Proper Power Receptacle For Home?

[longislandcampe]

We always kept the TT in storage but now keep it in our side yard. We use the 30a to15a dogbone but we will be having the proper receptacle put in place so we don’t have to bother with extension cords and adapters anymore.

We currently have a 30a TT but will be upgrading to a larger one when the kids are out of daycare, but that’s still like 4 years away.

Our electrician is a camper so I’m confident in his work but I don’t want to bother him until we are ready for the work.

Let’s say we wanted to have a 30a and a 50a receptacle installed. We would use the 30 now and the 50 when we finally upgrade down the road. Would we need a dedicated 50a line AND a dedicated 30a line run to their respective receptacles by the camper? Or would we only need one dedicated 50a line and then they’d splice the line behind the receptacles to feed the 50a and the 30a receptacles? We wouldn’t be using the 50a and the 30a at the same time.

We do have a 50a to 30a dogbone just in case the 30a receptacle at the campground is down.

[wa8yxm]

longislandcamper wrote:
Thanks everyone. Just had a new 50a receptacle put in at the back side of the house this morning. I think that’s the right decision for our needs.

Good choice.. RV's come in 3 power feeds
Some very small trailers w/o AC 15/20 amp
Larger units with A/C 30 amp
And 50 amp
That unit with the proper adapter can feed ... all the above.

[longislandcampe]

Thanks everyone. Just had a new 50a receptacle put in at the back side of the house this morning. I think that’s the right decision for our needs.

[AllegroD]

pianotuna wrote:
Wire and install a 50 amp. Use a 50 to 30 dog bone.

+1 more for this. Simple, flexible and most cost effective.

[Bobbo]

wnjj wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
Our confusion stems from this quote:

pianotuna wrote:
Even though I've a 30 amp service I chose to create a "break out" box.

When, in fact, you have a 50 amp service and you are plugging in a breakout box with a 30 amp and multiple 20 amp outlets.

While probably not the correct terminology, I read it to mean the RV has a 30A service input (I.e. shore power cord), likely because it’s the only thing that made the rest of the comments make sense.

True. But, the accepted terminology is for the term "service" to refer to the receptacle. It is the receptacle that is providing the "service." Hence, the confusion. A 30 amp service does not have 2 legs.

[wnjj]

Bobbo wrote:
Our confusion stems from this quote:

pianotuna wrote:
Even though I've a 30 amp service I chose to create a "break out" box.

When, in fact, you have a 50 amp service and you are plugging in a breakout box with a 30 amp and multiple 20 amp outlets.

While probably not the correct terminology, I read it to mean the RV has a 30A service input (I.e. shore power cord), likely because it’s the only thing that made the rest of the comments make sense.

[Bobbo]

Our confusion stems from this quote:

pianotuna wrote:
Even though I've a 30 amp service I chose to create a "break out" box.

When, in fact, you have a 50 amp service and you are plugging in a breakout box with a 30 amp and multiple 20 amp outlets.

[pianotuna]

Stir,

Yes.

I'm often where there are multiple 15 amp shore power plugs. That gives me 45 amps to play with because there are 2 auxiliary shore power cords, in addition to the OEM 30 amp.

I have a male plug for my water heater which can be run on the 15 or 20 amp aux plug,

I have a male plug for the converter.

I have extra outlets inside the RV on both sides of the bed

I have a dedicated inverter powered plug in the kitchen. That way I can use the induction cooker, microwave and a toaster at the same time. (on different circuits).

It takes about 4100 watts with a peak of 7000 to keep the RV warm when temperatures are in the -30 range. Coldest trip was -37 c (-34 f).

My preference is for oil filled heaters. I do have one fan based and one radiant heater.

When I'm at a campground I use the break out box on a 50 amp site.

[StirCrazy]

pianotuna wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
So, you ARE plugging your "break out box" into a 50 amp, 120/240v outlet?

Yes

so, can you run the other outlets at the same time? or did you run separate feeds for the 120 side? you post made it sound like you're running the 50 amp and 120 heaters, which I guess could be handled if you're not running AC's haha

[pianotuna]

Bobbo wrote:
So, you ARE plugging your "break out box" into a 50 amp, 120/240v outlet?

Yes

[Bobbo]

So, you ARE plugging your "break out box" into a 50 amp, 120/240v outlet?

[pianotuna]

StirCrazy wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
Are you trying to say you ran a 4 wire, 120/240v circuit to a box, and put a 30 amp RV on one leg and other outlets on the other leg? Because, if so, merely saying you have a 30 amp RV service does not convey that information. As a matter of fact, the phrase "30 amp RV service" strongly implies a 3 wire, 120v installation, not having 2 legs.

I do believe that's what he is saying, but He ran a three wire, you don't count the ground. normal house is two wire, 240V is three wire, I know it's weird ha-ha

No.

I use a 'break out box' that has a 50 male plug, and a 30 amp female on one leg and twin 20 amp female on the other leg. Each outlet has its own breaker.

I do have a total of 3 shore power cords. The OEM 30, a 20, and a 15. I used them during extreme heat and extreme cold.

I used to do "double conversion" when there was only a 15 amp shore power outlet. I plugged in only the converter to shore power, and then plugged in the OEM shore power cord into a 2500 watt Cobra inverter (rated for use with electric motors).

[StirCrazy]

longislandcamper wrote:
We always kept the TT in storage but now keep it in our side yard. We use the 30a to15a dogbone but we will be having the proper receptacle put in place so we don’t have to bother with extension cords and adapters anymore.

We currently have a 30a TT but will be upgrading to a larger one when the kids are out of daycare, but that’s still like 4 years away.

Our electrician is a camper so I’m confident in his work but I don’t want to bother him until we are ready for the work.

Let’s say we wanted to have a 30a and a 50a receptacle installed. We would use the 30 now and the 50 when we finally upgrade down the road. Would we need a dedicated 50a line AND a dedicated 30a line run to their respective receptacles by the camper? Or would we only need one dedicated 50a line and then they’d splice the line behind the receptacles to feed the 50a and the 30a receptacles? We wouldn’t be using the 50a and the 30a at the same time.

We do have a 50a to 30a dogbone just in case the 30a receptacle at the campground is down.

when I did my renos I installed two of these. one is for when my parents visit. I like the idea of a 50amp outlet that way if you buy a different rv later your not limited. a 50 to 30 adapter is cheep.

[StirCrazy]

Bobbo wrote:
Are you trying to say you ran a 4 wire, 120/240v circuit to a box, and put a 30 amp RV on one leg and other outlets on the other leg? Because, if so, merely saying you have a 30 amp RV service does not convey that information. As a matter of fact, the phrase "30 amp RV service" strongly implies a 3 wire, 120v installation, not having 2 legs.

I do believe that's what he is saying, but He ran a three wire, you don't count the ground. normal house is two wire, 240V is three wire, I know it's weird ha-ha

[Bobbo]

Are you trying to say you ran a 4 wire, 120/240v circuit to a box, and put a 30 amp RV on one leg and other outlets on the other leg? Because, if so, merely saying you have a 30 amp RV service does not convey that information. As a matter of fact, the phrase "30 amp RV service" strongly implies a 3 wire, 120v installation, not having 2 legs.