Splitting Electrical Supply

staha1205 · July 2020

I am going on my maiden voyage with my new t@b 320 in a couple of weeks and will be joined by my friend in her camper van! Super exciting stuff. We will just be out for the weekend, but it'll be plenty because boy is it going to be hot! We will probably need to run our AC a lot in this awful Florida heat. The problem is there is only one 30a / 120v plug at the site. Will we be able to split the power somehow? She also uses 30a in her van. I was hoping we could use one of those dogbone y adapters with 30a male to two 30a female, but the more i think about it the more it seems like that won't work? It seems the two plugged in at once could either provide insufficient power to the campers or draw too much power and overload their electrical. Or it could be bad in some other unfathomable way. Like I said, I'm a newbie and I dont want to do something stupid! Will using a dogbone like the one I described above work? If not, are there any suggestions or tips on making it possible for both campers to use the same outlet? Or is one of us going to need to boondock this trip? Thanks in advance!

ChrisFix · July 2020

The key thing to remember is that your total 'supply' of electricity is 30 amps...if you try to draw more than that, the breaker at the pedestal you are plugged in to will trip - which isn't the end of the world - you'll simply need to turn off the item drawing too much power and reset the breaker (flip it off and on again).
Running two air conditioners might work from 30 amps depending on how much they draw, but that is definitely pushing the limits of a 30 amp circuit.
Assuming you are using properly sized 30A cords from the pedestal to your campers, nothing terrible will occur trying to share the 30A circuit, but you might find that you don't have enough power for both your air conditioners running at the same time, and you definitely won't have enough power for both air conditioners and having your Alde water heater on electric power, or running a microwave, etc.
The breaker at the pedestal won't allow for anything awful to happen - it will cut power when you draw more than it can supply. Resetting it is really as simple as flipping a switch.

dragonsdofly · July 2020

@staha1205, which model and year t@b? I have a 2017 and it is plugged into a 15 amp house circuit since we got it. The power use of this trailer is very economic. The 15 amp service will allow the air conditioner to run along with the fridge without tripping the breaker. For hot or warm water, use the stovetop or grill to warm it for a minute or two and you have water to wash yourself or dishes in. Most pedestals have a 15 amp plug also. One of you can use that if it is available. While, as previously stated, you won't be able to run the alde, I don't use it at all during warm weather camping. For me, it puts too much heat in the cabin. Originally, at üCamp17, there wasn't enough service to provide everyone with 30 amp hookups. One of us used the 30 amp plug and one of us used the 15 amp plug. Careful useage allowed us to share without overloading the circuits. It can be done and we still had a great time. Enjoy!

Sharon_is_SAM · July 2020

@staha1205 - I agree with dragonsdofly. Since you are in hot weather, you can get by without the Alde heating your water for a shower - especially if using the fresh water tank. One of you should just use a 30 amp to shorepower adapter (and your surge protector) and take advantage of that 120 v outlet.

ScottG · July 2020

This raises another interesting question...

When a pedestal provides both a 30A and 20A receptacles, does it mean you have 50A to work with?

Not necessarily. I highly doubt campgrounds run two separate circuits to every pedestal. Therefore, while there may be multiple receptacles on the pedestal, the total supply may still be limited to 30A. You might not trip the pedestal breakers by using both receptacles at the same time, but you might trip the breaker at the central distribution panel--and that one won't be so easy to reset yourself.

BrianZ · July 2020

Good point, @ScottG. Many campgrounds offer both/either 50A/30A outlets on the pedestal, in addition to 20A standard plug, and in this case I would expect there is at least a total of 50A available.

Sharon_is_SAM · July 2020

I remember @Mouseketab suggesting running a high draw appliance (hair dryer or crockpot) on the 120 v outlet while plugged into the 30 A outlet. So, I thought they were separate. Going to check with Mike Sokol the RV electric guru.

Sharon_is_SAM · July 2020

I found a 2017 thread on this:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/5125/can-you-use-all-the-outlets-at-a-campground-pedestal

ScottG · July 2020

Yep, where I raised the exact same question...

Good catch, Sharon!

Sharon_is_SAM · July 2020

And this agrees with @ScottG:

https://www.triplercamp.com/blog/campground-power-on-hot-weekends

Verna · July 2020

Excellent electrical info, @Sharon_is_SAM and @ScottG.

I wondered about the electrical capacity of the electrical pedestals last summer when I saw a Class A big rig having 2 very thick cables plugged into the electrical pedestal. Probably using both the 50 amp and the 30 amp outlets.

No wonder the power company had an equipment component failure at their substation. If many of the other Class A’s did this, there wasn’t a lot of power left for me!

I’ll bet the campground managers loved seeing my ARB in my truck plugged into the exterior outlet on the 400.

Sharon_is_SAM · July 2020

This is from one of Mike Sokol’s YouTube videos. A viewer posed a question and the answer suggests that the 120v outlet is not a separate circuit.

staha1205 · July 2020

Thanks everyone! This is all very good information and I really appreciate the time you took to answer. I have a 2019 @dragonsdofly, and it's barely used at all, so chances are everything on her is humming with efficiency

So just to make sure I understand correctly, since these amazing constructions are pretty energy efficient, it shouldn't be a problem to run the AC in both our campers (i'm assuming hers won't be an energy hog either since it's a van) while plugged into the same 30a outlet. Here's the Y adapter I bought from Amazon to accomplish this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085HBCBHM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As long as we don't run more than the AC's and the fridge (and hopefully a couple of lights at night) we should be okay using this? It however might not be okay for one of us to be plugged into the 120v plug while the other in the 30a?

ScottG · July 2020

@staha1205, I think the bottom line is that whatever you end up doing you should avoid exceeding the amperage rating of the single largest receptacle on the pedestal.

Practically speaking, the adapter you bought would be the simplest way to do that. In the event that you did exceed 30A, the pedestal breaker would trip as @ChrisFix described previously.

I don't know the amperage draw of your individual appliances, so I can't say for certain you would have no problem running two air conditioners, etc.

staha1205 · July 2020

Makes sense @ScottG, thanks a bunch! The blog you shared @Sharon_is_SAM was helpful in understanding this a bit more and calculating the estimated draw I'd need in my T@B. I'm going to find out about my friend's appliances and try to plan accordingly so we don't exceed 30a. Thanks again everyone!

N7SHG_Ham · July 2020

Are you sure you can put two campers in a single spot at the CG? Rules may not allow that?

ScottG · July 2020

And you thought that was a "total newbie question" @staha1205. Turns out it's a pretty complex issue that even veteran campers still debate! :-)

falcon1970 · July 2020

At UCamp2019 nuCamp supplied a splitter for most, if not all, of the pedestals. Since it wasn't particularly hot I doubt anyone ran an air conditioner so it all seemed to work out.

dragonsdofly · July 2020

@staha1205, you can run the air conditioner on electric, but you can also run your fridge on gas. It takes only a tiny bit of power to do that, and you then have a larger safety margin to avoid an overdraw on the pedestal. Yes, I know for certain that running the air conditioning and fridge on electric has not tripped the 15 amp breaker at our house in over 4 years of use. But, always check this info as is said "YMMV". (Your milage may vary). Good luck, and truly Enjoy! -Denise

Mouseketab · July 2020

Sharon_is_SAM said:

I remember @Mouseketab suggesting running a high draw appliance (hair dryer or crockpot) on the 120 v outlet while plugged into the 30 A outlet. So, I thought they were separate. Going to check with Mike Sokol the RV electric guru.

I do that often. Run the trailer on the 30A, and my kitchen appliances (extra fridge, crockpot, coffee maker, toaster oven) on a heavy duty cord from the 20 Amp. At my favorite Halloween campsite when we have lots of decorations, I run the camper on the 50 Amp plug with an adapter, run the kitchen appliances on the 30Amp with an adapter, and run my decorations on the 20 Amp plug. That particular campground also has a 2nd 20 Amp plug near the street on the site marker (for charging golf carts) I honestly don't know if they are separate or not. I've never blown anything, except perhaps when it rains too much and the ground fault trips. Oh FYI, all three plugs, 50Amp, 30 Amp, and 20Amp, have their own separate circuit switches on the pedastal at that particular campground.

BrianZ · July 2020

We usually run an extension cord from our ARB fridge out the back side window of our Sienna & plug in to the 20A outlet on the pedestal. So far, I've never driven off without unplugging first!
(If dry camping, I've rigged up a 12V SAE cord from ARB to a plug at the bumper for connecting to a pigtail on the T@B battery.)

cmac · July 2020

Shireen:

Easy solution: add up all the watts of the appliances you and your friend wish to operate at the same time. Then divide that number by the voltage at the campsite. The resulting number will give you the total amps of the group. (You should be able to find electrical data on a tag attached to your appliances/air conditioner.)

watts divided by voltage = amps

example: 1,500 watts divided by 115 volts = 13.04 amps

If less than 30amps = no problem. If more than 30amps = problem - you'll need to cycle usage between yourselves.

John

Tampakayaker · July 2020

Mouseketab said:

Sharon_is_SAM said:

I remember @Mouseketab suggesting running a high draw appliance (hair dryer or crockpot) on the 120 v outlet while plugged into the 30 A outlet. So, I thought they were separate. Going to check with Mike Sokol the RV electric guru.

I do that often. Run the trailer on the 30A, and my kitchen appliances (extra fridge, crockpot, coffee maker, toaster oven) on a heavy duty cord from the 20 Amp. At my favorite Halloween campsite when we have lots of decorations, I run the camper on the 50 Amp plug with an adapter, run the kitchen appliances on the 30Amp with an adapter, and run my decorations on the 20 Amp plug. That particular campground also has a 2nd 20 Amp plug near the street on the site marker (for charging golf carts) I honestly don't know if they are separate or not. I've never blown anything, except perhaps when it rains too much and the ground fault trips. Oh FYI, all three plugs, 50Amp, 30 Amp, and 20Amp, have their own separate circuit switches on the pedastal at that particular campground.

Hmmm, I wonder what campground that is? And with all the changes will it still be #1?

Mouseketab · July 2020

Tampakayaker said:

Mouseketab said:

Sharon_is_SAM said:

I remember @Mouseketab suggesting running a high draw appliance (hair dryer or crockpot) on the 120 v outlet while plugged into the 30 A outlet. So, I thought they were separate. Going to check with Mike Sokol the RV electric guru.

I do that often. Run the trailer on the 30A, and my kitchen appliances (extra fridge, crockpot, coffee maker, toaster oven) on a heavy duty cord from the 20 Amp. At my favorite Halloween campsite when we have lots of decorations, I run the camper on the 50 Amp plug with an adapter, run the kitchen appliances on the 30Amp with an adapter, and run my decorations on the 20 Amp plug. That particular campground also has a 2nd 20 Amp plug near the street on the site marker (for charging golf carts) I honestly don't know if they are separate or not. I've never blown anything, except perhaps when it rains too much and the ground fault trips. Oh FYI, all three plugs, 50Amp, 30 Amp, and 20Amp, have their own separate circuit switches on the pedastal at that particular campground.

Hmmm, I wonder what campground that is? And with all the changes will it still be #1?

Actually, no, not until the reservation system is gone and park hopping is back. We are going on cross-country trips with the T@B for the next couple of years. Although, I could stay at the campground without going anywhere, hubby wants to go to the parks, but we just want to hop in for an hour here, or a couple of hours there. Not possible right now.

staha1205 · July 2020

Thanks John @cmac that was super helpful! I actually researched how to calculate the amps based on watts and voltage last night and we already figured out how many amps in total we'll be drawing. It's well under 30, so we should be good. The formula will come in handy in the future, I'm sure. Thanks again!

@dragonsdofly, I was under the impression the only fridges that were equipped to use gas for power were the 3 ways which aren't standard with the CS model. Am I wrong? I hope so because I'd rather use the more efficient option and run my fridge off the propane.

dragonsdofly · July 2020

@staha1205, yes you are correct. If you have a clamshell, you have a 2 way fridge not a 3 way, thus you cannot run your fridge on propane. My bad. Mea culpa. That's what my inattention to your signature line gets me.-Denise

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