Voltage loss?

[jcf48]

If I run a 50 foot 30 amp heavy duty drop cord from my AS to the back of my garage am I in danger of significant voltage loss due to the length of the cord? Thanks for your help.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by jcf48

If I run a 50 foot 30 amp heavy duty drop cord from my AS to the back of my garage am I in danger of significant voltage loss due to the length of the cord? Thanks for your help.

Not really. Most coaches come from the factory with 25-30 foot cords, and a 25 foot cord is available from most RV shops. If you are talking about an ADDITIONAL 50 foot cord on top of the 30 foot cord from your coach, voltage drop may become an issue, depending on loads and volatge available from your garage outlet.

[clancy_boy]

I just went through this exercise for my Father-in-law for his SOB. His distance was 170feet and was going to use 10/2 direct burial cable. There are online calculators that give you the voltage drop for a given length of wire for a given gauge of wire. Turned out he needed 8 guage wire for that distance to keep his voltage loss less than 5% which is the national standard. Your lengh of 50 feet should be no problem with 10 gauge wire. Connections cause resistence and if you use multiple cables there may be more drop than calculated.

All of this is important because you can do damage to your charging systems and motor driven appliances when the voltage is below requirements.

[Tom Nugler]

Just to run the electrics in the Globetrotter I have to use 50 ft of cord to reach the outlet in the garage. I'll run the A/C or electric heater, then power up vacuums, saws, drills, lights, whatever while working inside. Never had a problem.
If you think there is a problem get a multi meter and check the voltage under load at the outlet and in the coach. While I'm not certain, any thing over a 8 volt drop would seem excessive. Most of my drop came from the aluminum wiring oxidizing at the outlets.
If you need heavy duty cord I have seen 6/3 50 amp neopreen covered line at Home Depot. Think this will handle just about anything.

Tom.

[dwightdi]

Alot depends on whether you are going to run high amp draw appliances such as a/c when you are plugged in. There is a plug in voltmeter you can keep in the airstream to monitor how bad it is getting. If the voltage drops below 95 volts you should consider using a fatter cable or cutting back on the amps.