50 AMP Service at home... HELP.

We are visiting my brother in Maine next week, and would love to park at his house. We decided to have installed a 50amp service box for the coach (or anyones coach) at his house... a little more expensive than just going to an RV park, but the convenience of family being together seems worth it for us.

Run should be no more than 75 feet + our chord, and dont need a "pole" at the coach. More like an extension box from the breaker box that can run to us while we are there.

What I am looking for from you electrical "geeky" types is this:

1) A materials list that I can purchase prior to arrival, (hopefully at Homedepot)

2) Simple instructions for an electrician, so he doesnt blow up my bus, or set my brothers house on fire.

Myles? Jon? Truk? ANYONE?

Thanks a ton!

Curtis, Christine and Augie (and eventually my brother David).

http://www.myrv.us/electric/

Click on the navigation bar on left for 50 amp service info.

First off, I am NOT an electrician, so please take my comments as meaningful only as to what my personal experience has been.

There are two things that must be made clear to your electrician, and whatever you install, it MUST be up to code, not only the national code, but your local standards as well.

First, although the ends of our power cords "look" like a typical household 240 v dryer or electric range connection THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. You are actually installing 2 - 50 amp, 120v lines.

Second, in a typical motorhome connection, the neutral and ground buss bars ARE NOT THE SAME and are not connected as they are in your typical home electrical panel. In most RV pedestals I've seen, they simply break the connection into 2 separate bars.

Just make sure your electrician understands that a 50 amp RV connection is not overly complicated but is kind of unique. Hopefully you will find one that has experience along these lines.

Good luck with your installation. It is not really a major undertaking, but there are a couple of differences that should be considered at the beginning of the job.

Hopefully another Pogger will chime in here with a more detailed description of the 50 amp wiring requirements....

Curtis,

I just did this last week at my brother-in-laws place in NY. Got a 50 amp recpticle and box at Lowes and he already had piece of 4 wire and a 50 amp breaker. Just be sure the electrican understands you need 4 wire.
Gary D is the expert.

Excellent info, Ray...

Thanks...

WOW! That was fast! Thanks all.... Ray, the website link you shared is perfect. Printed the page for the electrician, has all the info I need.

Thanks again!
Curtis

www.jamestownadvanced.com

Full disclosure...I used to own this company and my daughter does now. They will have a surface mount or pedestal box in whatever receptacle configuration you need and should be comptetive with Lowes or any other big box store. They actually make them and label them as another company's product so if you do buy at Lowes or Home Depot you may be buying their box anyway.

The electrician just needs to know how to hook up and the supply from the house needs at least a 50 amp breaker and the supply needs to be #6 wires, larger if the run is longer. A big question is if the local codes need to have a bonded neutral (the electrician should know). I prefer to keep the neutral and ground separate but it is not worth the fight with the local inspector.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phorner

First off, I am NOT an electrician, so please take my comments as meaningful only as to what my personal experience has been.

There are two things that must be made clear to your electrician, and whatever you install, it MUST be up to code, not only the national code, but your local standards as well.

First, although the ends of our power cords "look" like a typical household 240 v dryer or electric range connection THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. You are actually installing 2 - 50 amp, 120v lines.

Second, in a typical motorhome connection, the neutral and ground buss bars ARE NOT THE SAME and are not connected as they are in your typical home electrical panel. In most RV pedestals I've seen, they simply break the connection into 2 separate bars.

Just make sure your electrician understands that a 50 amp RV connection is not overly complicated but is kind of unique. Hopefully you will find one that has experience along these lines.

Good luck with your installation. It is not really a major undertaking, but there are a couple of differences that should be considered at the beginning of the job.

Hopefully another Pogger will chime in here with a more detailed description of the 50 amp wiring requirements....

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I am (was) an EE but old age takes over some times - while at a service installation I saw a compatible 50A socket and bang - blew an inverter, 2 DVD players and scared the h

I have a question,at most of the primary electrical panels the neutral and ground are not bonded but if there is a second panel aren't the neutral and ground bonded?

Be sure that your brother's service that you will tie into has sufficient capacity for his house and your bus. Remember that a 50 amp plug is really 100 amps of power.

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Originally Posted by jack14r

I have a question,at most of the primary electrical panels the neutral and ground are not bonded but if there is a second panel aren't the neutral and ground bonded?

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There is no consistency on this issue. Local codes often cite the National Electric Code, but then include their own pecularities, one of them being some jurisdictions require bonded neutrals and others require them to be separate from the ground. All shore power outlet boxes certified to UL231 for Temporary Power are supplied with a provision for bonding the neutral, but it is never connected. That is the responsibility of the local electrician depending on code. FWIW I have a power outlet box next to the coach in my garage and the neutral is not bonded and the installation was inspected and got the blue tag.

Jon,There are several locations that I go to each year and I have to snap in a breaker and wire the ground and neutral,all of them have a bonded neutral/ground is there any reason to be concerned about this with the coach.

Dedicated 100 amp service to his garage, separate from the house Lok Nest. You must think I'm from Georgia!:rolleyes:

Jack, I don't think there is any concern since people are wiring the shore power outlets both ways.

Thanks Jon,I thought that was the case and I have never had a problem but you never know what might happen if you don't ask.

If you just need a temp. 50 amp hook up, and not a permanat installation, I would suggest calling a equipment rental company. Ask for a 50 amp cord, 50 feet or more, and a 50 amp pig tail, if they have it. Then just purchase the 50 amp outlet. Call a Licensed electrician and have him do the temp install. Or just ask the Electrical contractor if he has the cord and equip. and rent for the time . Shoud be much cheaper than a permanant install w/ permits, trenching, etc.

Hi Jack. In my area, at the main service, the ground and the nuetral are combined at one terminations or are bonded together. At sub-pnls and outlets at detached bldgs away from the main service, the nuetrall and grounds are terminated on seperate bus bars. In those cases, typically there willl be a seperate ground rod, and / or water ground.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jack14r

I have a question,at most of the primary electrical panels the neutral and ground are not bonded but if there is a second panel aren't the neutral and ground bonded?

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Per the NEC, the Service Entrance Panel (or main breaker panel after the meter) has the ground bar run to an earth ground rod, and all the neutrals and grounds are together on the same bus bar in this panel. EVERYWHERE else, they are kept separate/isolated, thus the "ground" or bare wire from there on out is NOT a "current carrying conductor." The white/neutral wire IS however a current carrying conductor, and will not be at the same potention as earth ground.
Hope that helps.