Amps?! 30 back to 50

[RVFirst]

I very recently purchased my first rv. when doing the hook up at the campgrounds, I was told that I originally have a 50 amp hook up, but someone, I guess the previous owner, severed that cord riggt at the end of the plug and tied in a 30 amp plug instead.

So I have 2 questions here: is it possible to go back to 50 amps just by changing the cord back?

Also, the back half of my trailer has no electrical supply to it whatsoever. None of the outlets nor the heater work. I was guessing that this has to do with the cord because the brraker keeps tripping If I fix the cord back to 50 amps, would this correct the issue?

[HamRad]

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[Ronbo]

If you can take the plug apart check to see if you have 3 wires in the cord or 4. If 4 it is 50 amp. Also check your breakers in the rv. Do you have one 30 amp or do you have two 50 amp. If you have two 50 amp and 4 wires in the cord you can install a 50 amp plug on the cord.

[Al F]

I very recently purchased my first rv. when doing the hook up at the campgrounds, I was told that I originally have a 50 amp hook up, but someone, I guess the previous owner, severed that cord riggt at the end of the plug and tied in a 30 amp plug instead.

So I have 2 questions here: is it possible to go back to 50 amps just by changing the cord back?

Also, the back half of my trailer has no electrical supply to it whatsoever. None of the outlets nor the heater work. I was guessing that this has to do with the cord because the brraker keeps tripping If I fix the cord back to 50 amps, would this correct the issue?

Would you clarify the bolded and underscored question above.

-- What breaker is tripping? The breaker in the shore power post, or a breaker inside the trailer?

-- What do you do or turn on to cause the breaker to trip?

-- The heater which doesn't work....what heater are your referring to? If it is the propane furnace, then the furnace controls and fan are operated off of the 12V DC in the RV, not the AC power from shore power.

-- What make, model and length trailer do you have? 5th wheel or travel trailer?

 

Can you take this trailer back to where you bought it and get them to help?

[Al F]

Also welcome to the forum. We will do what we can to assist you.

[RVFirst]

 

Would you clarify the bolded and underscored question above.

-- What breaker is tripping? The breaker in the shore power post, or a breaker inside the trailer?

 

The breaker inside the trailer.

 

-- What do you do or turn on to cause the breaker to trip?

 

The previous owners have rigged it so that the breakers don't trip anymore, which may also have something to do with why half of the outlets don't work.

 

-- The heater which doesn't work....what heater are your referring to? If it is the propane furnace, then the furnace controls and fan are operated off of the 12V DC in the RV, not the AC power from shore power.

 

We have 2 heaters. Neither of them work at this point- one is on propane, which blows out warm air for a few minutes but then only blows out cold air for hours.

 

The other heater, which doesn't run off the propane, doesn't work at all.

 

-- What make, model and length trailer do you have? 5th wheel or travel trailer?

 

We have a 1993 King of the Road 5th wheel. Model is F40TRI-SR. It is a 40ft 5th wheel.

 

Can you take this trailer back to where you bought it and get them to help?

 

We are doing a rent to own. We signed an agreement to accept it in 'AS IS' condition. Then again some conditions were never disclosed, such as neither heater working- we were told they both worked.

Or that it was switched from a 50amp to a 30amp. I'm still looking into if this can be reversed or not. We have only seen 1 breaker box at this point inside the trailer. We are going to have a talk with this person, they won't fix it, but I'd definitely like to renegotiate on the price considering the sizable repairs that are needed.

 

 

[Ronbo]

It might be better to give it back and walk away from it. Too many used rv'rs out there in good condition.

[StarDreamers.us]

Just remember messing with power connections can/maybe harmful to your life. Be careful1

 

Safe Travels!

[Al F]

 

Would you clarify the bolded and underscored question above.

-- What breaker is tripping? The breaker in the shore power post, or a breaker inside the trailer?

 

The breaker inside the trailer.

 

-- What do you do or turn on to cause the breaker to trip?

 

The previous owners have rigged it so that the breakers don't trip anymore, which may also have something to do with why half of the outlets don't work.

 

-- The heater which doesn't work....what heater are your referring to? If it is the propane furnace, then the furnace controls and fan are operated off of the 12V DC in the RV, not the AC power from shore power.

 

We have 2 heaters. Neither of them work at this point- one is on propane, which blows out warm air for a few minutes but then only blows out cold air for hours.

 

The other heater, which doesn't run off the propane, doesn't work at all.

 

-- What make, model and length trailer do you have? 5th wheel or travel trailer?

 

We have a 1993 King of the Road 5th wheel. Model is F40TRI-SR. It is a 40ft 5th wheel.

 

Can you take this trailer back to where you bought it and get them to help?

 

We are doing a rent to own. We signed an agreement to accept it in 'AS IS' condition. Then again some conditions were never disclosed, such as neither heater working- we were told they both worked.

Or that it was switched from a 50amp to a 30amp. I'm still looking into if this can be reversed or not. We have only seen 1 breaker box at this point inside the trailer. We are going to have a talk with this person, they won't fix it, but I'd definitely like to renegotiate on the price considering the sizable repairs that are needed.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what to tell you to do. You need to have a pretty good knowledge and experience with electricity to get started on getting this trailer in good operation condition.

 

A little information about 50amp power in an RV.

RV 50 amp power is actually two hot 120 volt AC 50amp lines coming into the RV. You should also have 2 50amp CB's inside the trailer as well. You have a total of 100amps available if the shore power post is wired correctly. In your case there is no way to tell how things are wired. Typically one of the hot leads powers one A/C and the other powers the other A/C. Usually the AC power outlets are split between the 50amp lines. Again, no telling what has been done in this trailer.

 

With one half of the trailer's outlets not working I would guess those outlets are connected to the 50amp line which is has been disconnected. Probably the heater is connected to that same 50 amp line.

 

If you have the time here is a link to basic RV electric info, including the 12 volt side:

http://www.rv-dreams.com/rv-electrical.html

 

It may help you understand how the trailer was originally wired.

[RVFirst]

I have another question, can a 50amp cord only have 3 male prongs on the plug?

The rv park we are staying at told us that 30amp cords have 3 prongs and 50amp cords have 4 prongs.

The lady we are buying it from says we are mistaken about the cord because she put in a post at her house that is 50amp and it plugged in and that where it was stationed previously was 50amp and it plugged in just fine there as well. This could only be the case if 50amp cords also come with 3 male prongs.

[HamRad]

4.

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

Who ever told you that a 50 amp is only three prongs is mistaken. A thirty amp plug has three prongs: "hot", "neutral" and the half round one is the "ground". A fifty amp plug has four prongs: TWO "hot", ONE "neutral" , and again, the half round one being the "ground".

[Pat & Pete]

Some plugs , like for a welder , come in a 3 prong 50 amp ( 250 volt ) . But all RV 50 amp plugs are 4 prong .

 

3 prong 50 amp ( 250 volt ) plug :

 

 

RV 50 amp plug :

 

[RVFirst]

I appreciate all the responses. This has been a nightmare of a purchase and we are currently trying to figure out a way to relieve ourselves of this burden if able.

 

Our cord only has 3 prongs but she swears it is a 50 amp and advertised the cord specifically as being a 50amp extra long cord, which is not the case. She claims she has plugged it in at several other 50amp sites and that someone must have cut it and replaced it. My only question is why someone stealing just the plug part, would go through the trouble of replacing it with a 30amp plug?

We are having an electrician come out, because she also swears it hasn't been inverted to a 30amp. We are having the electrician check all the wiring, and check to see if an inversion was done.

Alas, all in all, this may end up being our burden to bare.

[billr]

Wow. Electrician should get to the bottom of it for sure. But is sounds like a run don't walk away unit. If the elec is a mess what else is lurking.

 

You say rent to own. If your not in too deep and have to walk away it may be a savings to do so.

 

Good luck hope all works out for you.

[HamRad]

I agree with Billr. If not too deep into it I'd walk away. Getting the kind of story you are about the electric simply raises all kinds of questions about the rig. Perhaps you need to get a qualified inspector to check out the rig. Good luck whatever you do. Dennis

[RVFirst]

Thanks everyone. I'm so bummed out. We took someone's word. I may be young, but I was raised to know that someone's word is supposed to mean something. We were told this rig was livable. We were told most things worked.

 

So we hooked up the water today for the first time after checking the water heater and making sure the lines are clear and clean, it has been freezing out and we didn't want to burst anything.

Leaks. Everywhere. Water spewing out of the hose leading to the toilet. Water leaking all out from under the rig.

I think we are going to have to take the hit on this one because it truly is not liveable.

Disappointing but truly a lesson I won't soon be forgetting.

[billr]

So sorry to hear someone took advantage of you. Maybe you can get some refund as they right out lied to you. But sounds like a crook. Carma will find them.

 

Best of luck to you in your next unit. Have it inspected or a good friend that knows RVs look with you. I'm sure there's a decent sound unit out there for you.

[Lou Schneider]

50 amp RVs have 4 prong plugs, you have (2) 120 volt 50 amp hot wires, a neutral wire and ground.

 

30 amp RVs have 3 prong plugs - one 30 amp hot wire, one neutral and one ground.

 

The purpose of the neutral wire is to keep the (2) 120 volt hot wires divided into separate circuits. Without it they will combine into 240 volts. The 3 prong 250 volt plug shown above has no neutral, only the safety ground, so there's nothing to divide the 250 volts into two 120 (125) volt circuits.

 

It doesn't sound like there's all that much wrong with your trailer. The electrical problems can be explained by the 30 amp plug only energizing one of the two circuits in the 50 amp breaker panel.

 

It shouldn't be too expensive for an electrician to come out and take a look at your breaker panel and cord, then determine what needs to be replaced. Maybe just the plug if the 4 wire cord is still there, otherwise you'll need a new cord along with the plug.

 

As far as the furnaces not working, what do they do? Are they completely dead or does the fan come on and blow cold air when you turn up the thermostat?

[RVFirst]

50 amp RVs have 4 prong plugs, you have (2) 120 volt 50 amp hot wires, a neutral wire and ground.

 

30 amp RVs have 3 prong plugs - one 30 amp hot wire, one neutral and one ground.

 

The purpose of the neutral wire is to keep the (2) 120 volt hot wires divided into separate circuits. Without it they will combine into 240 volts. The 3 prong 250 volt plug shown above has no neutral, only the safety ground, so there's nothing to divide the 250 volts into two 120 (125) volt circuits.

 

It doesn't sound like there's all that much wrong with your trailer. The electrical problems can be explained by the 30 amp plug only energizing one of the two circuits in the 50 amp breaker panel.

 

It shouldn't be too expensive for an electrician to come out and take a look at your breaker panel and cord, then determine what needs to be replaced. Maybe just the plug if the 4 wire cord is still there, otherwise you'll need a new cord along with the plug.

 

As far as the furnaces not working, what do they do? Are they completely dead or does the fan come on and blow cold air when you turn up the thermostat?

 

We had a licensed master electrician come out. The rig has been completely rewired inside, incorrectly I might add, and many of the outlets and wires hanging out of the ceilings and walls, pose as a fire hazard and code violation, not to mention the obvious hazard of someone shocking themselves. Many of the outlets are wired incorrectly. The only one that works is the one outlet that wasn't touched by whomever was trying to "renovate" the rv.

They made a mess of the circuit box inside the trailer. A bit of an exercise in futility for whomever since next to nothing works or has the potential to set the whole thing on fire if it does work. He also said that the plug being 30amp had nothing to do with any of the electrical issues that we are facing, and has everything to do with the rewiring that was done.

 

It looks like it was never inverted to 50amp, someone just changed the cord.

 

One of the furnaces runs off propane, I couldn't say what powers the other- which in any case, it doesn't work or kick on at all.

The one running on propane blows warm for a few minutes and then only cold after that.

 

We hooked it up to water for the very first time today, to find out that all of the pipes burst at some point. And the toilet spews water everywhere because the hose is broken.

 

 

As for expensive, unless we want to pay to haul it to a shop, which is a pain in its own right because the hydraulic on one side is broken, having someone come look at it that has experience with rvs, the service call was $125 and then $100 per hour thereafter. They were the cheapest ones believe it or not. That didn't include any actual work, just the cost of having someone come out to tell me what is wrong with it. He also 6o said he wouldn't touch any of the wiring in this rv unless we tore the whole thing down and started from scratch and we would be hard pressed to find anyone licensed that would.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

My suggestion, if this is a rent to own, return it and continue your search elsewhere. By the time you fix this one up to liveable condition, you could buy a newer fiver in good shape without any issues.

[Al F]

We had a licensed master electrician come out. The rig has been completely rewired inside, incorrectly I might add, and many of the outlets and wires hanging out of the ceilings and walls, pose as a fire hazard and code violation, not to mention the obvious hazard of someone shocking themselves. Many of the outlets are wired incorrectly. The only one that works is the one outlet that wasn't touched by whomever was trying to "renovate" the rv.

They made a mess of the circuit box inside the trailer. A bit of an exercise in futility for whomever since next to nothing works or has the potential to set the whole thing on fire if it does work. He also said that the plug being 30amp had nothing to do with any of the electrical issues that we are facing, and has everything to do with the rewiring that was done.

 

It looks like it was never inverted to 50amp, someone just changed the cord.

 

One of the furnaces runs off propane, I couldn't say what powers the other- which in any case, it doesn't work or kick on at all.

The one running on propane blows warm for a few minutes and then only cold after that.

 

We hooked it up to water for the very first time today, to find out that all of the pipes burst at some point. And the toilet spews water everywhere because the hose is broken.

 

 

As for expensive, unless we want to pay to haul it to a shop, which is a pain in its own right because the hydraulic on one side is broken, having someone come look at it that has experience with rvs, the service call was $125 and then $100 per hour thereafter. They were the cheapest ones believe it or not. That didn't include any actual work, just the cost of having someone come out to tell me what is wrong with it. He also 6o said he wouldn't touch any of the wiring in this rv unless we tore the whole thing down and started from scratch and we would be hard pressed to find anyone licensed that would.

The electrician is correct. Don't proceed unless you hand the rig over to a licensed electrician to tear everything apart and put it in working order.

 

Since this rig is unlivable, in the condition it is in, you should have everything you need to get out of the contract, or make the owner make it right.