50a electrical plugs?

[brad barton]

Ryan,

If you're talking about your home base, you might consider putting in a permanent 50amp outlet out by the coach. I had a long cord run that compromised voltage. It was a 30 amp beside the house that was nearly 100 feet away. The electrician who wired my spa helped me put in a 50 amp outlet behind the house. We had to tunnel under a small sidewalk and a 10 foot alley but the rest of it was open trenching (I'm not really gifted at ditch-digging..but it saved some money). He brought over a concrete cylinderwith an iron manholecover. The outlet on the end of the romex cable is enclosed but not perfectly water tight. I placed the concrete manhole on top of a layer of bricks and ran a pool-cleaning hose 10 feet away for a makeshift drain.So far, no problems. Of course Itry to remember to cut it off at breaker box whenever I'm not using it. Yes, I spent about $600 on materials andalicensed electrician. But I have full voltage now and never have to string out 100 feet of cord down my driveway and across the alley.Even with a winding spool, it's a hassle taking up the cord..especially wnen it's hot, wet or cold. If you still want to useheavy cords, I'll share something the electrician said. The lighter weight cords of25 amps can stand up to the abuse of being run over without any trouble simply because of their small guage. The heavier the cord, the morelikely it is to be damaged that way.

BradBarton00LXiDFW bbartonwx@...

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To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: ryanpwright@...
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:35:45 -0700
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] 50a electrical plugs?

Speaking of electrical connections, I have a bit of a dilemma: My
50amp cord is not long enough to reach my service point. I have some
questions:

1. Where can I buy a 50 amp coach-side plug that will fit in the
outlet? I bought one that is "right" as far as the electrical contacts
are concerned, but the plug body was too thick and hit the "ceiling"
in the electrical hookup compartment. I don't want to steal the plug
off my factory cord - would prefer to keep that in the coach for
traveling and build a new cord I can leave at home.

2. Why doesn't anyone sell a 50 foot, 50 amp cord? I see lots of 50
foot 30 amps but no 50ft/50a. Will I have a problem if I make one? I
understand voltage drop but I currently have my factory cord plugged
into a 25 foot, 50 amp extension cord, and it works fine. I have to
hide the connection point between the two cords under the coach to
keep it from getting wet if it rains, though, so the situation is not
ideal.

3. Alternatively, I am considering putting a 50 amp input receptacle
on the other side of the coach. I'd still want the factory receptacle
live, though. Any advice on how I might accomplish the tie in & where
to route wires? I'm betting I would need to install an auto-transfer
switch to make this safe and/or to code, as I know I can't just tie
two sets of wires to the same lugs. I'd have done this by now but I
can't even find how to access the existing wires feeding the coach
electrical panel. Where / how do they route to the connector?

Lots of hard questions. Appreciate any advice.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

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