Incorrect wiring of RV 30A 120V receptacles - who's liable?

[sliderule]

We have a travel trailer and I regularly read RV forums. RVs have either a 30 amp, 120 volt service or a 50A 124/240 volt service. Every year there are posts about someone incorrectly installing the required TT-30 receptacle and wiring it as 240 volts instead of 120 volts. When this happens, there can be up to several thousand $$ in damage to the RV's appliances and electronics. The problem is that some electricians (and probably a few homeowners and buddies of homeowners) don't look at the TT-30 receptacle which is clearly marked on the face that it is 30 amp 125 volt, as would the package too and assume it is 240 volts. The TT-30 looks somewhat like an old NEMA 10-30R dyer receptacle which is 120/240 volts (no ground) and some installers may be having this in their heads without correctly looking at the wiring device markings. Or maybe they simply assume any heavy duty looking recept. is always 240V? If you look at the dryer and TT-30 recepts. side by side, it's pretty clear that they are different as one has the typical looking ground pin slot and the other an L-shape. Plugging an RV shore power cord into the dryer recept. apparently can be done but requires a lot of force to do it.

I can't figure out how to post URLs from the 'net in this forum, but here is a link to info. on RV recepts. for reference. http://www.myrv.us/electric/pg/30amp_service.htm

Many on the RV forums will blame the homeowner for giving wrong or unclear instructions to them and being partly or fully liable, but IMO, the electrician has the ultimate responsibility to ensure the work complies with the NEC and any other applicable regs. and is left in a safe condition.

I'm a Canadian EE (retired for while) and I am not familiar with licencing of electricians around the US. So my question is, is it going to be the electrican that is 100% at fault? Unless things have changed here lately, it would be. If the TT-30 receptacle is wired wrong, what should the homeowner do? Should the local elec. inspector be contacted if the electrician refuses to take responsibility and repair any damage? I would say it's errors like this that in some cases can cause fires or electrocutions and it can't be taken lightly. In my experience with electricians on commercial and institutional work this just doesn't happen.

As a bit of an aside, there have been some cases where the receptacle in a campground, house or some other building has been mis-wired causing the exterior of an RV to be at 120V to ground. A 3 year old boy was electrocuted last year when he touched an RV. There seems to be far too many people, licenced electricians or not, working on RV receptacles and wiring that don't know what they are doing. Is there maybe something lacking that needs addressing in the industry?

 

[iwire]

I'm a Canadian EE (retired for while) and I am not familiar with licencing of electricians around the US. So my question is, is it going to be the electrican that is 100% at fault? Unless things have changed here lately, it would be.

The licensing of electricians, the permitting and inspections of electrical work are handled locally, often on the state level but also can be at the city or county level.

The rules are different in each area.

Where I am to install a new 30 amp receptacle, a state licensed electrician is required to apply for an electrical permit in the city or town the work is being done. Assuming it is granted the electrician does the job and then calls the city or towns inspection department to inspect the work. It is during this inspection the error should be caught. However, even if a mistake is not picked up on at inspection the electrician is always responsible for non-compliant work. Of course if time has gone by proving that the electricians work was not modified becomes a real issue.

 

[sliderule]

Is that always the case or are some electricians, or in some states, allowed to do minor work without taking out a permit and not need an inspection? Or like here, do some electricians that have enough of a reputation built up with the inspection dept. not get all work inspected and he/she just needs to sign a declaration of some sort when finished?

It always makes me shake my head when I see places like HD selling a wide range of electrical products that would be enough to build a high-rise, but nobody asks if you have a permit.... Too many folks are playing with electricity that shouldn't be.

The licensing of electricians, the permitting and inspections of electrical work are handled locally, often on the state level but also can be at the city or county level.

The rules are different in each area.

Where I am to install a new 30 amp receptacle, a state licensed electrician is required to apply for an electrical permit in the city or town the work is being done. Assuming it is granted the electrician does the job and then calls the city or towns inspection department to inspect the work. It is during this inspection the error should be caught. However, even if a mistake is not picked up on at inspection the electrician is always responsible for non-compliant work. Of course if time has gone by proving that the electricians work was not modified becomes a real issue.

 

[iwire]

Is that always the case or are some electricians, or in some states, allowed to do minor work without taking out a permit and not need an inspection?

Some areas have no requirements at all. Some have requirements but do not enforce them.

Or like here, do some electricians that have enough of a reputation built up with the inspection dept. not get all work inspected and he/she just needs to sign a declaration of some sort when finished?

Well for sure that happens but I don't think you will find any policy actually allowing that.

It always makes me shake my head when I see places like HD selling a wide range of electrical products that would be enough to build a high-rise, but nobody asks if you have a permit.... Too many folks are playing with electricity that shouldn't be.

I worked hard to get my electrical license in three (small) states yet I still firmly believe a homeowner should be able to do any wiring they want in their own home without needing to pay the town for the privilege.

 

[augie47]

Brings to mind a point I have never understood. Many of the 30 amp 125v Trailer receptacles I see have no markings for the neutral and both the neutral & phase screws are silver causing even some of the licensed folks in this area to get the polarity reversed. Kinda perplexing since the outlets are LISTED.

 

[electricalist]

I don't remember ever seeing an inspector catch a wrong wired anything except maybe a 120 v outlet or gfci.. Since 96 I have never seen an inspector with a volt meter. Much less test a 30 amp single line outlet.

 

[zbang]

I've wired a few of those TT30s. To the original question- if the device says "125v 30a" and the electrician connects it to any other voltage, then I'd say they're on the hook for any damage caused. Doesn't matter whether an inspector misses it.

How many RVs have a voltmeter ahead of the main disconnect? That would be the other side of the coin- if the RV owner had a means to check before flipping the switch and didn't. (How many RV owners even flip the main off when disconnecting, anyway?)


BTW, I had a coffee truck at an outdoor event that requested a 120/240v 50a RV feed and a 240v 20a feed on a L6-20. It may have worked once, but when it connected the 20a it smoked the 120v controls in the roof-top A/C. The truck and his cord had a L5-20 at one end and a L6-20 at the other, and I don't think he even realized the difference. Polite education happened, he had the A/C fixed, and I still didn't pay for coffee all weekend . He also didn't make that mistake the next year on the electrical order.

 

[augie47]

I don't remember ever seeing an inspector catch a wrong wired anything except maybe a 120 v outlet or gfci.. Since 96 I have never seen an inspector with a volt meter. Much less test a 30 amp single line outlet.

different world ! I check 99% of the TT-30 receptacles.

 

[sparkyrick]

I'm a member of a few RV Facebook groups and it amazes me how many times I see incorrectly installed 30A/125V receptacles. Most were done by homeowners, but some by contractors too.

 

[electricalist]

different world ! I check 99% of the TT-30 receptacles.

Inspections are tricky to me. I think I know what they should be inspecting and some times it is and some times not..
I have only seen one inspector check a ac unit for correct wire size.
In commercial on a final what has to be installed and working ? all the plugs switches and lights on? I dont know.