Upgrade 30 amp campground pedestal to 50 amp

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 11:14 AM

Hello all,

I was looking for some advice. My wife and I just bought a new Keystone Retreat park model trailer and now have a bit of an issue. This trailer is a 50 amp trailer but the campground I'm in does not have any sites that are 50 amp. I pay for my own power and have my own meter with the power company. The owner has given me permission to upgrade the pedestal to 50 amps(at my own expense of course). I have zero experience with electrical other than I know that the power comes from the holes!!!. What I would like to know is if anyone here has run into the same issue and have paid an electrician to upgrade their service. If you have, what's involved? I know that new electrical cable would have to be run and buried from the meter to the pedestal with new outlet, breaker and those components. I'm looking for a very rough ballpark for cost to upgrade if anyone else has experience with this type of thing. I'm just looking for a baseline for when I call some electricians to ensure I don't end up getting hosed. Also I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

**sourdough** · 02-27-2024, 11:20 AM

How far is it from the pole/meter to your ped? The length of the run will have a significant impact on the cost. I had approx. 100' of cable ran through an attic, down a wall then buried to a ped they installed. They installed a new 50A breaker in the box and 50A receptacle on the ped - $1800. I have no idea what pricing is like in Nova Scotia.

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 11:30 AM

It's approximately 30 metres from the meter to the pedestal more likely less. I was figuring in around 2000.

Wyldfire · 02-27-2024, 12:18 PM

We were charged $1000 to add a fifty amp RV plug. Most of the expense was 50 feet of proper wiring. Just ran across attic and down wall. No digging.

Camping family · 02-27-2024, 12:22 PM

If you are allowing 2000.00 I think you should be able,to,get it done for less then that.

Wyldfire · 02-27-2024, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camping family

If you are allowing 2000.00 I think you should be able,to,get it done for less then that.

Maybe, maybe not in Canadian dollars.

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 01:16 PM

Hopefully I can get it done without too much BS. It'll be a shame if I can't take full advantage of all the trailers luxuries. Thanks for the input!

**sourdough** · 02-27-2024, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totaljustice

Hopefully I can get it done without too much BS. It'll be a shame if I can't take full advantage of all the trailers luxuries. Thanks for the input!

If the pole and meter are there shouldn't be a big deal as far as the installation. Get a good electrician, make sure he understands and knows it's for a RV and not a household 50A circuit (and is familiar). Make sure he gauges the wire correctly for that length of run. I said mine was about 100' but rethinking I think it was about 85-90' (I had estimated 100' for the electrician). Measure your distances to be sure for wire gauge. Keep it under 100' and you can use 6 gauge wire (memory). After 100' the wire needs to be resized which is more expense. My installation went like clockwork; no surprises, no questions....just came in, went to work and knocked it out.

Who owns the meter loop? Did you have it installed or does it belong to the park? After the upgrade to 50A who then owns the wiring/plug etc. you pay to install.....the park owner?

**flybouy** · 02-27-2024, 02:25 PM

My first piece of advice would be to get the campground OWNER to put their permission IN WRITING. Secondly, hire a licensed and insured electrician.

There can be a couple of factors that can add cost to what you are describing. Example: is the wire direct burial, seperate wires in a conduit?? What does the local code call require? Do you have to get Hydro ( Canadian for the electric utility company) to remove the meter or do other work? These are just a few questions that a licensed electrician should know the answers to. My advice, call a min of 3 companies to give you a WRITTEN estimate. Then do your due dillagence by fully vetting them before awarding a contract. Ask for references and ask if you can contact former customers to get a recommendation.

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 02:26 PM

The meter belongs to the power company I imagine, and the owner would own it after I paid for it. He's a nice person but he has no intention of paying for my upgrade.

**JRTJH** · 02-27-2024, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totaljustice

The meter belongs to the power company I imagine, and the owner would own it after I paid for it. He's a nice person but he has no intention of paying for my upgrade.

First question I'd want answered is "What is the ampacity of the wiring from the campground grid to the meter location? In some older campgrounds, that wiring may be 30 amp rated, so you would need to not only run new 50 amp wire from the meter to your trailer, but also run 50 amp wire from the meter back to the closest place they can connect to a 50 amp service... So, it depends not only on the wiring cost from the meter to the trailer, but MAY also require a SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive "rewiring for several hundred additional feet....

I'd call a couple of electricians, get them to come out and give you an estimate, then determine if you want to go with the least expensive bid or ????? But right now, you're "hoping the wire to the meter is adequate and all y ou need to replace is from the meter to the trailer. You may find that you're going to need to "rewire half the campground" to get what you want .....

Don't tell someone to do the job until you KNOW what the job requires !!!!!

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 03:08 PM

That is precisely why I was asking here first! Lol. And it would only be a certified electrician because all I know is that the power comes from the holes!!! BAHAHAHA!!!

**sourdough** · 02-27-2024, 04:24 PM

John brings up an interesting point. Not knowing what this campground looks like I took a few things for granted not thinking about some of the "less than stellar" places I've stopped in. If the entire campground is only 30A I'm assuming it's old since most newer ones offer 50A? If that is the case the entire campground infrastructure might be "on the ropes" or marginal at best. Adding that new 50A loop (remember that a 50A RV service is actually 100amps) may put a strain, or overload, the segment where you are located. A local electrician will look from the meter to you. I would be contacting whoever handles the power company and ask them what that meter is connected back to and if it would support the additional load.

Just out of curiosity - can you not put the trailer at a place that has 50A? That may be a stupid question but sounds like you are about to pull the lids off a few cans to get this done and some of them may be full of worms.

totaljustice · 02-27-2024, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

John brings up an interesting point. Not knowing what this campground looks like I took a few things for granted not thinking about some of the "less than stellar" places I've stopped in. If the entire campground is only 30A I'm assuming it's old since most newer ones offer 50A? If that is the case the entire campground infrastructure might be "on the ropes" or marginal at best. Adding that new 50A loop (remember that a 50A RV service is actually 100amps) may put a strain, or overload, the segment where you are located. A local electrician will look from the meter to you. I would be contacting whoever handles the power company and ask them what that meter is connected back to and if it would support the additional load.

Just out of curiosity - can you not put the trailer at a place that has 50A? That may be a stupid question but sounds like you are about to pull the lids off a few cans to get this done and some of them may be full of worms.

Well moving is not outside the realm of possibility but my wife and I have been in this park for years and we both are really attached to it. If I can get away with doing this upgrade without breaking the bank then I'll do it but if the cost is prohibitive then we'll look at moving. The problem in the region where I live is that a lot of campgrounds either don't have 50 amp sites or the sites they have already have seasonal campers filling them up. We'll be getting the professionals in regardless and see what's what.

**JRTJH** · 02-28-2024, 08:15 AM

Kevin,

Keep us posted on what you find and if you decide to upgrade the electric service, post how the upgrade goes for you. The information may help someone else who is attempting a similar project, or even help someone in the same situation better understand what their campground has to do to help them out or even to understand the "why" decisions the campground has to make.....

totaljustice · 02-28-2024, 08:45 AM

Absolutely! And I just got a call from the owner this morning. He had an electrician out yesterday for something else and had him look at it. The wiring will apparently handle the upgrade so all I have to replace is the circuit breaker plug and housing. The owner said that he was going to take care of it and that I'll only have to pay for the parts. So I'm thrilled about that. I will update when it's done in a month!

**JRTJH** · 02-28-2024, 08:53 AM

Great news !!! Keep us posted on the upgrade...

**sourdough** · 02-28-2024, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totaljustice

Absolutely! And I just got a call from the owner this morning. He had an electrician out yesterday for something else and had him look at it. The wiring will apparently handle the upgrade so all I have to replace is the circuit breaker plug and housing. The owner said that he was going to take care of it and that I'll only have to pay for the parts. So I'm thrilled about that. I will update when it's done in a month!

Excellent! Keep up posted on the progress and how it works out. Hopefully it goes without a hitch and you can enjoy that full 50A....it's a big change.

totaljustice · 02-28-2024, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Excellent! Keep up posted on the progress and how it works out. Hopefully it goes without a hitch and you can enjoy that full 50A....it's a big change.

I hope so this monster has 3 air conditioners!

GlasNav · 02-28-2024, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totaljustice

I hope so this monster has 3 air conditioners!

I recommend installing soft starts on the three ACs, that will alleviate some of the surge loading on the electric supply / service.

The starting load is the killer, not the running load.

Figured you would have a nice cool ocean breeze, or are you too far inland from the coast?

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