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Topic ClosedAny problems with my 30A to 15A setup?
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voisj View Drop Down
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Posts: 471 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Any problems with my 30A to 15A setup?
    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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pgoelz View Drop Down
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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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CharlieM View Drop Down
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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.
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Keith-N-Dar View Drop Down
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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: 70 		Direct Link To This Post 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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