Extension cord for shore power

The cord came today. I'm very impressed with the heavy connectors and overall build quality. It arrived fast, too. I'll report in a few weeks on how it did.

legolas wrote:

2oldman wrote:

Drum wrote:
Thanks, believe it or not, I didn't think of Walmart. Do you see any problem with doubling them up for 50' or 75'? Can it be too long?

It should be ok, with good solid connections and decent cabling, but beware of Walmart products.

A lot will depend on how much amperage you're drawing.

What Walmart product? It's a CAMCO product, not made by Walmart...the same product sold by Camping World....Geez. And at Camping World you have the privilege of paying $10 more plus shipping, and that's on sale at CW. Normally you'd get to pay an extra $20 for it at CW....very cool. So I guess now I have to beware of the Coors Light at Walmart too. I'd be inclined to beware of many other places before Walmart. I've never had a problem with returning something I wasn't satisfied with to Walmart but I can't say that about all the retailers I have dealt with.

Better stay away from the Reese towing stuff there also. It's all probably cheap knock-offs and not very reliable

2oldman wrote:

Drum wrote:
Thanks, believe it or not, I didn't think of Walmart. Do you see any problem with doubling them up for 50' or 75'? Can it be too long?

It should be ok, with good solid connections and decent cabling, but beware of Walmart products.

A lot will depend on how much amperage you're drawing.

What Walmart product? It's a CAMCO product, not made by Walmart...the same product sold by Camping World....Geez. And at Camping World you have the privilege of paying $10 more plus shipping, and that's on sale at CW. Normally you'd get to pay an extra $20 for it at CW....very cool. So I guess now I have to beware of the Coors Light at Walmart too. I'd be inclined to beware of many other places before Walmart. I've never had a problem with returning something I wasn't satisfied with to Walmart but I can't say that about all the retailers I have dealt with.

Atlee wrote:
I think I'd prefer two 25' extentions, rather than one 50' extention. There will be times when you need an extention, but not nearly 50' worth.

Yeah, maybe I should have thought through that some more, but I doubt I'll be using this anywhere else but at this house. I'm not an expert on this, but my thinking also was that fewer connections laying out in the weather would be better.

I think I'd prefer two 25' extentions, rather than one 50' extention. There will be times when you need an extention, but not nearly 50' worth.

Drum wrote:
I just clicked on the Camco 50' 30 amp power cable from Amazon. It was less than $70.00 delivered and should be here Friday. Thanks.

Drum, I ijustnstalled a 30A rv receptacle at my place. It was really easy. If you have the time. A few bucks and some basic knowledge on how your place is wired. I'd install one.... Just speaking from experience.

I isolated a circuit. Made sure the wires were good. Installed a single pole breaker and Badda bing.

Well, at this point it is what it is. I'll use the cable I ordered for 4 days and systematically turn stuff off if it causes a problem with anything. rv.net, Camco , and Amazon to the rescue. Thanks!

Even if you plug into a 15A circuit using a 30-15 adapter, the circuit is going to be protected by the 15A breaker, so my concern is not overloading the cord. My concern is the voltage drop over that much length and the effects of extended running of an inductive load under those conditions.

My digitally controlled marine equipment shuts off on low voltage after sensing 103V for a specified period of time. I personally think that's too low, but I'm not an engineer, so I suppose they know what the compressor will stand. I like to see at least a steady 107V and if it's less than that, I start shedding loads. I think that over a length of cable run we're talking about here, you are going to have to go with a pretty heavy cord, and at that distance, I think I would even go with a 10 gauge cord, even though it's only 15A.

If all you can access is a 15 amp receptacle for your extension cord, it is what it is and you have to work with it.....

Notwithstanding voltage drop issues, you should be able to run your AC, TV and lights. If you wanted to run a toaster, coffee maker, etc., all you would need to do is shut the AC off while the appliances are on. No big deal.

If I were you, I would take a voltmeter and check the source voltage that you are plugging into. If it is low there, then it will be even lower inside your RV. If low enough, it could damage your AC. Even if the source voltage *seems* okay, sometimes you can have a long branch circuit run from the main panel to the receptacle which will result in voltage drop. Then you would have an extension cord plus your 30 amp shore power cord. You could easily be looking at 150`or more, which can result in too low a voltage at the RV panel.

I would go with a heavy duty 15 amp extension cord that has 12 gauge wire. A 25 foot long one would be a good idea to keep in your trailer. You can use it for plugging something into the exterior recept. on the RV or as an extension cord cord for your 30 amp cord along with an adapter. You could also carry a 25 foot 30 amp extension cord in your RV (assuming the extra weight is okay for you). One day you may find yourself at a campsite and your standard RV cord won`t reach.

You might consider a hard-start capacitor and relay. Lot's of info. available via google like this for example: AC unit capacitor and relay

One tip I`d like to add is never, ever plug your RV cord into anything unless the source power is turned off. This can be the cg pedestal breaker or the one in the house panel. If you plug in live, you will hear a snap, crackle and pop, and in the dark, see a flash. This is inrush current to the invertor and if you do it often enough, you will burn out a plug and/or receptacle. It causes pitting of the contacts which ends up increasing contact resistance. I have burned out a couple of inexpensive (ie., cheap) extension cords at home by being too lazy to turn off the breaker. I had one laying in the driveway that almost caught fire except that someone noticed it smoking away..... If you can`t avoid doing this, use a 30/15 amp adapter on your RV cord and a 15/15 amp adapter on the extension cord which will be sacrificial. We now have a full 30 amp receptacle in our carport fed by #8 (50A) gauge wire for most of the way to the panel and a disconnect switch in the carport.

Drum wrote:
I did order the 30 amp Camco 50' RV cord.

The AC will certainly be your gating factor. Regardless of the ex. cord being used, you will only be able to push 15A, maybe 20A, off the standard house circuit (depends if a 15A or 20A circuit). It certainly will help to have the 10g cord you ordered to make sure you don't have a V drop, which would ultimately lead to fewer Amps with an improper ex. cord. If you have run your AC off a standard house circuit (15A) in the past, then your AC must be a smaller one and not pull a lot of Amps, <15A.

Good luck and you may want to find out what else is connected on the house circuit and disconnect those devices so you don't trip the circuit. BTW, this house circuit is a proper 15A with a circuit breaker?