Do people use multiple shore power plugs?

socceronly

Active member
Curious if people use more than one kind.

Never stayed at an RV park.

I was looking at two 120v receptacles, then just have a few different xxxV / xxAMP adapters for whatever is there.

Does that make sense, or is there some electrical voodoo reason that is a bad idea....
 

Herbie

Rendezvous Conspirator
RV owners often use/carry a number of plug adapters for the purpose of having a single receptacle on the rig and being able to plug-in to whatever is available. CampingWorld, Amazon, etc. all carry these. EDIT: Example: https://amzn.to/2TfRORw

If it were me, I'd set things up such that it was safe to plug in the highest Amperage supply I was likely to see, then get adapters to lower amperage plugs, in case I needed to plug in. (Rather than setting up my rig for a 15A circuit and then adapting it to a 30A supply and hoping nothing goes "bang".)

I never use shore-power anywhere except my driveway anyhow, so this is all a little moot for me! :D
 

WeLikeCamping

Explorer
I have a 30 amp connector for my trailer. Some places only offer 50 amp, so I have an adapter to step down to 30. Some offer both, but I typically default to 30. I've never used the standard 115v 15/20a receptacles for powering my rig.
 

Alloy

Well-known member
1.) Do you want to use 2 (120V receptacles ) curcuits to supply seperate loads

or

2.) Do you want to combine 2 (120V receptacles) circuits to feed a single load?
 

Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
When I had a 30 amp rig I carried a 50 to 30 amp adapter(we ended up at a Harvest Host in Amarillo once and all they had was 50a) generator to 30a RV adapter(maybe some generators have the RV style three blade?), and a 15/20 to 30 adapter that I never had to use.

Also on the theme of using extra plugs:
For the summer we lived at an RV park we found 30 amps somewhat lacking. If the AC is running and the wife wants to run a hair dryer or other big draw item, not happening.
I took an extra extension cord off the park pedestal and ran it into the rig via the gap around the slide, then closed the slide. Never had any problems doing that but I’ve heard people say it might over load the pedestal or something.
 

67cj5

Man On a Mission
The UK leads are 240v 16A which you can then buy an adapter that converts the 16A Plug to a 13A 3 pin domestic plug that has a 13A fuse in it, With my Camper/Van I have a 16A Socket outside that is joined to a leads that is wired in to an RCD Board with 3 X 13A Sockets on it which is also Fused internally and then every plug I plug in to it is also fused like all UK household Appliances.

EDIT, The 16A to 13A adapter is for use if you want to plug the vehicle in at home or if you have a Generator with Domestic Sockets.
 
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socceronly

Active member
1; No your comments dont make sense. 2; A good voodoo reason is if electrical questions cant be asked in easily understandable fashion, its usually a bad idea.
Anyway,
Lets assume you are in N.Amerika ?..Typical RV park ( if it has reasonably modern electrical campsites) uses three different type receptacles. Most common are 120 volt NEMA 5-15/20 amp and NEMA TT30 amp. Most midsize and smaller RVs are set up with a 120 volt 30 amp plug. Its common to carry a 30 to 15 amp adaptor.
Next is NEMA 14-50. Thats dual 120 & 240 volt 50 amp receptacle. Usually installed only in sites suitable for bigazz RVs. Adaptors are available to allow plugging into the 120 volt portion of the dual voltage receptacle.
As aside, Some campgrounds ’cheat’. Their dual voltage receptacle is configured to only provide 120 volts.

I have seen 14-50 adapters that split into two 120 20amp plugs. Is there something wrong with connecting those to 120v receptacles on an rv? That is two independent lines. Would an inline gfci be a good thing to get for that?
 

socceronly

Active member
1.) Do you want to use 2 (120V receptacles ) curcuits to supply seperate loads

or

2.) Do you want to combine 2 (120V receptacles) circuits to feed a single load?

One or Two independent lines depending on what is provided. Since it seems to vary I was wondering if people had more than one kind
 

socceronly

Active member
Here is what I mean.

Taking the power from these into two 120v receptacles, depending on what is there
 

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socceronly

Active member
I wasn't asking about using multiple different shore power plugs at the same time. I was wondering if people had different ones installed for compatability. But I see now they use adapters.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
I wasn't asking about using multiple different shore power plugs at the same time. I was wondering if people had different ones installed for compatability. But I see now they use adapters.
yep, hardwire the one you need, find the adapters to match the supply

but this is all old school
solar technology often means you can forget about shore power and 120V
and it gets better every day

even charging a laptop, just bump 12V to 19V and be done
 

Alloy

Well-known member
One or Two independent lines depending on what is provided. Since it seems to vary I was wondering if people had more than one kind

In the RV world those are called dog bones.

The 30A splitter many not protect the 15A cords so it's possible to draw more than 15amps through a 15A cord.

People will plug the RV into 30amp to run the AC and then use an extension cord from another 120 receptacle in the panel to run other stuff. It all depends on how the breakers in the shore power box are setup. I read about someone that had their trailer wired for 2-30A shore power plugs. At campsites that only have 30A power they would plug into the 30A for their site and the 30A from another site.
 
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Alloy

Well-known member
I have seen 14-50 adapters that split into two 120 20amp plugs. Is there something wrong with connecting those to 120v receptacles on an rv? That is two independent lines. Would an inline gfci be a good thing to get for that?

What do you mean "connecting those to 120v receptacles on an rv"
 

OllieChristopher

Well-known member
Curious if people use more than one kind.

Never stayed at an RV park.

I was looking at two 120v receptacles, then just have a few different xxxV / xxAMP adapters for whatever is there.

Does that make sense, or is there some electrical voodoo reason that is a bad idea....

It kind of makes sense.

One adapter I highly recommend to have on hand at home or if you are RVing is two 25-50 foot 110v male plugs and cords put into a female 208 volt singe phase plug. This way you have 208 power in a pinch for RV's welders, driers, etc.

These are not a off the shelf unit but are very simple to make yourself using two 10/3 or 12/3 extension cords and a 208 single phase plug. Any Home Depot will have it.

Main thing to remember is in order for it to work you have to plug each 110 plug into different circuits. You will be amazed at how handy these are. For RVrs they are worth their weight in gold at campsites or places with only 110 plugs. Or if that hookup site has a broken box.

With two small inverter generators you now have a nice single phase 208 plug to use.
 

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