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Old 10-21-2018, 06:45 AM   #21
Kevin H
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Just my two cents. If your panel is close and you have room install a 50 receptacle. Lowes and Home depot both sell the waterproof rv outlets, I don't think it was more than $50. If your like me you will eventually want something bigger, so why do it twice. I put one on my house and one on my well house for my son or anyone who needs to use power. I end up leaving a/c set as high as it can during summer and a small space heater in winter just to temper the extremes. FYI 30 amp requires 10 ga. copper wire and 50 amp requires 6 gauge copper wire.
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Old 10-21-2018, 03:52 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by kksfish View Post
Another option that I went with......installed a female, matching cord cap on a length of #8 SO cable at the panelboard. Roll it out or in as needed thru the corner of garage door.......No holes to drill in house and out of sight when not needed. No need for waterproof either as I can run the cord from camper inside to connect if I wish. Went with #8 to compensate for any voltage drop.
My brother in law did the same thing,, he just turns the breaker off, rolls it up till next time
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Old 10-25-2018, 07:49 AM   #23
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Pay and have a 30 amp or 50 amp plug Put in. You may upgrade in the future to 50 amp.
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Old 10-25-2018, 08:25 AM   #24
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My brother is an electrician and we ran underground rated cable to the trailer spot. It was pretty easy to do and I think I could have done it myself. I have mine on a post so a water proof 30 amp box is a must.
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Old 10-25-2018, 08:43 AM   #25
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30 amp

So if you have #12 wire you can buy the 30 amp plug for outside and a larger 30 amp breaker breaker and install it yourself, Home Depot or Menards can help, Or find a handy man, I did mine for less than 20 dollars
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Old 10-25-2018, 09:02 AM   #26
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So if you have #12 wire you can buy the 30 amp plug for outside and a larger 30 amp breaker breaker and install it yourself, Home Depot or Menards can help, Or find a handy man, I did mine for less than 20 dollars
You need #10 wire for 30 amps
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Old 10-25-2018, 09:40 AM   #27
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We had a 50Amp line installed in our barn. The existing box handled the new service and the line was run through the rafters of our barn to an outdoor weatherproof outlet. Wiring was about 90feet. Our electrician charged $500. Best thing ever!
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Old 10-25-2018, 11:26 AM   #28
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30 AMP service

I did my own. 30 buck for all the parts few basic tools. A couple of scraps of drywall and plenty of mud, tape and sanding. Works like a champ
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Old 10-25-2018, 11:53 AM   #29
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I bought a 30A RV box with breaker from Home Depot online. A friend with electrical experience wired it directly to my meter box that is on posts near the transformer. He just ran #10 wire through the knockouts after pulling the meter to cut power to the bottom half of the meter box. The electric company gave me some flak for not calling before breaking the seal, but living in a small town has its advantages. I don't recommend doing that however.
Before that, I used an extra heavy duty 75' outdoor extension cord to run from a 20A outlet in an out building and used a dog bone adapter to connect to the RV. Since our bedroom isn't air conditioned, we slept in the RV during heat waves. I checked the cords after hours of running the AC and they were barely warm.
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Old 10-25-2018, 12:47 PM   #30
Garyd1612
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I have installed a 30 amp breaker myself, not too difficult. I just added a new single pole 30 amp breaker to the panel and wired in a 30 amp rv plug. I used 10-3 wire and waterproof PVC conduit with a waterproof box, only needed about 3' of wire.
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Old 10-25-2018, 03:11 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by SkiSmuggs View Post
I bought a 30A RV box with breaker from Home Depot online. A friend with electrical experience wired it directly to my meter box that is on posts near the transformer. He just ran #10 wire through the knockouts after pulling the meter to cut power to the bottom half of the meter box. The electric company gave me some flak for not calling before breaking the seal, but living in a small town has its advantages. I don't recommend doing that however.
Before that, I used an extra heavy duty 75' outdoor extension cord to run from a 20A outlet in an out building and used a dog bone adapter to connect to the RV. Since our bedroom isn't air conditioned, we slept in the RV during heat waves. I checked the cords after hours of running the AC and they were barely warm.
I will venture a guess that there are MULTIPLE code violations with that install.
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Old 10-25-2018, 04:40 PM   #32
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It may be a stupid question but since I'm not an electrician, my question is:
I always thought the outlets from the house could handle anything in the trailer, so how do I find out exactly what my garage indoor panel or trailer can handle? I've ran things like power saws etc from that outlet.

We keep our trailer outside next to the garage, as you can see in my signature below, about 10-12' from where the electric service panel is inside the garage where I will plug it in from time to time, mostly for lights etc. Haven't tried the microwave, fridge or AC yet.
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Old 10-25-2018, 05:26 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by jack65 View Post
It may be a stupid question but since I'm not an electrician, my question is:
I always thought the outlets from the house could handle anything in the trailer, so how do I find out exactly what my garage indoor panel or trailer can handle? I've ran things like power saws etc from that outlet.

We keep our trailer outside next to the garage, as you can see in my signature below, about 10-12' from where the electric service panel is inside the garage where I will plug it in from time to time, mostly for lights etc. Haven't tried the microwave, fridge or AC yet.
Just look at the breaker that supplies the outlets in question. It will be a 15 or 20 amp circuit and that's you're limit. Plenty to run most of the small loads in the trailer but running an AC or microwave could be problematic.
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Old 10-25-2018, 05:35 PM   #34
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I had an electrician install one at my house. Cost me about $200, materials included. Mine only needed to run from my garage and in the crawl space under one bedroom to the back of the house. They mounted an exterior weatherproof receptacle per code. The electrical cord run was only about 30-35 feet or so.
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Old 10-25-2018, 07:42 PM   #35
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Originally Posted by jack65 View Post
It may be a stupid question but since I'm not an electrician, my question is:
I always thought the outlets from the house could handle anything in the trailer, so how do I find out exactly what my garage indoor panel or trailer can handle? I've ran things like power saws etc from that outlet.

We keep our trailer outside next to the garage, as you can see in my signature below, about 10-12' from where the electric service panel is inside the garage where I will plug it in from time to time, mostly for lights etc. Haven't tried the microwave, fridge or AC yet.
Hey Jack,

Unless specially modified for higher amperage, the outlets from your home cannot handle "anything" in your trailer. At minimum your trailer will be rated at 30A. Your regular home circuits will be rated at 15A or 20A max. With that you can't run at full capacity in the trailer.

I run my trailer on a 20A dedicated circuit when it is here at the house while it is being prepared for travel. It cannot be used like you are "living in it". It is a "make do" to give you necessary power to run essential stuff: I power up the fridge and get it ready to go; I depend on the AC to run the converter to keep the batteries topped off, my lights then work perfectly.

I guess my thoughts would be that you need to assess electrical loads and what you are using. Many ways to do that and many folks on this forum that can help.
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Old 10-26-2018, 07:36 AM   #36
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As has been stated if it's a 20amp circuit (20 amp breaker and #12 wire) you should be o.k. on the air con as long as your fridge and hwh are not on electric. A 30 amp service will vary in cost dependent upon the length of run and the area. You said 12' away so you could look up online at Lowes or Home Depot and get a sense for material costs. You need 30 amp breaker to match your panel, a 30a rv receptacle and box,and guessing at 25' of 4 conductor # 10 wire. Then add labor and any permit costs if applicable. Most electricians will offer a free estimate for that type work.

Why 4 conductor for 120v 30A outlet?
Hot, Neutral and ground. What is #4 wire for?


You might check out THIS web site for more info on RV electrics.


Here is graphic of outlets
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Old 10-26-2018, 07:38 AM   #37
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Why 4 conductor for 120v 30A outlet?
Hot, Neutral and ground. What is #4 wire for?


You might check out THIS web site for more info on RV electrics.
You are correct on 3 conductors. Thinking 50 amp. My bad. Thanks.
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Old 10-26-2018, 08:32 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by jack65 View Post
It may be a stupid question but since I'm not an electrician, my question is:
I always thought the outlets from the house could handle anything in the trailer, so how do I find out exactly what my garage indoor panel or trailer can handle? I've ran things like power saws etc from that outlet.

We keep our trailer outside next to the garage, as you can see in my signature below, about 10-12' from where the electric service panel is inside the garage where I will plug it in from time to time, mostly for lights etc. Haven't tried the microwave, fridge or AC yet.
I also use power saws, even my 110 welder from the garage plug. I have been able to run the fridge, 2 TVs the microwave on the 20 amp from the garage but the AC kicked out the breaker. The fridge is not always running but I think for me the AC was doing OK for a while when the fridge came on and that did it.
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Old 10-26-2018, 12:34 PM   #39
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Just ran 40' of conduit from my house across the driveway to a dedicated 30 AMP trailer drop. Dug the ditch and laid the conduit myself. Wish I could tell you what it cost to have an electrician pull the cable and wire everything up but my daughters fiance is a professional electrician. You probably figured out by now that he did it for free.

Now would be a good time to consider a dedicated water supply as well. I did not think of that until I had back filled the trench. At least I have a spring project on the list.
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Old 10-26-2018, 02:44 PM   #40
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Thanks for all of the help. I actually have done wiring and could probably manage this, but with the permit process and inspections here in our city thought it best to have it done by a licensed electrician. The 15' distance is for the trailer power cable, from the breaker box to the outlet is just 2- 3' below, same wall, so very easy installation, and I have an unused 30 amp breaker in the box. It's just drill a hole in the wall, run a cable down and out, attach the outlet. I have run the AC with 20 amps before, but when I tried it with the fridge on electric it blew the breaker after about 20 minutes. I think the first thing to try is the fridge on propane, but of course, will have to wait now until about July when we need the AC again.

Check the RV owner's manual to confirm the Amp draw for the A/C or look at the on board circuit breaker for the AC. That will tell you what is needed to run the A/C. Good chance 20A is sufficient as long as that is all you are running the the RV but check the RV breaker first.
It is possible that you can just run a regular 120v extension cord 12Ga or 10 Ga and by pass the special socket. I assume you have a 30A female to 20A male power cord adapter. This should be Ok if you have good clean contacts. keep the cord as short and needed (Don't use a 50' extension if you only need 20') Maybe even a short 15' extension will work. but learn the amp needs first.
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