15-amp, 30-amp, 50-amp.......confused???

Don't be. It's all very simple. Just remember that 15-amp and 30-amp electrical service is all you will probably ever deal with in using the Rialta. The larger Class A vehicles generally will use the 50-amp connection. This page describes these electrical adaptors as "accessories" but having at least one of them is really a required item.

All that is recommended for additional electrical adaptors is that you have one that will allow you to plug your 30-amp Rialta cord into a regular 15-amp "household" outlet.

Usually you get one of these adapters free with a kit when you purchase a new motorhome. If you need one, ask for a "15-amp male to 30-amp female adaptor" which should sell for around $3.

The Rialta comes equipped with a 30-amp shore power cord that is about 25 feet long. This cord runs inside the coach to the electrical load center located in the left rear of the vehicle (just inside the door on the left for the FD) where the main breaker is rated at 30 amps. The end of the shore power cord with the plug goes either to the internal box inside of the rear compartment or can be plugged into an external box at a campsite or your own house. The internal box inside the rear compartment is nothing more than the output from the generator. At most commercial campsites, the Rialta's shore power cord will plug right into their standard 30-amp box. If you end up at a camp site with only a 15-amp connection, you can use one of the 30-amp to 15-amp adaptors but if you run the air conditioner, microwave, TV, and other appliances all at the same time, you will more than likely trip the breaker on the campsite's box.

If you use any "extension cords" on the RV shore power cord, it is recommended that it be a 30-amp cord the same as the existing. Otherwise, using a regular household or even a supposedly heavy-duty construction cord rated at 15 amps, the voltage drop due to the excessive length of cord being used could result in a very hot 15 amp cord that could melt and short out your power connections inside the Rialta.

15-amp

..sometimes called 20-amp. This is your normal "household" type connector. It has 3 prongs with the single round prong being the ground wire. In the U.S., two-blade plugs usually have one blade larger than the other. Outlets are the same way. The larger blade is the neutral side of the current. This is a safety feature intended so the plug can be inserted one way only to reduce the chance of accidental shock. If you try to plug a modern plug into an old-style receptacle for equal size blades, it won't go in unless you file down the larger blade to the older plug size.

30-amp

This plug also has 3 prongs with the single round prong being the ground wire. The two flat bladed prongs are set at an angle to prevent you from using this cord with a lower rated cord. This is actually a specific NEMA configuration designed as "Travel Trailer, 120V AC, 2 pole, 3 wire, grounding" type plug. You will find it used only on RV equipment and never on any residential, commercial, or industrial application. The plug on the end of the Rialta shore power cord is a 30-amp male plug.

50-amp

This plug has 4 prongs. There is one ground, one neutral, and two hot wires. The Rialta should never have to be hooked up to one of these simply because the internal wiring of the Rialta is rated at only 30-amps. If you use as 50-amp to 30-amp adapter, it will work just fine as long as you never attach any additional heavy load electrical items to the Rialta's plug-in boxes. If you attempt to do so, the 50-amp service will be more than happy to send all that power to your vehicle but you better hope that the 30-amp breaker on the Rialta will trip otherwise you could be looking at melted wires or a vehicle fire. This is actually a standard "NEMA #14, 3-pole, 4 wire, grounding, straight blade" plug rated at 50 amps and can be found in other commercial uses. The only time you'd ever need an adaptor in order to plug your Rialta into one of these outlets is if you arrived late at a campground and all they had left was a pull-through site with only a 50-amp outlet designed for the much larger Class-A rigs.

Additional Accessories: