How to Wire Electric to RV Parking
The easiest and safest way to wire an electric supply to recreational vehicle, or RV, parking is to fit a proprietary supply pedestal. Supply pedestals are similar to the hook-up boxes seen at most campsites, but are better provisioned than most. They are typically manufactured with integral 50-amp, 30-amp and 20-amp outlets, all with appropriately sized circuit breakers, a usage meter and a pedestal light. They are a self-contained, weatherproof box prewired so that once a 50-amp connection is established all the outlets are powered up to the correct voltage.
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Things You'll Need
- Electrical toolkit
- Voltage meter
- 50-amp fuse (optional)
- Type UF-rated, 4-conductor 6-gauge wire
- RV pedestal
- Cable clips
- Plastic zip ties (optional)
Instructions
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1
Open the main breaker box to the property where the RV is to be parked and switch off the main breaker at the top, usually sized at 100- or 200-amps. Unscrew and lift away the dead-front panel and use your voltage meter to test from the power conductor to the neutral bus to confirm all power is off. Visually confirm the supply to the board is split single phase, where two heavy hot wires from the main supply the power conductor and a single neutral and a single ground connection is made to the neutral bus and ground block, respectively.
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2
Locate a 50-amp double-hot pole, or double-bus, circuit breaker in your main breaker box, or install one in a vacant slot. Use Type UF-rated, four-conductor six-gauge wire to run two 120-volt hot wires to the location of the pedestal, one black and one red, from the two downstream screws of the breaker. The orientation is unimportant. Run one white six-gauge neutral wire from the neutral bus, and one green six-gauge ground wire from the ground bar, to the location of the pedestal.
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3
Remove the case front of the pedestal, and install the four-conductor wire according to the manufacturer's instructions. Typically the wire will be fed through a knock-out equipped with a tensioning clamp and connected to clearly marked terminals in the lower quadrant of the pedestal. The black and red hot wires are interchangeable, so it does not matter which hot terminal each is connected to. The terminal screw for the neutral wire will usually be painted white. The terminal screw for the ground wire will usually be painted green.
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4
Tension the clamp around the four-conductor wire where it enters the pedestal, and replace the case front. Use cable clips or plastic zip ties along the entire wire run to ensure it does not represent a trip hazard and is protected from accidental damage. Replace the dead-front panel of the breaker box and reestablish supply by switching on the main breaker.
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5
Set your voltage meter to 240 volts and test the function of each pedestal outlet before plugging in your RV's shore power connection to the appropriate outlet.
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Tips & Warnings
The separate black and red hot wires are phased at 180 degrees, ensuring twin 120-volt supplies are delivered to the pedestal, not a single 240-volt supply.
Even with the 100- or 200-amp main switch off in the breaker box, the heavy wires at the top are still carrying an unfused current. They can short out metal tools and cause serious injury.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit motorcoach,motorhome,rv image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
