RV plug and welder plug?

[duneslider]

When I built my house I asked the electrician to put a 220v plug in the garage and asked for 50amps. I figured this would be enough for maybe wanting a welder or making a cord to occasionally plug in my trailer for checking things out before a trip.
The electrician put in a standard 14-50 plug, same a the plug in my kitchen for the stove. My trailer is a normal 30amp 3 blade. I am learning that RV's are wired a little different than this plug in my garage.

Question #1- Can I get or make a converter for this plug that will work for the RV, or do I need to rewire the plug for the RV style plug.
Question #2-Can a plug even be shared correctly for an RV and a welder or are they completely different wiring types.
Question #3-Is the 14-50 plug just the wrong one for the garage altogether?
Question #4-Would it be better to just run another plug to the garage and have one dedicated for a welder and one for the RV? How do car charger plugs compare to these? Can I do something that future proofs me and could be used for a car charger, welder, and/or RV? (not all at once, welding and rv would always just be an occasional usage).

Right now, it is not hard for me to run more wires to the garage but in a year or two my basement will be done and getting wire from the panel to garage will NOT be easy to do.

 

[sparky 1971]

14-50 is standard for the big campers, the box stores should carry an adapter so you can plug your 30 amp cord into it. There is probably an adapter out there online for the welder also (6-50). You could also make adapters, but the pre made route is usually more cost effective. As far as car chargers, I'm out. Never installed one, I can't say that I've even seen one.

 

[duneslider]

Someone told me that the way they have wired the 14-50 in RV's is different than how a 14-50 is wired for a house. Is that not the case?

 

[sparky 1971]

It's the same for the receptacle. RV's don't have any 240 loads. It's basically two 50 amp 120 volt circuits feeding the panel, but the wiring is still the same. A range could plug into a camper outlet and it would work just fine.

 

[kbeefy]

No, the whole idea of different plugs is to prevent improper wiring.
The 14-50 has all the circuits you'll need for any lesser (3 wire) plug so it's easy to convert. Going the other way would require extra wires.

 

[kbeefy]

RV's don't have any 240 loads.

Big ones do.

 

[zmotorsports]

Above is correct. The 14-50 is a standard 50-amp RV plug with a ground, neutral and two hots, each hot being 120-volt.

Most welders use a 3-prong plug requiring a 6-50R outlet which negates the common/neutral and just has the two hots and a ground.

You can make an adapter easy enough to go from the 14-50 to the 6-50R or maybe one is available commercially.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Question #4-Would it be better to just run another plug to the garage and have one dedicated for a welder and one for the RV? How do car charger plugs compare to these? Can I do something that future proofs me and could be used for a car charger, welder, and/or RV? (not all at once, welding and rv would always just be an occasional usage).

I am not 100% certain, but I believe that most car chargers are hard wired.

Where you are at is a good position for most things. The simple solution is to buy adapters from 14-50 to TT-30 (RV) and from 14-50 to 6-50 (welder).

 

[sparky 1971]

Big ones do.

Ok, I change my statement to I have never seen an RV with a 240 volt load in it. The list of RV's that I've been in is short, but it does include a tandem axle Prevost that has to be around 40' long (i admit to not knowing the official length., but it's big). It has two 120 volt AC's and gas appliances.

 

[yatg]

Right now, it is not hard for me to run more wires to the garage but in a year or two my basement will be done and getting wire from the panel to garage will NOT be easy to do.

If you plan on doing anything in your garage in the future, now is the time to rough in a
subpanel.

Here's an example of a 14-50 to 6-50 adapter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T2V87K9/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Here's another example, dogbone style. Notice that when in use, the female 6-50r will be facing out so you can easily plug into it.

Amazon.com

Murphy's Law says the receptacle will always be in the wrong place for welding.

 

[duneslider]

Thanks for confirming, I think I misunderstood they guy I was talking to. I couldn't figure out what could be different, I'm not an electrician but feel like I have a decent handle on most stuff.

I don't plan on needing more than this one plug in the garage. I do have plans to someday build a bigger shop in the backyard but that area is closer to the main panel and will be easier to feed more power to.

 

[nadogail]

I don't own an RV, and probably never will. I have a welder and may acquire a plasma cutter. My table saw likes to be run on a 240 volt circuit. I wired my shop with a single 50 Amp 240 volt receptacle which is shared by both the table saw and the welder, just not at the same time.

After consultation with the welder manufacturer we determined that the cap (plug to none electricians) that was put on my welder was merely a suggestion; consequently the cap on the welder cord has been changed to match the 50 amp receptacle on my tool supply circuit.
The circuit breaker in the panel is rated at 50 Amps, the receptacle is rated at 60 amps, and the 8 gauge conductors are also rated at 50 amps. Everything plays well together.

 

[kbeefy]

Ok, I change my statement to I have never seen an RV with a 240 volt load in it. The list of RV's that I've been in is short, but it does include a tandem axle Prevost that has to be around 40' long (i admit to not knowing the official length., but it's big). It has two 120 volt AC's and gas appliances.

My friend just bought a 2000 45' Newell that he parked at my place for a couple months. I've never been around such a well built coach.
I believe the Stove, Range, Dryer, radiant heating and consumer hot water were all 220. I don't think the thing had propane at all.
It also had an onboard 20k Onan and a massive house battery bank with a giant inverter.

 

[89MustangGX]

My friend just bought a 2000 45' Newell that he parked at my place for a couple months. I've never been around such a well built coach.
I believe the Stove, Range, Dryer, radiant heating and consumer hot water were all 220. I don't think the thing had propane at all.
It also had an onboard 20k Onan and a massive house battery bank with a giant inverter.

Definitely not an RVer, but if those things truly did run on 240v - what would happen at campgrounds that don't have that (only the 120v 30a connection), or when you're at home (maybe only 120v 15a or 20a connection)? That's why I tend to agree that these are all likely 120v applications -- my understanding is that the 50a connection is used as 2 120v connections once it gets into the RV, rather than what we are used to in a shop environment where it is combined into 240v. Open to learning though...

 

[bobg03]

I had a larger TT built in 1998, I thought about 2 roof ACs for resale value. He told me to run them together they would install a 50AMP plug on the RV, I already had a dump station and 30A hookup and figured rewiring would be a pain so I only got one AC with a 30A plug.

We boondocked often with no hookups so two AC units weren't really a selling point and many campgrounds with full hook ups had a limited amount of 30Amp sites. 50 amp hookups were for the rich...lol

 

[78SC4X4]

$19 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZL3Z2ZB/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[duneslider]

Definitely not an RVer, but if those things truly did run on 240v - what would happen at campgrounds that don't have that (only the 120v 30a connection), or when you're at home (maybe only 120v 15a or 20a connection)? That's why I tend to agree that these are all likely 120v applications -- my understanding is that the 50a connection is used as 2 120v connections once it gets into the RV, rather than what we are used to in a shop environment where it is combined into 240v. Open to learning though...

This is where I got mixed up with what I was being told that prompted this post. Most RV's do split the power into 2 120v circuits once inside. The way the guy was explaining it to me made me think something weird was going on at the plug side, not in the rv. The ac in my trailer (only used it once with hookups) calls for 15amps 120v. That is full running load and I assume it has a startup load that exceeds that.

I already have a converter to convert from the 4 conductor to the 3 conductor that my trailer has, it came with the trailer.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

$19 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZL3Z2ZB/?tag=atomicindus08-20

that wont work. he needs a TT-30 not a 14-30

$14.39 with coupon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NNBNM19/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[kbeefy]

Definitely not an RVer, but if those things truly did run on 240v - what would happen at campgrounds that don't have that (only the 120v 30a connection), or when you're at home (maybe only 120v 15a or 20a connection)? That's why I tend to agree that these are all likely 120v applications --

I helped him repair his water heater. It was definitely 220.

I'm guessing most people that have those things don't go to many campsites without the 50a plug.
It also has a 20k gen and a very large fuel tank.

 

[infinkc]

Are you sure your RV is not a 120 30a plug? People get this confused all the time as it looks like a 240 plug. Have a pic? Do not plug this to 240, you will screw up your rv.

here is the plug i am talking about

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-Black-30-Amp-Round-Rv-Industrial-Rv/3775473?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-elc-_-ggl-_-LIA_ELC_205_Wiring-Devices-Extension-Cords-_-3775473-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W9XB6zVN8Qgah8OghftXVC2w&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0eOPBhCGARIsAFIwTs4QZMpzzrJftBbuqXwNSbSdjPKJjeXABpcxl_vc9W2j6-giT4hIbXsaAt7QEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds