Finally got a 40 amp outlet installed for my bus for $50

[belfert]

This weekend I finally installed a 40 amp outlet for my bus and it only cost me $50.  About $30 for a 50 amp outlet with housing and about $20 for fittings for the conduit and the breaker.  It is a 50 amp outlet, but only fed by a 40 amp circuit as the wire I used is only 8 gauge.  40 amps at 240 volts is plenty to run my bus.

I didn't have to buy any wire or most of my conduit because it was salvaged from renovating my house.  It would  have cost me about three times as much if I had to buy the wire, but I would have done it with 6 gauge wire.

I had been running an regular extension cord under the garage door, but it got caught in the snow blower, and the connection sitting in the snow wasn't exactly safe.

[Oonrahnjay]

     Nice, Brian.  That's good work.  Do you have an inverter/charger with a setting (software) to limit the maximum power drawn?

[goutoe]

Nice Brian, Im working on doing the same thing I finished installing the 2" conduit now Im trying to get a good deal on wire, I need about 75' I will need to go with 6ga. >>>> John.

[sparkplug188]

I always found the best deals on wire on eBay.  It takes some time and math to figure the price per foot of each eBay listing, but it is worth it. I bought my 6 gauge SE cable for about 25% less than the big hardware stores.

I ran conduit from the load center up into an unfinished attic, stapled SE cable across the rafters, then ran conduit down to a weathertight RV hookup enclosure on the side of the building.

[belfert]

     Nice, Brian.  That's good work.  Do you have an inverter/charger with a setting (software) to limit the maximum power drawn?

Yes, my inverter has a setting to limit the draw for charging.  I never had any issues with it left set on 30 amp while plugged into a 20 amp circuit.  I have a 40 amp circuit now so no need to limit current draw on the inverter.

[TedCalvert]

You all might look at Underground Service Entrance cable for trailers (Manufactured housing).
Here I purchased #2-2-4-6 Al for $1.27/ft.  It's overkill on size, but not available smaller.  Its cheaper than 6-3 Al plus a separate ground, #10, only available in Cu.

It's suitable for direct burial, subject to local codes and dependent on soil conditions, and I believe it would need to be in conduit otherwise.

Of course, some don't like aluminum.  But its big enough that voltage drop wouldn't be a problem.  And you would likely need to splice to a smaller gauge inside the outlet enclosure in order to connect to the outlet.  Same at the breaker.  Somewhat a pain.

Ted

[belfert]

Nothing wrong with aluminum in the right situations.  I'm not sure this is the right situation.  Usually aluminum is used to feed breaker panels which have the right terminals for aluminum.  Will a #2 aluminum wire fit in the terminal on a 50 amp breaker?  Is there a good way to safely connect aluminum to copper for the receptacle end?  For me personally I would probably bite the bullet for copper unless I had a really, really long run.  My run was around 45 feet, but of course I had free wire pulled from my house during renovations.

[sparkplug188]

Every device should have the following information stamped on the side of it:

Wire Gauge
Wire Type (Al, CU, or Both)
Terminal Torque
Wire Strip Gauge
Temperature Rating
Voltage and Amps

If you use AL wire- strip the insulation using the wire strip guide on the device, burnish the aluminum with a brush, then quickly coat it with anti-oxidant "grease".  Aluminum is just as safe as copper if it is installed correctly.

And you would likely need to splice to a smaller gauge inside the outlet enclosure in order to connect to the outlet

You can usually buy devices with oversize terminals made for this situation.  Another option, if you are using stranded wire, is a crimp on terminal.  As far as I know, the NEC does not forbid the use of crimp on terminals on stranded wire when the terminal is listed for use with 120+ volts-- not the 12v auto parts store terminals.  I hesitate to mention crimp on terminals because their use is somewhat controversial among electricians.  However, nobody has been able to show me a code that forbids their use.  As long as the terminal is listed for what it is being used for and the NEC does not disallow it, there is no reason not to use them.

[niles500]

Aluminum is totally safe in a main or sub panel if lugged and properly torqued down - FWIW

[Dawgs]

You can usually buy devices with oversize terminals made for this situation.  Another option, if you are using stranded wire, is a crimp on terminal.  As far as I know, the NEC does not forbid the use of crimp on terminals on stranded wire when the terminal is listed for use with 120+ volts-- not the 12v auto parts store terminals.  I hesitate to mention crimp on terminals because their use is somewhat controversial among electricians.  However, nobody has been able to show me a code that forbids their use.  As long as the terminal is listed for what it is being used for and the NEC does not disallow it, there is no reason not to use them.

Industries use stranded wire all the time on their machinery.   Wires need to be properly crimped.

[belfert]

Aluminum is totally safe in a main or sub panel if lugged and properly torqued down - FWIW

Yes, aluminum certainly is fine for feeding panels and subpanels.

The house I just bought in September had issues with the aluminum feed wires not torqued properly in the panel.  The "electrician" who worked on the house before had no clue what they were doing.  My father found numerous electrical problems that should have burned the house down.  The house has been almost totally rewired since I bought it.