Getting Power to Travel Trailer


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Old 04-10-05, 05:55 PM
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Getting Power to Travel Trailer

I want to move a large travel trailer near my house, and power it from the 200 amp panel located in the house. I will need a 30 amp outside box to plug the trailer into, however, the house is about 360 feet away from where I want to put the trailer. What kind and, size wire would I need for that distance? I plan on getting a ditch witch, and bury it 30" underground. I would also need to put it in conduit, yes? Thanks, RH
 
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Old 04-11-05, 07:25 AM
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Originally Posted by roadhawg3
I want to move a large travel trailer near my house, and power it from the 200 amp panel located in the house. I will need a 30 amp outside box to plug the trailer into, however, the house is about 360 feet away from where I want to put the trailer. What kind and, size wire would I need for that distance? I plan on getting a ditch witch, and bury it 30" underground. I would also need to put it in conduit, yes? Thanks, RH
What is the voltage? 120 or 240?
 
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Old 04-11-05, 08:03 AM
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Most travel trailers use 120-volt 30-amp circuits. But 360 feet is a very, very long way to run 120 volts, especially if you will run an air conditioner or refrigerator off it. Although a 30-amp circuit usually only requires #10 copper, you should probably use #2 copper here. That's going to be pretty expensive. And digging 360 feet of trench is going to be hard work. You might want to consider a generator instead, especially if the usage is intermittent.

If you do dig, you only need to bury it 18" and you should use PVC conduit (with a much larger diameter than you might think). Don't put any wire in the conduit until the conduit run is complete. You might want to put a pull point half way.
 
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Old 04-11-05, 09:27 AM
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http://www.electrician.com/vd_calculator.html

The voltage drop calculator says you should use 1ga copper for a 120v, 30 am circuit at 360' in order to have a 3% or less voltage drop.

I haven't priced copper lately, but some 750' of it (assuming only 2 wires) ain't gonna be cheap, plus the conduit, trenching, fittings, power boxes, etc.
 
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Old 04-11-05, 09:40 AM
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He could use this type of direct burial aluminum cable and not use conduit.

http://www.essexep.com/electrical/pr...-RHW-RHW-2.pdf
 
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Old 04-11-05, 05:42 PM
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Yes, it is 120 volts, Hey Thin Man, you say I can use aluminum underground wire, and I wont need conduit? this would be much cheaper than copper I would guess? can I find this wire at Home Depot?
 
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Old 04-12-05, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by roadhawg3
Yes, it is 120 volts, Hey Thin Man, you say I can use aluminum underground wire, and I wont need conduit? this would be much cheaper than copper I would guess? can I find this wire at Home Depot?
Yes, you can use direct burial rated single conductor aluminum wire w/o using a raceway. This link shows aluminum wire.

http://www.essexep.com/electrical/pr...20Products.pdf

Check with the Orange Box and see if they have the wire in stock or if they have to order it for you.

I figured a max load of 30 amps for determining the voltage drop and came up with 3/0 aluminum wire for the hot, neutral and equipment grounding conductor.

Cable has to be buried a minimum of 24" from the top of the cable to grade level.

Conduit is required where the wire exits the main panel into the ground and out of the ground and enters the electrical enclosure adjacent to the trailer . 2 inch conduit and fittings if you use PVC Schedule 40 or PVC Schedule 80

I'd install a strong support structure adjacent to the trailer and mount a Raintight J-Box (16" length based on the largest conduit entering the J-Box)on the top portion then the Raintight disconnect switch, and then the 30 amp receptacle below the disconnect.

You can reduce the 3/0 wires by splicing them in the J-Box to the largest size wire that will fit into the connections at the circuit breaker in the main panel, the line/load sides of the the disconnect switch and the receptacle.

Make sure you use copper/aluminum rated splicing devices if you plan on using smaller copper wire. Ground all metal enclosures. Make the sure the trailer's frame is bonded. Use green tape to identify the equipment grounding conductor and white tape to identify the neutral conductor at all accessible and visible locations. Don't forget to use de-ox grease on all aluminum wires that are going to be terminated.
 

Last edited by thinman; 04-12-05 at 09:25 AM.
 

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