I have a 200 amp metered box, should be hooked up to APS this week.

I told the electrician I would need to plug my well pump and a 5th wheel so he put two 50amp plugs and two 110's gfi. They are mounted right outside the box on the the pole.

First question..... The 5th wheel is 200' from the box. I did some research this weekend. For that distance I should use 8 gauge. Talked to a guy today who told me that the 50amp outlet is too much and I should make the breaker for that 30amp.

Is that right?

The well pump is right there by the box. He said to use a 15 amp breaker for that 50amp outlet too.

Does that sound right?

The 5th wheel is temporary and my choice is to run the electic line that far or the hard line to the septic that far.

Seems to me the electric would be easier.

Thoughts?

Amperage is the amount of electricity used. You need to know how much you'll use to determine how big a breaker to install. A bigger breaker won't feed more energy to the appliance, but if it's too big it won't protect the appliance.

So, how much amperage does your 5th wheel need, and how much amperage does your well pump draw? There will be a tag on the well pump with either wattage or amperage listed. Amperage = wattage/voltage. A typical hair dryer is 1500 watts, divided by 110 volts is 13.6 amps. A stove might be 4500 watts, but it runs on 220v, so the amperage would be 20.45 amps. You would need to go through the trailer and add up all the amperages to find out what the maximum amp draw might be, and then use a breaker larger than that, with wire suitable to carry that amount of amperage for that distance.

Clear as mud? Post up your numbers. Or, when in doubt, it's usually best to go too big. The only thing that worries me is a 50 amp circuit for a well pump- but I don't know well pumps, so for all I know it needs that much power. That's a LOT of power, though.

-Spike

Like Spike said. At least as far as the pump goes.
The only thing I have to add is that RVs are generally set up with a 30A plug, or a 50A plug. Yours could very well have the 50A setup. If it has two roof airs, then it certainly does.
The RV has it's own breaker panel, so the 50A at the pole is fine for that.

50 amp breaker should run all your power needs. Doesn't sound like you'll be demanding a huge power load. Most appliances in a RV are efficiency units.

The RV is 30 amp, one AC unit. I'm sure it has it's own breaker.

So I should change the breaker for the one I use the pump for to 15 amp? The guy earlier today told me to do that or risk burning up the pump......

And what do you think about the 200' distance for the RV? ( the well pump is right next to the box)

my parents well runs has run off of a 20 amp circuit for the past 10 years. Before that it was a 30 amp circuit.

Lightning struck the power line going to the well one year. Parents had to pay for a new line to be run. The guy used a 20amp circuit breaker because thats what we had on hand. I think 20 amps is barley enough to run the well but it's been working good for said years.

You've got to tell us how much amperage the pump draws before we can tell you if you should change the breaker. Or, tell us the wattage and voltage. If you have the owner's manual it'll be in there, or if you know the model and brand name we could Google it and find out.

200' is a long distance, and 8 guage is really only good for 40 amps. If you can run with a 30 or 40 amp breaker that would be best.

-Spike

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
( voltage drop ccalculator^^)

Marshall, fIguring a 30 amp load, 200'run, and 8 gauge wire, it looks like 120 VAC at the pole drops to 112VAC (or about 6.5% decrease). Depending on what you want to run ,that may or may not be ok.