Need advice for vacation property power/charging setup.

[Maxx]

I need your thoughts about the best setup to charge the truck at this location and to power the house in case of power loss.

Here is the background story. The property is a small prefabricated home built on a camp ground. Two owners ago the dude hardwired an 80 Amp Service to feed a 200 Amp panel (30 Amp/240V dryer, 25Amp water heater, 20 Amp HVAC). HVAC is shot and we don’t use it in summer. We may have to get a portable thing with an inverter or fix the unit, along with adding something to reduce the initial current shock when it kicks in. I have to assume water heater can come on at anytime but we can control the power consumption for the rest of the house or stop charging when we need a lot of juice for something.

Recently a neighbor did something stupid (not sure about details) and the whole neighborhood lost power and we ended up getting a new disconnects and meters. Mine was reduced to 50 Amp. The new setup has a NEMA 14-50 that house is physically plugged into and a free NEMA TT-30R (30A-125V) and a free 20A – 120V.

I have a portable charger ( J+ Booster 2 ) that is adjustable and allows me to change at selected current in 4 Amp increments. I have 5-15 and 14-50 connection for this charger. The TT-30 connection will cost and additional $120

I have a 25’ extension cord that connects to the truck side of the charger. I have been using this to charge the truck in the past in an inconvenient way using the dryer plug with an adapter ( at 20A or 24A)

Now that the house is plugged in, that opens new possibilities.

I have the small battery pack. I usually charge to 90% at home and arrive at 20%. I typically stay two nights but it could be anywhere between 1 to 7 nights. I usually use 20% / day while I am there and have access to superchargers if things get dicey. Truck would be parked less than 25 feet away from the plugs.

What is the best way to feed the truck and the house?

I am thinking about getting a 14-50 dumb splitter (no intelligent load management) and unplug the house when I get there and plug it back into the splitter and plug the truck in too. Let the truck charge at 20 Amp (maybe 24 Amp) to get the truck over 70% by next day and top it off the next night before returning either the same way or just get the TT-30 for my charger and do slow charging at 24A/120V (2.9 KW/hr). This process means unplugging and plugging the house 7 to 10 times a year at most (We take an ICE there on some trips). I don’t feel like leaving the splitter dangling with the panel door open when I am not there.

For feeding the house from the truck, I was thinking a L14-30P to 14-50R adapter and a 14-50 extension cord with the ground cut off to plug the house into the truck.

Please let me know if I am going to set anything on fire doing this or there is a better way to do any of this (for a lazy, cheap and not very smart dude to pull off)

If you have any recommendations for a trusted manufacturer for anything I need to buy, please share.

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[hturnerfamily]

these are all the potential options that many of us have had when traveling with our campers, depending on the campground/RV park and the electrical options they provide...

A) I have certainly used the campground's 240v 50amp outlet for my LIGHTNING to charge with my 240v 30amp EVSE, and at the same time use the campground's 120v 30amp outlet for our camper -since the camper is typically only designed for 120v 30amp anyway... this generally allows for the roof air conditioner to work, along with most all of anything else in the camper... sometimes the microwave running while the a/c compressor is running will trip the camper's 30amp breaker, or even the campground's 30amp breaker, but that is not a big deal - turn off the a/c when using the microwave, etc.

B) I have also used the campground's 240v 50amp outlet for my Truck, and then used the truck's ProPower from the bed to power our camper, whether needing 240v or 120v, I have either option, as long as I have the adapters to make it happen. In the summer, 240v gives me more power to the camper than I need, and in temperate temps, maybe only the 120v outlet is plenty.

C) I recently upgraded/modified our 120v 30amp camper to a 240v 50amp Main Panel, providing the needed support for the smaller loads to the camper's original 30amp panel. I also installed a 240v 20amp outlet, for CHARGING THE TRUCK FROM THE CAMPER, within the camper's front storage compartment.
This allows me to now plug the CAMPER's 240v Shore Power Cord into the campground's 240v 50amp outlet, and STILL provide charging to the truck, with our slower 20amp EVSE, from this new camper outlet, all thru the same connection from the campground.

 

[hturnerfamily]

by the way, if you'll look up VentureOutPanamaCityBeachFlorida, a planned 'rv, trailer, tinyhome' community of 750 'units'... the ALL have a single type of Electrical Connection: the typical Campground Full Power 240v50amp/120v30amp/120v20amp Main Panel, with individual breakers.

Even as owners have expanded their 'homes', adding on, etc., they are still limited to a single 240v 50amp connection, at Most... even with HVAC units, and the like. RVs that come into the RV sites have no issues, and many of the 'older' units that haven't been upgraded are fine, but as other owners expand, and in the Florida Heat, you can bet that there are some reservations that must be made toward needing 'too much' electricity.

You can also bet that owners trying to figure out how to use 240v EVSEs to charge their EVs will be something to think about...

 

[Maxx]

B) I have also used the campground's 240v 50amp outlet for my Truck, and then used the truck's ProPower from the bed to power our camper, whether needing 240v or 120v, I have either option, as long as I have the adapters to make it happen. In the summer, 240v gives me more power to the camper than I need, and in temperate temps, maybe only the 120v outlet is plenty.

Very interesting. I never considered the possibility of Juicing the truck while taking power from it. I am sure there would be some loss but that will push the upper limit of power consumption and may prevent tripping a breaker.

 

[hturnerfamily]

yes, there is nothing prohibiting using ProPower while charging the truck: those are two separate actions that do not interact with each other...
A) Charging is using the CONVERTER to change AC power to DC power
B) ProPower is using the INVERTER to change DC power to AC power

but, you can also use ProPower while DC Fast Charging, too, as the Fast Charging is going directly to the truck's battery bank, while the ProPower is using some of the truck's BATTERY power..


Charging the truck while using ProPower to a camper, or a home, or a power tool makes no difference, it's just using some of battery power, but no compromise with the charging process.

So, if your EVSE is plugged into a 240v 50amp outlet, it is going to charge the truck just the same, regardless of whether ProPower is ON, or not... or whether you are using any power from any of the outlets. There is no 'derating' of the EVSE's 30amp output while you are using ProPower... everything works exactly the same. There would be no tripping of any charging outlet you are using.

 

[fedie0007]

Just a heads up, our trucks won't charge over 12 amps when plugged into any 125v outlet. Must be some stupid safety feature built into the trucks. It's been over 2 years since I've tried it, but I doubt they've changed that feature. You might want to test it before you rely on that tt-30 outlet. There are some other threads on here about it.

 

[unicorn1]

these are all the potential options that many of us have had when traveling with our campers, depending on the campground/RV park and the electrical options they provide...

A) I have certainly used the campground's 240v 50amp outlet for my LIGHTNING to charge with my 240v 30amp EVSE, and at the same time use the campground's 120v 30amp outlet for our camper -since the camper is typically only designed for 120v 30amp anyway... this generally allows for the roof air conditioner to work, along with most all of anything else in the camper... sometimes the microwave running while the a/c compressor is running will trip the camper's 30amp breaker, or even the campground's 30amp breaker, but that is not a big deal - turn off the a/c when using the microwave, etc.

B) I have also used the campground's 240v 50amp outlet for my Truck, and then used the truck's ProPower from the bed to power our camper, whether needing 240v or 120v, I have either option, as long as I have the adapters to make it happen. In the summer, 240v gives me more power to the camper than I need, and in temperate temps, maybe only the 120v outlet is plenty.

C) I recently upgraded/modified our 120v 30amp camper to a 240v 50amp Main Panel, providing the needed support for the smaller loads to the camper's original 30amp panel. I also installed a 240v 20amp outlet, for CHARGING THE TRUCK FROM THE CAMPER, within the camper's front storage compartment.
This allows me to now plug the CAMPER's 240v Shore Power Cord into the campground's 240v 50amp outlet, and STILL provide charging to the truck, with our slower 20amp EVSE, from this new camper outlet, all thru the same connection from the campground.

If you have some cash I would suggest getting what they call a Solar Generator Portable Battery unit. The unit I have is an Anker F3800+ (I have two actually). Another reputable brand is Ecoflow.

The basic strategy I’m thinking is a unit plus one or two expansion batteries can be setup to do several things:

1-) serve as a temporary power outage battery backup when you truck isn’t there.
2-)Be a buffer to run most of your house while you directly charge your truck to full with your mobile charger.

I need your thoughts about the best setup to charge the truck at this location and to power the house in case of power loss.

Here is the background story. The property is a small prefabricated home built on a camp ground. Two owners ago the dude hardwired an 80 Amp Service to feed a 200 Amp panel (30 Amp/240V dryer, 25Amp water heater, 20 Amp HVAC). HVAC is shot and we don’t use it in summer. We may have to get a portable thing with an inverter or fix the unit, along with adding something to reduce the initial current shock when it kicks in. I have to assume water heater can come on at anytime but we can control the power consumption for the rest of the house or stop charging when we need a lot of juice for something.

Recently a neighbor did something stupid (not sure about details) and the whole neighborhood lost power and we ended up getting a new disconnects and meters. Mine was reduced to 50 Amp. The new setup has a NEMA 14-50 that house is physically plugged into and a free NEMA TT-30R (30A-125V) and a free 20A – 120V.

I have a portable charger ( J+ Booster 2 ) that is adjustable and allows me to change at selected current in 4 Amp increments. I have 5-15 and 14-50 connection for this charger. The TT-30 connection will cost and additional $120

I have a 25’ extension cord that connects to the truck side of the charger. I have been using this to charge the truck in the past in an inconvenient way using the dryer plug with an adapter ( at 20A or 24A)

Now that the house is plugged in, that opens new possibilities.

I have the small battery pack. I usually charge to 90% at home and arrive at 20%. I typically stay two nights but it could be anywhere between 1 to 7 nights. I usually use 20% / day while I am there and have access to superchargers if things get dicey. Truck would be parked less than 25 feet away from the plugs.

What is the best way to feed the truck and the house?

I am thinking about getting a 14-50 dumb splitter (no intelligent load management) and unplug the house when I get there and plug it back into the splitter and plug the truck in too. Let the truck charge at 20 Amp (maybe 24 Amp) to get the truck over 70% by next day and top it off the next night before returning either the same way or just get the TT-30 for my charger and do slow charging at 24A/120V (2.9 KW/hr). This process means unplugging and plugging the house 7 to 10 times a year at most (We take an ICE there on some trips). I don’t feel like leaving the splitter dangling with the panel door open when I am not there.

For feeding the house from the truck, I was thinking a L14-30P to 14-50R adapter and a 14-50 extension cord with the ground cut off to plug the house into the truck.

Please let me know if I am going to set anything on fire doing this or there is a better way to do any of this (for a lazy, cheap and not very smart dude to pull off)

If you have any recommendations for a trusted manufacturer for anything I need to buy, please share.

If you have some cash I would suggest getting what they call a Solar Generator Portable Battery unit. The unit I have is an Anker F3800+ (I have two actually). Another reputable brand is Ecoflow.

The basic strategy I’m thinking is a unit plus one or two expansion batteries can be setup to do several things:

1-) serve as a temporary power outage battery backup when your truck isn’t there.
2-)Be a buffer to run most of your house while you directly charge your truck to full with your mobile charger set to 32 to 40 amp.
3-)once your truck is fully charged you can switch back to power house directly from the camp site power. Then you Anker (or other brand) can recharge slowly from a 120v plug.
4-) This Anker is heavy but portable with wheels could be left there to be plugged in to backup a fridge if desired. Or it could be loaded in the truck and used at home as an emergency backup for a fridge or. UPS for sensitive electronics like computers and home network items.

Other thoughts. Don’t use your dryer, get a cloths line or a 120V heat pump dryer. If you are willing to really put some money into a setup like this you could use a combination of versus batteries, a Home Power panel and run your vacation all weekend just from the Anker setup by charging all week while away. And with a few portable solar panels you could survive an outage without eating into your fully charged truck to get home.

I’ve glossed over a bunch of details but I’d recommend checking out

 

[unicorn1]

Sorry, new here and can’t figure out how to edit my reply… I was going to recommend looking up a YouTube channel by Benjamin Sahlstrom that have a number of videos showing different ways to use the Anker F3800 and F3800+, the F3800+ is the better of the two.

 

[Maxx]

If you have some cash I would suggest getting what they call a Solar Generator Portable Battery unit. The unit I have is an Anker F3800+ (I have two actually). Another reputable brand is Ecoflow.

The basic strategy I’m thinking is a unit plus one or two expansion batteries can be setup to do several things:

1-) serve as a temporary power outage battery backup when you truck isn’t there.
2-)Be a buffer to run most of your house while you directly charge your truck to full with your mobile charger.



If you have some cash I would suggest getting what they call a Solar Generator Portable Battery unit. The unit I have is an Anker F3800+ (I have two actually). Another reputable brand is Ecoflow.

The basic strategy I’m thinking is a unit plus one or two expansion batteries can be setup to do several things:

1-) serve as a temporary power outage battery backup when your truck isn’t there.
2-)Be a buffer to run most of your house while you directly charge your truck to full with your mobile charger set to 32 to 40 amp.
3-)once your truck is fully charged you can switch back to power house directly from the camp site power. Then you Anker (or other brand) can recharge slowly from a 120v plug.
4-) This Anker is heavy but portable with wheels could be left there to be plugged in to backup a fridge if desired. Or it could be loaded in the truck and used at home as an emergency backup for a fridge or. UPS for sensitive electronics like computers and home network items.

Other thoughts. Don’t use your dryer, get a cloths line or a 120V heat pump dryer. If you are willing to really put some money into a setup like this you could use a combination of versus batteries, a Home Power panel and run your vacation all weekend just from the Anker setup by charging all week while away. And with a few portable solar panels you could survive an outage without eating into your fully charged truck to get home.

I’ve glossed over a bunch of details but I’d recommend checking out

‘Thanks. Great tips. I will check it out.

Sorry, new here and can’t figure out how to edit my reply… I was going to recommend looking up a YouTube channel by Benjamin Sahlstrom that have a number of videos showing different ways to use the Anker F3800 and F3800+, the F3800+ is the better of the two.

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