New class A owner (Electrical cord)

One thing to remember is that voltage drop is not just dependent on the size of the cord (ie resistance of the wire) but also the current flowing through it at the time. At our stick house I have a 15 A outlet at the well which is fed via #8 ( it think) wire from the house some 200 feet away. Add to this the 50A cord from the rig and an 80' # 10 extension cord and the voltage at the rig is about 109 volts. Until I plug something in! If my batteries happen to be fairly well down and I activate the Xantrex inverter/charger it will sometime drop out due to low voltage esp if it is trying to charge at 65Amps or more.

voltage drop equals resistance (in ohms) of the wire for example times the current (in Amps) running through the wire.

For example: In a length of wire having 1 ohm resistance having a current of one amp will cause a one volt drop. The same one ohm resistance at 10 amps will cause a 10 volt drop and at 15 Amps a 15 volt drop. A few LED lights may be fine, running the AC would not.

Once again. Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm not going to be living in the coach and certainly not using any AC this time of year. I just wanted to have some power to the coach. I think I have the answers I was looking for.

Thanks J. Thanks to all who replied.

They tell you not to use extension cords because people will overload that. It's just liability warning. Kinda like they tell you not to eat the plastic on what ever appliance you get.

I use a 50 feet cord all the time and have been for years. The voltage is always perfect in the coach with not drop. Just remember not to use the higher amp stuff. That's where the problems start. I leave it plugged in so we can use the lights, vacuum and keep the batteries charged.

Seniorfirsttimer wrote:
I am a first time class A owner. I had a class C for 3 months and took only one trip in it. At home I pluged my 30 amp cable - with a 30 amp to 110v adapter and extention cord - into my shop outlets with no problems encountered. The book for my class A says do not use an extention cord. I'm not sure if they mean a 110 cord like I used before or an additional 50 amp cord or both.

What are my options with the class A while at home? I would like to do as I did before or at least run a 30' 50 amp extention with a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter to my shop outlets.

I hope this makes sense.

THey always say do not use an extension cord. And I normally support htis ..

First you said "110 cord" it is 120 volt and your 30 amp cord is 120 volt What you meant to say is a regular House type extension cord. And yes, those are bad news. I hope I do not forget to explain.

Use of a 30 amp extension cord (one) should not be a problem

The main problem is when plugged into a standard house type (15 or 15/20 amp) outlet you have not a lot of power there. So use of A/C may not happen if batteries are low (As an example) or you can't vacuum, or microwave and heat water or A/C at the same time.

Now standard cords.

"Zip Cords" (look like lamp cords) are usually 18 ga, some can be 20,, Not good for much at all.

Standard "Outdoor" type cords may well be 16 Ga (10 amp)

HD Outdoor cords are often 14 ga (15 amp)

12 GA outdoor cords can be found (I like the Sears/K-Mart ones with the lock button on the outlet) rated 20 amp. That is what I use when I have to. .. I don't use it often though.

Seniorfirsttimer wrote:
Jerry, what about a 30', 50 amp cord as sold by Camping World? It's the same large size as in the MH. It would double the length of the cord.

Time-to-go-now, it is a 50 amp and that is pretty much what I want to do but I would like to go down to a 15-20 amp cord. I have a 30 amp to 15-20 amp adapter. I could then use the 2 adapters together, 50 to 30 and 30 to 15/20. I just don't know why the book says no extension cords.

jhilley, could you expand on your reasoning.

Thanks to all.

You will minimize the problem the higher gauge wire you use. It would depend on how far you need to go. Minimize the length of cord maximize the size of wire and do what you have to do. Also minimize the power usage in the RV and remember that the charger in your converter or inverter will draw a lot of power if the batteries are low. The book says no extension cords because if they don't some people will have 300 feet of 15 amp cord and wonder why things are breaking. Normal length with low power usage and you should be ok. Good luck.

My house garage/outside plugs is wired with 8 120V plugs using 270' of 14 ga wire and a 15A CB. it meets code incredible as this seems.

Guess what happened the first time I tried to use my saw on that circuit.

I have a dedicated 20A plug in the garage for the tools and a 50A plug for the RV.

Be very aware that the typical 20A household plug is usually rated for 15A and it's one of many on a single 20A CB - Hence very easy to have low voltage especially with other loads on that circuit.

A dedicated 20A plug on a 20A CB is a step up. Next is a 30A RV plug and then the 50A plug.

Start considering installing a 50A plug. Sure it cost but then you won't have power restrictions.

You can use various cords as long as you reduce the loads so that the voltage remains in the 120V +-10%.

At my sons house I use 55' of 50A plus 50' of 30A for a 30A plug. But can only run one AC.

Other places I use the 50A 30' rig cord plus 60' of heavy house hold extension. No ACs on this connection. Plus I crank down the converter charge rate to 30% as otherwise it can draw 11A AC for bulk charging.

The mfg statement is there to protect people from themselves by overloading the cords and that is a reasonable thing to do.

Seniorfirsttimer wrote:
Jerry, what about a 30', 50 amp cord as sold by Camping World? It's the same large size as in the MH. It would double the length of the cord.

Time-to-go-now, it is a 50 amp and that is pretty much what I want to do but I would like to go down to a 15-20 amp cord. I have a 30 amp to 15-20 amp adapter. I could then use the 2 adapters together, 50 to 30 and 30 to 15/20. I just don't know why the book says no extension cords.

jhilley, could you expand on your reasoning.

Thanks to all.

I think the following posts have explained it, but you want to limit voltage drop and make sure the extension cord doesn't get too hot. As long as you don't over load it for long periods of time, a 12 gauge extension should be fine at 50' or even 100'.