| Author | Message | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 700 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 70.220.36.22 Rating: N/A |
I finished my pluming tonight and hooked up my washer. Washed a load (no leaks). Now I need to dry them. My dryer is 220 and I'm only running on a 30 amp cord. Can I still get 220 out of my existing panel and setup? Or do I need to run wiring to my generator? Also if I have to do that I would like to run wiring from my dryer to a fixed female 220 receptical then make up 2 cords 1 to run to a 50 amp pole and 2 with a twist lock end for my generator. Will this work? Also is this wire big enough to run to my dryer?  | ||
| Jerome Dusenberry (Jerry32)
Registered Member Username: Jerry32 Post Number: 17 Registered: 1-2007 Posted From: 148.78.243.50 Rating: N/A |
You can't get 240 vac from a 30 amp hookup as it is stricktly 120 vac. Wire size depends on current. 20 amps #12 30 amps #10 Jerry | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 308 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.108.117 Rating: |
"I'm only running on a 30 amp cord. " Hmm.. That sux. "Can I still get 220 out of my existing panel and setup? " No. "do I need to run wiring to my generator? " If the genset is rated for 220, yeah, that's the ticket! "I would like to run wiring from my dryer to a fixed female 220 receptacle then make up 2 cords 1 to run to a 50 amp pole and 2 with a twist lock end for my generator. Will this work?" They sell adapters to do exactly what you're asking about, but they're generally for split systems..... That is... the panel is split, with 1/2 of the RV on one side, and the other 1/2 on the other side.. The "50 amp" cord carries both "sides" into the panel, and is distributed to both "sides" of the panel/RV. The 30 amp cord will only provide one "side" at 30 amps. A lot of us RV'rs took the 30 amp cord assembly and outlet, and added a separate outlet, to allow us to run a second shoreline to the power pole. That gave us the advantage of providing extra power to the odd AC unit of the 30 amp system, by utilizing an extra 25 or 30 amp outlet at an older "30 amp" park. (we could run both AC units) The problem you're going to run into, is if the drier is a 220v model it's going to need the full 220v, 100 amp service. Many (older) parks provide 50 amp service that's been adapted from their conventional 30 amp 120v service. Or simply put, you may get two "sides" of 120 (110) volts with only 30 amp (or less) per side. And although you -may- be able to run both AC units (and all the rest of the RV junk), the "real" 220v appliances may not work too well with only 50 amps or less supplied to the 220v outlet. If the genset is a full 220v type, you can wire each "side" into the split panel, and provide power not only to the entire system, but be able to run a conventional 220v appliance with it, with the suitable outlet for 220v. As an additional comment....... Many driers can be wired for 110/120v. If yours can, you won't have a problem with things just the way they are! Others will follow with the more technical aspects, I'm sure.... | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 107 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 151.213.164.91 Rating: N/A |
All good answers but, in it's next incarnation, my coach will have a gas dryer. Len | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1001 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 74.12.81.87 Rating: |
Hello. I think Len has a great idea if you have propane. Driers are power hogs, and the number of places with electric meters on the sites isn't going to decrease! For the all electric, a 220v drier forces one to abandon wiring the generator for straight 120v, returning one to the "balance the poles" game. If a suitable 120v drier could be found, that would be my bias. In my use, the laundramat drier or the clothes line, internally or externally hung, would be my prime use, with the onboard drier for convenience when the others are less so. So, the lower performance of a 120v drier wouldn't be a bother. And a modest inverter, powered by that big Delco, can run a 120v drier going down the road. Multi-tasking? If onboard drying is your primary use, then set up the rest of the system to support a good one. No one likes waiting half the day for the laundry to dry. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 309 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.107.218 Rating: |
And besides.... how often does Ron change clothes, anyway...? | ||
| George M. Todd (George_mc6)
Registered Member Username: George_mc6 Post Number: 136 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 207.231.81.49 Rating: N/A |
Cap'n Buswarrior has the only correct reply. A 30 Amp power cord is 120 volt only. You will have to go to a 50 Amp hookup to run anything which requires 240 Volts. A 50 amp hookup is technically described as 50A, 120/240 Volts. A residential drier is also 120/240V, and requires a 30Amp double-pole breaker, and will run FINE on 50Amp shore power. The motor may be either 120 or 240 V, and it puts 120V thru the elements on low, (gentle?) and 240V on normal dry. Your generator MAY be equipped with enough wires to be reconnected to 120/240V operation by a QUALIFIED gen person, but that will require a QUALIFIED panel re-connection also, and possibly a new panel, depending on how yours is built. A 120V drier will be slow, as suggested above, a propane drier is a cost effective solution to your problem, IF you're not all-electric? Simply explained, a re-connectable generator puts out half its output on each of two wires, if you put them together, and other internal connections are made, you get all of your output as 120V, and is connected to one "side" of your panel. By changing internal connections in the gen, you can produce 1/2 your output on each hot wire, with 120V between each hot and the neutral, and 240V between the hots. You CAN'T just re-connect the gen, and hook the red wire on the drier to one side of the gen, and the black wire of the drier to the other side of the gen, and leave one side of the gen hooked to your panel, as the gen now only puts out 1/2 its 120V on each leg! Your comment about "a fixed female receptacle" and cords, would create an energized male (EXPOSED PRONGS) end if your jumper were plugged into the shore end first. This is known in college electronic classes as a "suicide plug," for obvious reasons. Sorry to wee on your campfire, but this just isn't an easy conversion. George | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 701 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 75.202.100.85 Rating: N/A |
George, The fixed female would have a fixed femal on the other end also to plug the dryer in. then I would have 2 male ends on the power supplying cord. ie: the cord from pole would have 50 amp pole end on one end and regular 220 plug on the other. the generator would have a twist lock on one end and a regular 220 plug on the other. A problem I'm having is my generator has 220 but only 20 amp. The gas dryers are not sold in compact models, already looked into that. | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 310 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.105.51 Rating: N/A |
Ron - Look at your genset again... I think you'll find that it's capable of two "legs" of 120, with one 20 amp and one 30 amp protection. In a 30 amp RV, the front AC unit and most of the RV wiring is on one "leg", while the rear AC unit (and some outlets) are on the other "leg". Using an adapter like this one:  50-Amp RV Box Adapter would solve the problem if you had 50 amp service into the rig, but were at a campground with only 30 amp service.... But there's no reason you can't use it for the drier exclusively. The only problem? You may not have enough amperage from the two sources (campground outlets), to run the drier... Many of the (older) campgrounds supply 30 amp power to a few 30 amp outlets, rather than one seperate line to each powerpole. Your genset appears capable of running both AC units simultaneously, so there shouldn't be any problem running your drier from that source, perhaps using that same adapter....! Try it out with old clothes... no sense losing all the good duds with a single fireball.  (MAN, are them damn clothes DRY) Oh, and.... Since most of the standard 30 amp RVs already have a "split" box, (the front and rear ACs on seperate "sides"), it's been a common thing to do, to use a second shoreline just as you mentioned, and wired just as you suggested. (Message edited by john_mc9 on April 28, 2007) | ||
| George M. Todd (George_mc6)
Registered Member Username: George_mc6 Post Number: 138 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 207.231.81.49 Rating: N/A |
Capn, So you were withholding information from us, tch tch! I take it you have a gen with outlets instead of hardwired? Look at the wattage label on your dryer, because it has the answer. 20 amps of 240 Volts is 4800 Watts. 4800VA if they list it that way. If the dryer is less than 4800, you're in. Just remember that your gen can't put out 20 amps of 240V at the same time it is putting out any amount of 120V! I take it your gen has a 20A 120/240V twistlock receptacle? If so, you could mount a female recep next to it, wired to a 50A shore cord thru a 20A dp circuit breaker, and a 30A female beside it also, and plug your 30A shore cord into it when you're using the 50. Do you have a transfer switch, or are you unplugging now? Be careful, George | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
Registered Member Username: Pvcces Post Number: 1072 Registered: 5-2001 Posted From: 65.74.65.197 Rating: N/A |
Ron, one more thing. If you run a generator to make power for a clothes dryer, the fuel consumption for the generator will be about triple what the dryer would take if the flame was in the dryer. This is because, at its best, 2/3 of the BTU in the fuel used to run the generator will be lost as heat from the generator and will never be used to produce electricity. We use a propane dryer from Sears that only takes about 120 watts of electricity when it is running, it's smaller than a household model and it's quick. Good luck on getting this all sorted out. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher Ketchikan, Alaska | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 702 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 75.202.238.188 Rating: N/A |
Tom, What size is your dryer w x h x d ? Also what model is it? I've been looking for a compact gas dryer but they say they are not made. I got the dryer hooked up. Here's the details, I bought a 30 amp a/c disconnect (fusible) 12 foot of 10/3 wire a matching female 220 4 hole receptacle for the dryer to plug into, I had a short piece of 50 amp wire with a 50 amp male end. A neighbor in the campground wired it for me, I thought it would be easy enough a cave man could do it but I was wrong. 4 wires to 3 wires back to 4 wires. I mounted the disconnect to the pole and just plug into the 50 amp service into the pole then plugged the other end into the dryer. I moved the dryer to a bay for now till I figure out how I'm going to vent it. Works great I'm drying my second load in a few minutes. | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
Registered Member Username: Pvcces Post Number: 1075 Registered: 5-2001 Posted From: 65.74.65.197 Rating: N/A |
Ron, ours is a little smaller than regular house size, probably 24 inches wide but about normal height. It was put in our conversion years ago, so it doesn't wll you what might be available now. I did a couple of searches and found that they were hard to locate, all right. It occurred to me to check on stackable dryers (without the washer) and portable models. It seems to me that the stackables might tolerate riding around in a bus pretty well and they would not be very tall. Many natural gas dryers can be changed over to propane without much trouble. Good luck. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher Ketchikan, Alaska | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 311 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.107.210 Rating: N/A |
Gas dryers: *HERE* 
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| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 108 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 151.213.164.91 Rating: N/A |
I looked and couldn't find a 24" wide stand alone dryer but did find this stackable: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=172515-83-WSM2480DWW&lpage=none I think a stand alone must be out there somewhere.  | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 704 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 70.221.168.186 Rating: N/A |
The unit I have is 24W X 21D X 31H I dried 3 loads in it one was a bunch of jeans. I have a front loader washer and it spins them out pretty good so it only took an hour to dry so I think I'll just stick with it for a while. The area I built for it won't allow for anything deeper and the hight will hit the curved part of my ceiling before setting against the wall. Now I need to go through the wall with a vent, Any of you got a good Idea for a vent that will be flush on the outside and be unnoticeable ? | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 313 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.105.35 Rating: N/A |
Why not drop it down thru the floor, and out the bottom? | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 705 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 75.201.50.203 Rating: N/A |
Where I have it there's too much in the way underneath. I was going to build a transition box to vent through the floor but I only have 2 inches to play with behind drier. I am also quickly cluttering up my bay ceiling space. | ||
| Jack Conrad (Jackconrad)
Registered Member Username: Jackconrad Post Number: 559 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 76.1.180.218 Rating: N/A |
Ron, Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and look at the different styles they have. Another option is to go to a marine store and look at the chrome covers that go on the decks of boats to cover bilge blower outlets. Jack | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 109 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 151.213.164.91 Rating: N/A |
Ron, Here's an item I used that might help. It will fit in the 2" space behind the dryer and is adjustable to 18". Available at Lowes.  | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
Registered Member Username: Captain_ron Post Number: 706 Registered: 1-2005 Posted From: 70.222.135.191 Rating: N/A |
Len, that was exactly what I had in mind, didn't know you could buy them made up, Thanks |
