Camping with only 30 Amp Service

[Scotty B]

Hi Friends:
We waited a bit long and have just started booking our Canadian campgrounds for the summer on our trip back east.
Found 50 Amp full hook ups for all of the stops and have been able to book them at at most places, but are running into availability issues as we finalize the bookings back east in the larger population centers. A few of these campgrounds only have 30 Amp sites left.
So...we have only used 50 Amp connections on the new rig and are not sure what to expect.
We would greatly appreciate hearing from you on your experiences using 30 Amp service on your 50 Amp MH.
From what I currently understand, it's basically a matter of only using one major appliance at a time including just one A/C. We would need to get an adapter from 30 to 50 and I guess we would not be able to use our surge protector, but that's all I know of for now.
Thanks in advance for your input and advice from your real world experiences.
Safe Travels!
Scott & Phyllis

[be happy]

You pretty much have it correct, as for what to use and what not to use. Make sure your water heater is on propane as thats a large electric user. For me when on 30 its things like the toaster and microwave at same time. Or DW with electric hair drying stuff. Over all though its not as bad as it sounds, at least for a day or two if weeks I would have to think about it. Get the 50to30 amp "dog bone" adapter. I can not help with the surge protector.

Good Luck enjoy the trip

[Lv2Roam2]

I think you've figured it out!! We put our 30 to 50 adapter 'in line' first so that the surge protector still provides protection. Otherwise - there's some trial and error involved. Watch out for hair dryers and microwave ovens running together or either with an A/C running.

[Morich]

I might go at this a bit different and watch a bit closer as you find what it actually does. This is the drawing for the 110AC on your RV:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File.../000211682.pdf

It "looks" like you will only lose the use of one Air and one receptacle when going on 30 amp.
that is somewhat guesswork as it is not completely clear. But if you trace the lines out as you would a road map, there are hot sources from either your cord or your generator, called red and black. They go into the transfer switch and it chooses gen or cord to pass on.
So whenb you only have 30 amp, I think it logical they will drop the red line which appears to only feed the AC unit and one plug as marked.
Since this is a semi=common occurance, I don't think they will drop the black which is feeding the inverter circuits and most of the coach?? How much do we trust?

But as a way to be somewhat more prepared, I would look at this drawing asw a road map to what might happen and look for spots which logically might give trouble. One is the load and the range is a high power user andmove away from using it while drying hair!
But a second spot which often gives new users trouble is the GFCI tripping. That mmakes knowing where they are and how to reset them something that you might want to note and maybe evenput a tag on and outlet telling where to reset, just until you get into how it all works!

Best of luck and enjoy. It maytake a slight adjustment but many, many RV have never had 50 amp! Most never miss anything once they get into not drying hari while the coffee or toaster do their things.

[creativepart]

Scott, you can use the surge protector but it will likely be almost on the ground hanging from the “dog bone.”

Doesn’t your Adventurer have the Precision Circuits EMS in your tech/control panel? I’d think it would. That device will shed loads based on the available power. For instance it will turn off the A/C compressor when you run a high amperage item and then turn it back on when you’re finished. But it’s not perfect. Even on 30-amp it will only let you use about 28-29 amps. So, as others have said make sure your water heater is on propane. If you have an RV fridge make sure that is also on LP not Auto.

You can spend about $600 and DIY install soft starts on both of your A/C units, which would likely let you run both A/Cs on 30-amp. But, otherwise in a heat wave you could run your generator for a while to cool things down if need be. Remember, when the generator starts it will disconnect the shore power, not augment it.

If I was going to be stuck with 30-amp for extended camping Canada in the Summer would be my choice.

[Morich]

As an alternate way to get to know "for sure" what will work on 30 amp, rather than my theory?
If you have 50 amp or canrun the generator for a bit, try simply flipping off one breaker and that will give the same result as the loss of that hot line!

The transfer will pick up whether you have shore power or generator, so the result will be the same. At first, you will have full 50 amp power but when you flip the breaker, you will have the remaining 30 amp and can actuall go around and look at what is still powered.
Real world versus theory can sometimes give us a better plan.
I think it will be this one which is lost, but testing will tell you a more reliable story!
Click this snip to get better view.

[creativepart]

I'd think, better than flipping breakers is going to the PCI Powerline EMS and change the incoming power from 50-amp to 30-amp and that will limit the power coming into the coach. Just don't forget to change it back again later.

Something I forgot to mention previously - beside the water heater and fridge to consider for big power usage is the Converter/charger or the Inverter/Charger depending on which you have. If you arrive with a full charge on your house batteries then plugging into 30-amp won't use a lot of amps to charge your batteries. But if your batteries are in a low state of charge, when you plug into shore power, your charger will try to dump as many amps as possible into your house batteries. So, just be aware of that.

Our favorite State Park, 107 miles from our home, is 30-amp only and we simply don't go there in the summer months when temps are above 90 degrees. So, I know exactly what it's like.

[Scotty B]

I have this system and am glad to hear it is smarter than me! I'll read up on it, but if this turns appliances off and on to stay within the the available power, then we'll be happy campers!
Great advice Paul, I'll change the input on the Magnum panel to 30 from 50.
It does concern me as I know how the coach can struggle to keep cool with two a/c's in the summer, let alone one.

[Noah4448]

During our trip to Alaska last summer north of the Great Lakes and returning on I70 we saw a few 50 amp available in Canada (as stated above.) We used two 3-inch USB fans and a larger 8-inch AC/DC fan to keep cool. Thus we avoided using the generator for the most part.

[Morich]

I think you may be surprised at how well it does take care of things for you. BUT I also think it good to do some looking at what each is expected to do, just incase you do run into something unexpected and then you will be more prepared to deal with the surprises?

This is the drawing or "road map of your 110AC system if you want to take a look at the whole drawing:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File.../000211682.pdf

But that can be a large pill if not used to looking at them as it has lots involved, so I took a snip of some of the things that might be the bigger surprise and possibly less comfusing when looking at smaller portions!

The EMS managemnet system is a Magic box that takes care of lots of decisions, but the basic idea is that it runs both parts, sections or "legs" of the 50 amp service through current sensors and manages whatever levels it sees. If it senses too much on one or none on another, it deals with it! Not too much to decide on it, as it just works to keep it all working as much as it finds you are feeding it!



But things that ARE more likely to need some thought if things go bad are the inverter and knowing what it does and the GFCI which are often trickier if we don't know where they are!

On the main panel there will be a breaker to feed power to a second inverter panel. That breaker has to be on!


A second breaker at the inverter panel also has to be on! the smaller breaker there also need to be onto feed each line. Knowing what works on or through the inverter may be helpfull to keep handy?


The items which should work when NOT plugged into power and with inverter on are these:

Click these snips to get a better view!



But the first item to trip is often a GFCI and it cuts off power to things in other rooms where we may not see it happened and that is one to keep handy if things fail.

You have two to know about:




Enjoy, as I think you will find you have a great rV and it will try to take good care of the electrical at whatever level you provide.

[Ray,IN]

You will be able to run more applianes than you think. I once owned a 1976 Allegro MH, 30A was the thing back then, It had 2 air conditioners and one was powered through a 3-way switch. I could run one A/C and the microwave at the same time, or flip the switch and run both A/C units, nothing else but a few lights. Water heater and fridge ran on LP.
If DW wanted to use more high-draw appliances the 3-way switch was set to the middle position.
Most major appliances and a much higher start-up amp. draw. You would do well to do your own energy audit for your RV; that is starting wattage, run wattage for each appliance.



https://generatorist.com/list-of-ele...-wattage-usage

[BobC]

We've had two TTs and a MH since 2005, all with 30A shore power and it's never been a problem. The only downside with the MH is not being able to run both of our "basement A/C's two compressors while using much in the way of additional power. You can always run all your full A/C capacity by running your generator if necessary but, one unit should suffice once the initial heat load is eliminated. We've found that running the A/C off the generator while driving to your stop means that everything is cool inside when you hook up to shore power and one A/C should suffice. Running your generator while driving is perfectly fine and doesn't use much fuel.

Aside from the A/C issue, it's not much different than realising at home that you can't run the microwave and toaster at the same time off one circuit.

[Morich]

Gotta keep in mind we are "roughing it"!!
Before we had air, we just learned to adjust the lifestyle and stayed in the pool until things cooled or just did a bit more sweating!

Heah! WE do get running water and an inside toilet! If you're a little older, you may remember not having those, even at home!

[Scotty B]

Hi from the blustery (probably need a bigger word than that!), wet, and cold Oregon coast!
Thanks for all of the great responses - much appreciated.
It looks like we only have two GFIs and they are easily located in the galley and powder room.
I am not sure if we can run a generator at the campgrounds where we only have 30 AMP, but will check. One is a KOA for example.
I will make sure we use propane for the water heater. Fridge is residential so can't do anything there.
I don't think we have two 30 AMP sites back to back so we should be OK on charged batteries.
I love the idea of running the generator and two a/c's during transit. We did that a lot last summer coming across route 66. Will at least be cool on arrival.
And most importantly, thanks for the reality check on the fact that we are camping. We slept on the ground forever in tents until it got to hard to stand up in the morning! So we got our little 30 AMP travel trailer 8 years ago and have not really looked back since.
It seems camping can sometimes end up being more about the rig than the actual camping, particularly since we got the coach, We certainly so spend more time indoors than we used, too. Something we used to point about Class A campers when we were in the TT.
Safe travels!

[Ray,IN]

Scotty, GFCI receptacles are only needed at the first receptacle in one entire circuit, then it protects every receptacle downstream, because effectively they are daisy-chained.

[Scotty B]

Now at our 3rd 30 amp campground. You were all correct. No worries at all. Love how you can see how many amps you're using. Basically only two major appliances, not counting fridge, at one time. You want to make some toast? Turn off an AC. My wife was cooking dinner one night and forgot to check what was running and the system automatically shed the rear AC. No disruption of power and really cool!
It does help that we're in Canada and have had days where we have not needed the AC.
Thanks and safe travels!

[BobC]

Guess who gets to answer the 30A/50A question the next time it's asked? That's how we all got to be Winnebago Masters. The more problems you have, the quicker you get there.

[deckape]

Was in Canada ,month of july , doing the Lake Superior Circle tour and found mostly 30 Amp site at their Parks . Cool enough that A/C was not needed . Nice to be where it was not 90+ and a very cold breeze off Lake Superior every evening . Managing power is something we all need to do ,from time to time .

[Noah4448]

Originally Posted by Morich

I think you may be surprised at how well it does take care of things for you. BUT I also think it good to do some looking at what each is expected to do, just incase you do run into something unexpected and then you will be more prepared to deal with the surprises?

This is the drawing or "road map of your 110AC system if you want to take a look at the whole drawing:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File.../000211682.pdf

But that can be a large pill if not used to looking at them as it has lots involved, so I took a snip of some of the things that might be the bigger surprise and possibly less comfusing when looking at smaller portions!

The EMS managemnet system is a Magic box that takes care of lots of decisions, but the basic idea is that it runs both parts, sections or "legs" of the 50 amp service through current sensors and manages whatever levels it sees. If it senses too much on one or none on another, it deals with it! Not too much to decide on it, as it just works to keep it all working as much as it finds you are feeding it!

Attachment 185684

But things that ARE more likely to need some thought if things go bad are the inverter and knowing what it does and the GFCI which are often trickier if we don't know where they are!

On the main panel there will be a breaker to feed power to a second inverter panel. That breaker has to be on!
Attachment 185685

A second breaker at the inverter panel also has to be on! the smaller breaker there also need to be onto feed each line. Knowing what works on or through the inverter may be helpfull to keep handy?
Attachment 185686

The items which should work when NOT plugged into power and with inverter on are these:

Click these snips to get a better view!

Attachment 185687

But the first item to trip is often a GFCI and it cuts off power to things in other rooms where we may not see it happened and that is one to keep handy if things fail.

You have two to know about:
Attachment 185688

Attachment 185689

Enjoy, as I think you will find you have a great rV and it will try to take good care of the electrical at whatever level you provide.

First, I really appreciate all the help you have provided me and others. THANKS! I have a 2019 Vists 29VE with a smart panel. I got the 50 Amp enhancement so I have two A/Cs. I am installing two SoftStarts. Your information about the panel made me wonder if will it prevent both A/Cs from working on a 30amp shore circuit?

[Scotty B]

Not directed to me - but as mentioned we have had no issues running both ACs...they use 20 amps total together. If you want to run an appliance like a toaster, tea kettle, or coffee maker; the induction range or convection oven, the dryer, fireplace (we are in Canada!), or electric water heater - turn off one AC. If you want to run two of the above together, turn off both ACs. Figure these all run about 10 amps so only two at a time.
The Fridge, washer, and outlets take minimal amperage.
Hope that helps...
I still run my 50 amp surge protector after the dog bone adapter.
Safe Travels!