Welding box to rv plug

[alan0043]

Hi Everyone,

I looked in the resource guide and did a search of the forum to find any help about putting together an adapter to go from my 50 amp welding receptacle to a rv plug but I could not find anything. I remember reading some thing that the rv is wired different then the way a welding circuit is wired. But I can not find that info either. Can someone point me in the right direction about putting together an adapter ? It would be nice ever so offend to use that circuit in my barn to plug my trailer into.

Thank you for any help,
Al

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

I know the difference, but let me see if I can explain it.

Your welder is 50amp 220v

Your RV is 50 amp 120v.

It is how the breakers in the house panel are wired that makes the difference.  

[HERO Maker]

What Jim said!  I had a good minded friend up in Iowa plug me into his 50 amp (he told me later it was for his welder) connection when I stayed with him, and the outcome wasn't pretty.  And it was expensive!

[Timon]

28 minutes ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

I know the difference, but let me see if I can explain it.

Your welder is 50amp 220v

Your RV is 50 amp 120v.

It is how the breakers in the house panel are wired that makes the difference.  

Does the welder plug have 4 pins or 3 pins? If it’s 4 then it’s not hard but I’d its 3 you’ll have to pull the receptacle and see if the box is being feed with 4 wires. If it is you can replace or add another receptacle. 

[Darryl&Rita]

Your welder is 50 amp, 240 volt, meaning it doesn't have a neutral. Your RV is 50 amp, 120/240, and it needs a neutral. Essentially, it runs as 2 separate 120 volt supplies, as RV's typically don't have too many 240 volt loads.

[Chad Heiser]

 The RV needs hot, hot, neutral, ground to work properly.  You cannot adapt between the two (3 wire welder to 4 wire RV).  It would be easier to just run new wire from the panel to a new RV style 50 amp plug (a new circuit).  If the wire run isn’t very long, it isn’t very expensive to do.

[rpsinc]

DO NOT USE A WELDING PLUG FOR THE RV.  Totally wrong application.  Do not use an RV plug for a welder, thats totally wrong as well.

As said above,  RV uses 2 120VAC circuits with a neutral while the welder has no neutral and uses 1 240VAC circuit. 

[Steve from SoCal]

This is not per NEC however, IF you wire a  NEMA 4 wire 14-50 recep in your shop, you CAN use your welder with that plug.    The NEMA 6-50 is the same plug without the neutral lug.

 

Steve

[alan0043]

18 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

 The RV needs hot, hot, neutral, ground to work properly.  You cannot adapt between the two (3 wire welder to 4 wire RV).  It would be easier to just run new wire from the panel to a new RV style 50 amp plug (a new circuit).  If the wire run isn’t very long, it isn’t very expensive to do.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all the comments. That is the kind of info I was looking for. I am not going to put together any adapter. I like Chad's idea. I have a fuse box / panel in the barn. I have room to add a couple of breakers. I want to get the right parts. Here is my shopping list. One two pole 50 amp breaker, wire size ? , and four prong electric range receptacle. Is this a good shopping list ?

Al

[Scrap]

Amazon has a pretty good pre-wired box.  Gives you a new outlet for the inflatable Santa when done!

Siemens Box

[HERO Maker]

Wonder why they call it a "temporary" set up!  Is that simply because you plug it in and not hard wire it?

[Darryl&Rita]

The panel is permanent, it supplies power, temporarily, to portable devices. 

[sclord2002]

Al, typically , unless you have a very long wire run, 6 gauge wire will carry 50 amps.  With your 2 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground you actually have 100 amps available in the camper....2 legs of 50 amps each.       Charlie

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-50-Amp-Overhead-Temporary-Power-Panel/3027570

This works as well.  

[Parrformance]

1 hour ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-50-Amp-Overhead-Temporary-Power-Panel/3027570

This works as well.  

I have this box on the back of my property, I do however want to replace it as it does not have a way to shut off the power to it in the box like the one that Scrap suggested.  I need to go back to the house kick the breaker than walk back out plug in the camper than walk back in to turn the breaker back on.

Scrap's version looks like the breakers can be kicked at the box to reduce arcing the end of the plug.

[rpsinc]

You could use a motor rated switch as your means of disconnect at the panel, that way you can shut it off to allow plugging in without going to the panel.  Or a rotary disconnect switch.

[JPL]

alan0043   Just remember when you wire to the panel box you are getting 1 pole 120 volts amped and wired to whatever amperage you need. As stated before our RV's don't like 220 power! They get indigestion.    Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

[Darryl&Rita]

18 minutes ago, JPL said:

alan0043   Just remember when you wire to the panel box you are getting 1 pole 120 volts amped and wired to whatever amperage you need. As stated before our RV's don't like 220 power! They get indigestion.    Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

No, No, No!

A 50 amp RV is wired as a 120/240 service. This means 2 pole feed, with a neutral. They can run on a single pole feed (15 or 30 amp) if a suitable adaptor is used, but the available power will be greatly reduced. 

[DesertMiner]

Here ya go... I installed one of these years ago and it worked out great. Every type of power is covered with breakers....,

http://www.rvparksupplies.com/p/503020AMPSMPOWER/

[BlueFlame]

Here is a link to all the different outlets that appear on a RV power pedestal, the associated voltages, wiring etc.  It talks about 15/20/30/50 amp outlets.

https://rvtravel.com/pedestal-power/