Converting 30 amp to 50 amp

[captain ron]

I am now set up for 30 amp power and want to convert to 50 amp. I talked to an electrician who walked me through the process which seems easy enough a cave man can do it, just not a comedian. I forgot to mention to him that I had 3 different power sources. Shore, Gen and inverter. I have 3 disconnect boxes with 30 amp breakers. can I still have 50 amp power from all of these? and what do I need to change? Please be specific and any crayon drawings would be appreciated.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Ron,

"seems easy enough a cave man can do it" So What are you trying to say..... Cave men are stupid!  sorry, couldn't resist......lol

First, I wouldn't trust a common electrition to understand your 3 way set up.

Second, we can help you if you tell us what components you intend to install that are also 50a.

Nick-

[captain ron]

I have a dryer that is 220. Over the winter my 30 amp breaker in the disconnect box tripped a few times because of my electric heaters. I could not run my water heater off of that hook up with the others running also. my current appliances are as follows fridge (not working), Micro wave, 2 electric heaters (very small), Hot water heater (2 gal.), lights, coffee maker, washer and 220 dryer.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Ron,

Are you planning a new panel, transfer switch, inverter system, bigger batt bank, ect. ?

If so, what brands and model's of theese appliances will you use so we know what to reccomend for your 50a srevice?

Only because your 30a components will Not work with the 50a set-up.

Nick-

[JackConrad]

Ron,
   There are several ways to convert from 30 to 50, BUT you will need to change ALL your 30 amp connectors to 50 amp. And 50 amp requires 4 wires instead of the 3 used with 30 amp. If you want a simple system, I recommend 2  50 amp receptacles (1 from shoreline & 1 from generator) and a cord from your load center with a 50 amp male plug. You plug into which ever power source you want to use. Feed a 30 amp circuit from your load center to your inverter and from your inverter to a sub panel. All circuits that feed off your inverter (Lights, TV, etc.) come from the sub panel. 
    I would not plan to run high power consumption items (ACs, heaters, etc.) off the inverter
Just  "our way", YMMV  Jack

[oldmansax]

I just finished doing the same thing to my bus. Nick and Jack are  right, in that we need to know what components you have before anyone can speak to how to wire them up.

In my case, I had a standard 30 amp service  with a 7KW generator, shore power plug, transfer switch, 30 amp marine 110V panel, 12 V marine panel, and a 2200 watt  inverter, 2 roof airs, a roof air selector switch, and no 220V appliances, all wired as follows.

Power was supplied from shore power plug and generator to the transfer switch. Transfer switch feeds inverter, inverter feeds 30 amp panel. Coach batteries feed inverterand inverter feeds 12V panel. All 110V devices run off panel including roof airs. I could not run both roof airs on shore power. The roof air switch determined which roof air was running. When I switched to the genny, the second leg of the genny ran the second roof air so I could run both at once.

I changed to 50 amp as follows. All 12V to and from inverter stayed the same. Shore power and genny to two 100amp contactors which replaced the transfer switch. I did that because I wanted to be able to switch electrically from shore to genny from inside the coach. I can go into the wiring if anyone is interested but a transfer switch works just as well.
So, shore power and genny into transfer switch

Transfer switch to new 100 amp Square D breaker panel.

From Square D panel, I have one 30amp breaker to the inverter.

Inverter to existing 30amp marine panel. Nothing changes at the marine panel EXCEPT I moved the two roof airs to the Square D panel using two 15 amp breakers. Now I can run both roof airs IF I AM CONNECTED TO A 50 AMP SERVICE or on the genny. I have some adapters down to 30 and 20 amp that limit what can be run at one time.

You have some 220V appliances that would have to be wired directly into the Square D (or whatever brand you choose) panel unless you are planning using an inverter that will produce 220V.

This has just covered the BASIC wiring. There are a lot of nuances here. You have already indicated you are limited in your knowledge concerning this so do yourself a favor and make sure you have a complete plan for what you are going to do BEFORE you start. It's like playing music: if you are a good musician & can play by ear & improvise, you have no problems staying within the chord structure in a song when someone plays a riff you have not heard before; but, if you have memorized the song and can only play it a certain way, when you run into something new in the middle, it is going to mess up your mind.

There are some outstanding guys on this board who know what they are doing (or, at least, have the rest of us fooled!) maybe one of your trips would be close to one of them who can help.

Have fun!

[captain ron]

I have a 100 amp main panel and 3 30 amp disconnects with 30 amp breakers. I have a 5000 watt inverter. I have a male power cord coming out of main panel that I plug into appropriate disconnect according to what my power source is. I would like to have everything be able to run off of 50 amp. then would like certain things eliminated when running off of inverter. No heaters on inverter, no water heater, no air conditions and no washer/dryer. I would like this accomplished with the greatest amount of ease. Do I need to add a second main panel? A diagram would be nice. I do not want to do any rewiring inside the bus.

[LegalEagle82]

Ron,

If you are still in Nashville, feel free to drop by and look at mine,  it is on older setup, but it does what you're talking about.  I have a 50 amp service that can run everything, and I have a inverter that is limited to to small load, ie tv, stereo, a couple of outlets and lights.   The only difference is I have 3 switches on my inside panel to select if I want the tv, stereo and lights to be powered by the inverter or 50 amp service whether its shore power or the generator.

I'm over on the eastside about 3 miles from the football stadium

Evan

[JackConrad]

Ron,
    Is your inverter a inverter/charger or striclty an inverter (no built in charger)?  If it has a charger built in you will want it energized from the shoreline and generator so it can keep your batteries charged. Jack

[captain ron]

Inverter only

Evan, Give me a call 239-292-1750  I have some time to kill Saturday and I'll be downtown Cashville today