running 50 amp parallel kit to 30 amp camper

jrb77 · 09-12-2021, 04:09 AM

I recently purchased a new 30 amp Winnebago Micro Minnie RV. I upgraded to a 50,000 BTU A/C from the standard 35,000 BTU and am wishing I hadn't, but this is where we are (my wife doesn't do well without A/C). I am 68 years old and do not want to lug around a 100 pound generator when we are without shore power, so I opted to buy 2 smaller generators and run them in parallel. After talking with several representatives at WEN, I opted to follow their advice and I purchased two 56235i inverter generators and their 50 amp parallel connection kit with the idea of running this with a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter (dogbone). When I hooked up the parallel kit and adapter, the 30 amp Southwire Surge Guard protector model 44260 showed green and red which indicated reverse polarity, I talked with a representative of WEN and they suggested I rewire the parallel kit and sent me an email with pictures on how to rewire, which I did. I am still not getting 2 green lights, but it's also not green and red either, more like green and reddish/orange/yellowish? I am afraid to actually start the A/C and am treading water, not sure if the problem is with the Surge Guard protector or the set-up, do you have any suggestions as to what I might do, don't want to blow up my A/C. I did purchase their 30 amp parallel converter with the idea of trying that, and if it works, sending the 50 amp converter back. Haven't hooked it up yet. Any help would be appreciated.

wiredgeorge · 09-12-2021, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb77

I recently purchased a new 30 amp Winnebago Micro Minnie RV. I upgraded to a 50,000 BTU A/C from the standard 35,000 BTU and am wishing I hadn't, but this is where we are (my wife doesn't do well without A/C). I am 68 years old and do not want to lug around a 100 pound generator when we are without shore power, so I opted to buy 2 smaller generators and run them in parallel. After talking with several representatives at WEN, I opted to follow their advice and I purchased two 56235i inverter generators and their 50 amp parallel connection kit with the idea of running this with a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter (dogbone). When I hooked up the parallel kit and adapter, the 30 amp Southwire Surge Guard protector model 44260 showed green and red which indicated reverse polarity, I talked with a representative of WEN and they suggested I rewire the parallel kit and sent me an email with pictures on how to rewire, which I did. I am still not getting 2 green lights, but it's also not green and red either, more like green and reddish/orange/yellowish? I am afraid to actually start the A/C and am treading water, not sure if the problem is with the Surge Guard protector or the set-up, do you have any suggestions as to what I might do, don't want to blow up my A/C. I did purchase their 30 amp parallel converter with the idea of trying that, and if it works, sending the 50 amp converter back. Haven't hooked it up yet. Any help would be appreciated.

A bit of confusion here. First, RV air conditioners are typically 15K btu and 13.5K btu. You didn't state the capacity of your generators. The 13.5K and 15K are fairly similar start up and running loads and that also depends on the make and model of the air conditioner. I upgraded my own camper's A/C from 13.5K btu to 15K btu with a Dometic Brisk II air conditioner. Both use about 15 amps while running and a bit higher when they start. I think the question really is whether a Southwire EMS will work on generator power and whether you have connected the two generators correctly. You might also state whether your trailers power is fed by a 30A or 50A cord/service.

nied · 09-12-2021, 05:22 AM

I think that you upgraded from a 13.5K btu AC to a 15K btu AC. The running amps went from 12 amps to 13 amps. The two WEN units running in parallel only deliver 31 amps so a 50 amp supply plug is not necessary. One of the WEN units might start the AC if a soft start kit is installed, don't know but there are many videos on the installation and the result.

dutchmensport · 09-12-2021, 05:45 AM

I agree with the above poster about the 13.5 and 15.0 BTU air conditioners. I think the 35,000 and 50,000 BTU is a reference to the furnace, not the air conditioners. So I think the OP may have his "BTU's" confused. And I completely understand. There's a lot involved when getting a new camper.

Considering the OP has a Winnebago, and as far as I can tell, that's not a Keystone product, it's possible the heat and air conditioner system could be different than our familiarity with Keystone.

A friend of mine has a T@B and she askes me all the time for help on it. It's such a tiny trailer, but the heat, air conditioner, and water heater all all completely foreign to me. They use a liquid chemical and the furnace and the water heater are the same unit. Totally lost helping her.

So, it's possible the OP is describing something were not familiar with????

jasin1 · 09-12-2021, 06:40 AM

Chances are you may need one (or two one on each generator) of these. About $14.00 on Amazon. You can make yourself but why? They are cheap enough and sealed with no chance of loose connections

Ken / Claudia · 09-12-2021, 06:57 AM

I suggest going to the Winnebago forum, input your exact unit year and model and ask the question. Your going to get more questions about why your attempting this than how to get it done. Hooking up 2 gennys to parallel 30 amps to 30 amp trailer/RV is easy. Not much different than using 1 genny.

**flybouy** · 09-12-2021, 07:42 AM

The generators you listed are rated at 2350 surge watts and 1900 rated watts of power. So if you use the Wen parallel kit you should have 3,00 running wats (31.6 amps) continuous available. If you connect to the 30 amp twist lock receptical you should have no issue with necessary power. The "fualt" with the surge suppression (get a true EMS MUCH better protection) then the plug reccomended by Jasin1 should fix that. It does not need to be plugged in line with the shore power cable. Plugged into a standard 15 amp receptical on the generator should do the trick.

**JRTJH** · 09-12-2021, 08:11 AM

jrt77,

I think the issue is that you're using the wrong parallel accessory for your generators. You should be using the WEN 56421 30-Amp 3600-Watt Parallel Connection Kit not the WEN GNA50i 50-Amp 6000-Watt Parallel Connection Kit.

Why the difference ???

The 50 amp kit provides two legs of 120 VAC to the 50 amp plug. If you read the note in the owner's manual for that kit, it says: "NOTE: The maximum voltage you can pull from the 14-50R outlet is 120V, you cannot pull 240V from it." What that note means is that you're not achieving a "true 50 amp electrical connection (240 volts) and your adapter can't work on a "120 volts on two pins connection". Electrically, you are not properly wired for what you're attempting to do.

The plug will work without an issue IF you're connecting to a 50 amp trailer power center. It will not work to go through an adapter that uses "one leg of the 50 amps to provide 30 amps to the pin on the 30 amp plug... What you're trying to do is use one leg of one generator output (rated at 19.5 amps (2350 watts) to supply a 30 amp (3600 watt) power requirement. Then you're running that through a "surge protector" that can't read the voltage from both generator outputs.....

If you were using the 30 amp parallel kit, you'd be "combining both generator outputs on one pin to obtain a "true 3600 watt capability" but what you're doing with the 50 amp parallel kit is using one leg of one generator and not using the other leg (since they are not combined in the adapter (one leg is not connected through the adapter).....

So, I'd suggest you talk with WEN once more about "reversing the wires on the parallel kit. That sounds like an excellent way to wind up with a open neutral, a hot neutral or worse, a direct short between the generators....

Essentially, I think you're trying to do something that's not going to work with the equipment you have. Get the correct 30 amp parallel kit and a "grounding plug" for one of the generators and your problems should be resolved.

jrb77 · 09-12-2021, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

A bit of confusion here. First, RV air conditioners are typically 15K btu and 13.5K btu. You didn't state the capacity of your generators. The 13.5K and 15K are fairly similar start up and running loads and that also depends on the make and model of the air conditioner. I upgraded my own camper's A/C from 13.5K btu to 15K btu with a Dometic Brisk II air conditioner. Both use about 15 amps while running and a bit higher when they start. I think the question really is whether a Southwire EMS will work on generator power and whether you have connected the two generators correctly. You might also state whether your trailers power is fed by a 30A or 50A cord/service.

Thanks for responding, I meant I upgraded from a 13.5 k btu to a 15k btu and my trailer is fed by 30A cord/service. The generators are WEN 56235i and are 2350W each. I will ask the WEN reps if a 56421 connection kit would be better than the GNA50i and eliminate the 50 to 30A adapter and ask about the EMS plug. Thank you all for your responses.

jrb77 · 09-12-2021, 06:43 PM

What is a "true EMS"? Not sure how this is different than what Jasin1 suggested?

**flybouy** · 09-12-2021, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb77

What is a "true EMS"? Not sure how this is different than what Jasin1 suggested?

He suggested a bonding plug. That baxically connects the ground and nuetral wires together. An EMS (Electrical Managment System) will protect against improperly wired shore power pedestala, low voltage, excessivly high voltage, and doesn't just alert you to a problem but will disconnect the power until the problem is rectified. An EMS will cost more than a "surge protector" but it does so much more in protecting the expensive electrical components from the typical issues that cause damage.

wiredgeorge · 09-13-2021, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb77

Thanks for responding, I meant I upgraded from a 13.5 k btu to a 15k btu and my trailer is fed by 30A cord/service. The generators are WEN 56235i and are 2350W each. I will ask the WEN reps if a 56421 connection kit would be better than the GNA50i and eliminate the 50 to 30A adapter and ask about the EMS plug. Thank you all for your responses.

I think you will find that John is a wiz at this stuff and the 56421 kit is the correct one. You have already spoken with Wen support and seems you may have gotten poor information. Get the grounding plug Jasin1 suggested and you should be golden. A surge protector might help if you have a voltage spike but doesn't do anything about drops, neutral or ground issues. I am unlikely to ever use a generator to power my RV as we camp at campgrounds with 30A service but I have had situations where the campground power glitched and would have knocked out my electronics without the EMS in place to cut power before this occurred.

jxnbbl · 09-13-2021, 06:39 AM

Agree with others, I'd be surprised if this is NOT due to the neutral bonding plug...they are simple to make to test this out if you don't have access to an immediate purchase.

**JRTJH** · 09-13-2021, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb77

Thanks for responding, I meant I upgraded from a 13.5 k btu to a 15k btu and my trailer is fed by 30A cord/service. The generators are WEN 56235i and are 2350W each. I will ask the WEN reps if a 56421 connection kit would be better than the GNA50i and eliminate the 50 to 30A adapter and ask about the EMS plug. Thank you all for your responses.

The "PROBLEM" is not the generators or the GNA50i parallel kit. That parallel kit connects the two generator outputs, 2350 watts on leg 1 and 2350 watts on leg 2 of the 50 amp RV plug on the parallel kit....

The "PROBLEM" is that your "dogbone adapter" that converts that 50 amp plug to the 30 amp plug that you're using to connect to the trailer shore power cord only connects to ONE LEG of the 50 amp plug. THE OTHER LEG IS ISOLATED, so one generator's output is also isolated. In other words, using the GNA50i parallel kit defeats using the two generators because you're only connecting to ONE GENERATOR's OUTPUT.....

Here's the diagram of how your "dogbone" is wired. As you can see, only one leg is actually wired from plug end to plug end. The other leg is "not used AT ALL by the "dogbone".

If you "rewire the generators" by reversing the two leads, you'll actually be making the neutral on one generator the "hot lead" and that will cause your EMS to shut down or your surge protector to show a red light. Blinking or not, a red light is not a good thing on a surge protector....

Keep doing what you're doing and start "switching wires blindly" and you're either going to burn up something in the trailer or you're going to get electrocuted.......

ADDED: If you have reversed the parallel kit leads on one generator, or on both generators AND you plug in a "bonded ground plug" to one of the 120 volt outlets on either generator, you may very well be making the generator frame connected to 120 volts (the HOT lead).... If you do that and anyone touches the generator metal parts while grounded, they may be electrocuted. DO NOT USE A PARALLEL CONNECTION KIT WITH REVERSED LEAD CONNECTIONS AND A BONDING GROUND PLUG AT THE SAME TIME !!!!!!!!!

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