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Old 02-23-2019, 05:33 AM   #1
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Hooked up to 220

Grand junction got plugged into 220. I'm still at a loss for words. Will anything be usable?
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Old 02-23-2019, 10:11 AM   #2
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Grand junction got plugged into 220. I'm still at a loss for words. Will anything be usable?


Hmmmm... can you elaborate a little when you recover? It may not be that bad but it's difficult to plug into a 220 line with a 30 amp plug and the 30 and 50 amp plugs are totally different. Did you release the magic smoke?
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Old 02-23-2019, 10:47 AM   #3
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Did it blow the circuit breaker? If so that could have saved a bunch of stuff..
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Old 02-23-2019, 12:57 PM   #4
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How did you do that? A surge protector would protect you from that damage.
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Old 02-23-2019, 02:50 PM   #5
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It's actually easy to do if you don't have some electrical background. I have a friend who plugged his camper right into an old welder plug, it blew out his power converter. Check your breakers first, good luck.
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Old 02-23-2019, 03:44 PM   #6
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I smell something fried.
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Old 02-23-2019, 08:05 PM   #7
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Grand junction got plugged into 220. I'm still at a loss for words. Will anything be usable?



I have to look at the way the 220 is wired as opposed to 120. I forget. But my first thought is that you did not actually get 220 into the RV. Is anything actually damaged? Did any breakers pop? And of course was there smoke?


Hoping for the best here.


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Old 02-25-2019, 12:46 AM   #8
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Normally a 220 plug has 4 prongs, Hot, Hot, neutral and ground. A three prong would be hot, hot and bonded ground where the neutral and ground are tied together. If you were able to plug your RV into one of those, someone did not follow code!



If they followed standards, then the ground on plug and receptacle would have matched, hot would have matched, but neutral would have been hot. If anything it should have blown the breaker on the feeder you plugged into as the trailers neutral should also be tied to ground. If not, then anything connected would have been fed 220 across both poles, and devices that are bonded would have blown the breakers before anything got damaged. Anything not bonded would more than likely have been damaged.



If the trailer has a surge suppressor/voltage regulator, it would not power up the trailer if it senses voltage on the neutral and will save the trailer. If your trailer survived, I would suggest getting one.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:42 AM   #9
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Normally a 220 plug has 4 prongs, Hot, Hot, neutral and ground. A three prong would be hot, hot and bonded ground where the neutral and ground are tied together. If you were able to plug your RV into one of those, someone did not follow code!



If they followed standards, then the ground on plug and receptacle would have matched, hot would have matched, but neutral would have been hot. If anything it should have blown the breaker on the feeder you plugged into as the trailers neutral should also be tied to ground. If not, then anything connected would have been fed 220 across both poles, and devices that are bonded would have blown the breakers before anything got damaged. Anything not bonded would more than likely have been damaged.



If the trailer has a surge suppressor/voltage regulator, it would not power up the trailer if it senses voltage on the neutral and will save the trailer. If your trailer survived, I would suggest getting one.
House current: 220v 50amp has 2 hots and a ground. RV 50 amp has two hots, a neutral, and a ground and has 4 prongs. RV 50 amp is never 220v and is actually two, separate 110v 50amp circuits. RV three prong is a 30 amp circuit.
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Old 02-25-2019, 02:42 PM   #10
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House current: 220v 50amp has 2 hots and a ground. RV 50 amp has two hots, a neutral, and a ground and has 4 prongs. RV 50 amp is never 220v and is actually two, separate 110v 50amp circuits. RV three prong is a 30 amp circuit.



The difference between two separate 110v lines, and a 220v line is the breaker. A 220 V breaker are two breakers bound by a bar across the switch levers. The RV type you mention are two separated breakers. If a 50 amp RV is connected to 220v, then the only difference is both sides will trip when a fault occurs instead of the faulted side.



I was referencing a 30AMP service, which is what I thought the OP had, and 220 to that can cause damage. 220v to the 50 will not because in essence, it is a 220v connection, just bussed to separate 110v breakers.



Here is a helpful web site to differentiate between the different services, The 50-amp 120/240-volt 3 pole 4


3 prong 220v plugs are for Dryers and ovens, and are quite unique, the other 3 prong type are either twist locks or welder sockets, and not common to household wiring. None of which are 30 amp RV type plugs. For my welder I use a 4 prong, and the same for my air compressor, both are 220v, and both I used twist lock so there is no mistaking that they are 220v high amp outlets. They both use 4 conductor cabling even though they are bonded.
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Old 02-25-2019, 02:55 PM   #11
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I still don't understand how he plugged into 220 volts!
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:02 PM   #12
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I still don't understand how he plugged into 220 volts!



The real question is, does he have a 30 amp plug, or a 50 amp plug. It's been established that a 50 amp is a 220v connection, but a 30 amp is not. So if he plugged a 30 amp into a 30 amp socket and got 220v, yeah, that is bad.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:09 PM   #13
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The real question is, does he have a 30 amp plug, or a 50 amp plug. It's been established that a 50 amp is a 220v connection, but a 30 amp is not. So if he plugged a 30 amp into a 30 amp socket and got 220v, yeah, that is bad.
He hasn't come back or posted since he started the thread and he is not elaborating on how he performed such a deed.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:26 PM   #14
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I'm betting it's 30 amp, somehow that guy I know plugged a 30 amp RV cord into an old 3 prong 50 amp welder plug and poof.

Until 3 days ago, I didn't realize that a 50 amp RV service is indeed 240v, wired just like any house double pole 240v circuit. But as acdii pointed out the two hot legs are separated in the RV panel, providing only 120v to each breaker. The breaker box in a house does the same thing but the two legs can be tied together to get 240v. I was shocked

WARNING: My electrical explanations are rudimentary, I understand the principles, but getting them across in a 100% correct way may be lacking.
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Old 02-25-2019, 03:38 PM   #15
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I'm betting it's 30 amp, somehow that guy I know plugged a 30 amp RV cord into an old 3 prong 50 amp welder plug and poof.

Until 3 days ago, I didn't realize that a 50 amp RV service is indeed 240v, wired just like any house double pole 240v circuit. But as acdii pointed out the two hot legs are separated in the RV panel, providing only 120v to each breaker. The breaker box in a house does the same thing but the two legs can be tied together to get 240v. I was shocked

WARNING: My electrical explanations are rudimentary, I understand the principles, but getting them across in a 100% correct way may be lacking.
That's ok, you understand it enough to be able to identify it. I'm sure PERSISTANT will be along to give a complete and very detailed explanation.
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:19 PM   #16
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That's ok, you understand it enough to be able to identify it. I'm sure PERSISTANT will be along to give a complete and very detailed explanation.


I actually spent some time recently poking my nose into my house panel with the aid of a licensed electrician, it was enlightening. I'll leave the detailed forum explanations to the pros. Plus I only have the patience to type in small one paragraph increments. I do know it's possible to to plug an RV into a welder plug because I was standing there when he did it. Unfortunately it was a year before we bought our first camper, so I had zero knowledge of RV electrical systems
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:33 PM   #17
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I actually spent some time recently poking my nose into my house panel with the aid of a licensed electrician, it was enlightening. I'll leave the detailed forum explanations to the pros. Plus I only have the patience to type in small one paragraph increments. I do know it's possible to to plug an RV into a welder plug because I was standing there when he did it. Unfortunately it was a year before we bought our first camper, so I had zero knowledge of RV electrical systems
do you have a welder plug ? I agree with getting some basic knowledge of the power you are using in your RV. Should be on everyone's to do list.
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:39 PM   #18
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do you have a welder plug ? I agree with getting some basic knowledge of the power you are using in your RV. Should be on everyone's to do list.
It wasn't at my house, but I do have a 3 prong dryer plug that is shaped exactly the same as a 30 amp RV plug, except the ground is flat not round, it will still almost fit. Knowing the guy who did it, he probably flattened the camper ground with a pair of pliers.
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:49 PM   #19
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It wasn't at my house, but I do have a 3 prong dryer plug that is shaped exactly the same as a 30 amp RV plug, except the ground is flat not round, it will still almost fit. Knowing the guy who did it, he probably flattened the camper ground with a pair of pliers.
HAHA! that makes sense...
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Old 02-25-2019, 05:55 PM   #20
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It wasn't at my house, but I do have a 3 prong dryer plug that is shaped exactly the same as a 30 amp RV plug, except the ground is flat not round, it will still almost fit. Knowing the guy who did it, he probably flattened the camper ground with a pair of pliers.
I will have to dig up the picture of the 20 amp plug that I found on one of my jobsites...

20 amp plug has the sideways blade, guys didn't have any heavy duty cords (aren't supposed to run this particular 20 amp equipment on a drop cord, but that is a different story) so the grabbed the sideways blade twisted it 90 degrees and plugged it into a 15 amp drop cord, melted the plug pretty good trying to haul too many amps across it. I found it, cut it off and left them with out the piece of equipment for a couple of days as a lesson. Plug went into my training box of things not to do.

Every time you make something idiot proof a different idiot comes along and defeats it.

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