30 AMP service at the house

I posted this on "the other" RV Forum, and only got one response, and not enough help to really help.

"So, I got all the stuff to run a semi-permanent 30 amp outlet from my breaker box to where I have my camper parked (other side of the house). Got the wire, the plug, the breaker, all that stuff. And I got everything ready, popped the cover on my breaker box, and happened to see the breaker where I used to plug in my TT, and what to my surprise? a 30 amp breaker! The wire runs to my pavillion (that the previous owner put up), and has all normal (15amp??) household plugs. But when I had my TT plugged into it, it never tripped a breaker...no matter what all I ran in it (AC, lights, TV, frige, etc.). Now I know why.

So, my next question is, with this setup like it is, can I change out one of the normal household plugs for a 30 amp plug? Right now I have a heavy duty extension cord to run to my 5er, but I plan on putting the 5er on that side of the house again, once I repair and wide my driveway and prep the ground for the weight of the 5er. Plus, I will probably just get a 30 amp RV extension cord anyway for those "just in case" things on the road."

I still have to check the wire size (guage) the PO ran back there, but I have a feeling it is sufficient for a 30 amp service. He may not have been neat, but he did things with a bit of overkill in mind.

As I said above, the line runs to a pavillion he built. It's an open pavillion, and has 6 or 7 of those household (15 amp??) plugs around it, and a ceiling fan and florescent lights. I think he just ran the 30 amp breaker as overkill, but would like to know if I can take advantage of it.

I don't see why not. As long as the feeder wire you are tapping into for the RV plug is sufficient gauge then I don't see a problem. I would just limit the use of the pavillion outlets while the RV is plugged in. Worst that can happen is you trip a breaker

If you have 10 awg wire going to those outlets, then yes, you can connect a 30A recept. in place of one of them.

Cheers,
Scott

You should be able to. As you mentioned, just make sure the wire guage is correct for the potential load. When it comes to electricity, overkill isn't a bad thing. I would rather have too heavy a guage wire than not enough.

We did something very similar as what you're considering, except ours was off a garage circuit. We just made sure the wire gauge was up to code and then added the proper 30 amp plug for the CAT. It has worked out very well!!

We have to use a 25' 30 amp extention chord to make the connection from the CAT to the house. Never a problem.

The only other thing that comes to mind is, be aware that you probably won't be able to run a bunch of stuff on those 15 amp outlets if your CAT is going to be wired into the same breaker. But you probably already knew that.

Also, FWIW, you should probably make sure that the combination of what he did along with what you're about to do meets city/county code.

TC

10-2 romex (for 30A) is orange if you can see it in the breaker panel or in the receptacle box. If the PO ran loose wire in a conduit, than you can't go by the color, just look at the wire itself.

I installed a "Park Box" with a 120VAC/30A RV receptacle on the side of my house three years ago. I used a vacant slot on my power panel for the 30A breaker and ran 10AWG wire (orange romex) to the new receptacle. My run was about 25' so the 10AWG was adequate. If your run is more than 50' I'd suggest using one of the electrical web sites to look up the size wire you'd need.

The box is located right next to the spot where I park the Cat when it's at home.

As Scott said, just make sure that you have 10AWG wire (orange romex) going to where you want to install the 30A receptacle. If it's white, I would not take the chance in using it.

Best of luck.

Just a FYI, 10 awg wire is ok up to 100' per code.

This entire set up is a major No No!

Your existing receptacles are not rated for 30 amps regardless of wire size. First replace the existing 30 amp breaker in your panel with the proper 20 amp breaker for your existing receptacles/switches. I would do this sooner rather than later.

Run the new circuit with #10 wire, 30 amp receptacle and 30 amp breaker. 100' run is perfectly fine for your intended use.

Colored romex wire only came along a few short years ago. All Romex wire was white for decades. Cloth like covering before that and knob and tube before that.... Yes I've been in the business for a long time.