Shore Power Inlet

[madjack]

...really doesn't matter what the campground has...what matters is how much juice you use...............................

[Nytewyng]

Since my generic Teardrop from Littleguy didnt come with power, I havent "hacked " the camper yet. Trying to decide where the best place would be to have the shore line come into the camper. Any ideas? The Galley is very plain and will probably be used to keep stuff rather than cook in. My only plan so far, is power for a reading light in the cabin and probably one of those "power strips" so I can use a small fan or maybe watch a movie at night. I have a Littlguy 5x8

[Chuck Craven]

Hey all- I picked up the Marinco charger inlet as well (rated at 15 amps.) I read somewhere else that if the campground has 20Amp service that you could fry the inlet. How probable is this? Do most CGs use 20 amp service? Should i run out an return this now? Ugh
Thanks!

State and federal campgrounds should be changed over to 20 amp 120 v ac and 220 two phase 50 amp. The power pole will have a GFI breaker for the 120v and a standard breaker for the 220v. All privet campgrounds are grandfathered as long as no new construction has been done. If you have your tear’s main is fused or a breaker for 15 amps and you do an adaptor plug to the 20 amp there should be no problems with that. You just don’t want to connect a 15 amp camper to the 20 amp power pole and try to draw more than 15 amps as the wiring may not handle the over load. At minim, the wiring may get hot, at worst there will be fire!
Chuck

[BrwBier]

The only way youcould damage a 15 amp connector is to use more than 15 amps. This is not likely, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Chuck Craven]

Since my generic Teardrop from Littleguy didnt come with power, I havent "hacked " the camper yet. Trying to decide where the best place would be to have the shore line come into the camper. Any ideas? The Galley is very plain and will probably be used to keep stuff rather than cook in. My only plan so far, is power for a reading light in the cabin and probably one of those "power strips" so I can use a small fan or maybe watch a movie at night. I have a Littlguy 5x8

I saw a small pop up that was built before electricity. The guy who owned it just made a hole in the floor and put a spring loaded outside outlet cover over the outside of the hole. He just pushes the power strip cord through the hole and connected it to the power pole. When not in use he pulled out the cord and the hole was covered by the spring loaded cover plat. That kept out small furry critters, water and bugs. Simple, cheep and no one saw any holes in the side of his camper.
Chuck

[ArtMini]

see this is what I was thinking, just run a cord thru the trailer and plug it in, I was thinking of mounting a box on the side to coil the cord up in, but i like your idea better. How much was it and can I get it at any RV store?

Art

This is what I used.



I got it from a local RV parts store. I simply pass my power cord through this hatch.



This view shows the hatch from the inside. It's simple and it works.

[wlooper89]

My teardrop is a Little Guy also and I recently completed the wiring for A/C and D/C. I decided on a 30A inlet because of my fondness for electrical things. Microwave, electric blanket, heater, etc. Maybe an AV setup later. Also my 25A converter draws a little under 5A A/C. This is a picture of my inlet from Hubbell. Not cheap but I liked the way it looks.

My album mostly is photos of the electrical system since the Little Guy arrived already built except for that. I attached descriptions and comments to some of the pictures that in some cases describe the wiring arrangement or sources for parts.

Good luck with your electrical system. Starting with the original AA battery lights as I did you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Bill

[Alphacarina]

Definitely not cheap - I assume you also bought the $50 10/3 cord to connect it to the campground outlet?

You should also have some matching 10 gauge wire inside your Little Guy . . . . if not, you wasted some money on the connector

Don

[wlooper89]

Hi Don. You are exactly right. I use a 30A shore power cord and #10 A/C wires to my WFCO converter, then it splits into two 12-3 A/C circuits back into the tear. I also used #10 D/C wires into the tear for three D/C circuits to a junction box and #12 wires for the last few feet. It is probably overdone for a teardrop. I started with a Little Guy and three AA battery operated lights, so building a nice electrical system has been a priority.

This Hubbell inlet comes with an internal grounding strap attached to the housing. My inlet is mounted on a metal electrical compartment attached to the trailer tongue. After participating in a discussion about A/C grounding in Joanne's wiring diagram topic, I decided to ground A/C only to shore power, not to the trailer frame. Then I removed the internal grounding strap from the shore power inlet and connected a GFCI as the first load.

Bill

[aggie79]

Hi Bill,
Any chance you still have the part no. for the Hubbell 30 amp inlet?

I just found it - HBL303SS.

Thanks.

[BPFox]

Here's a question for you. If you hook your trailer up to "shore" power, do you have to throw the trailer in the lake to make it work?

[wlooper89]

Here's a question for you. If you hook your trailer up to "shore" power, do you have to throw the trailer in the lake to make it work?

A very excellent question! Or will campground power work with a shore power inlet? I have noticed that a light rain helps.

Bill