Skip to main content

15 replies

Electrical Question

FM Former Member
Hi all....I want to make sure I wire my trailer up correctly. I have a box on the trailer hooked to a three prong 30amp 120 volt (assuming it's 30 amp) plug. First Question ..Does anyone out there have any problems running their concession trailers on 30 amps? I have a small window unit a/c, hot dog steamer, full size new refrig/freezer, hot water heater, water pump, and two pan steamers. Question 2..I just bought a generator (Generac) 5500/8500 watts. Does this seem adequate? I need to convert the three prong plug I have coming from the trailer to fit the four prong plug on the generator. Should I just get a pigtail to convert this? I want to make it quick and easy when I show up for events and don't know what type of wiring setup they will have at the event. Any suggestions/replies are greatly appreciated. Oh, one more thing, Do you guys (and gals) have a pig tail that converts your three prong 30 amp plug to fit a regular outlet that is in your home? If so, any problems?
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
best advice is get with an electrican.
as far as the 30 amps goes my rig has 2 30amp 3 prong 1/4 turn twist lock and that plugs right into my two 3000 watt gennies.
as far as using my a/c with a 5 foot hood running it is kind of a waste so i don't bother with it.
your wattage sounds good at 8500. matter of fact it is almost overkill as a 30 amp line can run a maximum of 6000 watts according to my electric guy. that must explain the 4 prong receptical on your gennie.
too be safe i found it was a good investment to get my electrican to help me.
hope it helps some
jack
i did have an extension cord made up from 6 ga 3 wire. has the std male house plug one one end and the 30 amp quick turn female on the other. use it when i don't want to load up the gennies to run vacuum cleaner and that kind of thing when doing clean up
FM Former Member
Alan,

At 5500 W (8500 peak) your generator has enough power, especially since everything isn't drawing power at the same time. However, the most a 30A box can carry safely is 3600W if 120V and 7200W if 240V. So it doesn't sound like your trailer is wired to carry more than 3600W, which will be insufficient unless you carefully juggle your applicances, i.e., turning off the a/c before turning on the water heater or hot wells. Otherwise you can expect you breaker to keep tripping if pulling more than 30 Amps.

The advise of an electrician is definitely a good idea. Remember Watts = Amps X Volts.

The pigtails work find. It's a little harder finding the twistlock types.
FM Former Member
Went to Havertsons in Holiday. I have finally mastered my electrical set up. I have a box that is set up just like your house with 220 cominng in (two hot wires to feed both sides of the panel). I have the four wire plug hooked up now that goes into my 240v 30 amp gennie. I went to my next gig to check out the electrical hookup. They have a 240v 30 amp three prong twist plug there for me to use. Can I get a pigtail that I can plug my four prong plug into one end and have a three prong 240v 30 amp plug on the other end to go to the power source? Question....When you go from four wire plug to a three wire plug, what wire is eliminated? You would still have to have your two hots. So do you loose your ground or your neutral?
FM Former Member
Went to Havertsons in Holiday. I have finally mastered my electrical set up. I have a box that is set up just like your house with 220 cominng in (two hot wires to feed both sides of the panel). I have the four wire plug hooked up now that goes into my 240v 30 amp gennie. I went to my next gig to check out the electrical hookup. They have a 240v 30 amp three prong twist plug there for me to use. Can I get a pigtail that I can plug my four prong plug into one end and have a three prong 240v 30 amp plug on the other end to go to the power source? Question....When you go from four wire plug to a three wire plug, what wire is eliminated? You would still have to have your two hots. So do you loose your ground or your neutral?
FM Former Member
Finally got it all straightened out. I have a four prong 30 amp 125/250 plug coming from my trailer. I can use this directly to my genie if I need to use it. I made my own pigtail that the above plug goes into the female equivalent, and on the other end is a 3 prong 30 amp 125/250 plug for the event. I went out there today and put a fluke meter on it and got 110 from both sides...so I'm good to go. Thanks to all!!
Alan

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×