RV Outlet for the House/Garage

[clkelley]

I'm having a garage built and having a couple of 30Amp receptacles for the camper put in.

The contractor asked me to pick those up for him to make sure we had the correct kind.

I've found several in the RV parts book that fit the bill, but was wondering if THD or Lowe's carried those?

I've got to go to THD tonight anyway for paint.

Should I be able to find the receptacle at THD, or will I have to go to the RV parts place?? Reason I ask is the RV place probably closes at 6 or 7, so I would need to go there first.

 

[mariettadisney71]

clkelley,
Yes THD and Lowes both carry the receptacle, I put one in last year. The only issue you will have is finding the proper outdoor fitting that works for you. I'll snap a photo of what I did tonight and post it for you.
If you can, bring the plug with you, unless it is fixed to your camper. Most of the store workers won't know what style plug it is.

 

[clkelley]

clkelley,
Yes THD and Lowes both carry the receptacle, I put one in last year. The only issue you will have is finding the proper outdoor fitting that works for you. I'll snap a photo of what I did tonight and post it for you.
If you can, bring the plug with you, unless it is fixed to your camper. Most of the store workers won't know what style plug it is.

This is INSIDE the garage, so no need for an outdoor receptacle. (Yes, my baby will be able to be parked inside!!!)

Thanks so much, you just saved me a trip over to the RV place!!!

 

[mariettadisney71]

Lucky, I wish mine would fit inside. I built a new garage before we bought a camper. The plug end is called a "Travel Trailer" at THD.
Good Luck

 

[des1954]

Yes, Carol. THD carries them. I'd also have them put in a 50amp just in case you upgrade in the future. It's easier to do it now rather than later, and if you don't use it...well, it won't hurt a thing. If you need it and don't have it, that's a different story.

 

[clkelley]

Yes, Carol. THD carries them. I'd also have them put in a 50amp just in case you upgrade in the future. It's easier to do it now rather than later, and if you don't use it...well, it won't hurt a thing. If you need it and don't have it, that's a different story.

Well, anything that would require a 50 Amp probably wouldn't fit in the garage, so we only had it wired for 30 Amp. If I ever get something that requires 50 Amp, we'll be full timing at that point and won't have the house anymore

Actually we kind of considered that, but we only have a 200 Amp service on the main house box, and we had 100 Amp service run from that box to the new box on the garage. To upgrade any more would have meant upgrading the house box and the wiring from the street and that was big bucks.

 

[des1954]

Well, anything that would require a 50 Amp probably wouldn't fit in the garage, so we only had it wired for 30 Amp. If I ever get something that requires 50 Amp, we'll be full timing at that point and won't have the house anymore

Actually we kind of considered that, but we only have a 200 Amp service on the main house box, and we had 100 Amp service run from that box to the new box on the garage. To upgrade any more would have meant upgrading the house box and the wiring from the street and that was big bucks.

Gotcha!! We actually did full-time for 1.5 years & I loved it. My Rick missed the permanancy(sp) of having an actual home...so I compromised and built a house to house the MH!!

 

[LarryJ]

As already mentioned both THD and Lowes should have them and they should be called "travel trailer" or "RV" receptacles. One thing you will need is the round cover plate for it which might be harder to find. Below are what your 30A plug should plug into. The is actually a 50A to dual 30A "dog bone" I made since I installed a second 30A service to my trailer. One thing to make sure is that the electrician wires it for 110 30A and not 220 30A and this has happened more than once to folks putting in an RV 30A service where the electricial wired it for a 220 30A circuit. The real 220 30A like what are used for home welders etc. is different, but a lot of electricians don't deal in RV type circuits especially the 30A one.

The receptacle on the left has an outdoor cover on it but you can see the plate and the one on the right doesn't have the cover/plate.

IIRC I paid between $7 and $10 for just the receptacle. The cover on the left I got at Menard's in Chicago. In my final version of my "dog bone" I used waterproof in use covers that came with the plate attached and I got those at Lowe's (see pic below). You don't need this type for inside your garage and just a simple cover should be all you need.

Larry

 

[clkelley]

One thing to make sure is that the electrician wires it for 110 30A and not 220 30A and this has happened more than once to folks putting in an RV 30A service where the electricial wired it for a 220 30A circuit. The real 220 30A like what are used for home welders etc. is different, but a lot of electricians don't deal in RV type circuits especially the 30A one.



Larry

Thanks for the heads up on the 110 vs 220. It's already wired and sheetrocked in but I "think" we're OK as it's the same Orange Romex that was running to the 30 Amp outlets that's running through my camper. We'll make sure to ask the contractor in the morning. We also specified in the contract that the 30 Amp was for a RV.

 

[LarryJ]

Thanks for the heads up on the 110 vs 220. It's already wired and sheetrocked in but I "think" we're OK as it's the same Orange Romex that was running to the 30 Amp outlets that's running through my camper. We'll make sure to ask the contractor in the morning. We also specified in the contract that the 30 Amp was for a RV.

I'm no electrician, but the newer 30A 220V receptacles I understand are different, but the old 30A 220V welders/dryers used a receptacle that a 30A RV could be plugged into it and those only had 3 wires running to the receptacle. With you specifying it is for an RV you should be O.K., but it's smart to make darn sure it's 110V.

Larry

 

[clkelley]

Thanks all!! Found the receptacles and the appropriate covers right next to them. We talked to the contractor on the phone and he assured us he would confirm with the electrician that it is 110 30A service.

 

[Tigger1966]

You would be suprised how many RV's we get in that were hooked to 220 volt. Then they tell us that they were just minding thier own buisness and every thing just quit working
Kind of like the people who retracted the landing gear to far on thier 5er and sheared the drive pin. She was inside and he was just walking around when it went boom and the jack colapsed nobody did nothing
BTY mine lives inside also Only comes out for trips.

 

[Shan-man]

I did this not too long ago myself and installed two, one inside the barn and another outside (both 30 amps). We had two RVs to hookup: mine and my Grandpa's. I have to admit, I hemmed and hawed for a while before convincing myself that it was 110 not 220 that I needed. Apparently I got it right, nothing has melted down or gone up in flames LOL! In the next few months we'll be putting in a new utility trench to the barn and I'm probably going to do a dump station alongside the motorhome parking pad at the same time. That will be a nice convenience. My wife hates the trip home when I ban her from using the bathroom! Maybe I need to put a water spigot and cable connection over there too? My 'dog house' will be complete.

 

[des1954]

I did this not too long ago myself and installed two, one inside the barn and another outside (both 30 amps). We had two RVs to hookup: mine and my Grandpa's. I have to admit, I hemmed and hawed for a while before convincing myself that it was 110 not 220 that I needed. Apparently I got it right, nothing has melted down or gone up in flames LOL! In the next few months we'll be putting in a new utility trench to the barn and I'm probably going to do a dump station alongside the motorhome parking pad at the same time. That will be a nice convenience. My wife hates the trip home when I ban her from using the bathroom! Maybe I need to put a water spigot and cable connection over there too? My 'dog house' will be complete.

Shan - Just do what Cousin Eddie did....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9qmpe3eHA&feature=related

 

[keylime359]

so are you guys saying you can't hook up to the house to run the basics? I have had mine hooked up with an extension since Jan to keep the fride running and an occasional movie night. I never thought it would be a problem. Should I have an electric guy come out?

 

[clkelley]

so are you guys saying you can't hook up to the house to run the basics? I have had mine hooked up with an extension since Jan to keep the fride running and an occasional movie night. I never thought it would be a problem. Should I have an electric guy come out?

Yes you can, that is not a problem. I have been doing that with my camper with a converter plug into a standard household outlet.

However, I have just had a garage built to house my camper and had dedicated 30Amp plugs put in there.

I am happy to report that when we got home last night we checked the outlets and the contractor did indeed hook them up as 110 30 Amp and we pushed the camper in the garage when we got home and plugged it up!!!

I found out from my dad that the best way to tell is if the circuit you want to plug your camper into has 1 breaker, you are all right. If it is attached to 2 breakers, then you have 220. It was wired as 220 before we left for the weekend, but was corrected to 110 while we were gone.

 

[mariettadisney71]

Hey Keylime359,

You can run the basics with no problems. The issues you might run into running just an ext. cord is that a normal household outlet is "usually" 15amps and if you run the A/C, fridge, TV, DVD player,.... all at the same time you'll risk tripping the breaker(blow a fuse) in your house. Plus a normal ext cord is only rated for 15amp. Running a 30amp circuit will allow you to use all of your devices with out risk of tripping your house breaker. However, if you overload the camper outlets with devices, you can trip the campers breakers.

CLKelley,

Glad to hear that your improvements are done and to your satisfaction. Not to get all "electrical" but if a 220 circuit was run, it would have been OK, the electrician would have just used only 3 out of the 4 wires(ground included). The 4th wire would be capped and not used. But lets not get technical.

Have fun.

Hope this helps.
Michael

 

[clkelley]

CLKelley,

Glad to hear that your improvements are done and to your satisfaction. Not to get all "electrical" but if a 220 circuit was run, it would have been OK, the electrician would have just used only 3 out of the 4 wires(ground included). The 4th wire would be capped and not used. But lets not get technical.

Have fun.

Hope this helps.
Michael

He had used all four wires and used two circuit breakers!! My dad had looked at it on Wednesday night before we left and confirmed that. The contractor fixed it while we were gone.

 

[mariettadisney71]

CLKelley,

Just being curious, are you using all 4 wires and 2 breakers now or was that what it was and you had the contractor change it? You say everything is working fine but I am just wondering how it was wired? I only have (1) 30amp breaker and 3wires (black/white/ground-10ga) to the outlet.

No biggie, thanks

 

[clkelley]

CLKelley,

Just being curious, are you using all 4 wires and 2 breakers now or was that what it was and you had the contractor change it? You say everything is working fine but I am just wondering how it was wired? I only have (1) 30amp breaker and 3wires (black/white/ground-10ga) to the outlet.

No biggie, thanks

He was using all four wires and two breakers and after what Larry told me and my dad confirming it, we had the contractor change it to using 3 wires and removed one breaker.