where do i start with 30 amp conversion??

[cleat22]

i have a 72 ramada, as far as i know everything works, lights, ect. what are the steps in making my ramada able to work on the 30 ampp system at the state parks? what do i need to get and how do i wire it up? any help will help. thanks.

[kanega]

Most state and federal campgrounds do not have electricity as an option.  Many private campground do offer electricity as an option.

I use a 30 to 15 amp adapter for my trailer when I have to use a 30 amp 115 VAC outlet.  Its cheap.  Rarely, do you need a 50 amp adapter if ever.

I added a RV battery for power at state and federal parks.  It runs 5 days or more and I pull power when I camp including running the fan all day, a 9 inch color TV at night, or a laptop for DVDs, not to mention the extra lighting I installed.

If you are wired for power in your trailer connection to the car, you can make a longer adaper to also use the car battery.

[cleat22]

thanks for the information, i have to get my lift fixed and then i am going to see how bad my electrical is. i have had the camper up before and everything seems to be there, except for the outside plug in on the side of the camper,gotta find it. but the converter plug may be the way to go. thanks...

[79Ramada]

Basic 15/20 Amps to 30 Amps upgrade is pretty much replacing the shore power cord and 30A breaker box. Needless to say shore power cord is a must, 30A variety is 10 ga. My original 15A breaker box(the small one on the right in the picture) only have one breaker, which means shore cord feed directly to the breaker, and all circuits inside the camper is feed from the lonely breaker.


My new 30A cord is now feeding a 30A main breaker(the left most breaker, black color), and the main breaker feed the rest of the service breakers(15A blue colors, and 20A red color). One big advantage with this setup is I can shut off one particular breaker such as an outside GFI outlet, while all other outlets inside are in service. Just like your household breaker panel should work.

Note: just because I have a bunch of colorful circuit breakers, I still can not exceed 30A maximum current draw, or the main breaker will trip, or the breaker at the campground service pole will trip.

[kanega]

I have dropped my plug several time inside the trailer under the converter.  I have to reach in behind and below the converter and push it back out through the door opening.  I inserted a piece of plastic cut with a circle hole saw and then cut a smaller opening for the power cord.  This way, I can no longer push the power cord plug all the way into the trailer, but still can close the opening door.

I moved my power cord one door to the left.  I have few problems pulling out or inserting the power cord.  My power cord is a 3 wire 10 gauge, stranded, black, 15 feet long.  Twice I had to reseat the connector in back of the converter as a result of either inserting or pulling the power cord out and changing the door opening solved this problem.

[cleat22]

hey thanks for the great pics and the advice. i have a family member who is an electrican and will "employ" him to help with the breaker box. this gives me a way to get started. thanks

[79Ramada]

Gary did bring up a very good point. Where is your current electrical hatch? on the back wall behind the cabinets or inside the rear ABS bezel like mine? Since mine was installed on the rear ABS bezel, if I do drop the plug inside the cable hatch, the only way I can get it out is take the brake light assembly out and reach in.

Also pushing the cord in and out also flexes the ABS bezel. It wasn't too bad with the 15A cord, but with the thicker 30A cord, I'm afraid I'm going to rip or fracture the bezel as I'm pulling the cord out. So I went with detchable twist lock connector upgrade. This is an expensive upgrade since they are off the shelf waterproof boat parts. Besides, I do prefer to coil the cord outside and store it in a milk crate along with other misc items for setting up the camper.

[cleat22]

MINE IS ON THE BACK WALL BEHIND THE CABNITS ..

[cleat22]

so after reading most of the info in the 30 amp fourum,let me ask this. i fall i want to do is pull up to the camp site, hook up to 30 amp service box and run my ac, lights, toaster oven and small coffee pot in the morning. i don't have to even have a converter.right?..... i just need a breaker box with breakers and a good family friend who is an electrican. one breaker for the ac, one for the lights, and two or three for three more outlets. am i wrong on this? i do not want to hook up a battery or have power from my car. just wanna hook up to the 30 amp service in the state park.

[kanega]

You said state park.  Here in California, state parks usually don't have power.   Morro Bay is an exception to the rule, with about 3 or 4 rows campsites with power.

Your converter if you have one should have a couple 110 VAC outlets with breakers.  When I use a 30 amp circuit, I use an adapter from 30 Amp 110 VAC male to a 15 Amp 110 VAC female.  Keep the converter for future use.  This does mean I am limited to my breakers limits.

If you install a 30 amp cord to the trailer, you could hook up separate distribution box which you would normall install a couple 15 or 20 breakers then to outlets.  This would be a completely indepentent system.

You could replace the plug on an original trailer power cord, then tap the power and ground to an additional distribution panel with 15 or 20 amp breakers to additional duplex outlets.

[79Ramada]

You are absolutely correct. If you only need to run 120VAC house hold current in your camper such as air conditioning, toaster oven, and electrical outlet, all you need is an ordinary AC breaker box. Converter's sole purpose is to supply 12v DC power to lights, furnace, and fan etc.. If you wish to have 12V power source in the future, you can always purchase seperate power converter units and installed them seperately. They do not need to be housed in a single unit like I have in the pictures above.

However, you still could not run all the 120V appliances simultanously like you would have in the house that would exceed 30A.

[cleat22]

the state parks in florida ,at the beach where we vaction regularly, all have 30 amp service. we bought the camper for the primary reason of using it when we go down there. we do use it in other spots locally as well. most parks around in the south all have 30 amp service. i know i can't run all of the appliances at once so i should be fine with just 30 amp service. i have run the camper on the orginal 72 set up and just ran the ac seperately on it's own plug in to the park power. i was hoping the 30 amp upgrade would allow me to just run the a/c from the camper without having to run an ext. cord from the a/c outside to the box. other than that i have not had any problems with the orginal setup.

[79Ramada]

Here are a some examples of seperate breaker box and converter I found with a quick google search.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f65/kit-camper-projects-project-6-electrical-upgrades-39654.html

http://scotty.juddstudio.com/inside/index.html

[cleat22]

ok i am not a retard or anything ,BUT i need some help here. i have all my wiring done up to the box itself. i know that the grounds go to one bus and the neutrals to another. and the hots go into the fuses. how do you tie in the 30 amp main breaker and the two 15 amp breakers and wire up the new 10/3 power cord from the 30 anp plug? anyone got pics or a diagram to smooth out my problem? i know the basics i just need some assurance. i need to see how it all ties in at the box itself. if not i have to drive an hour to my cousins hose to get help. he is an alectrican ,but he is also very busy and i am going to the beach this weekend!!!!!!!!!!! this is all i have left to do.

[79Ramada]

I can only explain the diagram particular on my fuse panel, but this should give you the same idea.

First go to this link and download the schematic diagram. http://www.parallaxpower.com/6400_6600/6620_6626.pdf

You'll see CB1/Main, CB2, CB3, and CB4. CB1/Main in my case is the left most 30A Circuit Breaker in the picture below. Also note, all the top end of the circuit breakers are bussed together inside the box as you installed the individual breakers, as also shown in the schematic diagram. So the black (hot) wire from my 10/3 shore cord would hook up to the screw terminal of the 30A breaker as seen in the picture below. The rest of your circuits would hook up to CB2, CB3 etc.. to your outlets, light switches, water heater, whatever you have planned. Hope this helps.