30 amps


paws43tails

New Member
sorry so many questions... we are going out with a large group in oct. for 12 days, and i'm trying to get my ducks in order... one of our friends wants to bring along a small freezer (about 4ft.sq.) to plug into our outside elec.outlet... the freezer is 110, but i'm not too sure that it will work correctly... if the rv is plugged into a 30amp outlet, can we run an additional appliance of this calibar off of one of the rv's outlets without interfering with the internal operations of the rv (ie. a/c, microwave, etc.)?
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
30 amps

As always, it depends!

You need to know how many "amps" the 110volt freezer uses. Your outside electrical outlet is connected to a breaker (fuse) that will trip if too much is "drawn" from the outlet regardless what your home is plugged into.

The "best" place to plug that freezer into is the 110volt outlet right next to the one the RV is plugged into. Especially since that freezer is going to be sitting on the ground. The outlets provided by the RV park will always be GFI types which will give you some more shock protection.

Be sure and bring along some shade for that freezer!
 

Kirk

Senior Member
30 amps

There are two circuit breakers to consider. The first is the one mentioned by Clodhopper and is located on the power pedestal. If you are using air conditioning and wish to use a microwave, you most likely will not be able to run someone's deep freeze at the same time. But the real test is, what is the current draw of the freezer and also what is it's duty cycle, since the amount of time that it will operate is just as important.

But there is also a second circuit breaker involved, in your RV. The 120V distribution panel has circuit breakers that supply different things in the RV. Your outside outlet is only one of the outlets that is supplied by one 15A circuit breaker. If the total of everything you have plugged into that circuit should exceed 15A, it will open. In fact, circuit breakers are only designed to carry 80% of that rated load on a constant basis.

The suggestion to plug directly to the power pedestal is a good one, if the 15A outlet there is connected to a different leg of the power than your 30A outlet. Very often it is on the same circuit breaker due to limitations of the RV park wiring. Is everyone planning to stay in one RV site? If some of your friends get a site of their own, why could you not plug that freezer into it? I don't know of any RV park or public park that does not have a limit on how many people can stay in one site. I suggest that the owner of the freezer get a site and plug into that.
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
30 amps

I use a Fridge while Snowbirding and plug it into (like previous posts said) to the 15A outlet by the regular 30amp outlet outside. I keep the extra fridge (son had it in college 13 years ago and believe it or not, it still works.... :) ) under the awning and covered (with vent) when raining hard enough to close awning. I have an outlet coming from MH, but the only thing I ever use it for is TV or RADIO plug in.
 

paws43tails

New Member
30 amps

hey guys, my friend has written to tell me that her freezer is 5 amps... does this shed any light on the matter for ya'll... i hate to tell her she can't plug it into the rv, yet i don't want to damage the rv either... i don't know if it's worth her transporting the freezer from AK to TX then to OK where we'll be camping if she can't plug it in... i have called the campground (city park) where we'll be camping to ask if they have 15 amp outlets along with their 30 amp, as that would be the ideal situation, but have no response yet... what i'm really asking is, is 5 amps a large draw?
 

Kirk

Senior Member
30 amps

If it only draws 5A it should be no problem at all. And it will keep the ice-cream frozen! The other thinkg to make sure of is that the campground will not object to the freezer sitting outside of your RV. Some of the more up-scale parks do have restrictions on that type of thing. Most do not, but better to know ahead of time.
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
30 amps

Must be some mighty important frozen products that warrant hauling them (and the freezer) all the way "from AK to TX then to OK"!

I'd allow them to plug into my RV just to see what it was! :laugh:
 

paws43tails

New Member
30 amps

she is a wonderful cook!! it is mainly because we will be at the campgrounds for 12 days, and because we are feeding a group of 15 much of the preparation has to be done in advance... we're the only ones with an rv so we have a freezer but it's not that large... the oven though will be very helpful in reheating all the frozen goodies! i thank you all for your input, you're such a wealth of information!! thanks!
 
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