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Old 04-17-2013, 06:53 PM   #1
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Home Electric Hookup

I'm installing a 30 amp circuit in my home's electric box in order to plug in my 2007 23' AS Safari. My electric guy tells me that it should be a simple matter of replacing an existing 50 amp circuit in the electric box (which the previous home owner used for a welding rig) with the appropriate 30 amp circuit. This circuit is wired to a receptacle on the other side of my house (where I have a parking area for the trailer). He will replace that receptacle with a plug that will accommodate my trailer's electric cable. I should then be able to plug the trailer into the side of my house for full electrical power.

This seems logical and straightforward to me, but I'm no electric expert. Does anyone see any problem with this setup? Thanks in advance.
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:01 PM   #2
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Only let the electrician do it if he understands that the 30 amp RV outlet is a 120 volt unit only, and have him demonstrate, to you in person, with a meter, that there is only 120 volts between the two angled slots in the outlet. Only then are you sure he has done it right.

There have been several reports here on the Forums from people who have had someone do the job for them, and when they plugged their rig in, they toasted everything inside as the outlet was wired for 240 volts, not 120.

Since you are starting with a 240 volt outlet, there is even a higher danger that it could be mis wired.
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:03 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by idroba View Post
Only let the electrician do it if he understands that the 30 amp RV outlet is a 120 volt unit only, and have him demonstrate, to you in person, with a meter, that there is only 120 volts between the two angled slots in the outlet. Only then are you sure he has done it right.

There have been several reports here on the Forums from people who have had someone do the job for them, and when they plugged their rig in, they toasted everything inside as the outlet was wired for 240 volts, not 120.

Since you are starting with a 240 volt outlet, there is even a higher danger that it could be mis wired.
Good advice!
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:07 PM   #4
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Welcome to the forums!

Should work OK as long as the wire going to the old 50 A outlet is at least 10 gauge. (A 50 A circuit would normally have heavier wire than that, but as I recall the national electric code had an exception for welder service because the welder requires current only intermittently.)

The thing you need to make sure your electrician understands, though, is that the existing outlet is 240 Volts, 50 Amps and your trailer outlet is 120 Volts, 30 Amps. In other words, you will be replacing a two pole 50 Amp breaker with a single pole 30 Amp breaker.
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:37 PM   #5
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Another way to say what is said above:

the trailer is 30 amp 120 v = one load wire
the welder is 50 amp 240v = two load wires

some people have burned up parts of the electrical distribution system and/or components (like converter, refrigerator, radio, etc.) inside their trailers when they wired their electric receptacles incorrectly

edit:
I suggest that you print these post and make sure that your electrician reads them prior to starting work

and, welcome to the forums
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:41 PM   #6
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I got a problem. Why don't you leave the 50a 120/240 receptacle as is and just buy a 50a to 30a adapter.?
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:50 PM   #7
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I got a problem. Why don't you leave the 50a 120/240 receptacle as is and just buy a 50a to 30a adapter.?
good idea, only if it is 4 wire circuit.

some older 240v circuits are 3 wire (no neutral). the three wire setup with an adapter could have a live load on the ground and if you would touch the trailer while standing outside you could be electrocuted.
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Old 04-17-2013, 08:07 PM   #8
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partial hijack........

once the outlet is wired......
if you plug a 30a to 15a rv adapter and test the line with an incandescent bulb the bulb would light normally, correct?

if it was wired incorrectly the bulb would flash brightly for a second and then burn out or would something else happen?
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Old 04-18-2013, 10:28 AM   #9
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After you are VERY sure the outlet is correctly wired you need to think about your batteries. if you dont have a 3 stage converter you must disconnect them or they will quickly cook and be ruined. Been there done that
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Old 04-18-2013, 01:09 PM   #10
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good idea, only if it is 4 wire circuit.

some older 240v circuits are 3 wire (no neutral). the three wire setup with an adapter could have a live load on the ground and if you would touch the trailer while standing outside you could be electrocuted.
That's true, but then a 50a to 30a dogbone adapter won't fit, will it?
Just keeping it simple.
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Old 04-18-2013, 03:10 PM   #11
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I did the same hookup from a 50A to 30A RV receptacle using one of the hot legs. The other hot leg I used to wire a 20A regular plug receptacle to have handy to the trailer for tools, compressor, etc.
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Old 04-28-2013, 08:48 AM   #12
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Well, I was finally able to get this circuit installed and get my Airstream plugged in to "shore power". Everything seems to be working (AC outlets, microwave, etc.), so I'm confident that it's set up correctly. However, if it hadn't been for the folks commenting here, I may have had a real problem.

My electric guy is very knowledgable about electric matters, but not experienced with RV's. If I hadn't printed the excellent advice from this forum and made him read it, he would have used a double pole 30 amp circuit and left the existing 240 wiring in place. When I showed him the comments I printed from the forum he kind of had an "aha" moment and understood the trailer's electrical requirements. We also turned off all the breakers inside the trailer before plugging in the electric cable and then tuned them on one by one just to be cautious. We encountered no problems when everything was turned back on and the appliances in the trailer were checked out.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your expert advise. What a great group of folks and a huge resource we have with this forum.

Steve
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Old 04-28-2013, 09:34 AM   #13
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After you are VERY sure the outlet is correctly wired you need to think about your batteries. if you dont have a 3 stage converter you must disconnect them or they will quickly cook and be ruined. Been there done that
tim
Now that you are plugged in, the above is so true! I also can say, Been There Done That
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