20 amp adapter?

Arwen

I'm planning a weekend at a remote campground in the very northern tip of NH, where most the electrical hookups are only 20 amp.  So far, I have only boondocked or camped where there were 30 amp hookups.  Do I need a special 20 to 30 amp adapter, or will my 15 amp male to 30 amp female adapter work? [I did a search for this, but could not find an answer.]

Cbusguy

Most of the 20 amp outlets I have seen will take both a 15 amp and 20 amp plug.   

here is a link to a pic of what is typical   link

The neutral blade on the 20 amp is horizontal instead of vertical.    the one in the picture will take either.

ChrisandAlexis

We ran into the same situation at a campground at an Oregon state park. The outlet was for 20 amps which we had never encountered. We had only seen 30 and 50 amp outlets during our camping trips. Luckily there was a nearby town with an Ace hardware store. When I asked about a 20 amp adapter, the person helping us said that we probably need a 15 amp adapter as they did not carry a 20 amp adapter. The 15 amp adapter worked fine and we were running our TAB air conditioner.

Arwen

I emailed the campground and this was their reply: "There is a normal 20amp electrical outlet at your site. You may need a 30 to 20 amp adapter, depending on your plug from the camper."

So does anyone here know exactly what a "normal" 20amp outlet is?  Is this the outlet that has the horizontal neutral blade? 

Sharon_is_SAM

klenger

Just use a 15 amp adapter and you'll be fine.  If you're not running the Alde on 120 VAC (2000 watts at 120 VAC = ~ 17 amps) then there's not much else to use a more than 15 amps.  If you use a hair dryer or high power kitchen appliances like a toaster, coffee maker, etc, then it could be more.  

Estancio

I just carry this inexpensive 30amp-15amp adaptor everywhere I travel. Worked fine for me for the past 8 years.

Arwen

Thank you everyone!

I already have a 30amp-15amp adapter, which is what I use at home, so I should be good (I hope).  What was confusing me was the fact that some 20 amp outlets apparently have only the horizontal neutral slot (without the vertical one).

klenger

^^  That would be really odd.  Not allowing a 15 amp cord to be plugged into the outlet would prevent tent campers from plugging in a hair dryer or phone charger.  :(

Michigan_Mike

You won’t see many 20 amp plug in the majority of campgrounds and if they have 15 amp outlets as the primary hookup it tells you they have been around for a long time and haven’t taken the time to upgrade to a 30 amp service pedestal.  The last 15 amp outlet I saw was at old campgrounds along the coast of Florida, near Daytona.    

I HAVE seen some areas with 30 amp hookups and without circuit breakers that I am not fond of, but attribute that to either hodge-podge-do-it-yourself electricians, low cost installs or possibly no local electrical code requirements for the region.  This is why I have a built in surge suppressor in my 400 as you never know what you’re going to get.  👍🏻

ScottG

Sharon_is_SAM said:

The one on the left is designed to accept either a 15A or 20A plug. As Arwen noted, a strictly 20A receptacle would have only a horizontal notch in the grounded conductor (a.k.a. "neutral") position, but I'd be pretty surprised if you found one in a campground...

Receptacles designed to accept 15A plugs (like the ones above) are routinely wired into 20A circuits. It's common in campgrounds and even required in some of the circuits in your house.