Plugging a 30-amp plus a 50-amp RV into one pedestal…
Will it work and is it safe to do?
Hey Mike,
Different question: Can a single pedestal at a campground be plugged into with both a 30-amp and a 50-amp RV at the same time? Had an issue at a RV campground and I remembered what you said about electric pedestals and an open ground or breaker switch not resetting. I wanted to plug my 30-amp cord into the open outlet on the same pedestal along with his 50-amp plug.
Can this be safe to do? Thanks - Jim V
Hey Jim,
Yes, this should be safe, as long as the campground is properly wired. However, if the pedestal is wired up as a home run service from the main circuit breaker panel in the campground, there will likely be a 50-amp circuit breaker feeding it. In that case, if you exceed 50-amps of current combined between the 30 and 50-amp outlets, the main circuit breaker in the service panel will trip. But other than tripping the breaker, there shouldn’t be anything dangerous happening.
But most campgrounds are wired in “loops” with up to 6 pedestals wired in a daisy-chain configuration. So there could be a 100-amp or 200-amp, double-pole (240-volt) circuit breaker in the service panel feeding 6 pedestals in a row. If that’s the case, then a single pedestal could potentially draw up to 150 amperes of current in total at 120-volts (50+50+30+20=150). And that shouldn’t trip the main circuit breaker, unless there’s already a lot of other loads running (such as multiple air conditioners running in each RV).
Will campgrounds allow this?
Maybe not. And that’s because they only plan for one high-amperage connection at a time from each pedestal. And they have to pay for electricity by the kWh like you do at home.
That’s why many campgrounds are banning the charging of EVs by plugging your RV into the 30-amp receptacle and your Tesla or Lightning into the 50-amp receptacle on the same pedestal. Best to check with the campground first before you start plugging in both a 30-amp and 50-amp shore power cord.
Read my in-depth article on pedestal amperage HERE.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
Article 551.44 of the National Electrical Code allows only 1 power supply assembly feeding an RV at a time. There has to be a transfer switch for 2 feeds. The 30amp and the 50 amp feeds can't go to same RV.
I have never seen a transfer switch for any pedestal in any RV park or campground between the 50-, 30-, and 20-amp receptacles. It seems the only way to enforce NEC, if adopted in a particular jurisdiction, is the pedestals would need transfer switches only allowing one pedestal connection to be used, the 50, the 30, or the 20, and the other two would need to be locked out from use. Interesting.