RV pedistal at the house

[Ford truck guy]

I have a 30 amp pedestal at my home for the RW... Its been there for 20 years , and I am 100% clueless when it comes to electric..
I want to upgrade that box to 50 amp... Here is what I DO KNOW -
1- I need a 50 amp/double pole breaker
2- I need #6 wire for the run
3- I need a 50amp outlet outside on the pole..

I DONT KNOW - Are these Redwoods wired for 240 .. OR 110 ??

[xtasee]

I did it in my hangar. They are two 110V legs. Not 240

[johnboytoo]

And IF you hire an electrician, make sure he undertands it's for an RV and knows what he is doing or else your rv won't like it at all !

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by johnboytoo

And IF you hire an electrician, make sure he undertands it's for an RV and knows what he is doing or else your rv won't like it at all !

yea , about that....

My best friend owns an electrical company... He does residential and commercial... He looked at it , and has never wired an RV before... While I DO TRUST him . . . I have hesitations of allowing him to do it.. Let's just say he was not convincing . . . and he has never stepped foot in an RV before...

[5th_Time]

If you have the Onan, run a second leg back to the service, install a transfer switch, and use your generator to power the house.

[piper guy]

Joe ~ I just had a 50a plug added to the house. The electrician that did it, looked at the plug for the coach and said "same box and wiring as a 240 volt dryer outlet" I'm guessing he was correct as my Progressive protector fired up and was happy with the install. Rig is sitting here as I write this with both AC on as I'm getting ready to do some more stuff .........

[Jim & Mary]

Well, it can't be a "dryer outlet", as a dryer is only a 30A circuit. He should have said a range receptacle, which is a 50A circuit. Some early range receptacles were only a 3 wire type, but most modern ranges utilize a 4 wire configuration.

[Tomkidder]

Just remember that the trailer is like a big toaster, all wires return to the main box. That means that the ground wire even returns to the main electrical box. You wouldn't plug in a toaster then take the ground an the neutral wire and connect it into the sink .

[Shane Wood]

Our Redwood 50 Amp plug is 120/240 Volt

[Tomkidder]

Your house should be wired 220. I believe 240 is industrial and normally comes 3 phase as they split the 440. I am not an electrician that's for sure but I wired my own pedestal at my home

[mhs4771]

If you're running some distance, you can run just 3 wires to your post, then add a ground rod for you fourth connection. Just recently finished mine, complete with sewer and water. Ran the two hots and neutral from the main panel and added an 8' ground rod and cable at the post.

[Shane Wood]

Tom
I have been supplying electrical service to everything working as a Lineman in the electrical utility industry. Every house today is fed 120/240 volts from the transformer. Commercial load which uses 3 phase to run motors has 3 hot phases that measure 240 volts across any of the 3 and 2 of them me sure 120 volts to neutral or ground and the third measures 208 volts to ground. Totally different service.
Xtasee
If you take a voltmeter and measure the voltage across the 2 hot legs you will get 240 volts. If you measure from ground to either one you will get 120 volts. Everything in the trailer is 110 volt. With a 50 amp service you have 100 available amps 50 amps on each 120v wire

[ted 95]

All houses have 120 / 240 volt. You get the 240 volt by having 2 phases. A and B phase. In you home items as your stove - dryer electric - heating run on 240 volt. By using both A & B to run these items that is why you have 2 pole breakers in your house and not in the RV except for the entrance breaker. Actually all RVs you are only using 120v. You need 2 black from A & B plus a white and a green ground. This should not confuse an electrician. The configuration of the plug is the type it is due to the industry choosing that "nema" type plug. Make sure the box outside you use is waterproof and if it is a long run have the voltage drop calculated as you may only be delivering 100 volts at the plug and need an even larger wire size. As long as you wire your pedistal properly your RV will be ok. Also don't start trying to figure 3 phase as you should only have that at work not at a residence. As for the ground rod approach. I would not suggest it with all the electronics we use in these units today. You want a clean connection. Also one reason if should the grid should drop a phase the neutral can become live and not having a true ground you do not have full protection from that happening. Then you fry things.

[Tomkidder]

I have learned a bit more about household electricity Thanks. I find it very interesting how all in one place we have a small army of people from every occupation imaginable, freely enlisted and linked together, offering....... Some of the best advice. As I read through the pages of this forum (and have read thousands) I learn all kinds of things from a different prospective. All of this is what makes this forum so great. I have subscribed to many other forums and found mountains of information on various topics. This forum by far is my favorite. The information that is given, and debated here is done so in such a manor that is more teaching than finger pointing at some one with way less knowable experience. For all of this I would really like to thank you all for your contributions. (If people only knew what we have here and how it is managed every RVer would want to be on this forum).

[Ford truck guy]

Thanks to All who helped , and answered.. I passed on the info to my friend , and he fully understands how it needs to be run...

I too think this forum is great ! ! between learning things , and meeting great folks , its a win-win.!

[mhs4771]

Back to the Ground Rod issue. If you look at the wiring coming into you home you will find only three wires, L1, L2, and Neutral. Somewhere just outside you home where the Power Meter is there will be 2 grounds rods connected via cable which goes into the meter to provide the Earth Ground.

[johnboytoo]

Yep - had stubbed my toe on that one at the old house more than once when cutting grass


And why I'm just trying to help with my earlier warning of 'it's different' and be careful who does it - there have been reports on other sites of 'regular' electricians frying rv electronics...

and the different opinions on this thread is an example of the differences

[Ford truck guy]

also know those very well... When we upgraded to our underground/200amp service my friend that is a lineman just drove his bucket truck over with trencher , and all the supplies...

MY main job was to pound those rods 8' under! did 2 at the house , 3 at the pool ,and 1 at the pool outlet pole...

[atom ant]

The 50A 240/V at your range is no different than your campground pedestal, your range is just configured to use 240V, and your Redwood is not.

30A is a different animal, the 30A RV outlets were unique to RVs and only have one 110V leg.

With that, you can modify your Redwood to accept a 240V dryer, or even a range. The downside is you would lose those appliances at a 20A or 30A site.

I hear rumor some new high end RVs are starting to utilize 240V, and I even heard some are so large and consuming they have went to 100A/240V service, but I haven't seen one yet. I think the idea is they can plug into any 50A service and get their 240V, but when 100A happens to be available in the future they can run full capacity.

[RW Cal]

The post should be wired as a 240V outlet, but your RW will only use 2 120 v legs. Inside the connector the voltage between the black and red wires is 240 v. From red to white (neutral) is 120 V and from black to white is also 120 v. the 110 v (or 115 v) commonly referred to is usually measured a little higher and is now generally called 120 v. Make sure the electrician wires the green wire (or bare copper) which is ground. Your coach has a chassis ground and relies on the post's power ground to provide a safely ground.

I wish I could have power to my 38RL, but my HOA won't allow me to have it at my house.