Electrical

[asherl33]

My 30 amp trailer wont handle all my appliances. Want to run a wire with male plug from the out door post to a receptacle inside the trailer.( to be installed) What type of wire should I use? Thanks

[2oldman]

Need OP.

[Bob_Landry]

Bumpyroad wrote:

sh410 wrote:
An extension cord with a male plug on both ends is called a "suicide cord". Very dangerous

I didn't conclude that he was planning on doing that. he wants to run a cord plugged into the post to an outlet in the RV.
bumpy

That's exactly what I concluded that he meant. Maybe it's terminology but power cords from the power pedestal plug into inlets, not outlets. The pedestals have outlets. It may be nit-picking, but it makes a difference when asking a question or solving a problem. If he's talking about a double male cord and plugging it into a wall outlet in the trailer, that's a no-no because there's already voltage on the outlet. I think this would be a mod better suited for someone with a working knowledge of shore power systems.

There are safe ways to do it. I installed a second 30A service, but most people don't want to go to the trouble to do that. He can also run 20A cord into the trailer, but to be safe it should be circuit breaker protected and sized with the appropriate wire. I also did that and I have a total of 80A of available power. Either way, a sub panel needs to be installed to protect the wiring both from the pedestal and inside the trailer.

The most simplistic approach would be to run a 20A extension cord into the trailer to plug an appliance into.

[time2roll]

Get a power inlet and a #12 wire extension cord. Short piece of #12 romex to the added outlet and you are good to go.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I run two auxiliary shore power cords. One is for the water heater, one is for the converter. Both additional "circuits" have outlets so I can run extra electric heat.

I would use #12 wire.

I also have a "break out" box so I can plug into a 50 amp pedestal. This gives me a 30 amp on one leg and twin 20 amps on the other. Each has their own breaker. (i.e. one 30 and two 20 amp breakers).

[Bumpyroad]

sh410 wrote:
An extension cord with a male plug on both ends is called a "suicide cord". Very dangerous

I didn't conclude that he was planning on doing that. he wants to run a cord plugged into the post to an outlet in the RV.
bumpy

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[2oldman]

#12

[RoyB]

I just ran a 25-foot HD yellow extension cord out thru the pass-thru area and plugged into the pedestal 20AMP service. 12-3 I think it is...

Then I plug both my oil-filled portable electric heaters into it. I never run my heaters full blast - usually set it between 3-4 on one heat zone.

Roy Ken

[sh410]

An extension cord with a male plug on both ends is called a "suicide cord". Very dangerous

[fla-gypsy]

Depends on what you intend to run with it, how far it will travel, and what amp rating you will be running from. BTW, no 30A TT can handle all appliances at one time. You can run a grand total of 3600 watts of devices. An electric space heater (1500 watts) would require a 20 amp circuit to avoid issues and I would use #12 wire with a ground. (12-2 w/ground). I do not know the distance that will be safe for, someone with first hand Elec/code knowledge would have to answer that.

[asherl33]

I want an electric space heater so that I don't have to use so much propane,

[Dick_B]

Do you run all the appliances at the same time? We also have 30 amp and are careful not to run two appliances that heat up eg. frypan and toaster oven. Other than that we don't really have a problem.