# A/c Plugged In To The Home Outlet



## fredr (Jun 26, 2006)

I've heard from a friend and the dealer that you shouldn't use the A/C in the TT when it is connected to home power unless it is connected to a 30 amp or higher outlet. They claim that it kills the A/C motor. Is there any truth to this?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Yes there is.

That said you can do it if you are directly into the outlet and it is at least a 20 amp outlet, which many garages have wired in them. A 15 amp outlet which is a standard house outlet will be too small.

The killer is not the amperage rating exactly but voltage at the motor. When plugged into the outlet and running the AC the voltage should be at least 110 vac. Any thing below that and you start causing issues. The use of extension cords make it worse.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I plug mine into my garage and on low, no problems. On high (only one time) plug was a little warm so I keep on low if needed. Actually and unfortunately have had that issue at some older campgrounds


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

If you plug the TT into a 20 amp house circuit, you should have no problems running the TT A/C system. The voltage at the TT should measure 110v or higher, so don't use a skimpy, cheap extention cord. Get a heavy one (#14 wire minimum, #12 is better but more $$$, of course). Long ext.cords are a no-no, also--long cords cause the voltage to drop, and while you might start at 120v at the house outlet, you could easily have 105 at the end of that 100' cord. Be conservative.

When running your TT A/C on a 20 amp circuit, turn off the water heater electric, and remember that if you run 12v lights in the TT when hooked to "shore power", the converter will make the 12 volts DC from the A/C coming in. There are limits of course, so be conservative on what other stuff you run in the TT if hooked to only a 20a circuit.

Good luck!!


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

As others noted it should be okay on a 20 amp circuit but make sure everything else is off. Probably the main thing to turn off are the fridge and the battery charger. You can switch the fridge to propane if you need to run it and you can use the power controller circuit breaker to shut off the 12 battery charger. That should save you a few amps which should allow the AC to run. If it acts funny such as the fan slowing down alot on startup then the voltage drop is probably too much and you should stop.


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Believe you should be fine on a 20 amp outlet/circuit. Please keep in mind some builders will put in a 15 amp circuit and plugs, so you'll need to check to ensure BOTH the circuit and plug are 20 amp.

Also, you need to be mindful of what else is on the circuit you plan to use. For instance, do you have lamps, house lights, home fridge, washer, etc. connected to the circuit you plan on using? If so, you'll need to calculate how many amps you're pulling to ensure you don't max out your circuit. If you max it out, the circuit breaker will flip, and keep flipping.

Believe our A/C's use 14 amps at startup and 12 amps running, well over half the capacity of a 20 amp circuit. I didn't want to have to deal with the possibility of a circuit overload, so I went ahead and installed a 30 amp breaker and circuit. Cost was less than $250. Most expensive component was the 10 gauge wire. Now I can run everything (including A/C, micro, hot water heater, etc.) and not worry about an overload.


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## Outback Steve (Mar 29, 2007)

without the ac running is it ok to run the fridge on the 15 amp outlet. including any lights or fans? we have been leaving our plugged in but i don't want to ruin it....


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Outback Steve said:


> without the ac running is it ok to run the fridge on the 15 amp outlet. including any lights or fans? we have been leaving our plugged in but i don't want to ruin it....


Without the AC or water heater on Electric you can run everything else on a 15 amp circuit. If you run the electric water heater it would be best to turn the fridge to gas and turn the converter off and just run the lights off of the batteries while you are heating the water. That said I avoid the issue with the water heater and use propane to heat the water if I only have a 15 amp outlet.


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## 7heaven (Jun 4, 2005)

When we had our kitchen re-done a couple of years ago, I had the electrical contractor add a 30 and 50 amp outlet in the garage.....







had to get some fringe benefit....


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## nynethead (Sep 23, 2005)

i added a 30amp plug outside under the overhang and keep my 5'er plugged in all season long.


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