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Topic ClosedAny problems with my 30A to 15A setup?
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pgoelz View Drop Down
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Any problems with my 30A to 15A setup?
    Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 4:24pm
Originally posted by Keith-N-Dar

NEC requires minimum of number 14 wire fir 15 amps.  your 16 cord could turn your garage into a toaster.
Just as a sanity check, no I don't normally use that cord for powering the trailer A/C.  It is only used as shore power at home in the driveway and I've only run the A/C there once just to see if I could.  The A/C actually consumes around 13A running as far as I remember so 16ga. is probably marginal but not that unsafe..... at 13A.    But again, for running A/C I use the regular 25' 30A cord with or without (as needed) a matching 25' 30A extension.  I've actually never used the whole 50' cord when running A/C.  

Paul
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Posts: 1447 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 4:06pm
NEC requires minimum of number 14 wire fir 15 amps.  your 16 cord could turn your garage into a toaster.
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Posts: 1797 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 3:07pm
Originally posted by pgoelz

Just as a data point (wouldn't want to do it long term), the A/C in our 171 fires up just fine on a regular 15A household outlet in the garage and 50' of 16ga extension cord plus the regular 30A supply cord and 15A plug adapter.  

Just a word of caution. Even though the compressor starts it is probably starved for voltage due to the 16 AWG extension cord. An AC motor tries to maintain its rated speed when the voltage drops but it draws more and more current until it burns up. That's why we use an over/under voltage protector at CGs. The 15A circuit is fine but I'd replace the 50' cord with a #12 AWG cord to be sure. Anything longer should be #10. Cheaper than a new A/C.
Charlie
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 2:16pm
Originally posted by voisj

The Air Conditioner may not work on a 15 amp circuit, you really need at least 20 amp to fire it up. May work if the converter breaker is off
Just as a data point (wouldn't want to do it long term), the A/C in our 171 fires up just fine on a regular 15A household outlet in the garage and 50' of 16ga extension cord plus the regular 30A supply cord and 15A plug adapter.  The fan is a little slower but the compressor fires up just fine.  I would not want to rely on it for daily use, especially if any other loads were on in the trailer.  And I would monitor the A/C compressor to make sure it starts OK.  But in our case it does work.  We have also run very successfully for a week or more (including A/C) on a 15A circuit and our 25' 30A cord with 15A plug adapter at a campground.  We only ran only one major load at a time (A/C, microwave, coffee pot), but the A/C and fan were very happy and ran full speed.  

Paul
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Posts: 471 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 1:57pm
Originally posted by clickscrazy

Got the Pod home Sat. Put a dogbone 30a Female to 15a male adapter, plugged it in.
My batt reads full. Lights work.
Possible Problems:
1. My AC will not turn on and the thermostat will not go above 32 degrees. But it will go down.
2. My converter started running right away. It did have a slight smell (Like I have smelled on others inverters), even though nothing was running.

The Air Conditioner may not work on a 15 amp circuit, you really need at least 20 amp to fire it up. May work if the converter breaker is off
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 9:21am
Originally posted by clickscrazy

Great info! With the battery disconnected, could I still use Shore power if i wanted?
Sure, no problem.  But as Keith said above, while on shore power the disconnected battery lead is energized.  Make sure the one you disconnect doesn't touch anything.  I like to disconnect the negative lead because it is at ground potential already and will not hurt anything if it accidentally touches the trailer frame.  But make sure it doesn't touch the positive battery terminal if you are shore power because that would short out the charger.  Not sure if that would damage the charger or not... it is current limited and designed to be connected to a totally dead battery after all.  At very least, shorting the charger output could potentially produce some healthy transients on the 12V line that might damage anything connected to 12V.  I don't think it would hurt the charger itself but better to be safe than sorry.  

Paul
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Posts: 6326 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 9:15am
Originally posted by clickscrazy

Great info! With the battery disconnected, could I still use Shore power if i wanted?

Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: The converter will (if it is working properly) supply 12V power to the 'Pod when it is plugged in to shore power. If it doesn't, then you have a defective converter. A battery cut-off switch (see my mods for a picture of one) connected between the negative terminal of the battery and the negative wire of the R-Pod is the safest way to disconnect the battery and the simplest. Just turn the knob and it is done. There are no loose wires to worry about.
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Posts: 1447 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 8:48am
If you lift the wires from  the battery and plug your pod in then the battery wires will be hot and could potentially short out.  Make sure you protect then.
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Posts: 106 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 8:45am
Great info! With the battery disconnected, could I still use Shore power if i wanted?
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2017 at 8:40am
Originally posted by clickscrazy

Thank you all. Fixed the centigrade (Not sure why it went to C when we were using on F).

I was planning on plugging it in once a month and leaving it overnight. Should that be good enough to leave the battery connected or should I go ahead and keep it disconnected?
Not really.  I measured about 150mA on our 171 with everything (including the antenna amp... don't forget that one) turned off.  That is 3.6AH/day or 25AH/week.  I think the standard trailer battery is in the vicinity of 50AH?  If so, a 25AH discharge would discharge it to 50% every week.  Not too bad, but not good either.  Lead acid batteries degrade with every charge/discharge cycle and you would be wasting 52 cycles every year for nothing.  And if you forgot it for a week, you WOULD damage it.  Our two year old used 171 came with the battery connected and fully discharged.  After charging and a couple equalize charges, I tested it at about 32AH on a 4A discharge, almost half what it should be.  And I am frankly surprised it was that good.  

Much better to either leave the trailer on shore power permanently (if available) or totally disconnect the battery when not in use for more than a day or two.  I installed a disconnect on the negative battery post but you can also just undo the wing nut and remove the wire(s) to disconnect the battery.  

Paul
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