Before you hit the road for the first time, you better figure out what really power this
baby!
Do you need a 30 amp or 50 amp service connection?
Let’s figure out how the motorhome is equipped.
On the driver’s side of the motorhome locate the electrical cord connection.
Some models will have permanently attached cord while other offer a detachable marine
style cord.
If the cord is permanent it should be located in a storage area near the rear of the motorhome.
Once you find it, go ahead on pull the cord out of the box.
Go ahead and find the access port to feed the wire down to the ground and pull the cord
down and through the port over to the electrical connection.
Detachable cords may have a connection on the sidewall of the motorhome or in a basement
compartment.
To attach the cord match up the prongs on the cord to the slots on the motorhome connection,
push-in and twist… then tighten the security collar, this way it prevents an accidental
disconnect and it keeps it water tight.
On these detachable cords you’re not tied down to one place when it’s time to pack
it up... you can store it in any compartment you want.
The nice thing about the detachable cords is you can store them in any compartment you
want.
When you go to get them out, they may be tangled together, as they can slide around and if
you didn’t wind them nicely last time you used them, they may give you trouble.
But here’s a trick, there’s not a cable out there than can resist the sounds of adult
contemporary music.Now that the cables are out…
Tom says he has an easy way to tell them apart…
As the pirates used to say…Prongs of three… 30 amps there be…
Prongs of 4.. 50 amps be more.
Pirates didn’t plug in their ships…
ummm.. where do you think the term “shore power” comes from?
OK.. as you can see.. the 30 amp cord is smaller and has 3 prongs.
It’s easy to identify the differences between a 30-amp and 50-amp cord.
The 30 amp cord is smaller and has 3 prongs.
The 50 amp cord is a big boy, this has 4 prongs.
Look at the campsite hookup to see what it offers.
You may need an adapter to plug your 30 amp cord into a 50 amp plug, take note it will
not change your amps, your coach is wired the way it’s wired.
In this case, the 50 amp service will provide more than enough power to run everything in
the motorhome.
You’ll need a reducer if you want to plug your 50 amp cord into a 30 amp outlet, you
are reducing the amperage running into your coach from 50 to 30.
If reducing from 50 to 30 keep in mind not all of the power needs for the coach can be
met.
There are even reducers that can take a 50 amp motorhome and allow it to be plugged into
a regular old 15-amp plug at your home.
While not many items in the motorhome will function with only 15-amp it is always a good
source to run a few lights and to get a refrigerator started cooling if is the first trip for the
season of the refrigerator has not been run for a while.
Before you plug in, or out for that matter, make sure all the breakers are off.
Plug into the box.
Tom...
here where we need to talk about what you can run off 30 amp service…
we may need to cut your scene…
Tom?
Where did he go?
What are you doing?
Getting ready for my big 30 amp scene...
We may have to cut it?
Why?
Never mind, we’ll put your scene back in.
Here’s you don’t be like Tom take away, with 30 AMP service you cannot run everything
at once or you may trip a breaker.
So you may have to be selective.
With 50 AMP service you’re pretty much safe to run everything in your coach.
When it’s time to pack it in and unplug…. turn your breaker off first, then disconnect
your cables.
Wind them up, and store them until the next time you need them.
OK…
I’m ready…