Electrical Hookup

[jk_and_dog]

Just to keep everyone informed...The MH is still not ready for pickup. Today it was still at FL.

Ok, Question 1. My power supply at the house is 40 ft from where the rig will set. I understand we all have a 25 ft power 50 amp cord in the MH. If I attached an additional extension cord (one of the 50 amp 30 ft ones) will I risk an electrical problem simular to a too long a run and power loss, or should I be ok with this setup.

Question 2. From whence did you purchase your electrical setup for you home port. Did you get the 50/30/20 amp box with breakers simular to a campground set up or did yoou go with the 50 amp plug box.

Thanks jk

[jk_and_dog]

Just to keep everyone informed...The MH is still not ready for pickup. Today it was still at FL.

Ok, Question 1. My power supply at the house is 40 ft from where the rig will set. I understand we all have a 25 ft power 50 amp cord in the MH. If I attached an additional extension cord (one of the 50 amp 30 ft ones) will I risk an electrical problem simular to a too long a run and power loss, or should I be ok with this setup.

Question 2. From whence did you purchase your electrical setup for you home port. Did you get the 50/30/20 amp box with breakers simular to a campground set up or did yoou go with the 50 amp plug box.

Thanks jk

[Rick Buddrus]

JK or Dog,

Do you really need 50 amp service when the coach is sitting at the house. Me thinks 30 amp will meet your needs when it is just sitting. Get a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter ($16)from CW and then purchase a 30 amp extension cord ( $30 - $50) or if you are not planning on running the AC unit then a 20 amp (high Quality) will meet the bare minimum requirements. A 15' 50 amp cord is going to cost you $130 and a 30' is going to set you back $160. Do you really need all that power? Hope this helped.

[Pusherman]

I agree with Rick's post. One way to insure your power is OK (due to the length of the connection) is to purchase a voltage meter (available at camping world) to insure you are within the 110-120V range (mine plugs into an AC outlet in the coach).

To run your A/C you will need 30A to operate comfortably. Don't think you need 50A for storage purposes, even running the AC once in a while.

If you will be using the coach at your house frequently, then go for the 50A panel.

I have 30A in my driveway, with the circuit breaker at the source end, and it is more than adequate for getting the coach ready for trips, including running the AC. 40' should not be a problem to run to your coach as long as the voltage is where it should be as I stated above.

[dirko]

Hi Ho: It is being tacitly assumed here that you have a 30-amp outlet you can plug into. That is not likely unless you have put one in specifically for the motor home. Normal outlets for home use are either 15 amp or 20 amp. It is really the wire size that determines how much current can flow in a circut. For 30 amp you need #10 AWG (15 amp can use #14 AWG and 20 amp can use #12 AWG) in most places, and for reasonable lengths. In any case you need a dedicated circuit for the motor home with whatever service you require. When I put mine in I used #6 AWG which is capable of 50 amps, but just got a 30 amp box (like some campgrounds have). That way if we ever get a coach with 50 amp we just change the box and breaker and it works. You can always use bigger wire than the minimum. Anyway, unless you happen to have a dedicated outleet that you can plug into you will probably have to put one in. If you aren't sure about electrical things get someone who is or hire an electrician.
Alles Gute from Jena Germany

[ichn2go]

Listen to Rick, and the others. Rick is the man and he knows of what he speaks.
I only use 30 amp and a 25 ft cord with Dog Bone it goes into the coaches 50 amp cord. No problems at all. I do have a dedicated 30amp box..Good Miles

[diesellabs]

I recently added a 30A receptacle to the outside of my garage wall for use in powering the MH. Bought it at Home Depot for ~ $20. Since the length of run of wire to the main breaker box was 42' I did use 8 g. wire instead of 10 g. to minimize voltage drop (also have a 35' main MH power cable). The PMS will manage everything on 30A.

Good luck...

[John_Canfield]

Like the other's recommendation, 30 amps is plenty for storage. If you are living aboard, 50 amps is very desirable.

We have successfully used a 50' 30 amp extension cord for short-term situations. If you are just storing the coach, this would be an okay setup for the short-term because you are drawing minimal current unless the AC is running.

I always worry about having too many plug/socket adapter/extension connections because the contacts have a habit of getting dirty/oxidized which adds some resistance in series. With resistance in series and a good load, you get heat. With heat you get melting plugs and in extreme cases, fire.

When we built the shop and RV Port (and guest port), I wanted to use power boxes like you would find at any good campground with a choice of 50/30/20 amp receptacles. The wiring is simple because all of the outlets in the box are fed with the same source (one set of wires powers all outlets.) I hate to use the 50 to 30 amp adapters so that is one reason why I wanted 50 amp available; it is only a little more expensive to go first-class .

I actually found one of the power port boxes at our local Lowe's hidden away on a shelf in the breaker box section. Another source would be your local electrical jobber - I have never had a problem with a parts house selling to me.

The boxes I used were designed for mounting to a pedestal and cost a little over 100$. Manufacturer's link.

Another valuable resource is a wire gauge and voltage drop calculator - this is more precise than using one of those wiring charts where the wire runs are given in 50' increments. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the wire gauge calculator.