power cord

I want to put a different receptacle from a 4 prong generator (4 wires) to an rv 30 amp 3 prong. 120 volts for rv. How do I connect the 4 wires to the 3 prongs. :roll:

4 wires? Is the generator three phase? Pictures?

Web

Sounds like a clothes dryer setup with two hot legs and a ground plus neutral.

We have lots of gensets. Any one I ever saw with 4 wires was more than 120 v
if your rv is 120 you should have a hot leg, a neutral and a ground
first thing is to get a multimeter and check output of the genset
an electrician holding it is a good idea as well if you aren't comfortable Once the
smoke comes out it's really tough to get back in. I have an employee who put 240 volts across
the 120 leg during an icestorm outage and smoked his freezer tv and all his lights
jim

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector#NEMA_nomenclature

Figure out what type of receptacle you currently have on the generator and what kind of plug you have on the RV. 4 prong or 3 prong isn't enough information.

Speaking generally, it's never a bad idea to find a friendly local professional that can lay eyes on your contraption and offer guidance for few bucks. I'm not a professional electrician, or a professional anything, but I've seen enough botched wiring jobs to know that you shouldn't trust anything. That wire that looks white at the receptacle might magically turn into a black wire at the other end of the conduit. And it might be hot all the time.

I'm just getting past someone joining SC.org.. and then making a first post about wiring a genny ! As noted a 4 prong plug suggests 240 Volts + a neutral + a ground. You can grab 120v from either hot phase + the neutral (and the ground) to convert to 3 prong plug. Just cap the one hot phase.

irishfield said:

I'm just getting past someone joining SC.org.. and then making a first post about wiring a genny

Click to expand...

Just goes to show how much smarts around here...

Either we are real smart (collectively)

or we attract those that are not!:lol:

If we suggest an adapter this will go transgender and end up in R&R

Glenn

cubdriver2 said:

If we suggest an adapter this will go transgender and end up in R&R

Glenn

Click to expand...

. . . not that there's anything wrong with that . . .

Web

A 30 amp RV has a three prong plug. One 120V hot, neutral, and ground

A 50 amp RV has a four wire plug. Two 120v legs, a neutral, and ground. The RV does not typically use the 240V available but uses the two 120v legs for a total of 100 amps available.