Logthumper
Shawnee, Kansas, USA
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Joined: 12/04/2003
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At least two companies manufacture a “Cheater Box”, which is sold thru several RV suppliers.
I spent several hours this morning doing a “Search/Find” for information on “Cheater Boxes”. Lots of opinions and doom/gloom theory, but it appears most are from people who have no experience from ACTUAL use of the device. However I do agree with these opinions.
But I’m NOT looking for theories as to why they should not be used or why they are of a poor design.
THIS IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:
I am looking for information from people with personal experience where a Cheater Box actually caused problems/damage to your RV or campground wiring?
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hershey
Albuquerque,(fulltime) NM, USA
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My previous MH was a 50 amp unit and I used a Cheater Box any time I had to hook up to 30 amp only service. It served me very well.
It WILL NOT WORK on GFI shore power. But it will work on any other shore power that has either a pair of 30 amps or a 30 and a 20 amp outlet on it.
Obviously this setup does not give you the full 100 amps that you would get from a 50 amp shorepower but it does give you the opportunity to run two AC's and 50 amps of power to your RV.
I never had a problem with it at all and I'm a bit over the edge when it comes to monitoring my power usage, both 110 volt and 12 volt.
hershey - albuquerque, nm
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millertime
Whittier, Ca.
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what is a cheater box???
Chuck and Cindy
2002 Dodge 2500/Cummins
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA USA
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A cheater box is a method to attempt to get 50 ampere service for rig from a thirty ampere and a 20 ampere circuit.
Much chatter on these. I spoke with one of the engineers at The Rally. New cheaters now have a caution notice on it's use.
For the average RVer, these should not be used.
Bud
Suzuki XL7 pushing Pace Arrow
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Rick Jay
Greater Springfield area, MA
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If by "cheater box" you mean those boxes that will connect to a 20A & 30A receptacle to give a pseudo 50A service, yes, I have one. I've been able to use it exactly once. As was stated above, if a GFCI circuit is used it will be tripped when one of these is connected because it will sense that the two neutral circuits have been shorted together inside the cheater box.
If you're fortunate enough to find a place that offers 2 30A receptacles without GFCI, then you have a better chance of it working. However, you also run the risk of putting more than 50A on your neutral, which is a bad thing.
Some campgrounds will not allow these to be used as it is possible to damage their pedestal wiring, again due to the fact that the neutrals of two circuits have been connected together in the cheater box.
And just to be clear, if you can get this to work with 20A and 30A non-GFCI, at best you get 1/2 the power available on a true 50A service. A true 50 service will deliver up to 50 amps on each hot line. The cheater box will only give you 30A on one hot and 20A on the other.
If you do a lot of camping with only 30A service available and you want to run multiple units in your rig, your best bet is to look into a good energy management system (EMS).
~Rick
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Fatbob
el paso tx
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How do you damage the pedestal wiring by tying both neutrals together with the cheater box? Aren't "both" the neutals actually just one neutral back to the main at the panelboard? Two hots require one neutral, single phase, no?
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thgoodman
Emery, SD
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We've been in lots of campgrounds since we started full timing 2 years ago and I gotta' tell ya', I've found maybe 3 campgrounds that had a 20 amp service WITHOUT a GFI. When I first saw one of those 20/30 amp boxes I thought "that's for me" but after I started giving one a closer look, I discovered that I wouldn't be able to use one in MOST campgrounds AND they are pretty pricey.
Another thing to consider..... If the campground owner is expecting to give you a maximum of 3600 watts (120 v x 30 a) and finds out you are using one of those boxes, he/she may well make you disconnect it (or, depending on his personality, throw you out of the campground  ).
Tom & Jan
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Started workamping Sept '07 - This isn't too bad. Think we'll do it some more.
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crickeydog
Marietta, Ga.
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Logthumper wrote:I am looking for information from people with personal experience where a Cheater Box actually caused problems/damage to your RV or campground wiring?
I've been using a cheater connected to a surge protector for years with no problems.
Happy camping!!! See ya'll down the road!!!
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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You wouldn't by any chance be SELLING some sort of a product called a 'cheater box' would you?
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glsurrat
Virginia
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I've used one a couple of times with no problems.
At the fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana, most of the power pedestals out in the field sections have two 30 amp plugs and the cheater box worked well there.
For the electricians in the crowd, is GFCI protection now a code requirement for outside receptacles?
That would be the reason most parks have them on the 20 amp circuits and you'd only be able to use the cheater in older parks that have not upgraded their electrical service.
Greg
Full-timing and soon to be retired US Navy Master Chief
Enjoying Champagne on the King Ranch!
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