A 50 amp service rv provides a maximum 12 000 watts.
Rv 30 amp vs 50 amp service.
To facilitate the larger loads placed upon the newer rvs the 50 amp service was brought out.
Even though the receptacle found in your rv is rated at 120 vac the 50 amp shore power is actually a 120 240 vac four wire service.
The formula is 30 amps x 120 volts 3 600 watts.
The first thing needed to use a 50 amp rv plug in a 30 amp socket is an adapter.
A 30 amp rv can handle up to 3 600 watts.
Whereas the 30 amp service was a 120 volt service yielding 3 600 watts of power the 50 amp service is a 120 240 split phase service.
So that means that they did more than just increase the size of the one 120 volt wire of a 30 amp service.
If you have a 50 amp rv you will want to get a dogbone that has a 50 amp female to 30 amp male.
But it actually has so much more.
Look at a 30 amp plug you will see 3 connections.
A 50 amp plug is really two 50 amp circuits.
Look at a 50 amp plug you will see 4 connections.
I know it 50 isn t a number that s 3 times larger than 30 but the difference is huge.
70 amps more than a 30 amp plug.
A 50 amp rv puts you up to 12 000 watts so the increase in power is quite substantial.
Even with an adapter your 30 amp service rv won t receive more power than the 3 600 watts it can handle.
A 50 amp rv plug has 2 120 volt wires 1 neutral wire and 1 ground wire.
Conversely if you use an adapter for a 50 amp rv you ll be limited to 3 600 watts.
50 amp rv service.
These special plugs are often referred to as dogbones since the round plug shapes on either of the cord resemble a bone one might give to a dog.
Rv 30 amp vs.
You can go one step further by looking at the power distribution center in your rv.
50 amp plugs have two 120 volt hot pins a flat neutral pin and a round ground.
The acronym vac stands for volts of alternating current which means the voltage is constantly changing from 0 volts up to 120 volts positive back down to o volts then it goes to negative 120 volts and then back up to 0 volts.
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.
On the other hand large rvs usually have 50 amp service to power their more lavish setups think double ac units washer dryers etc.
A 30 amp plug is just one circuit and that circuit is 30 amps.
50 amp surprising facts a 50 amp rv get 3x more power than a 30 amp rv.