30a cord extension, how much is to much?

[thirtydaZe]

I bought a 50' extension to get power down my driveway to the street. Wanting to be able to run my air.

Anyhow i got to thinking, leaving it on the driveway will create a situation where it will potentially have to be run over by my wifes car.

Another cord i could go around the driveway. Will this all be to much cord?

Like i said id like to be able to run the ac when im prepping for a trip.

[CA_Traveler]

Well not dumb at all but rather a reasonable choice. And now a smart choice would be to get the 2 50A 30' cords. You will definitely have more voltage to the AC.

And down the road with the second AC you'll be lusting for the 50A garage plug...:C

[thirtydaZe]

CA Traveler wrote:
I use 2 1x2 boards to protect the 30A cord at my son's house.

50' or even longer of 30A cord may be OK with 1 AC. It really depends upon what your house voltage is normally. I use 50' of 50A plus 50' of 30A at my sons house and it's OK with one AC but not so when it's hot.

But do your self a favor and install a 50A plug and buy 50A cord. In the long run you will thank yourself since you have a 50A rig. And yes someday I may do the same at my son's house.

Wish i had done 50a in the garage now. I was going to do 50a, then opted for 30a for whatever reason.

The TT we are trading is 50a, so just a dumb decision on my part.

[CA_Traveler]

Or buy 50A cord for the future plug update. $69 for the 30A or 2x50A 30' each for $180.

[CA_Traveler]

I use 2 1x2 boards to protect the 30A cord at my son's house.

50' or even longer of 30A cord may be OK with 1 AC. It really depends upon what your house voltage is normally. I use 50' of 50A plus 50' of 30A at my sons house and it's OK with one AC but not so when it's hot.

But do your self a favor and install a 50A plug and buy 50A cord. In the long run you will thank yourself since you have a 50A rig. And yes someday I may do the same at my son's house.

[Dakzuki]

Bmach wrote:
What is wrong with running it over? That should not hurt the cord at all.

Running over cords eventually wears them out internally. The individual strands of wire get broken and can even penetrate the insulation. At the very least broken strands begin to limit the current capacity of the wire.

Parking on top of a power cord is in invitation to start a fire. The cord can easily overheat under the tire.

[thirtydaZe]

Thanks for all the geeat ideas to start with, i wouldnt have thought about 2x4's at the runover spot.

We are trading our TT which ive been parking in our driveway for years. With our new one, we'll be out of driveway, and i just feel our drive is to steep to park safely. Camper is to long anyhow.

So i stepped it off, and ill need more than the 50' in the first place.

I'd like to be running AC, Fridge and lights, on the extension.

Camper is 50a, am adding an ac unit, but will only need to run one of them.

My plan now is, route the cord along the wall in the garage, run the cord down the drive, into the camper.

I guess the main question now, will at be to much cord? Sounds like it should be fine. Cord is #10.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004809YBE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

[time2roll]

100' of #10 wire should be fine. Or did you just grab a thin cord made for holiday lights?

[Bmach]

What is wrong with running it over? That should not hurt the cord at all.

[ScottG]

A couple of 1X4's would be thick enough and not so hard to drive over IMO.

[Matt_Colie]

Thirty

While Trackrig is a good answer a better one is to get a friend with a table saw to take that 2x4 and cut a dado all the way down for the cord. Then rip the corners off at a 45.

I do this all the time for cords and hoses in boat yards. Saves a lot.

Matt

[Trackrig]

If it won't fit in the driveway, the cheapest solution is to put the cord, where she'll drive over it, between two 2X4s x 8'. You should have a couple in the garage someplace.

Bill

[DrewE]

If you're basically running just the air conditioner, I don't think you'd run into any significant problems. You can have a pretty long run of 10 gauge wire for a 15A or so load without undue voltage drop. The ideal answer would be to measure the voltage and see what sort of a drop you get in practice.

If you're running the air conditioner and the fridge and the water heater and a vacuum cleaner...well, that could be more troublesome.

I take it that it's not possible to put the RV in the driveway while prepping it and parking the cars on the street? That would seem to me to be the best and easiest solution all around if it's doable.