What is voltage of 50 amp service?

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by cavie

It's not hard. 50 amps is 2 legs. 30 amps is one leg. !A 30/50 dog bone uses one leg only and applies it to both legs of your 50 amp main. It is just one leg.

50 amps with no dog bone is 2 legs to you panel. I don't know how else to explain it!!

We may need another 120 posts in this thread.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by clev

TF, I was responding to 16’s comment about not knowing my system. I have 2 sub panels with a 50 amp breaker, and one sub panel is connected to my 2800 watt inverter., which has it’s own control panel for settings and monitoring. I have a main input/output meter/panel for lack of a better description. It shows available amperage and ac’s, wh, etc. Another meter/panel displays various electrical status, but I leave it on L1/L2. As I’ve always stated, I have a pretty good basic understanding that works for me, but I usually learn a little more when the experts start to debate.

What we have here is a failure to communicate! It all comes back to the lnguage.

I have figured out why all this is so confusing. Most of it is the use of the wordPanel. When you talk to an electrican and say Panel he is thinking a box holding Circuit Breakers. Circuit breaker panel. Not and Electronic read out control panel.

You don't have 2 sub panels, you have a main panel with a main breaker and a sub feed breaker to a sub panel. I think you said the bottom panel is the main beaker panel with most of the breakers in it and the second panel is the inverter sup-panel. How am I doing? By the way, this is the first time you mentioned Inverter. Not everyone has an inverter. Pic's please. doors open. need to read the labels.

WE WILL GET THRU THIS!

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by cavie

It's not hard. 50 amps is 2 legs. 30 amps is one leg. !A 30/50 dog bone uses one leg only and applies it to both legs of your 50 amp main. It is just one leg.

50 amps with no dog bone is 2 legs to you panel. I don't know how else to explain it!!

It may not be hard, but I don't follow the statement?

A 30/50 dog bone uses one leg only and applies it to both legs of your 50 amp main. It is just one leg.

I am looking at the input to the RV. It is very clear that incoming for 50 amp has 2 legs at 120v and combined it is 240. What is NOT clear is that given the 30/50 dogbone only uses 1 leg; coming out of the female portion of the 50 amp receptacle of the dogbone it has 120v on both of the legs that go to the RV. I accept because I have seen it on voltmeter that if you try to cross the legs you do not get 240v, you get 0vdc.

I concede to drop, but I was just trying to get a understanding from the RV's electrical perspective as to what it sees differently when the source power is via a true 50 amp source, or through a converted 30/50 dogbone? It just seems to me, you still have two legs coming in both scenarios and they are both 120vac?

[cavie]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

It may not be hard, but I don't follow the statement?

A 30/50 dog bone uses one leg only and applies it to both legs of your 50 amp main. It is just one leg.

I am looking at the input to the RV. It is very clear that incoming for 50 amp has 2 legs at 120v and combined it is 240. What is NOT clear is that given the 30/50 dogbone only uses 1 leg; coming out of the female portion of the 50 amp receptacle of the dogbone it has 120v on both of the legs that go to the RV. I accept because I have seen it on voltmeter that if you try to cross the legs you do not get 240v, you get 0vdc.

I concede to drop, but I was just trying to get a understanding from the RV's electrical perspective as to what it sees differently when the source power is via a true 50 amp source, or through a converted 30/50 dogbone? It just seems to me, you still have two legs coming in both scenarios and they are both 120vac?

Try this. Leg A and leg B. 50 amps with no dog bone you use A and B. That is 240 volts. Going all the way to your RV panel 50 amp breaker.

30 amps uses leg A only which is 120 volts.

30/50 dog bone uses Leg A. 120 volts. Dog bone puts leg A on leg A AND leg B of your main breaker. Think of it as being wired together with a wire nut. One wire in 2 wires out. All leg A. 120 volts to ground. A to B will be O-volts Because they are both leg A.

A to ground/neutral 120 volts.
50 amps is leg A and Leg B 240 volts.

I'm done with this part of this thread.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by cavie

Try this. Leg A and leg B. 50 amps with no dog bone you use A and B. That is 240 volts. Going all the way to your RV panel 50 amp breaker.

30 amps uses leg A only which is 120 volts.

30/50 dog bone uses Leg A. 120 volts. Dog bone puts leg A on leg A AND leg B of your main breaker. Think of it as being wired together with a wire nut. One wire in 2 wires out. All leg A. 120 volts to ground. A to B will be O-volts Because they are both leg A.

A to ground/neutral 120 volts.
50 amps is leg A and Leg B 240 volts.

I'm done with this part of this thread.

Got it, your statement A to B will be O-volts Because they are both leg A. A to ground/neutral 120 volts. is what I was missing to understand the why. I will add this section to bottom of my RV SOP & Procedures Electrical section.

Thanks

[cavie]

Originally Posted by dkoldman

Got it, your statement A to B will be O-volts Because they are both leg A. A to ground/neutral 120 volts. is what I was missing to understand the why. I will add this section to bottom of my RV SOP & Procedures Electrical section.

Thanks

opcor n:

time for a Nija nap!

[cavie]

Now I'll mess with you head. They could both be the B leg!

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by cavie

Now I'll mess with you head. They could both be the B leg!

I actually follow that. Remember I wired it all and it was quite the experience. I learned what to do; not necessarily why it would work as it did. I guess if I had torn the dogbone apart, I would have slowly and eventually figured out a key part in your last statement which turned a light bulb on for me Think of it as being wired together with a wire nut. One wire in 2 wires out.

I tend to try to be a perfectionist, I fall short; but I always end up in a good place. Too bad you were not around when I used one of those surge monitors between my portable 3500 KW generator and RV. I got a floating ground After a lot of research; I made a grounding plug that fixed that warning.

[cavie]

[Chance]

Deleted

[TurnerFam]

... a way to simplify what the 30amp 120v to 50amp 240v adapter is doing is this:

since there is only a single 120v power wire coming from the 30amp outlet, but the 50amp side of the adapter has two, an internal cross-wire on the 50amp side of the adapter is used to connect these two, so that both have access to the 120v power from the 30amp outlet.

it doesn't matter which 'side' of your RV's Main Panel then uses the power, since all of it can be used by one side, some from both, or all from the other side - regardless, there is 120v power to both, up to 30amp of usage between them.

for testing:
If you use your voltmeter and touch both HOT LEGS on the 50amp side of the adapter, you'll get nothing because you are essentially only touching a single 120v wire, but you are not touching a ground or neutral to complete the circuit.
You'll get 120v if you touch either of the HOT LEGS and the ground or neutral, showing you that both 'legs' are getting the 120v power from the 30amp outlet, just as the adapter is designed to do.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by TurnerFam

... a way to simplify what the 30amp 120v to 50amp 240v adapter is doing is this:

since there is only a single 120v power wire coming from the 30amp outlet, but the 50amp side of the adapter has two, an internal cross-wire on the 50amp side of the adapter is used to connect these two, so that both have access to the 120v power from the 30amp outlet.

it doesn't matter which 'side' of your RV's Main Panel then uses the power, since all of it can be used by one side, some from both, or all from the other side - regardless, there is 120v power to both, up to 30amp of usage between them.

for testing:
If you use your voltmeter and touch both HOT LEGS on the 50amp side of the adapter, you'll get nothing because you are essentially only touching a single 120v wire, but you are not touching a ground or neutral to complete the circuit.
You'll get 120v if you touch either of the HOT LEGS and the ground or neutral, showing you that both 'legs' are getting the 120v power from the 30amp outlet, just as the adapter is designed to do.

Thanks, I added this along with with some few other notes that Cavie sent me via PM to my RV SOP Notes & Procedures. I am good as a gold electrical contact now

Hey that reminds me... have you ever did any gold plating on RV contacts I am just playing I am all good to go. Thanks very much to you and Cavie