Setting up shore power at home.

[Fallcolors]

Hello all,

We are brand new airstream owners, what a great resource this forum is! I searched but could not find the exact information I need, any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to figure out my best course of action for shore power at our home.

We have a 25' 2006 International CCD. We live in Denver and intend to use our Airstream as an additional guest bedroom in the warmer months. It's pretty mild April-September and we do not anticipate the need for much AC. But of course we will have lights running, the fans, the microwave, TV, etc running at various points.

Anyway, I have installed a dedicated 30A circuit with TT-30P female receptacle right at my main exterior electrical panel. This is unfortunately about 75' away from where we park the Airstream, but don't have a good way to trench and install an outlet any closer. What cord should I use to bring power to my airstream? It's hard to find ones in such long lengths. I was looking at the linked cord below but the female end is a TT-30R; it does not match the locking receptacle found on my trailer, which has a unique prong configuration where one hole has an 'L' shape. Can I get this cord and simply find an adapter somewhere? Is 10 ga wire beefy enough to handle the load on such a long run?

Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[lsbrodsky]

I plugged your numbers into an online calculator and it said 3v drop at 20amps, which is liveable. I am not sure about your cord configuration but I had to do a similar thing with less than a 75ft run, but I used two cords, a normal shore power connection cord to the trailer and a female/male cord between it and the house outlet. I got the cord online somewhere, too long ago to remember. The connection is inside my garage so I don't worry about weather.
Larry

[Daquenzer]

When I go to my sons I use a 50 AMP extension cord and it works fine. Total of about 100’. 30 AMP will be cheaper. You can get them on AMAZON or Camping World. The only other thing you might consider is putting an easy start system in your AC unit. But actually if you only have one AC unit you really don’t use much electricity for other things. 1) You can run your fridge on LP. 2) And as far as the microwave goes that doesn’t run all that much. Just run it when the AC unit is either totally on (AC units take more get them going). Or wait until it is completely off.

The only thing you may have to do is cover up the connection if it rains to prevent it from shorting out.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Having 75' of cable lying on the ground for months can get into all sorts of issues. You will need to protect / cover / encase the cable in some way.

Bob

[waninae39]

don't worry about the loss. you are unlikely to have a high current load during the winter.

we plug ours into a 15A cirusit, the AS rarely even gets to use 2 amps at any time. Thisis what out victron monitoring system shows

do a wiki search on North American power plugs

they come in two flavors for most power carrying capacities

locking and non-locking

ie the std house hold 15A ( 5-15 plug ) is non locking
as is the 15 A C13 ( used on most PC , computers and AV equipment)
the 20A C19 is also no locking

L15, L20 L30, L50 are all locking
the latter two are used by As depending on the model

[waninae39]

don't worry about the loss. you are unlikely to have a high current load during the winter.

we plug ours into a 15A cirusit, the AS rarely even gets to use 2 amps at any time. Thisis what out victron monitoring system shows

do a wiki search on North American power plugs

they come in two flavors for most power carrying capacities

locking and non-locking

ie the std house hold 15A ( 5-15 plug ) is non locking
as is the 15 A C13 ( used on most PC , computers and AV equipment)
the 20A C19 is also no locking

L15, L20 L30, L50 are all locking
the latter two are used by As depending on the model

[BayouBiker]

Get a 30 Amp extension cord with black insulator cover and black connectors, they are designed for continuous outdoor use. I have been specifying and installing industrial cables in cable trays exposed to sun and weather for 35 years. The cables easily last that.

If you look you can find a 75' 30 Amp Male to Twist lock Female and avoid having a connector exposed to the weather but they are not cheap. You can also buy a weather resistant specialty junction box to place the connector in (about $30, just lay it on the ground) or you can get a male 30 Amp to female twist lock dog bone (~$40). That way the connector is hanging on the side of your trailer off of the ground which is a little better.

[Fallcolors]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I ended up using the 30A cord I linked in my first post, and connected it to my AS via the below locking adapter. All seems to be running well now but will monitor the suggestions and concerns here regarding leaving a cord out exposed to the elements for a length of time.

Cheers!





https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1