Electrical upgrades

Housted wrote:

myredracer wrote:

.....

Code requires 30 & 50 amp connections to be at the left rear on all RVs but not an issue for a 20 amp one.

What code is this???

Housted

NEC article 551 which covers electrical requirements for an RV as well as RV park wiring.

myredracer wrote:

.....

Code requires 30 & 50 amp connections to be at the left rear on all RVs but not an issue for a 20 amp one.

What code is this???

Housted

Lynnmor wrote:

MrWizard wrote:

Forty years ago, when I was doing new home, new apartment wiring
We ran dual circuits on the kitchen outlets

We ran 3 Wire with grd, aka the romex had two hots a red a black , white neutral and grd

We split the outlets, aka broke the tab on the hot side
One half on the red, other half on the black

I don't know why RV Mfg don't use this

I believe the code was changed about 40 years ago, and that method is no longer permitted. Correct me if I am wrong.

I think it's still theoretically permissible, provided the two circuits are on a dual-pole (ganged) circuit breaker so they trip simultaneously and the one breaker handle shuts off the power to all the outlets. It is important that the two hot circuits not be on the same leg so as to avoid overloading the neutral wire, which is also generally guaranteed by the two pole breaker.

In practice, it would be very difficult to do in as much as you need both GFCI and AFCI protection for kitchen circuits, and while there are GFCI two-pole breakers available and AFCI two-pole breakers available, there are no dual-function GFCI and AFCI two-pole breakers available that I've been able to find in a quick google search. Separate outlet-style GFCIs would not work due to the shared neutral throughout the run. I guess one could have an AFCI breaker in the main panel and a separate little breaker box for the circuit with a GFCI breaker, but at that point it's almost certainly less expensive to just run two completely separate circuits anyhow....

MrWizard wrote:

Forty years ago, when I was doing new home, new apartment wiring
We ran dual circuits on the kitchen outlets

We ran 3 Wire with grd, aka the romex had two hots a red a black , white neutral and grd

We split the outlets, aka broke the tab on the hot side
One half on the red, other half on the black

I don't know why RV Mfg don't use this

I believe the code was changed about 40 years ago, and that method is no longer permitted. Correct me if I am wrong.

The kitchen is the most over used spot in the RV, or stick home

Forty years ago, when I was doing new home, new apartment wiring
We ran dual circuits on the kitchen outlets

We ran 3 Wire with grd, aka the romex had two hots a red a black , white neutral and grd

We split the outlets, aka broke the tab on the hot side
One half on the red, other half on the black

I don't know why RV Mfg don't use this

Yes some other item like the fridge or converter would needs be attached to these split circuits, because of the circuit number limit in the 30 amp service

It would be even be good for 50 amp RVs
Toasters, coffee makers, induction cookers, need a few design changes to go with the user imposed power management,

The RV 50 amp wiring is the same as regular household. An electric stove connects to the same outlet as a 50 amp RV land line.

Last year I spent 1 day changing out my 30amp panel and cable to a 50amp setup. It was the best thing I have ever done to my trailer. I no longer have to worry about power management issues and if I choose to add a second a/c I will have the power to do so. The parts needed to do it came to about $300.

If you plan on keeping your trailer long term I recommend you gather all the parts needed for the changeover and do it.

You could run some of those high amp appliances with a 2000w inverter while on shore power for the other things, and the converter would recharge the batts in the meantime between running those high inverter loads. That way you can stay with the 30 amp.

Means you need a big enough AH battery bank to run the big inverter for the time it takes.

stew47 wrote:
Well the coffee maker, griddle, and toaster keeps tripping breaker. Completely understandable right? I see some upgrades in the future. Either moving a circuit to its own breaker or breakers. I see a spot to add one. Has anyone done this or even switch everything to 50amp 220? Had better luck with low amp draw appliances?

Yes people swap in a 50a panel. Only hard part would be pulling new wire through inaccessible areas.

NEC only allows five branch circuits on a 30 amp RV panel. Mine has seven ;)

If it is the branch circuit tripping (not the main) it could help to move things around or plug into a different branch. Our griddle goes over two burners of the propane cooktop.

agesilaus wrote:
50 amp is not 220 VAC. It's 2 30 amp 120 VAC circuits

Better check your main breakers again.
While you are at it, measure the voltage L1 to L2.