30 Amp Service

[TexasSteve]

We have a 2021 22MLE we recently purchased new. We stayed one night at the KOA next door to the dealer. At that time I did not have a surge protector. The 30 amp breaker on the power pole tripped four times. The park maintenance man checked the pole and said it was good. I purchased a WatchDog surge protector before going out again which we have used on several weekends at state parks. Now the surge protector trips instead of the power pole breaker. The issue is I cannot run the air conditioner and the electric water heater at the same time. The surge protector has an app so I can monitor the amp draw. The air conditioner draws approx 18 amps and the water heater about 13 amps. The easy solution has been to use the water heater on gas instead of electric. We had the trailer in for service at the dealer and they blew it off as normal. I disagree. Where can I get the information on what the air conditioner and the water heater actually should use in either amperage or wattage? I called Grand Design yesterday and told them of the problem but they have yet to call me back. Thanks for any help.

[Jkwilson]

Absolutely normal. You have to very carefully manage power with a 30A trailer.

8A for the converter, 10A for the microwave, 15A for a hair dryer etc., etc..

[Yoda]

We have a 2021 22MLE we recently purchased new. We stayed one night at the KOA next door to the dealer. At that time I did not have a surge protector. The 30 amp breaker on the power pole tripped four times. The park maintenance man checked the pole and said it was good. I purchased a WatchDog surge protector before going out again which we have used on several weekends at state parks. Now the surge protector trips instead of the power pole breaker. The issue is I cannot run the air conditioner and the electric water heater at the same time. The surge protector has an app so I can monitor the amp draw. The air conditioner draws approx 18 amps and the water heater about 13 amps. The easy solution has been to use the water heater on gas instead of electric. We had the trailer in for service at the dealer and they blew it off as normal. I disagree. Where can I get the information on what the air conditioner and the water heater actually should use in either amperage or wattage? I called Grand Design yesterday and told them of the problem but they have yet to call me back. Thanks for any help.

30 amp service is just that 30Amp max. based on your numbers your pulling 31 Amps (18 for AC and 13 for water heater) You AC possible pulls more at start up. A possible solution is a soft start for the AC that can reduce the start up amp spike that occurs when compressor kicks in. Otherwise the numbers tell the story. I know this is not what you wanted to hear.

And welcome to the forum - If you get a chance please read the welcome letter and fill in your signature.

Keith

[TexasSteve]

I feel a lot better about it when someone other than the dealer tells me it is normal. I will just use the water heater on propane and go on with life. Thanks, Steve.

[KrustyKush]

Yeah we tripped a breaker trying to use a toaster and coffee maker at the same time.

[ncitro]

I feel a lot better about it when someone other than the dealer tells me it is normal. I will just use the water heater on propane and go on with life. Thanks, Steve.

We went through this a lot at the national rally. You can get by on 30 amp by running your AC on low fan with the water heater on electric, but even then its tight. If you arrive at a campsite and your batteries are a little depleted from the drive, then your converter comes on to charge the batteries which eats up some of your shore power as well.

[Jlawles2]

Back with the little TT I ran the camper AC and HWH at the same time. the little generator definitely did not like it but it did perform. Trick I learned was to let the HWH run a complete cycle before firing up the AC and this helped a lot as the AC ran for a long time until the unit cools down.

[kdocker]

TexasSteve - Where in Texas are you located? I’m in the Dallas area and McClains in my local dealer. I have a 2021 30G Toy Hauler with 30amp service.
I have a similar issue except my toy hauler also has an energy management system. The idea is that it is suppose to monitor the system demands and “sheds” (turns off) the appliances that exceed the 30 amps, thus never tripping the service at the pole or the Watchdog (I use one too). Then it rotates the appliances usage. I can tell you that it trips the pole / watchdog if I have the 2 ACs, refrig on elect and water heater on elect. It does a good job switching between the 2 ACs when they are running. It seems to do OK if I get the refrig completely cold and the water completely hot and it only has to maintain cold or hot respectively. But when we get to a new site and the trailer is hot and we want to cool it down while we set up, I now make sure AC only

[Tigger1]

We have a 2021 22MLE we recently purchased new. We stayed one night at the KOA next door to the dealer. At that time I did not have a surge protector. The 30 amp breaker on the power pole tripped four times. The park maintenance man checked the pole and said it was good. I purchased a WatchDog surge protector before going out again which we have used on several weekends at state parks. Now the surge protector trips instead of the power pole breaker. The issue is I cannot run the air conditioner and the electric water heater at the same time. The surge protector has an app so I can monitor the amp draw. The air conditioner draws approx 18 amps and the water heater about 13 amps. The easy solution has been to use the water heater on gas instead of electric. We had the trailer in for service at the dealer and they blew it off as normal. I disagree. Where can I get the information on what the air conditioner and the water heater actually should use in either amperage or wattage? I called Grand Design yesterday and told them of the problem but they have yet to call me back. Thanks for any help.

As others have said you are likely drawing more than 30amps. You may also want to check but our 2020 22mle main breaker came as 15amp, not 30. Factory over site and quickly fixed by our dealer. No more issues as long as we manage what we’re using. I have a Surge Guard model 34931 with optional wireless monitor 40301 that I check often to keep an eye on usage.

[acoleman43]

Y'all are convincing me to convert my small trailer to 50 amp......I'm going to be reworking the wiring anyway, perhaps it's a good time to convert to 50 amp.

[ThePowells]

TexasSteve Welcome to the family and the forum!
Please excuse my being late to welcome you but I haven’t been able keep up with anything but life for the last month.

[AZMike]

On my 2600RB, I have the Furrion A/C and can run it together (on high) with either the WH on electric, the microwave, or the Keurig. I have never seen my Progressive EMS read more than 28 amps. According to Furrion, my A/C draws a maximum of 14.6 amps.