Installing 30 amp service at home

[Keith Oliver]

Update:

I have it working now.  Turns out there was a disconnect on the white, where the pressure tank was wired into the 240v system in the house (I am tying into the 240v line that runs out to power the well pump, and passes under the pad where the Beaver is stored).  I connected the white and everything now works as it should.  Odd thing was that the voltage across the red and white read 118v, exactly what I expected to see, when it was disconnected.  It still reads 118v.  I guess the feedback through the bare ground (connected to the white at the main breaker box) is enough to get voltage, just not enough to power anything.
Boating is over for now, as the weather has turned rainy, so back home doing chores, until we head south in October.

[Butch Martin]

How about taking the coach to another electric source, (RV park) that has 30 and 50 amp service and see if the coach works correctly with their plugs.  If so, then you can eliminate the coach and go back to the wiring at home.....

Butch

[JimDyer]

Update:

I have it working now.  Turns out there was a disconnect on the white, where the pressure tank was wired into the 240v system in the house (I am tying into the 240v line that runs out to power the well pump, and passes under the pad where the Beaver is stored).  I connected the white and everything now works as it should.  Odd thing was that the voltage across the red and white read 118v, exactly what I expected to see, when it was disconnected.  It still reads 118v.  I guess the feedback through the bare ground (connected to the white at the main breaker box) is enough to get voltage, just not enough to power anything.
Boating is over for now, as the weather has turned rainy, so back home doing chores, until we head south in October.

Keith, Keith, Keith.....   the white is your neutral and you have connected it to ground. Of course there's going to be voltage between your hot and ground!  I believe having multiple connections from neutral to ground is a safety hazard and a major electrical code violation. I'd encourage you to get a good electrician to look at this before you fry up some of your expensive coach electronics or your well pump motor (or yourself).

[Edward Buker]

Kieth,

Jim is right that this needs to be done safely and sometimes an electrician is needed....only you can decide.

Many panels have ground and neutral bonded together. You can check your main panel and see if they are tied together. Some code:

Electric Code Article 250 requires that the ground wires be tied back to the electrical neutral at the service panel. So in a line-to-case fault, the fault current flows through the appliance ground wire to the service panel where it joins the neutral path, flowing through the main neutral back to the center-tap of the service transformer. It then becomes part of the overall flow, driven by the service transformer as the electrical "pump", which will produce a high enough fault current to trip the breaker. In the electrical industry, this process of tying the ground wire back to the neutral of the transformer is called "bonding", and the bottom line is that for electrical safety you need to be both grounded and bonded.

One issue with tieing directly to the well pump line is that you are adding load to one half of the line. As long as the line can handle the total current it should be fine. You need to add a small subpanel to the line feeding the well out by the RV. Basically the main panel breaker would now be used to protect the line to the new subpanel with the appropriate breaker. In a practical sense that line should be sized such that it handles the load of both the RV and the pump. For voltage drop reasons, given the distance to the well pump, it may already be oversized and handle the combined current load just fine. Near the RV the new sub panel (it can be small) now should have a spot for a 220V breaker to feed the well pump from there and an appropriate 120V breaker to protect the RV feed. At the subpanel you can add another ground rod which doesn't hurt either.

The one issue is your RV is now the first load that is inline for an inductive kick back every time the pump motor turns off. There are surge protectors for under $100 that can be placed right into the subpanel to clamp any over voltage spike. Home Depot and Lowes have them. There is an example of one in the link below and if it were me I would add one. If you are doing all this to keep the charger on to maintain the battery level, for extra safety you could flip all the breakers off that are not needed in the RV panel, especially those that feed the electronics.

http://www.stopsurges.com/SQUARE-D-HOMELINE-HOM2175SB-BREAKER-TYPE-SURGE-BREAKER-HOM2175SB.htm

This is better than digging up the yard and running a new line.....Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[Keith Oliver]

Jim:
No new connection of white to ground.  I have just reconnected white to white, at a junction box where a pressure pump is attached.

Ed:
"Electric Code Article 250 requires that the ground wires be tied back to the electrical neutral at the service panel. "

Right.  that is where I think the voltage reading was coming from, while the white was disconnected.  Enough for a reading, but not enough to substitute for the white.

The white was terminated 20 ft away from the panel, where the pressure pump is tied in.  There is no need for the white to exist to get 240v for the well, so the electrician didn't connect it any further.  For me to get 120v off of this line, the white has to be connected.  

The additional load is so I can keep the battery charger on while I am away, and also the lights, fridge, and some of the outlets. Not likely ever more than 15 amps, so the new, 30 amp breakers (replacing the 15 amp breakers on for the well) ought to handle the load.  The well won't be running unless someone is using the water, so not while we are away.  Digging up the yard isn't an option, as there is over 30 feet of that line covered by concrete.

I like your suggestion of a surge protector, and thanks for your reasoned contribution.

[Edward Buker]

Kieth,

Sometimes there is more information coming in than you might need at the time. Sounds like you have sorted it out and have it under control.  Enjoy the new plug in.

As an aside we were residents for many years in VT and some of our best friends that we knew there grew up in Kelowna on Lake Okanagan in B.C. Many funny stories were shared from growing up there, sounds like a great place.

Later Ed

[Joel Ashley]

It is a great place, Ed, and beautiful too.  I have cousins that live in Kelowna.

Joel