A little help for the electrically challenged

[Peteandsharon]

Hey all,

When I bring the Bighorn back to the house I have the usual problems with plugging into our home's shore power. I use 50 to 30 to 15 amp adapters and then have to worry about tripping circuit breakers. So, I'm having a guy come over next Friday to let me know what it would cost to install a 50 amp box outside the garage so that I can plug directly into that. Having said that, has anyone done a similar thing recently? If so, could you give me a rough idea of what I might expect to pay for the hardware involved? I'm assuming maybe a weather proof box with a 50 amp outlet and a couple of 20's and all the hardware involved in running that about 50 feet to the main circuit box. Also, could someone please help me understand what the 50 amp circuit is all about? Is it 2 separate 120 volt circuits or is it 250 volts? How does the 50 amp circuit differ from the 30 amp? Obviously the capacity is different but how do you get there? I feel a little dumb asking these questions but I want to make sure I have enough information to answer any questions the electrician may ask me.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[SouthernNights]

You have 240 going into the trailer. 2 hots (120) a neutral and a ground. It is wired essentially the same as a house.
I added a 50 amp circuit for my trailer. Material was about $80.00. If I had my electrician do it he probably would have charged 100.00 or so. Of course, labor charges are different depending where you live.

 

[klindgren]

I don't remember what I paid to have two 30 amp boxes added, one at the house and one at the car port where I keep the trailer in the off season, but I think it was around $400 for everything including the electrician. I had it done several years ago when I had a tag-a-long (SOB) with 30 amp hookup. Can't believe the 50 amp would be that much more expensive. Hindsight being as good as it is, I wish I would have thought several years ahead and had 50 amp installed instead of 30s.

But I don't really need the 50 at the house, I only run one AC and can get by with 30 amp.

Keith

 

[Pulltab]

Hey all,

Also, could someone please help me understand what the 50 amp circuit is all about? Is it 2 separate 120 volt circuits or is it 250 volts? How does the 50 amp circuit differ from the 30 amp? Obviously the capacity is different but how do you get there? I feel a little dumb asking these questions but I want to make sure I have enough information to answer any questions the electrician may ask me.

Thanks,

Pete

In reality it is 60 amps, 30 amps on each line going into the rv. Unlike what is in your house which the 2 legs are used to obtain 220 volts. In your rig the 2 line voltages stay separate. No breaker access both lines in an rv, in a house it bridges both lines to get the higher voltage

 

[TXBobcat]

One question.. Why go to a 50amp. If you are using it at home will you need 2 A/C's?

I installed a 30amp at our old S&B and it ran one A/C and the Refier if needed. But you could use a couple of electric heaters with thermostats to keep the inside and belly warm in the winter if needed.

FWIW
BC

 

[lhetsler]

Electrical Challenge

Be careful some electricians have been known to think RVs are 220/240 and they are not. They need two isolated 110 lines. Many people have had this done at their home and hooked and fried every appliance in their RV because the electrician hooked up for 220/240. Make sure the guy has some experience with RVs and knows what he is doing.

 

[klindgren]

Be careful some electricians have been known to think RVs are 220/240 and they are not. They need two isolated 110 lines. Many people have had this done at their home and hooked and fried every appliance in their RV because the electrician hooked up for 220/240. Make sure the guy has some experience with RVs and knows what he is doing.

That's right. What my electrican did was to take the 220 line and split it. One phase goes to the box at the house and the second phase goes to the box at the carport. that way, if needed I could run two 30 amp camper hook-ups at the same time without blowing fuses. Had to do that a couple of years ago and it worked great.

 

[SouthernNights]

Be careful some electricians have been known to think RVs are 220/240 and they are not. They need two isolated 110 lines. Many people have had this done at their home and hooked and fried every appliance in their RV because the electrician hooked up for 220/240. Make sure the guy has some experience with RVs and knows what he is doing.

I did not mean to imply that that the trailer runs off of 240.
Thanks Les for pointing that out.
The legs are split at the 50 amp double breaker inside the trailer.

 

[porthole]

If you have not done the work yet then why not just ad the 50?

When I did mine I had a TT with a 30. Never considered we would be going bigger (should have known since we are into boats and motorcycles )

Installing the 30 was relatively easy, our house is a ranch and I had an old dryer 240 50 amp line right inside where I needed to put my receptacle.

Unfortunately for me a "dryer" 50 amp is not the same as a RV 50.

Now we have a "bigger" trailer ordered and the thing from stopping me from changing over is having to go through the wire runs and purchase of 80' of new wire.

As for your electrician not knowing how to hook up the box .....
If you buy an RV power outlet like this

http://www.tweetys.com/poweroutlet50amp.aspx

or like this

http://www.tweetys.com/poweroutlet80ampw50acircuitbreakerandgfir.aspx

explicit instructions are included.

The cost of the plain 30 or 50 box is about the same.
The cost of the wire will not be that much different.

Why not do it right the first time. Once having the proper connection at your house you will be glad you did.

BTW, I also added a sewer hook up at the same time, glad I did that too. I use a pump from the trailer to the house. Never have to worry about cleaning the tank completely when we leave the campsite or holding up traffic at a dump site.

 

[porthole]

I did not mean to imply that that the trailer runs off of 240.
Thanks Les for pointing that out.
The legs are split at the 50 amp double breaker inside the trailer.

Curious as I don't have mine yet.
But are the legs split in the trailer or at the service panel?
Just guessing but I would think the split is at the panel, 2 hots, a neutral and ground from the panel to the RV.


Boats have both. We call them either a "big 50" or little "50".
Big 50 = 50 amp 250 volt
Little 50 = 50 amp 125 volt.

When buying shore power cords for these the difference is quite a bit.

 

[Jimmyt5]

Was at a RV dealer one day and he just came back from delivering a Motorhome to a women that had a guy come out and wire her up. All the 110 stuff in the coach was fried from a wrong install by a Pro....

 

[itsbeertime]

I *just* had a 30 amp box put in. $300 with approx 50' of wire. Of course where I live as soon as you tell anyone the town they jack the price up.

Why 30 and not 50? I only have the one A/C and even if we add a second I have no need to run both A/C's while loading and unloading the trailer.

 

[porthole]

I *just* had a 30 amp box put in. $300 with approx 50' of wire. Of course where I live as soon as you tell anyone the town they jack the price up.

Funny. When we first moved to our current house (kind of an "uppity" town at the time) the first thing I would tell anyone who came out for estimates was "hey - just because I live in a nice neighborhood doesn't mean I am wealthy" "I work hard for my money and I bought a house that needs work because I want to live in a nice area.

Why 30 and not 50? I only have the one A/C and even if we add a second I have no need to run both A/C's while loading and unloading the trailer.

Why not? If you have a 50 amp cord then you won't need any adapters and the door for the outlet will close. And the cost should not be that much different to do it from scratch.

I'm sure as the kids are getting older (and 2-3 married) it will only be a matter of time before the grand kids want to stay over "in the camper"

 

[Peteandsharon]

Les,

You hit the nail right on the head. My main reason for posting this thread was the fact that I wanted to know enough about this setup so that I could keep the electrician from doing something stupid. My fear was that he would assume it was exactly the same as a household 50 amp and I didn't know whether it was or wasn't. So just to make sure I'm clear on this, what exactly feeds the 50 amp box? Is it two separate 30 amp circuits? Is there, in fact, a 50 amp breaker and if so, how does that work with 3 30 amp feeds. Sorry for the dumb questions but there is a reason I'm not wiring this myself.

Thanks,
Pete

ps. I do intend to touch base with the electrician before he comes over to make sure they have some experience with RV hookups.

 

[itsbeertime]

Funny. When we first moved to our current house (kind of an "uppity" town at the time) the first thing I would tell anyone who came out for estimates was "hey - just because I live in a nice neighborhood doesn't mean I am wealthy" "I work hard for my money and I bought a house that needs work because I want to live in a nice area.

Yeah, the worst part is we don't actually live in the "town", we're just outside of it in the county, but it's still known as an "upscale" area so no matter what you get ripped off. Really ticks me off.

Why not? If you have a 50 amp cord then you won't need any adapters and the door for the outlet will close. And the cost should not be that much different to do it from scratch.

I'm sure as the kids are getting older (and 2-3 married) it will only be a matter of time before the grand kids want to stay over "in the camper"

The 50 amp cord doesn't reach to where I wanted the box (that would have involved digging a trench and probably another few hundred $$ for labor, wire and conduit) so I still need a 30 to 50 pigtail and I use my old 30 amp extension cord to plug into the box. So... and my kids are teens and there aren't any grandkids in the foreseeable future for sure.

 

[SouthernNights]

Curious as I don't have mine yet.
But are the legs split in the trailer or at the service panel?
Just guessing but I would think the split is at the panel, 2 hots, a neutral and ground from the panel to the RV.


Boats have both. We call them either a "big 50" or little "50".
Big 50 = 50 amp 250 volt
Little 50 = 50 amp 125 volt.

When buying shore power cords for these the difference is quite a bit.

At the breaker. One leg feeds one side of the double 50 and the other leg feeds the other side of the double 50.

Disconnect the power from your trailer, remove the four screws on the breaker panel and it will become very clear how it is done.
You will see one hot feeding one side of the double 50 and one bar, the second hot feeding the other side and a seperate bar.
There is also a neutral bar and ground bar.

 

[D2Wilsn]

50 AMP - cost

We ran a 50 amp line out about 85 feet from the house just this last weekend. We paid for materials only, as we have a friend who is an electrician (owns an RV) and it cost us about $300 just for materials. Now we have a 50 amp box on one side of the pole and 110 on the other. Both outlets are in weatherproof boxes.

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

Put in the 50 amp box and be done with it. You then can use both ac units when somebody wants to spend the night in the rv.

 

[Peteandsharon]

Well, I went out and purchased a single outlet box from Tweetys which is supposed to come today. Then I had an electrician come in this morning to give me an estimate on installing the box on the side of the garage. Estimate was around $1500. I DON'T THINK SO!!! Not sure what the next step is going to be but it won't be that.

 

[jbeletti]

Pete,

Time for another quote! I installed a 30 amp RV outlet at my Mom's house a couple months back and I think it cost me about $250 in parts. That included a 30 amp breaker, a 30 amp RV receptacle/box and about 65 feet of 10/3 wire plus some misc. stuff.

Now, I performed all the labor as I have the skills to do so. I suppose it was maybe 3 hours of labor. So call it $500 in savings.

If you are doing a 50 amp circuit, depending on the length of the run, you may be using heavier, therefore more expensive wire, a more expensive breaker etc. Perhaps the quote you got included conduit as well. That's going to be more money if it's required by your local code.

Best of luck.

Jim