# generator/camper hookup?



## huntingonthefly

I got my first camper, 33' bumper pull, park model. 2006 Fema type. Never been used. My camper plug doesn't match any receptacles on the generator. The tag on back says...''This connection for110/125 Volt AC 60 Hz 30 Ampere supply.'' break this down for me. What can i do or not do. I don't want to overload or underload and burn anything up. Does that mean I only need to plug into one of the smaller 110 outlets on the generator to run everything- A/C FRIDGE MICROWAVE LIGHTS? I bought an adaptor cause the camper has slanted studs and the generator is straight like a regular receptacle. I ran for 30 minutes and evrything was working- scared to do longer. OR..... I have a twistlock 120/240 volt 30 amp hookup on the generator. It has 4 slots  whereas the camper male end has 2 flat studs n a ground. The only way I could hook that up would be to make a pigtail by getting a female end for the camper n a male end for the gen. and some romex. i would be losing one of the hot leg studs tho.????Hopefully the 110 hookup is all i need. btw the gen. is a 7000/10, 500n generator. The load capacity was in the upper 30 percentile on the screen with the ac lights and fridge on. Sorry for the confusing jibberish- electrical is my weakness.


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## GA DAWG

Id go to a camper place and ask. I have the same problem. I only have a 3500 gen though. The 110 will not run my air. I've asked several folks and they say I need to use the 30 amp plug. Some say not to cause its to many amps and it will burn up everything. So Im back to square one. Im think I'll take my gen to a camper place and ask them.


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## MudDucker

You can buy or build an adapter to adapt your camper plug to the gen set plug.  You really need an excess capacity to run A/C's or you will burn them up with under voltage.


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## huntingonthefly

Can't find a an adaptor anywhere. even camp places down here say i will have to build one. however i did buy an adaptor for the camper end changing from slant prongs to straight prongs so it will plug into the 110 outlet on the generator. the camper plug only has one hot one ground and 1 common. if i build a pigtail to use the 30 amp on the gen. i still will be losing one hot leg when i plug into the 30 amp lock receptacle on the generator. so it will be only be supplying 120 then from the gen cause it's a 30 amp 120/240 recep. right? still lost.........


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## Lukikus2

They make a adapter that will go from the 3 prong camper connection to a regular house type plug in. As long as your camper is a 30 amp and you have a 30 amp fused outlet on the generator you will be fine running it that way. I usually keep mine plugged in the house that way to keep the refrigerator on it. If it ever overloads the generator, the generator breaker will trip. No harm done.


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## Gaducker

Your problem is your gen set is not a 220 unit.  The line out of your camper is setup for 220.  two hot legs to feed two hot bus bars inside your breaker panel inside your camper.  Your 110 volt leg on your genny may or may not have enough ump to pull your ac but like mentioned before if its not enough you will trip a breaker assumeing your breakers are of the right amperage and fuctioning properly.


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## Rackbuster

You need to check your box and make sure it is wired for 220 before you hook it to a 220 plug.My uncle in law hooked his to a 220 plug and had to replace a lot of stuff.His was wired for 110 with a common wire and a ground wire.One hot wire pulled the breaker box.


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## Gaducker

If its an 06 and its 33 ft long its 220.  plus the plug he described is a 220 plug.

I did not read your op completley.  The 230 twist lock plug is what you want to run your camper on.  you will need to build you a plug to get into the genny.  HD or lowes has eveything you need.  You wont loose a hot leg.  you wire it with two hot legs and your ground and netrual are wired to the same leg.


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## huntingonthefly

Lukikus2 said:


> They make a adapter that will go from the 3 prong camper connection to a regular house type plug in. As long as your camper is a 30 amp and you have a 30 amp fused outlet on the generator you will be fine running it that way. I usually keep mine plugged in the house that way to keep the refrigerator on it. If it ever overloads the generator, the generator breaker will trip. No harm done.



Yeah, I found oneof those adaptors. I plugged into my generator in one of the 110 house type plug ins.  I ran everything, AC included for nearly n hour. Seems like i would need the larger receptacle (30 amp 120/240) on the generator. I must have a small AC but boy it cools down fast in there.


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## Lukikus2

huntingonthefly said:


> Yeah, I found oneof those adaptors. I plugged into my generator in one of the 110 house type plug ins.  I ran everything, AC included for nearly n hour. Seems like i would need the larger receptacle (30 amp 120/240) on the generator. I must have a small AC but boy it cools down fast in there.



Yeh, they are all mostly 110 volt until you get the campers with larger AC units, washer, dryer, ect. As long as it's on a 30 amp breaker your good to go. If you want to plug it in your house you will have to use the refrigerator or dryer outlet as they are 20 amp but you can't run the AC long or it will trip the breaker (the AC is the only appliance that pulls 30 amps). It will keep the frig and everything else working fine though.


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## huntingonthefly

Gaducker said:


> If its an 06 and its 33 ft long its 220.  plus the plug he described is a 220 plug.
> 
> I did not read your op completley.  The 230 twist lock plug is what you want to run your camper on.  you will need to build you a plug to get into the genny.  HD or lowes has eveything you need.  You wont loose a hot leg.  you wire it with two hot legs and your ground and netrual are wired to the same leg.


The camper states...this connectin only for 110/125 volt ac 60 hz 30 amp supply? However i did build a pigtail so i can join it to the gen recep. that states... 120/240 30 amp. i found a female plug exactly like the camper -- two slant prongs n one oval ground. that's three wire romex. green for ground white for common n blue for hot. i got a male end like the gen. end which is 4 slants.. so with 3 wires coming from camp end i wired green for ground white for common and blue into only one of the hot legs leaving one open on the gen plug??? scared to use. i'm not sure i'm following ya'll or registering lol or vice versa. still looking for rv repair man- evrything over 2 hours away. just wanna get it down to the hunt club this weekend. if it was running fine for an hour, ac and all on the 110 house plug adaptor n 110 outlet on the gen. end it should be fine, right. or does it take time to burn up something? the load capacity on the gen read in the upper 30 percentile


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## huntingonthefly

my lowes nearby in douglas has nothing for camper hookups. its one of the smaller units. I might run over to waycross, its bigger. I dont know if the pigtail i built will work or not.


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## huntingonthefly

Lukikus2 said:


> They make a adapter that will go from the 3 prong camper connection to a regular house type plug in. As long as your camper is a 30 amp and you have a 30 amp fused outlet on the generator you will be fine running it that way. I usually keep mine plugged in the house that way to keep the refrigerator on it. If it ever overloads the generator, the generator breaker will trip. No harm done.



I looked in my panel box and the electrical rating says 30 amp 120 vac... so should be fine running everything ac included on the small plug on the genny, i reckonlol.


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## Lukikus2

You can get the adapter at most Ace Hardware's or where they sell camper stuff. Wally world sells camper stuff just not sure about the adapter. They are only around $20 and are heavy duty and designed for the purpose. 
Sounds like what you have made will work but it would be safer to buy the pigtail. If you did anything wrong it will throw one of your breakers inside before anything else. The fourth wire would be for a 240 hookup. You don't need it.


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## Gaducker

I am not pickin up what you are puttin down.....


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## huntingonthefly

appreciate it guys. sorry, i'm kinda dense when it comes to electricity. thnks 2 for the pm Uncle Dawg Bone to confirm i had it right.  I had to mae a pigtail- buy a male end for the gen. and a female end for the camper- hook together with 3 wire romex. leaving one hot leg unwired on gen. end. it's a 120/240 anyhow. why can't they make these things universal, lol? a $50.00 pigtail, ouch.


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## MudDucker

I built a pigtail for about $20 and then found a molded one online for about $25.  Got the molded one for moisture protection.

Playing outdoors in comfort is not cheap!


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## Donal

*RV wiring*



huntingonthefly said:


> appreciate it guys. sorry, i'm kinda dense when it comes to electricity. thnks 2 for the pm Uncle Dawg Bone to confirm i had it right.  I had to mae a pigtail- buy a male end for the gen. and a female end for the camper- hook together with 3 wire romex. leaving one hot leg unwired on gen. end. it's a 120/240 anyhow. why can't they make these things universal, lol? a $50.00 pigtail, ouch.



If you will google or Bing for "RV wiring diagram" you will get all the  technical data you need to correctly power up your rv without damage.  The 30 amp rv plug has one flat terminal with 120 volt, normally black wire, gold/brass screw,  one flat terminal that is neutral, normally white wire, silver screw and one not flat, usually round or u shaped that is the ground, bare or green wire.  Looking at the receptacle, the 120 volt should be the flat terminal on the left bottom.
You can print the wiring diagram or save to your computer.


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## huntingonthefly

Thanks Donal. Important literature to keep in the ole ' data bank.


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## MudDucker

shot me a pic of your gen set plugs.  I might let go of one of my pigtails, if you can't find one.


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## W4DSB

campers are 120 volt.
all you're doing is trying to hook up to a 30 amp supply still 120 volt at a camp site or to a 120 volt higher ampacity outlet on your generator
the slanted plug on your camper is a tt 30 (travel trailer 30 amp_like this one 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/30AMP-RV-REPLACEMENT-RECEPTACLE-/370526229188?pt=Motors_RV_Trailer_Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item56451592c4#ht_2379wt_939


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## papachaz

huntingonthefly said:


> The camper states...this connectin only for 110/125 volt ac 60 hz 30 amp supply? However i did build a pigtail so i can join it to the gen recep. that states... 120/240 30 amp. i found a female plug exactly like the camper -- two slant prongs n one oval ground. that's three wire romex. green for ground white for common n blue for hot. i got a male end like the gen. end which is 4 slants.. so with 3 wires coming from camp end i wired green for ground white for common and blue into only one of the hot legs leaving one open on the gen plug??? scared to use. i'm not sure i'm following ya'll or registering lol or vice versa. still looking for rv repair man- evrything over 2 hours away. just wanna get it down to the hunt club this weekend. if it was running fine for an hour, ac and all on the 110 house plug adaptor n 110 outlet on the gen. end it should be fine, right. or does it take time to burn up something? the load capacity on the gen read in the upper 30 percentile


i bought the adapter i needed at 3 way campers in marietta. you can order them online too. my generator has that 120/240 plug, and i use it for my camper all the time. don't underpower your A/C, you will burn up the startup capaciter. my genny is an 8500 watt and i've never had a problem running my camper off of it.


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## klwehunt

If you hook your camper up to 220 you are going to burn up some stuff campers are 120 no matter if they are 30 amp or 50 amp.


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