Have you added an electric outlet?

[Marti-FUN]

FunFinder 210 with only one outlet in the kitchen area, and it is on the side of the sink cabinet. To use it, a cord would have to go across the sink. There is a light above the sink, and an outlet in the cabinet above the sink. It is a double outlet, but only one of the sockets is wired. Could we tap into one of those and put an outlet between the sink cabinet and vent hood?

 

[Dakota 1120]

I have pondered the thought of adding one or two additional outlets in my unit too.

I have not determined if the particular circuit fuse would support the additional power load from the additional outlet as of yet.

Making that determination will be the deciding factor.

 

[dhyravy]

Keep in mind that the camper walls are not hollow like a sticks&bricks home. Getting power/tying an outlet is the easy part.

 

[Marti-FUN]

Eagle, how do you find out if the circuit can handle it? Hubby would probably know but so far he is content to string an extension cord across the sink. I'm not.

 

[Dakota 1120]

Determine the maximum current draw from whatever you plug into the outlets and then check the max amps of that circuit in the 'fuse panel' for that circuit. IF the current draw will be in excess of what that circuit is fused for, the circuit will be overloaded and the fuse will blow.

The current required to run any appliance, TV, radio, computer, etc. is easily found on the appliance or an internet search or from the mfg.

 

[M&M3]

Outlet

Marti,
The outlet in the cabinet above the sink is likely for a microwave oven. Electrical codes often specify a microwave must be on a separate circuit, which may be why it only has one outlet in the box instead of two.

 

[jbfunfinder]

Marti- Disclaimer: I am not a licensed electrician.

The number of outlets on a circuit is not the issue, it is the power being used on that circuit at any given time. Too much power used at one time may overload the circuit. Therefore, it is fine to add outlets to improve location and convenience, but a bad idea to add outlets in order to be able to plug in and use more electrical appliances at one time. That being said, please also note that FF generally uses 15 amp outlet circuits not the 20 amp capacity we are used to in our homes.
On my 2012 FF X-198 FBS, there is an additional outlet UNDER the overhead cabinet directly over the sink (not referring to the dedicated microwave outlet INSIDE inside the cabinet). We also have the inconvenient one you refer to just below the kitchen counter top edge. We use the one under the cabinet regularly and because we plug (example) the coffeemaker UP into the outlet, it keeps the cord out of the way. You might consider adding one in this location since routing wiring inside of cabinets is much easier than behind/inside walls.
One more important thing: On my model, the circuit for all outlets in the trailer is protected by the aforementioned "inconveniently located" GFCI outlet. That is, FF's electrical design protects all outlets (kitchen, bath and exterior) with a single GFCI. You must understand how this works in order to safely add outlets in the kitchen area.[/u]

 

[brackenlip]

I lucked out in that the space between the cabinet and the stove vent was exactly the width of a regular powerstrip like you buy at Lowe's. Further luck was there was an outlet in the cabinet above for the microwave. That outlet as fitted from the factory was a single, so I replaced it with a standard duplex outlet from the electric supply aisle at Lowes. Obviously, I had to drill a hole in the "floor" of the overhead cabinet to get the wire up there to plug the powerstrip in. Here you can see the coffee maker is plugged into it. Turned out to be a nice "stealth" install....you almost have to be down on the floor looing up to even see it.

 

[Marti-FUN]

On the cabinet over the sink, there isn't a plug inside or underneath, but there is another plug on the far side for the tv. I think I can plug a power strip into it and put the strip over the counter. Thanks for the idea!

jbfunfinder, we tracked all the open outlets and most of the lights to one circuit. We wouldn't be plugging more than one thing in at a time. The lack of counter space alone would prevent more than one thing at a time being plugged into anything.

 

[brackenlip]

oops, misread....

 

[Dakota 1120]

This topic got me motivated to add a duplex outlet on the front of the seat area located in the slide out where the table is in my xt 276.

I pulled the seat cushions and found the junction box where the wires come into the sideout. Wires lead to the one duplex under the one seat. I tied in at the junction box with another wire, ran it under the seat framework for the cushions along the floor to the opposite side of the table and installed a duplex outlet.

It was easy peasy and all out of site wiring.

 

[M&M3]

extra outlets

This post also motivated me to finally add an outlet in the counter top area, mostly to plug in additional lighting.
There are 5 - 120 volt circuits in our camper, but only one is protected by a GFI outlet. The GFI does not protect all the outlets in the camper. I looked at several options including adding to the outlet for the microwave. I decided to be safety conscious and add to the existing GFI circuit in case something plugged into it would fall into the sink when it has water in it.