30 Amp Rv Plug Vs 50 Amp

30 amp service is more common in smaller rvs with fewer power hungry appliances.

30 amp rv plug vs 50 amp. What s the difference between a 30 amp and 50 amp outlet. The first most surprising thing about 50 amp vs 30 amp is that 50 amp rvs get more than 3 times as much power as 30 amp rvs. Electrical outlets are labeled with a nema code designation. The first difference is that the amp plugs look different.

Instead they made two 120 volt wires and increased the capacity of each wire at the same time. Your rv will require one or the other and fortunately there s a simple way to check which type of plug your rv has. A 50 amp rv plug has 2 120 volt wires 1 neutral wire and 1 ground wire. These adapters typically cost under 20 and are available from a range of retailers.

If you have a 30 amp shore power plug on your rv then you are limited to 30 amps total even if you plug into a 50 amp pedestal outlet. In fact it s much easier to use a 30 amp rv with a 50 amp power source than the other way around. Rv 30 amp vs. I know it 50 isn t a number that s 3 times larger than 30 but the difference is huge.

Typically 50 amp rv s have dual air conditioners as well as the capacity to run more devices at the same time. There are a number of differences between a 30 amp and 50 amp outlet. The thing is that if you connect a 50 amp rv to a 30 amp power source you won t be able to use the whole potential of your rv s 50 amp electrical system. So that means that they did more than just increase the size of the one 120 volt wire of a 30 amp service.

For instance you will typically find only single ac units in 30 amp service rvs. A 30 amp rv service is really just a glorified 120 volt single pole outlet. As we ve established above 30 amp systems deliver much less power 3 600 watts. A 50 amp plug has four prongs two 120 volt hot wires a neutral wire and a ground wire that supply two separate 50 amp 120 volt feeds.

Even with an adapter your 30 amp service rv won t receive more power than the 3 600 watts it can handle. Before we look at the 50 amp service let s first look at the 30 amp service. 30 amp plugs have three pins and 50 amp plugs have four. The 30 amp outlet used in an rv application is designated a nema tt 30r and the plug is a tt 30p.

30 amp rv service. The female end will plug into your rv cord and the male end will plug into the campground 50 amp power outlet. A 50 amp service rv provides a maximum 12 000 watts. 50 amp surprising facts a 50 amp rv get 3x more power than a 30 amp rv.