30 or 50amp breaker for competition trailer?

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Well, after getting a lot of good ideas on my last thread on my trailer build, I've decided to increase trailer size and get the A/C unit installed at the factory. Is a 30amp break sufficient? The sales guy recommended upgrading to 50amp.

My electrical will be the A/C, lights, and regular bbq tools (coffee grinder, electric knife), maybe a microwave. I doubt I will put a fridge in the trailer. I'll also be running gurus.

Doesn't a 50amp shoreline have a different connector? Most contests I've done I haven't even seen 50amp offered.

Thanks ahead of time for the advice.
 
The only comps that I have been to that have 50amp panels were at campground type facilities. Heck, most only have 15/20amp connections. And yes, the 50amp connector is different than the 30amp.

We have a 30amp but carry a 30amp to 15/20amp convertor with us as again, most comps do not have 30amp connections.

Now, if you have a generator that has a 50amp connection on it, well then yes, 50amp panel. But that is going to be a BIG generator!

Just cant use all that stuff at one time. The microwave and coffee maker are the biggest offenders as far as power draw goes. The 13,500BTU A/C will usually run fine on 15amp, but not with a bunch of other stuff running.
 
We have a 30 amp in ours, and it runs our fridge, stereo, low-amp AC unit, and whatever other things we might have. Most places it's plugged into a 20 amp circuit, and we just make sure to turn the AC off when we're making coffee. Other than that, no issues.
 
30 amp is fine for 2 reasons. 1-very few comps have 50 amp available. 2-50 amp is only needed if you are running twp AC units.
 
sdbbq1234 said:
Just cant use all that stuff at one time. The microwave and coffee maker are the biggest offenders as far as power draw goes. The 13,500BTU A/C will usually run fine on 15amp, but not with a bunch of other stuff running.
Click to expand...

^^this to an extent. What you will find with the AC is that it will run fine....once you have gotten it to speed. The reason they suggested a 50 amp is because they are considering peak load not runtime. When units like the AC compressor or the refrigerator or microwave initially demand power they seek a lot on start up. This tends to force breakers to pop. To mitigate this issue try not to demand from more than one item at a time. For instance when you start the AC make sure the thermostat is above ambient temperature so that it doesn't try to run the fan and compressor at once initially. This will demand too much at once and overload the circuit. I would always start the fan first by switching it to on rather than switching to cool. Then after the fan leveled out I would click the thermo to cool without the compressor and switch the fan from on to auto. Once this stabilized then I would slide the dial until the compressor kicks on. Now sometimes I would have to back it off two or three times as I could hear the compressor demanding too much and ready to kick the breaker. Once you push the dial until the compressor goes off let it stabilize again before turning it back on. Once it is running you won't generally have a problem with it and another item demanding but this will come from trial and error. You may need to kick off the compressor when you run something like an toaster or a microwave.
 
I have had both. Currently have a 50 b/c that was what came with the electrical package I got on the trailer. In my opinion it is a waste. The cable is quite a bit larger and i have yet to hook it up to a 50amp service. You can get adapters from camping world or some wal-marts. Pappy Q is right...most of the time it gets down to 15/20 amp service on a 110v plug.

I run the 13.5k A/C, full sized fridge, 4 dual 4ft florescent lights, an on demand water pump and guru with double fans. 25in flat screen tv and dvd player. No issues what so ever on 15/20 amp 110v. I have two 500w halogen spots on the side and if I turn them both on I have tripped the breaker on supply side. Not the trailer but where it was plugged in.
 
Skip said:
^^this to an extent. What you will find with the AC is that it will run fine....once you have gotten it to speed. The reason they suggested a 50 amp is because they are considering peak load not runtime. When units like the AC compressor or the refrigerator or microwave initially demand power they seek a lot on start up. This tends to force breakers to pop. To mitigate this issue try not to demand from more than one item at a time. For instance when you start the AC make sure the thermostat is above ambient temperature so that it doesn't try to run the fan and compressor at once initially. This will demand too much at once and overload the circuit. I would always start the fan first by switching it to on rather than switching to cool. Then after the fan leveled out I would click the thermo to cool without the compressor and switch the fan from on to auto. Once this stabilized then I would slide the dial until the compressor kicks on. Now sometimes I would have to back it off two or three times as I could hear the compressor demanding too much and ready to kick the breaker. Once you push the dial until the compressor goes off let it stabilize again before turning it back on. Once it is running you won't generally have a problem with it and another item demanding but this will come from trial and error. You may need to kick off the compressor when you run something like an toaster or a microwave.
Click to expand...

If your air conditioner trips the breaker on startup, there is a mod you can do to install a larger start capacitor and that will fix it.

But most units built these days have a decent capacitor in them and they don't trip breakers, even with the thermostat on the coldest setting.

Microwaves, coffee makers and stuff like that have a constant high wattage draw and will cause problems, sometimes. We have not had any problems with our air conditioner and other devices running.
 
+1 on Scottie's comment about dual 20 amp drops.

Remember that trailer manufacturers build for RV parks. They love big power taps and GFCIs, two things that cause problems with the temporary power provided by a lot of comps. In the last mobile kitchen we had I split the service out so that we could run two separate 20 amp circuits, distributing the AC, and lights to one, the water heater and outlets to another. This gives you flexibility to cut loads in and out as needed when contest power is limited.

We also carried two sets of snap-in breakers: one GFCI and one normal. Contest power frequently has it's own GFCI in the circuit before it gets to you, and the trickle current from two ground fault detectors usually will trip one or the other as soon as you power up. If your trailer has to be inspected you will need the GFCI's to pass though, and it's a whole lot more convenient to snap in a breaker than it is to rewire an outlet every time.
 
I would go with a 30 amp service. You can get adapters like others have mentioned to plug into 15/20 amp service.

30 amps will carry a lot. Use 50 amps if you ever think you'll expand on your trailer - probably overkill in your case.

Note that there are different styles of 30 amp plugs. It's a good idea to carry a few adapters just in case. Also a good idea to invest in a quality 30' to 50' extension.
 
30amp RV service is more than ample. As mentioned above if you power manage Chef Mike and Mr. Coffee running the AC on a 20amp/110 service should be a non-issue.
For older AC units there is hard-start capacitor available.

As for a 50amp service, it's really a pair of 120VAC 50amp services in one outlet/cable for a total of 100 amps. They may be suggesting this service thinking in the future you may want to run some 240VAC appliances like an electric fryer. Our W&P came with a 50AMP MarinCo twist lock service. We just adapt it down to 30amp RV and sometimes to 110/20amp. Have never had an issue running the 15,000btu AC on 110/20amp.

Consider a 15,000 BTU ducted AC unit if the option is available.
 
We have a 50amp breaker panel in our trailer. Most of the time we just drop it down to a 30amp plug, or we can go down to a 20amp plug.

We did split the AC unit off into a separate recepticle next to the breaker box and ran a 20amp plug from the breaker box to the plug.

If we are at a competition that only offers 20 amp circuits, we can run one into the trailer port straight to the AC and one to the breaker box to run the Fridge/Lights/etc.

It's usually easier and cheaper to get 2 X 20amp plugs at the comp's then a 30amp plug.
 
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