 3 connections. 70 amps more than a 30 amp plug. Look at a 50 amp plug you will see 4 connections. Even though the receptacle found in your rv is rated at 120 vac the 50 amp shore power is actually a 120 240 vac four wire service.

Conversely if you use an adapter for a 50 amp rv you ll be limited to 3 600 watts. So that means that they did more than just increase the size of the one 120 volt wire of a 30 amp service. The first most surprising thing about 50 amp vs 30 amp is that 50 amp rvs get more than 3 times as much power as 30 amp rvs. 50 amp rv service.

These special plugs are often referred to as dogbones since the round plug shapes on either of the cord resemble a bone one might give to a dog. The acronym vac stands for volts of alternating current which means the voltage is constantly changing from 0 volts up to 120 volts positive back down to o volts then it goes to negative 120 volts and then back up to 0 volts. When you have a 50 amp connection you really have a total of 100 amps of electrical service. A 50 amp rv plug has 2 120 volt wires 1 neutral wire and 1 ground wire.

A 30 amp plug is just one circuit and that circuit is 30 amps. To facilitate the larger loads placed upon the newer rvs the 50 amp service was brought out. I know it 50 isn t a number that s 3 times larger than 30 but the difference is huge. 50 amp plugs have two 120 volt hot pins a flat neutral pin and a round ground.

You can go one step further by looking at the power distribution center in your rv. Even with an adapter your 30 amp service rv won t receive more power than the 3 600 watts it can handle. If you exceed the total 3 600 watt capacity or the total 30 amp capacity it is highly likely the 30 amp breaker in the rv or the 30 amp breaker at the campground pedestal would trip. A 30 amp rv can handle up to 3 600 watts.

A 50 amp service rv provides a maximum 12 000 watts. A 50 amp rv puts you up to 12 000 watts so the increase in power is quite substantial. A 50 amp plug is really two 50 amp circuits. But it actually has so much more.

If you have a 50 amp rv you will want to get a dogbone that has a 50 amp female to 30 amp male. The formula is 30 amps x 120 volts 3 600 watts. Rv 30 amp vs. At face value it sounds like a 50 amp rv service has just 20 amps more power for use.