If you need to run your wire for more than feet, use a heavier gauge wire. When pulling a lot of amperage over long distances, this will reduce the voltage drop. Adjustment is also required for different temperature situations where your wiring will be located. A higher temperature may require a greater correction because temperature affects the magnitude of the current-carrying capacity of the wire. Your receptacle will require a single 30 amp breaker.
There will be three wires coming from the breaker panel that will be connected to your circuit breaker:. Terminals on the back of the outlet are also color-coded marked with a color name or a letter :. If not, they go as follows or see image above :. Here is a PDF version of the diagram. You can save this infographic pin for future reference. For RVs, there is a very popular surge protector is from Camco paid link and it is sold on Amazon. It also serves as a surge protector, so you may want to keep it on all the time.
There is a reason why they say:. Better be safe, than sorry. Here is an article RV Surge protector pros and cons that will show you how to keep your valuable property safe and protected. First of all, another warning! Do NOT plug in or unplug your cord while being under load! This means that all your volt appliances should be turned OFF before connecting them to shore power.
The same goes for disconnecting. This may be a hassle, but is surely worth it! Here is a step by step process for connecting your RV:. Here is the process for disconnecting your RV:. To figure out how much your device will be drawing and if amps are not mentioned , all you have to do is divide the watts of your appliance by volts that you will be using in the USA :.
If you are not sure how many amps your device will be drawing at volts AC , here is a nice chart for you the number is rounded to three decimals :. If your appliances take more than 30 amps combined, the circuit breaker will be tripped.
Appliances on RV commonly use this amount of power you can convert wattage to get the exact number of amps :. Be careful and watch for close contacts with the main breaker switch. After opening the panel cover, you can test the breakers with any voltage reading device and confirm that there is NO power at any of the breakers except for the main. Do NOT attempt wiring anything if you are not sure about what you are doing! Here is the installation procedure for 30 amp service:.
And this is how you install a amp receptacle:. Now I will continue with the installation steps:. For 50 amp service, it does not matter which color black or red HOT wire is attached to which breaker terminal.
Terminal screws should not come in contact with wire insulation. This is for amp service :. A wiring diagram also available in PDF version :.
Wiring diagram you can download it in PDF as well :. For more details on the installation procedure, you can check out other articles:. You are following these wiring instructions at your own risk. I am not responsible for any mistakes or improper handling of information. Do not attempt any of this if you are not professional! Here are more detailed instructions in an infographic format that you can save for reference.
Your outlet readings should be as follows:. As you test your outlet with a voltmeter, you should be getting:. Before plugging in your RV power cord, most manufacturers suggest the following:. The following statement goes for both 30 amp and 50 amp services:. With a amp service, you have to be very selective about what types of appliances you will be using at the same time. This service is NOT very powerful, so choose your devices with care. If at some point you will need to use your microwave 8 amps for example , some devices will need to be turned OFF to release the load.
Answer: No. A GFCI is only required on an outdoor 20 amp circuit or one in a non-living area such as a garage , not on a 30 amp. Answer: You will need 6 wire and a 1" conduit if a conduit is necessary. One option might be UF wire it the conduit is because you are underground. Be aware that you cannot put a romex in conduit - you must use individual wires, each a 6 and it must have at least a white, green and 2 other colors black and red, two blacks, etc.
Answer: Not a good idea. Not only does vegetation move but it grows and neither action fits well with electricity. Don't forget, too, that incoming wires must be supported and will suffer the same problems if mounted to a tree. Answer: Yes. For instance, I built my own extension cord using 10 gauge wire in case I couldn't park close enough to the power pedestal.
At the same time it is illegal to run extension cords either through a wall or within a wall or ceiling space. Even if that isn't done, it isn't smart to use an extension cord long term; that wire should be inside a wall or at least a conduit, protected from physical harm.
If you're going to use that cord long term you're better off to install a proper outlet. Answer: It is probably wise to mount the outlet with the ground up, rather than down. Most, if not all, modern RV cords are designed that way. Older ones may not, however, so do check your cord before installing the outlet into the box. Question: How much do you estimate an outside connection with 50 amp service would cost in materials for a ft run?
Answer: If you do all the work, prices for various models of the outlet, breaker and wire can be found on Amazon. Add perhaps ten or twenty dollars for incidentals such as wire nuts. If you're going to have it done it is impossible to estimate without knowing your local prices and what you will be digging through as well as just how the wire will exit the house.
Question: I'm running a 30 amp outlet about feet from the house. Is a cable inside conduit large enough for that length? Answer: It is marginal. If you anticipate considerable use I would upsize to 8 wire. If it is only occasional, to keep batteries charged or do some work on the RV it will be fine.
It will be much easier to use THHN wire rather than Romex cable, though - cable does not pull well through the conduit. Question: Can you help? The box I have has a 30amp outlet and a 20 amp outlet. My question is what size wire do I use and what size breaker do I use in the main panel going to this box.
Answer: If there is no overcurrent protection in the box you will have to use 10 wire and a 30 amp breaker. This is not optimal, putting a 20 amp outlet on a 30 amp outlet, and it will provide almost no protection to any 20 amp device plugged into it. Another option is to run another 12 wire, on a 20 amp breaker, to the 20 amp outlet.
Or provide a 20 amp fuse or breaker in the box, solely to protect the 20 amp outlet. Question: Reading your article I understand that the red and black are connected to the breaker at the panel. Won't that create a circuit? Answer: The 50 amp outlet is indeed bolts and requires both red and black wires, connected to the breaker. All others are volts and do not have a red wire in the cable.
Answer: You may need one or you may not. It is totally dependent on local laws. Check with your local planning and zoning commission or with whoever issues building permits. Is there a problem running a wire from the RV receptacle connections to the smaller receptacle in the new box? Nothing plugged into the outlet, or the outlet or the wire feeding it will be protected at the proper level. The maximum breaker size for the outlet, wire, and anything plugged into it is 20 amps; it will only be protected at the same 30 amp level the RV outlet is.
You would be better off, particularly as it is only 12 feet, to run a second wire and tie it into another 15 or 20 amp breaker. Don't forget, too, that any outlet mounted outside must be a GFCI style this does not apply to the 30 amp RV outlet and must have a cover over it. Another option is to use the outside outlet nearly all RV's have - plug in the RV and plug whatever you wish into an exterior outlet on the RV.
That's how I run my air compressor when winterizing each year. Question: The electrician who wired our shop put in a 4-wire bundle to our RV outlet but it is a 30 amp breaker.
How do I connect my 30 amp Rv outlet when the box has 4 wires black, red both have caps on the wires white, and the copper wire ground? Answer: First, check the breaker. If it is a single-pole, 30 amp breaker, look at seeing what color wire is on it. Use that wire, the white and ground.
If it is larger, it should really be changed to a 30 amp. If smaller perhaps a 20 amp , do NOT put a larger breaker in - you will just have to limit the current you used in the RV. If it is a double pole breaker, use either the black or red, plus the white and ground, leaving the fourth wire capped.
A double pole breaker may be used as a single-pole with the other "hot" wire simply left capped off. Answer: Assuming you want a 30 amp circuit, you can.
Be aware that if you ever run them both at the same time you will very likely blow the breaker. Question: I have wire and a 20 amp breaker, can I change to a 30 amp breaker? Answer: If that is the only wire on the circuit, then yes. If there is any 12 wire anywhere in the circuit, no. Question: Can I install a 30 amp outlet with 6 wire, just not attaching the red wire? Then if I ever go to 50 amp outlet, I'll switch out the breaker and switch to 50 amp and then attach the red wire. Will this save me from running a new wire?
Answer: That will work very well and is a good example of thinking ahead. Just be sure to put a wire nut on the red wire, both in the breaker panel and the outlet box.
Also, be sure to use a two-gang box for the outlet, even though a 30 amp outlet will fit in a single gang. That's because the 50 amp requires a two-gang box. Of course, if the box is surface mounted and readily accessible, easily changed out, that may not be necessary. Answer: Yes of course, just as you can run two vacuum cleaners off of one extension cord. What you cannot do is overload the breaker, and that breaker cannot be over 50 amps. This means that you can operate some of the equipment in both campers, or all of it in one camper, but not all of it in both campers as the same time.
Question: Can a 50 amp service neutral and ground share the same bar in the panel? Answer: If it is the service panel and not a sub panel is fed from the primary service to the building, then yes. If it is a subpanel then the answer is "No", and it must have separate ground and neutral bus bars. In the main service, the neutral and ground bars are connected anyway, and some older homes do not even have separate bars.
Question: Do I need a double pole or single pole breaker for installing an RV outlet? Answer: A 50 amp RV outlet requires a double pole, while 20 and 30 amp outlets require a single pole breaker. Question: I have wire going to a 20 amp box and a 20 amp plug from RV. I need to change the 20 amp fuse over to a 30 amp fuse. Do I have to change the outlet and the plug end to 30 amp also?
There are no other wires involved just the RV wire and the wire! Answer: Nothing you plug into that 20 amp outlet will be protected at the 20 amps it needs, although the wire, at a 10, is fine. I'm not sure if you are asking if you can leave a 20 amp outlet for the 30 amp RV, but if so the answer is "No".
You stand a good chance of burning the outlet out and possibly causing a fire as the RV will pull 30 amps and the outlet is only rated for 20 amps.
If you are going to change it to a 30 amp circuit, change the plug where the RV goes to a 30 amp plug at a minimum, and good practice would be to remove any other outlets on the circuit. I have used my Audi 80 Avant estate for reference.
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