Changing out electrical outlets

[Bstark]

Has anyone changed out their electrical outlets for the standard ones used in houses? From what I've been told the wiring is not secured inside the wall. The SI (standard issue) plugs are held in the wall with a plastic keeper that flips up when tightened. Need particulars on how and what was used to complete the job,

 

[happycampers-THOR]

most walls are not deep enough to contain an electrical box to hold a household plug. If you pull out one of your existing plugs you will notice the connections are hidden behind a plastic 'pop off' cover. Also none of the plugs are beside a stud, as they don't need to be with the plastic keepers. I installed a new plug on the road side in the pass thru storage where the cable/sat/phone are located. Here I had enough room to mount a 'reno' receptacle box which doesn't require a stud to be fastened to but is too deep for a standard wall in the trailer. I'm not sure if what you want to do possible.

 

[jtseltmann]

There are plenty of alternatives and shallow mount boxes that will be for 'old work'. I'm adding an outlet in the closet for a vacuum and will swap out one outlet and use a shallow mount box that has extra side space. That is really your only concern. The wiring in those RV outlets is sketchy at best. The push in connections are ugly if you have ever seen proper home wiring.

 

[FW28z]

Those outlets are typically called "Speed Boxes" or "Wirecon Boxes". They are about as cheap as you can get, and they are actually finding their way into structured and residential homes.

Here is an installation guide:

http://www.hubbell-wirecon.com/literature/InstallationGuide.pdf

While there is a special crimp tool that is designed to work with these boxes, I could never find one on-line. But the installation guide does state you can use a pair of Channel Lock pliers or C-Clamp and a piece of cardboard to protect the plastic front cover from being marred.

And I have to provide an editorial comment. As I have come from the boating world, I am very familiar with electrical wiring practices in boats, which believe it or not, are Federal Law (USCG regulations). The USCG requires minimum standards for boat wiring for safety.

In a boat, you must use stranded wiring as due to the vibrations involved with operating the boat, solid wiring can easily break. So when we bought our coach, I was amazed that it had solid wiring all over. I have to believe some of the same vibration issues exist in a RV that exist in a boat.

However, if you should have a wiring problem in a boat, you could set fire to it 100 miles from shore - which would be a bad thing. On the other hand, should you have a fire in a RV, then you can just pull off to the side of the road and jump out.

So perhaps it's the level of risk that determines whether or not solid wiring can be used.