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long but well drawn-out conversation about 'lectricity! Love it...
yes, master electricians and those in the trade will side with the 'what the breaker says is what you have' philosophy, but those of us in the 'real world' of RVs eventually learn to understand that '50amps' ain't the same as what electricians would explain it as. No matter how you 'say' it, an RV with a 50amp Main Panel, with only 120v single pole breakers for all it's circuits, plugging into a 50amp RV outlet, is going to have a range of up to 100amps of 'usable' 120v power, not just 20 more than a more typical 30amp RV outlet, though by the terminology we use, you would think so, at least initially.
The reason there is so much discussion on this and other RV forums is that the electrical trade doesn't differentiate between 120v and 240v power, when it comes to what the circuit is 'called'. A 30amp 120v circuit is called 30amps. A 30amp 240v circuit is called 30amps. But, they are far from the same. One is TWICE as much as the other, when it comes to the amount of 'amps' that can be drawn, over the hot leg, or legs, of power.
Now, while a very few large motorhomes and fifth-wheels may make use of 240v power, which is allowed by the design of their Main Panels, the vast, vast majority of 50amp RVs, whether travel trailers, fifth-wheels, or motorhomes, DON'T have any appliance or need for any usage of 240v power, so their Main Panel design does NOT allow for placement of any double-pole 240v breakers, other than the 50amp Main Breaker itself. You can't 'add' a 240v breaker, even if you wanted to. You would have to replace the Main Panel itself.
As this is the case with most 50amp RVs, it's therefore safe to say that they can use up to 50amps of power on both 'sides', or 100amps all together. Since neither side can use more than 50amps at 120v before it's side of the Main Breaker would trip, the factories try to 'even out' the circuits on each 'side' - a front a/c unit on the left, the rear a/c unit on the right, etc. It's not a PERFECT science, but they try to do this the best they can in order for the owner to be able to make use of almost ALL of that 100amps before one side exceeds the 50amps for it, and trips both sides of the Main Breaker - but, usually a single breaker actually trips before the Main breakers do.
Single breakers are the same - the factories try to squeeze in as many separate breakers as feasible, and economical for the situation, but inevitably a breaker can only do so much, even if 6 outlets are the only items on it's circuit, but are all in use by devices drawing more than the 15amps it is designed for.
Enjoy ! Fun!
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