Mike, you spent all your time talking about transforming volts, such that I felt you missed the question entirely. No one talks about transforming from 15A to 20A or 30A.
In my layman's mind amps are "current" which produces the mind picture of flow. One doesn't need to transform a capability that already exists. What prevents its utilization is the "pipeline" and its capacity limits. A 50A pedestal is actually powering 2-50A 120v legs into our RVs. When we try to "transform" a 30A line to power both those legs, we tremendously strain those capacity limits, creating heat and resulting hazards. Every pointnof our supply line would need to be beefed up to carry that 50A load.
The original question was about plugging a transformer into a 30-amp, single-pole, 120-volt pedestal to convert it into a split-phase, 2-pole, 50-amp service of 120/120-volts (actually 240-volts leg-to leg). That would be like magically converting 3,600 watts into 12,000 watts, which can't happen.
In your quote " When we try to "transform" a 30A line to power both those legs, we tremendously strain those capacity limits" the word transform isn't being used correctly. Actually what you're doing with a 30-to-50 dogbone adapter is "bonding" both conductors to a single-pole leg from the pedestal. Transformer action is generally used to step voltage up or down with an inverse change in available current (which you correctly identify as flow). But sometimes transformers have the same number of windings on the input and output, providing isolation from a line-to-ground shock.
"The original question was about plugging a transformer into a 30-amp, single-pole, 120-volt pedestal to convert it into a split-phase, 2-pole, 50-amp service of 120/120-volts (actually 240-volts leg-to leg)."
No. The original question, as copied from your post, was "Someone told me you said it’s not possible to use a transformer to boost a 30-amp outlet to 50 amps for an RV. Why won’t that work? - Fast Eddie"
Sorry for the confusion. Here’s the original question that was asked by an RV technician in a 2022 post: “I have a question from a customer. Do they make a step up transformer to convert 30-amps from a pedestal to a 50-amp RV?”
Still, the question was about transforming amps and you answered about transforming volts, which as you noted is the typical way we think about the use of “transform".
Mike, you spent all your time talking about transforming volts, such that I felt you missed the question entirely. No one talks about transforming from 15A to 20A or 30A.
In my layman's mind amps are "current" which produces the mind picture of flow. One doesn't need to transform a capability that already exists. What prevents its utilization is the "pipeline" and its capacity limits. A 50A pedestal is actually powering 2-50A 120v legs into our RVs. When we try to "transform" a 30A line to power both those legs, we tremendously strain those capacity limits, creating heat and resulting hazards. Every pointnof our supply line would need to be beefed up to carry that 50A load.
The original question was about plugging a transformer into a 30-amp, single-pole, 120-volt pedestal to convert it into a split-phase, 2-pole, 50-amp service of 120/120-volts (actually 240-volts leg-to leg). That would be like magically converting 3,600 watts into 12,000 watts, which can't happen.
In your quote " When we try to "transform" a 30A line to power both those legs, we tremendously strain those capacity limits" the word transform isn't being used correctly. Actually what you're doing with a 30-to-50 dogbone adapter is "bonding" both conductors to a single-pole leg from the pedestal. Transformer action is generally used to step voltage up or down with an inverse change in available current (which you correctly identify as flow). But sometimes transformers have the same number of windings on the input and output, providing isolation from a line-to-ground shock.
"The original question was about plugging a transformer into a 30-amp, single-pole, 120-volt pedestal to convert it into a split-phase, 2-pole, 50-amp service of 120/120-volts (actually 240-volts leg-to leg)."
No. The original question, as copied from your post, was "Someone told me you said it’s not possible to use a transformer to boost a 30-amp outlet to 50 amps for an RV. Why won’t that work? - Fast Eddie"
You answered a question that wasn't asked.
Sorry for the confusion. Here’s the original question that was asked by an RV technician in a 2022 post: “I have a question from a customer. Do they make a step up transformer to convert 30-amps from a pedestal to a 50-amp RV?”
Still, the question was about transforming amps and you answered about transforming volts, which as you noted is the typical way we think about the use of “transform".
The actual quote is "TANSTAAFL" There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch from "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"
Oops 😬