Hi All,We are going to our daughters for Christmas (Panama City Fl.) in the motorhome. We will mainly be sleeping in the coach. I will have to park about a 100' from the house. I want to plug into the house (probable 15 amp) My RV is 50 amp and I have a 25' cord. I also have a 25' 30 Amp extension cord. So I need another 50'. I am thinking of making a 50' extension from exterior romex (12/2) wire with a 30 amp plug on one end a standard house hold plug on the other end. This will be cheaper than buying another 50' of RV cord. Way cheaper.I am aware that I will only have limited power, but we only will be running a few lights and maybe the TV a bit. I want to avoid using the generator.Any thoughts or other ideas.Thanks as always

Assuming you do not plan on running the A/C and for a one time thing, I don't see anything wrong with your plan. Shouldn't be much voltage drop, even if they happen to have a 20 amp circuit available. Might even be able to run the A/C if they have 20 amp, and you run very little else.

I would get 75 feet of 12/2 w/ground. Install a 15/20 amp cord body and install a 50 amp cord body. This would eliminate the use of the 30 amp cord. Why? Every connection whether it be a cod body or terminations can create problems.As you stated, you will need to manage power usage by shutting off 120 volt water heater, if equipped and running most appliances on propane.

I would not go to all of that trouble. For less than $30 you can buy a 12/3 outdoor extension cord from Amazon. Romex does not lay flat and is a PIA to roll up afterwards. With an extension cord you can roll it up when you are finished and keep it for the next time it is needed. 50' extension cordOf course you could also buy the 100' cord and eliminate all connections.

I think you are off by a long way. 100 foot run at say 20 amp max draw would required a 10 gauge wire and you would only have 114 volt at the end. I did not use your motor home wire since wire size is unknown.

The power drop will be fine for a few lights and a TV. These items have a wide range of acceptable voltage swings. You might have a problem with high draw items like a compressor but even with a lower voltage an electric space heater would be OK also.

Extension cords | Good Sam Community

33 Replies

rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Dec 09, 2019
I would not go to all of that trouble. For less than $30 you can buy a 12/3 outdoor extension cord from Amazon. Romex does not lay flat and is a PIA to roll up afterwards. With an extension cord you can roll it up when you are finished and keep it for the next time it is needed.
50' extension cord
Of course you could also buy the 100' cord and eliminate all connections.
enblethen
Nomad
Dec 09, 2019
I would get 75 feet of 12/2 w/ground. Install a 15/20 amp cord body and install a 50 amp cord body. This would eliminate the use of the 30 amp cord. Why? Every connection whether it be a cod body or terminations can create problems.
As you stated, you will need to manage power usage by shutting off 120 volt water heater, if equipped and running most appliances on propane.
BB_TX
Nomad
Dec 09, 2019
Assuming you do not plan on running the A/C and for a one time thing, I don't see anything wrong with your plan. Shouldn't be much voltage drop, even if they happen to have a 20 amp circuit available. Might even be able to run the A/C if they have 20 amp, and you run very little else.

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Extension cords

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