Electrical

[Philip I Burnside]

Can anyone tell me what this plug is for? It is by the inverter on a 1986 leisure craft ford lass c.

[Jimco_W001]

Hi Philip.That looks like a connection for the generator.

[Richard W. Cobbs]

Looks like a standard 30 amp RV receptacle.  Does your shore power cord reach that far and does it fit?  Maybe to run whole RV from battery with the inverter.

[Philip I Burnside]

Thanks for the replies! Yes the shore power cord reaches but nothing happens when you plug it in.

[Jimco_W001]

Philip,when you say inverter do you mean converter?

[Philip I Burnside]

I guess. Since I am new to this. I went out and looked and yes its a converter.

[Jimco_W001]

If you have a generator this is where you would plug the shore cord in after starting it.

[Matthew Tritt]

You already have the right answers, but that is the AC input for the output of your generator. If you don't have one, you did at some point. The other end of the wiring from the receptacle is connected to your AC breaker panel and will have it's own dedicated input breaker.

Matt

[John "T" Nordhoff]

 The receptacle is the standard 2 pole 3 wire grounding 120 volt 30 amp as used on many RV's that are equipped with a Generator. Its wired to the Generators output so when shore power is unavailable and you want to power the RV via the onboard generator, thats where you plug in your standard RV power cord and plug. When I leave the park I unplug my cord from the parks outlet and coil it up and plug it there into that Generators output receptacle as shown.

 

 You mention an Inverter??????? Thats a device that converts 12 VDC Battery power into 120 VAC but many of those are small units like 100 to 400 watts and the RV's house battery is what powers them. Their output isnt usually wired to a huge 30 amp RV outlet (although it could be) as a single RV battery and a small Inverter (100 to 400 watts) sure cant run high power 120 VAC devices (microwave or hair dryer, maybe 1000 to 1500 watts!!!) . Thats (100 to 400 watt inverters) are more for TV and Cell Phone or Garmin chargers and small computers etc.

 

 So, do you have a Generator?? What rating?? You have an Inverter??? What rating??

 

 John T    Dry Camping Special

 2001 Four Winds Class C 29 ft. Chevy 454 Vortec with 4L80E Overdrive Tranny

 110 Gallons Fresh Water tanks

 80 Gallons Gray Water Storage

 40 Gallons Black Water Storage

 460 Amp Hr Coach Batteries (4  T-125 6 volt Golf Cart Batteries)

 Xantrex Truechaerge2 Smart 3 Stage Charger

 200 Watts of Rooftop Solar Panels

 Onan 4 KW Genset

[Philip I Burnside]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. This unit does not have a generator and never had one. There is no place to put one. Yes it has a converter. I want to add a generator sometime.

[John "T" Nordhoff]

 Thanks for the new info, that helps us. If it never had a Generator (unless an owner scabbed something) the 120 volt 30 amp RV outlet shown in the picture is obviously NOT the generator output I was talking about above, which is still indeed a very typical set up in genny equipped RV's.

 

 That outlet could be wired in paralell with the RV input power cord so another RV could plug into it BUT I DOUBT IT, still no way of telling (not being there) what a prior owner may have scabbed???? If when the RV power cord is plugged in at the park use a voltmeter on the question outlet,,,,,,,If it reads 120 VAC from Hot to Neutral and Hot to Equipment Ground ITS INDEED IN PARALELL with the cord........

 

 You say it has a "CONVERTER" thats a device to convert the incoming 120 VAC down to 12 + volts DC to run the RV lights and 12 volt fans and lights etc plus can be used to charge the RV battery (If its a Converter/Charger).

 

 Thats NOT the same as an INVERTER which changes 12 VDC to 120 VAC

 

 So easy if there but harder to diagnose over the net, sorry

 

 John T

[Matthew Tritt]

Being a 1986 vintage motorhome, I find it highly unlikely that it never had a generator installed, but perhaps it came pre-wired for one. Many generators that came with an RV originally have been removed, and if you're not the original owner, how can you say for certain? The easiest way to tell the function is to trace the wiring back to the AC breaker box. If it's protected by a 30 amp breaker before the main hot buss you know for sure that the purpose is generator input. It seems remote that it is anything else.

[Jimco_W001]

This may be whats called a buddy electrical receptacle.This would let 2 motorhomes share one 30 amp connection.