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rebel beck · 03-22-2006, 07:26 AM

Okay I have a big dumb question. How do you all plug your trailer into your homes for power? What do we have to have done to do this? We have been just running an extension cord out and using lamps. I have family visiting this weekend and they want to stay in our trailer I'm sure this will not be done for this weekend but it would be neat to be able to offer our trailer as a guest house.

Becky

Darol Ingalls · 03-22-2006, 07:40 AM

Becky, Open the lid on the rear bumper. Inside you'll find a large black electric cord. The plug on the end will look like a dryer plug only smaller. You should also find an adapter that fits the trailer cord on one end and a regular 120V AC house recepticle on the other end. Connect these together, plug into a working house plug-in and you should have power in the trailer. How have you been charging your battery until now? Do you have an owner's manual with your trailer? Have you located the 120V electrical panel in your trailer? Should be inside the bathroom or bedroom closet. Check to see that all the breakers are "on". You should have power to all the 120V AC outlets, your AC should work, and your converter should charge the battery. Darol

mandolindave · 03-22-2006, 07:42 AM

You could get an adaptor to change your 15 amp extension cord to fit
the 30 amp plug on your trailer. ( Real handy for charging your batteries)
But if it's a real long run or you need to use air conditioning, you will
need to install a 30 amp outlet in the house and run a 30 amp cable to the trailer. Dave

dmac · 03-22-2006, 07:49 AM

Use the shortest possible large gauge wire (like 10 or 12 gauge, not 14 or 16!) extension cord. Plug it into a 20 amp circuit.

I have a dedicated 20 amp circuit in my garage, using a heavy duty extension cord it will run my trailer's A/C just fine.

In the future you could install a 30 amp outlet and connect to it.

**azflycaster** · 03-22-2006, 08:13 AM

I mounted a 30 amp outdoor RV outlet on the bottom of my fuse box. The only problem is it is about 6 feet too far away when I park the trailer at the house. I bought a 30 amp extension cord at CW.

Jim & Susan · 03-22-2006, 08:16 AM

Beck, if you don't have one of those adaptors that Darol mentioned, go to you local RV place and tell them you need a "30 Amp Adaptor". I paid about $5 for mine.

WHat the other guys said about the Air Conditioner and heavy guage extension cord is really important. 30 Amp extension cords are expensive and 30 amp circuits in homes are rare. If you intend to use the Air Conditioner off the extension cord, get one rated for it and it is probably best to have a qualified election wire you what is called a "dedicated" 30 amp circuit that you only use for the camper.

I didn't know about this stuff when I bought the camper and burned up (literally) an extension cord and an adaptor and fried my outside GFCI outlet on the back porch.

Jim

carnegie1935 · 03-22-2006, 08:59 AM

We live in the country so are not limited by city codes. We installed a weather proof 30 amp service simular to rv parks and a water faucet beside where we park our MH. We have it pluged in at all times and can use it for guests without any extention cords. we keep water connected ,but faucet turned off unless needed. It really makes any maintence work on it easy for us to have 120 service there. cost to install power was not much . water was easy with pvc pipe. We also ran a sewer hookup to our septic tank. We like having it ready for use as we have quite a bit of company. The teenage grandkids love to have sleepovers in the MH

lewster · 03-22-2006, 11:19 AM

Ditto!

When I had a 40' Monco Dynasty MoHo, I built a complete RV hook-up next to my house.....50 amp service, water, septic, satellite and phone all run from the house. Why, it was just like my own RV park ..... a very, very small one!

.

rebel beck · 03-22-2006, 11:36 AM

Thanks for all the advice. We have the adapter, but now I need to get an extension cord. Now on the battery question we have never lost charge, we bought the trailer in November of last year and the first time we used it was last weekend so it was able to fully recharge again. I don't ever use the lights or anything when we are at the house.

Becky

ITOWAIR · 03-22-2006, 01:31 PM

Well let me tell you a little swtory about plugging in the trailer at home.

I am not very handsome but I am a little handy, so I got the bright Idea to set me up a Hookup at home. We usually just run an extension cord and have 110v available at the trailer when it is sitting in the driveway. But we could not use the air or any of the big draw items.

So when we got rid of the old electric dryer and changed over to gas I had an extra 30amp circuit in the house. The laundry room was located right by the driveway so I could put the connection right there and have all the power I could possibly want.

Well it was off to the hardware stor to get the right outlet to handle the 30amp cord from the trailer. Pulled the wire into the basement and drilled a hole in the foundation . ran the wire outside and hooked it all up. Boy it was just like having a campground in the driveway. Rolled out the awning and got out the chairs ready for a test flight. The lights worked just fine, nice and bright. Then for the big test fired up the AC, it sounded a little funny and then stopped working. Well I could not belive that I had blown a 30amp breaker so it was off to the basement to check the fuse box. As I opened the box a thought flashed through my mind , can you say 220 , yep sure enough I had just hooked up my 110v trailer to 220v dryer connection.

Now it was time for damage control. The AC unit was fine , thank goodness.
The Microwave however did not fare as well, it was tost.
The item that took the brunt of my goof was the centeral GFI breaker, It had melted and given its life to save the rest of the trailer. A new GFI breaker was 30 bucks, the microwave was cheaper to replace than repair at $80.

To this day the 30amp outlet still hangs in the basement , I have not had the nerve to try again, so we still use the good old extension cord when sitting in the driveway. During the Blackout several years back we did use the trailer as a liferaft in the Driveway. I hooked up the generator incase the battaries went dead, but we had hot pizza and cold beer , as well as TV and radio while camping in our driveway, the neighbors were all comming by to visit.

overlander63 · 03-22-2006, 05:00 PM

If you are handy, remove the dryer breaker, and replace it with a single pole 30A breaker (110 v). The "extra" wire that went to the other half of the breaker can be wired to the common (110v) area of the same leg of the breaker panel. The former common wire can be hooked to ground, and you will have 30A, 110v power for your coach.

markdoane · 03-22-2006, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

If you are handy, remove the dryer breaker, and replace it with a single pole 30A breaker (110 v). The "extra" wire that went to the other half of the breaker can be wired to the common (110v) area of the same leg of the breaker panel. The former common wire can be hooked to ground, and you will have 30A, 110v power for your coach.

If you want to replace a 240v dryer outlet with a 120v RV outlet, you should disconnect and tape off the "extra" hot wire. Leave the common and ground wires the way they were.

**azflycaster** · 03-22-2006, 05:47 PM

I am going to agree with overlander63. The dryer plug has only 3 wires, hot - hot- ground, no common. Leave one hot, leave the ground as ground and make the other hot the common (hook it to the common bus with all the white wires). You could still use the dryer breaker if it's 30 amp, only use one leg.

markdoane · 03-22-2006, 06:29 PM

The receptacle Terry was talking about was a four prong, not the old three prong model. I figured that because he referred to an existing common wire.

If changing a three prong receptacle, the hot wire that is switched to a common should be made white, with white electrical tape.

overlander63 · 03-22-2006, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdoane

The receptacle Terry was talking about was a four prong, not the old three prong model. I figured that because he referred to an existing common wire.

If changing a three prong receptacle, the hot wire that is switched to a common should be made white, with white electrical tape.

I was talking about the old three prong model, since that was what I read into the post. The new standard is four conductor, a whole different matter. BTW, MY dryer plug is three wire. Then again, my house is the oldest one in the neighborhood, too.

**azflycaster** · 03-22-2006, 06:42 PM

My dryer is 3 wire also, guess I live in an old house too!

markdoane · 03-22-2006, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

I was talking about the old three prong model, since that was what I read into the post. .

Guess I missed that part. Was that because it was an "old" dryer?

overlander63 · 03-22-2006, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdoane

Guess I missed that part. Was that because it was an "old" dryer?

It was an "old" house...and an "old" trailer.

overlander63 · 03-22-2006, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel beck

Okay I have a big dumb question. How do you all plug your trailer into your homes for power? What do we have to have done to do this? We have been just running an extension cord out and using lamps. I have family visiting this weekend and they want to stay in our trailer I'm sure this will not be done for this weekend but it would be neat to be able to offer our trailer as a guest house.

Becky

Anyway, if you are handy, you can get everything you need to add a 30 amp, 110V breaker to your breaker panel, with an outlet box, a little conduit and a 30 amp RV style outlet at Home Depot. If you don't feel comfortable around high voltage, an electrician should be able to do this job for you in less than an hour, including coffee breaks.

Chaplain Kent · 03-22-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Beck, if you don't have one of those adaptors that Darol mentioned, go to you local RV place and tell them you need a "30 Amp Adaptor". I paid about $5 for mine.

You can find these adapters at almost any good hardware store-Tru Value or Ace. As noted before do not try and run your AC on this cord.