Showing off my electrical power upgrade

[powercat_ras]

I have upgraded my Vista 27N so that in addition to the standard OEM AC power arrangement, I can:

Off-load the Air Conditioner and Converter-Charger to an additional power box. This power box is fed by a 25' 30 Amp Extension Cord.

Off-load the Microwave / Hot Water Heater to a 25' 12 gauge 15 Amp Extension Cord.

I take advantage by manually moving plugs to different sockets in the basement.

I modified a 50 Amp Plug to dual 30 Amp Receptacle adapter with a fuse protected 15 Amp outlet spliced into the L2 30 Amp Receptacle cord.

I found that I often camp in RV camp spaces with a 50 Amp Plug that is no additional cost to use, so I created this setup to take advantage. Plug the adapter into the 50 Amp pedestal outlet. Run the OEM shore cable plus the 30 Amp extension cord and the 15 amp extension cord to the basement.

I was already carrying the extension cords. I was able to mount the box and plugs in un-used space in the top part of the basement electrical compartment. Total parts cost under $ 100.

= = = = =

2nd mod, shown in blue: I replaced the Xantrex 1000 Watt inverter with a 3000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter. The large size is mainly so it can handle the starting current of the residential microwave I upgraded to in my RV. I have 3 branch circuits fed from the inverter via home-made transfer switches made using 20 A DPDT Appliance Relays and plastic electrical boxes.

I also have a home-made manual transfer switch panel for a 4th circuit that powers the refrigerator AC outlet using a 20 A DPDT Switch, a metal switch plate, and a plastic electrical box. I use this when traveling in the RV with the propane off. When traveling I turn on the inverter and put the refrigerator on the inverter with the manual switch. The chassis alternator keeps the coach batteries charged, making up for the 12 volt power the inverter uses powering the refrigerator.

Details:

[Class-C-Guy]

I love the mod! Thanks for sharing this. I can appreciate the amount of thought and planning that went in to your project.

[Morich]

Were there times when you felt you needed more than 30 amp power that prompted this mod? Was the residential micro what pushed it over the limit? I have never seen our home micro show any trouble on a normal 15 amp circuit but I assume there might be some which require more for covenection, etc. but wondering what prompted the change other than using engine alternator power over propane when driving.

[powercat_ras]

I had to keep track of power use when I only have 30 amps available. I found that from time to time I would trip the 30 amp breaker, usually on the pedestal, when I had electric heat or electric AC active and the hot water heater set on electric. One more large load like the converter-charger in bulk charge mode would take me over the 30 amp breaker trip threshold.

Splitting off the converter-charger and AC/HeatPump to other side of a 50 Amp pedestal totally eliminated having to keep track of power use.

I have the Microwave / Hot Water Heater fed on a separate 15 Amp cord because the maximum possible draw of the MW/HWH + ConvChgr + HWH/Microwave is over 30 amps and would be above the rating of a single 30A cord.

[Morich]

Okay, was not seeing/thinking of the electric heat as a big hog. We use a small electric heater on our 2015 vista 31ke but use very little power with no heat pump, etc added but we are aware that we may be pushing it close at times when we use an electric skillet to take the cooking heat outside but we are also doing something to split the power hogs as we use a cord run to the shore power.
Good looking job to sort out how to set up for what you wanted. Once a guy gets a screwdriver and pliers, he rarely runs out of projects! If nothing else, I often find myself changing out the things the last guy added.