extension cord rated for 20 amps?

[Martha]

My 69 Overlander is 200 ft from my house.
I'm trying to decide whether to hardwire an outlet from house or try and find an extension cord rated for 20 amps and 200 feet.
The question is-will the cost of 200 ft of 12 gauge wire be more than an extension cord?
And - is a rating for 20 amps sufficient (I will not run AC with extension cord-just lights and recharge 12 V battery)-
if I have to get over 10 gauge, then coiling a cord gets a little difficult.


hmmmm.
Any suggestions? (I know solar is an option...)
I'd like to explore the extension cord route.

[smily]

either way is suitable for lights only and maybe some low receptacle use.

Definitely do not attempt to run Air Con from this distance without the 10 guage wire.

Sounds like you may be leaving this connection in place for a while so I would probably use some 10 AWG romex cable, (house cable).

If you dont mind the extra expense, some UV rated cable might be in order.

I use a 100 foot extension cord all of the time. 12 AWG

smily

[Chas]

Probably the easiest way to do it is get some db cable (direct burial) which is basically the grey UV rated stuff that smily is talking about. You would be better off burying it but you could get by leaving it on top of the ground until lawnmowing season starts again, which was last week until this arctic blast hit us last nite, thanks a bunch you Canadians!! Personally if I was going thru the trouble I would run some grey PVC conduit and pull in the #10 (or even #8 conductors) and do a proper 30 amp weathertite campground style box. Summer will be here soon enough and you know how miserable it can be without a/c which will be nice while you are fixing up your Overlander. If you need any more hints you can pm me, I was a commercial electrician for a number of years.

Chas

[john hd]

based on a 3% voltage drop, 30 amps at 120 v. aluminum conductor would require #1 awg for direct burial.

i used this

seems a bit conservitive to me, what do you think chas?

our house services at that length are usually 1/0 aluminum.

john

[Chas]

Major overkill!!

I will find my Ugly book and see what it has to say. I have been wanting to put an outlet out by my storage slab anyways, the #10 SO cord is getting a bit old.

Chas

[john hd]

chas

all my books are in the job shack (wells cargo) for the apprentices.

that site was the best i could do for now...

i think 5% voltage drop would be more realistic!

john

[john hd]

chas,

i think the solution would be a couple of 40' poles and a span of #2 triplex with a #4 neutral!

waddya think?

john

[Chas]

That's the way my old man would have done it!!

Actually not a bad idea, that triplex can carry a lot of load. I lean towards the more unobtrusive approach.

What ya doin' up that pole? Gettin' free cable?

Chas

[john hd]

chas,

doing a government job for a buddy, new yard light fer the farm!

john

P.S. underground is great until you have to find it or fix it!

[RoadKingMoe]

Don't you have to put buried down 3'? And can't you put sat/cable TV and/or telephone 2' above it? That would make it easier to find with a metal detector.

[FrankR]

I've done this task a few times. Any wiring enclosed in the proper size and schedule may in fact lay on the earth surface. Some places require any conduit/raceway be burried at a minium of 24 inches over a roadway. Pcv conduit schedule 40 is very cheap and wiring can be upgraded and repair is not a usual problem. For a long 100 ft run with a load of 30 amps at 120vac, some number 8 conductors of mtw or thhn stranded in a 1 1/2 conduit will be great. Conduit is not to be filled more than 60%, but big is better. I'm not a fan of direct buriel except for lanscape liting. The recepticle pedistal should have a nice pole for mounting equiptment. The circuit powering this circuit needs to be on it's own circuit breakers. Some would demand a gfi breaker. While installing conduit into earth, some tv cable and phone can be dropped too. The ground fault may be installed at either end of wiring........

[Martha]

Well, I certainly got a chuckle out of the responses.....
glad to see there is as much debate here as there is in my household regarding what is overkill vs minimum requirements....
(me-overkill; he-minimum)
I was even considering a new pole/meterloop until I priced it here in one- of-the -fastest-growing areas in the US...

fortunately, I followed most of the conversation ....
will consider all of the advice...
and maybe do something if the ground ever thaws out.
See some of ya'll next weekend...
Martha

[Silvertwinkie]

So John/Chas,

If I am planning on running wire from my panel in the house through the underground conduit to the garage and I want to pull for the 30a circuit (and be able to maintain voltages) for the Bambi (has A/C). What kind of wire should I insist on or consider if the distance is about 50 feet from the main panel to the outlet taking into consideration an additional 15ft for the connector cable that came with the Bambi to connect it to the outlet I am planning on installing?

Based on the site you posted John, it looks like #8 solid copper. Any comments?

Thanks

Eric

[Inland RV Center, In]

Consideration must be given to how long a wire is from the circuit breaker panel to the outlet box that will be used.

The maximum distance for a #8 wire, with not more than a 2 % voltage drop at 30 amps is 60 feet. if a #6 wire was used, then a distance of 95 feet is the maximum. A #4 wire can be 150 feet long, and will not have a voltage drop of more than 2 %, at 30 amps.

These are important considerations to keep in mind, when the Air Conditioner will be used.

To make sure that your absoluely safe, check to see how far the outlet is from the circuit breaker panel.

That doesn't cost anything. Replacing an Air Conditioner because the compressor went bad due to operating it at low voltage, is expensive.


Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

[Silvertwinkie]

Thanks Andy. I am under 95 feet. Closer to 50 feet to the outlet from my main house panel, and an addtional 15 feet for my yellow factory "hookup" cable.

It looks to me like #6 wire will not only meet my need, but exceed it. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Regards,

Eric

[john hd]

eric

# 6 sounds good, the site i posted assumes 3% voltage drop.

if you over size it a little, it won't hurt anything and not cost much more.

john