Question about electric service

[movein69]

New to pop-ups here.

We have a 2003 viking 1906st. I know it has a 30 amp plug. We also have the accessory piece to plug in to any outlet, which we do at home when we need some electric service. I have used the air at home as well, and it doesn't work as good, but it never blows a circuit or anything.

So, here is my question. We want to go camping (3rd time) Memorial weekend, and they have pop-up / tent sites available with REGULAR electricity. They are booked for 30 amp sites. They also have 50 amp sites available for the larger RV's.

Would it be ok to plug into the regular outlet and use the air, if needed. Most of the days we will be out and about and wouldn't need the air, but we know how hot it can get. I also had another question. Our last 2 camping experiences the electric was 50 amp (20 amp switch and 30 amp switch). I only turned on the 30 amp switch. I wasn't sure if adding both would blow a fuse or something.

Anyway, if anybody can help me with the electricity dilemma I would appreciate it. I am not very good at electrical questions.

Thanks

[wavery]

New to pop-ups here.

We have a 2003 viking 1906st. I know it has a 30 amp plug. We also have the accessory piece to plug in to any outlet, which we do at home when we need some electric service. I have used the air at home as well, and it doesn't work as good, but it never blows a circuit or anything.

So, here is my question. We want to go camping (3rd time) Memorial weekend, and they have pop-up / tent sites available with REGULAR electricity. They are booked for 30 amp sites. They also have 50 amp sites available for the larger RV's.

Would it be ok to plug into the regular outlet and use the air, if needed. Most of the days we will be out and about and wouldn't need the air, but we know how hot it can get. I also had another question. Our last 2 camping experiences the electric was 50 amp (20 amp switch and 30 amp switch). I only turned on the 30 amp switch. I wasn't sure if adding both would blow a fuse or something.

Anyway, if anybody can help me with the electricity dilemma I would appreciate it. I am not very good at electrical questions.

Thanks

If you get a site that has only one 15amp outlet (like at home), you will be fine with the A/C. The kicker is, if you then turn on the coffee pot or microwave or hair dryer or anything else that has a fairly heavy draw, you may trip the circuit breaker. If you do.....big deal....turn off all the other stuff, wait 5 minutes and turn the breaker back on.

Now.....if you are lucky enough to get a site with two 15amp outlets, plug the A/C in the other outlet with a maximum of 25' long 12g extension cord or a 50' long 10g extension cord (it should be marked right on the extension cord). That will leave the other outlet to run everything else.

You may want to plug the A/C in directly (with an extension cord) anyway. It probably won't trip a 15amp breaker that way.

You can buy 10g extension cords at Home Depot. I got a 25' one the other day for $14. They are nice to have along when you have A/C.

[wavery]

New to pop-ups here.

We have a 2003 viking 1906st. I know it has a 30 amp plug. We also have the accessory piece to plug in to any outlet, which we do at home when we need some electric service. I have used the air at home as well, and it doesn't work as good, but it never blows a circuit or anything.

So, here is my question. We want to go camping (3rd time) Memorial weekend, and they have pop-up / tent sites available with REGULAR electricity. They are booked for 30 amp sites. They also have 50 amp sites available for the larger RV's.

Would it be ok to plug into the regular outlet and use the air, if needed. Most of the days we will be out and about and wouldn't need the air, but we know how hot it can get. I also had another question. Our last 2 camping experiences the electric was 50 amp (20 amp switch and 30 amp switch). I only turned on the 30 amp switch. I wasn't sure if adding both would blow a fuse or something.

Anyway, if anybody can help me with the electricity dilemma I would appreciate it. I am not very good at electrical questions.

Thanks

If you get a site that has only one 15amp outlet (like at home), you will be fine with the A/C. The kicker is, if you then turn on the coffee pot or microwave or hair dryer or anything else that has a fairly heavy draw, you may trip the circuit breaker. If you do.....big deal....turn off all the other stuff, wait 5 minutes and turn the breaker back on.

Now.....if you are lucky enough to get a site with two 15amp outlets, plug the A/C in the other outlet with a maximum of 25' long 12g extension cord or a 50' long 10g extension cord (it should be marked right on the extension cord). That will leave the other outlet to run everything else.

You may want to plug the A/C in directly (with an extension cord) anyway. It probably won't trip a 15amp breaker that way.

You can buy 10g extension cords at Home Depot. I got a 25' one the other day for $14. They are nice to have along when you have A/C.

[movein69]

If you get a site that has only one 15amp outlet (like at home), you will be fine with the A/C. The kicker is, if you then turn on the coffee pot or microwave or hair dryer or anything else that has a fairly heavy draw, you may trip the circuit breaker. If you do.....big deal....turn off all the other stuff, wait 5 minutes and turn the breaker back on.

Now.....if you are lucky enough to get a site with two 15amp outlets, plug the A/C in the other outlet with a maximum of 25' long 12g extension cord or a 50' long 10g extension cord (it should be marked right on the extension cord). That will leave the other outlet to run everything else.

You may want to plug the A/C in directly (with an extension cord) anyway. It probably won't trip a 15amp breaker that way.

You can buy 10g extension cords at Home Depot. I got a 25' one the other day for $14. They are nice to have along when you have A/C.

Ok sounds good and thanks for your reply. One more quest... I thought the A/C was somehow hardwired into the 30 amp plug. If so, how would I only plug in the A/C to an outlet by itself? Maybe I am thinking wrong though.

[movein69]

Ok sounds good and thanks for your reply. One more quest... I thought the A/C was somehow hardwired into the 30 amp plug. If so, how would I only plug in the A/C to an outlet by itself? Maybe I am thinking wrong though.

Oh, and do you know about the 20amp/30 amp switches. Can you turn them both on even though you are only drawing 30amps?

[wavery]

Oh, and do you know about the 20amp/30 amp switches. Can you turn them both on even though you are only drawing 30amps?

Yes, you can turn them both on. the load rating is a maximum load rating. You can plug a 100w light bulb (which is 1 amp) into a 10amp service or a 50 amp service. You just can't plug a 30amp load into a 20amp service.

Having said that, I doubt very much that you need more than a 30amp service for your PU unless you have a large A/C unit and you are running the microwave, toaster and hair dryer all at the same time.

[zamboni]

One more quest... I thought the A/C was somehow hardwired into the 30 amp plug. If so, how would I only plug in the A/C to an outlet by itself?

To answer this question:  Some campers have what appears to be a "hard-wired" appliance... when, in truth, there is a hidden regular-looking electrical outlet that the appliance is plugged into.

For example, on our former Coleman Niagara PUP, the under the outside removable panel for the fridge control, was an outlet.  The fridge was just plugged into it.  We could have unplugged it from there, and plugged the very short cord into an extension cord to run the fridge off a separate circuit.  The Niagara's AC also had a separate plug, so I could unplug the AC and plug it into an extension cord.

[tlhdoc]

Ok sounds good and thanks for your reply. One more quest... I thought the A/C was somehow hardwired into the 30 amp plug. If so, how would I only plug in the A/C to an outlet by itself? Maybe I am thinking wrong though.

It depends on who wired your AC unit.  Some are hard wired, or the cord is long enough to leave it plugged in all of the time.  Others have a cord with a plug on the end of it, that you have to plug in all of the time.

[wavery]

It depends on who wired your AC unit.  Some are hard wired, or the cord is long enough to leave it plugged in all of the time.  Others have a cord with a plug on the end of it, that you have to plug in all of the time.

HMMMM!! I suppose that it may be possible to hard wire the A/C on a PU but I just can't imagine it. I've only seen ones with a cord that you un-plug before popping down. That doesn't mean that they aren't out there. It just seems rather difficult to do and possibly dangerous.

[tlhdoc]

We have a 2003 viking 1906st. I know it has a 30 amp plug. We also have the accessory piece to plug in to any outlet, which we do at home when we need some electric service. I have used the air at home as well, and it doesn't work as good, but it never blows a circuit or anything.

If the AC unit is not working as good at home as it does when the camper is plugged into a 30 amp outlet, you might not be getting enough power to the AC unit when plugged into a 15 amp outlet.  Under powering it is very hard on the AC unit and can cause repair bills down the road.  Find out how many amps your AC unit draws.  It may be ok plugged into a 15 amp outlet, and it may not be ok.  They are wired for a 20 amp outlet usually.  You can get a 50 to 30 amp adapter if you camp with a 50 amp hookup.  If you are drawing more than 15 amps thought the 30 to 15 amp adapter you can end up melting the adapter and having a fire.
 
Check with the campground.  The regular outlets may be 20 amp and you would be ok to run the AC unit there.  I would plug it in directly if you can.  Have a good trip.

[tlhdoc]

HMMMM!! I suppose that it may be possible to hard wire the A/C on a PU but I just can't imagine it. I've only seen ones with a cord that you un-plug before popping down. That doesn't mean that they aren't out there. It just seems rather difficult to do and possibly dangerous.

I am not an electrician, but my guess is that you run the AC wires to the 20 amp circuit on the power converter and there you have it.  A hard wired AC unit.  You plug the AC unit into the 20 amp outlet, so I don't see why it would be more dangerous.

[mike4947]

Also get yourself some sort of voltage checker. An air conditioner run on reduced voltage can self destruct. Figure 110 volts as an ABSOLUTE minimum.

[movein69]

I am not an electrician, but my guess is that you run the AC wires to the 20 amp circuit on the power converter and there you have it.  A hard wired AC unit.  You plug the AC unit into the 20 amp outlet, so I don't see why it would be more dangerous.

Well I can tell you now that mine is hard wired in. The refrigerator is done exactly how the one poster said. I can unplug it and use an extension cord. I have a suburban a/c. The book I have shows how to hook it up and it shows it being hard wired, so I don't know.

I have used the air on my own socket and never had any problems. Maybe I can run the refrig only on the one socket and plug in the refrigerator to another socket. I know when we tent camped all the time there was at least 2 sockets to plug in.

[wavery]

I am not an electrician, but my guess is that you run the AC wires to the 20 amp circuit on the power converter and there you have it.  A hard wired AC unit.  You plug the AC unit into the 20 amp outlet, so I don't see why it would be more dangerous.

I just can't imagine how they would run the wiring so that it would be safe and not suffer damage when you crank up & down :confused: .

Maybe movein69 can help me understand that .

[movein69]

I just can't imagine how they would run the wiring so that it would be safe and not suffer damage when you crank up & down :confused: .

Maybe movein69 can help me understand that .

Well - under one of my seat is where the water tank is. The A/C has a black cord coming down the wall going under the seat (a piece of the wood is cut out to allow for this)... The black cord runs into this white box that has a label on it saying this box is for the a/c unit only. Then another white cord comes out of this box and connects to the converter. When we lower or raise the PUP it doesn't matter because all the wiring is under the seat. Under this same seat is where the shore line electrical plug is stored as well.