running a room a/c

[larrypink]

I called the park yesterday and they have a thirty amp along with two one tens. Sorry I stirred up a hornets nest. To answer some of the questions that arose. Yes the a/c works great in a tent. You put it in the doorway half in and half out for drainage. We only ran it at night. My brother getting his own site wasn't an option.[park is full] But I have a question to seilerbird, why is it illegal to run extension cords at campsites? I have been doing for twenty years for all types of electrical needs needed while camping[coffee pot, lighting,various other things] with the park officials stopping by without saying a word. If it is illegal, why?

 

[seilerbird]

I called the park yesterday and they have a thirty amp along with two one tens. Sorry I stirred up a hornets nest. To answer some of the questions that arose. Yes the a/c works great in a tent. You put it in the doorway half in and half out for drainage. We only ran it at night. My brother getting his own site wasn't an option.[park is full] But I have a question to seilerbird, why is it illegal to run extension cords at campsites? I have been doing for twenty years for all types of electrical needs needed while camping[coffee pot, lighting,various other things] with the park officials stopping by without saying a word. If it is illegal, why?

The campgrounds know nothing about the National Electrical Code. The tent is a structure. It cannot be fed above ground due to all the safety issues. To be legal you would have to dig a ditch and install underground conduit or underground approved cable and terminate it in a subpanel, etc. The safety issues would be tripping on the cord, animals gnawing through it and moisture entering the wiring.

Certainly everyone runs cords outside to run coffee pots, etc. That is why there are receptacles on the outside of every house built in the last 40 years. But when you are feeding power to a structure you open a completely different can of worms.

 

[34footer]

The campgrounds know nothing about the National Electrical Code. The tent is a structure. It cannot be fed above ground due to all the safety issues. To be legal you would have to dig a ditch and install underground conduit or underground approved cable and terminate it in a subpanel, etc. The safety issues would be tripping on the cord, animals gnawing through it and moisture entering the wiring.

Certainly everyone runs cords outside to run coffee pots, etc. That is why there are receptacles on the outside of every house built in the last 40 years. But when you are feeding power to a structure you open a completely different can of worms.

It doesn't sound safe and the visual that I'm getting is quite unsafe. But I guess when you are in a tent you are never really trapped, as long as you have something sharp. Now puddling water is another issue, you really should have a GFI on that circuit. I know first hand what the heat is like in Texas in the summer. I have visited Texas many times in the summer when the kids were out of school. I also was an owner/operator of an auto transport company during the height of the real estate boom. Most of my deliveries were to the Dallas/FW area(Irving, Plano, Lewisville). In the summer, without an RV, I don't think that I would campout, too many scary bugs. I'm a west coast city boy, and some of the bugs that got caught on my antenna were just plain bizarre. (besides what was in the radiator fins  ) I know, I know, they're just bugs.

 

[John From Detroit]

A lot depends on the size of the A/C units

This is fact

When this rig was brand new.. I managed (one time) to run both A/C's on 30 amps w/o tripping the breaker.. Never again till .. Well.. the week before last

The week before Last I pulled into the campground on Sunday afternoon,  Plugged into 30 amps.. Climbed up on the roof with a screwdriver and water hose and cleaned off the condensers.. And was able once again to run BOTH on 30 amps

To do so I had to turn off almost everything in the rig, NO electric hot water, Ran the fridge on gas, No microwave (unless you killed an A/C)

I was able to run two televisions and one computer.

But if your AC (or his) is bigger than mine.. It won't work.

If the park voltage is a bit low... It won't work

IF the plug or outlet is a bit oxidized it wont' work.

In short: Odds are.. It won't work

What might work:

There is usually a 20 amp outlet in that box next to the 30 amp outlet

 

[carson]

I presume someone has thought of the fact that an air conditioner like that has to be vented to the outside of the tent and sealed securely.

  Just putting it inside the tent it will spew out as much heat as it dissipates, hence useless.

  If this has been presented before, ignore this post.

Carson FL

 

[Bob Buchanan]

So you really have to find out thru trial and error.

No -- it is best to find out by going to the park office and asking. Otherwise, you could shut down all the electric in the row you are parked in, upset the park owners as well as all your neighbors. 

 

[Bob Buchanan]

You didn't read my poorly written double negative correctly.

Yes, a double negative "is" a no, no . . . 

 

[seilerbird]

Yes, a double negative "is" a no, no . . . 

Well I won't never do that again.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It is against code to wire up a tent in a campground with temporary power.

Who said anything about "wire up"? How about an extension cord?  ???

 

[seilerbird]

Who said anything about "wire up"? How about an extension cord?  ???

You can't power a structure with an extension cord. It must be wired up according to code. Of course no electrical inspector will ever visit a campground and write you up for an extension cord powered tent, but it is still unsafe.