One of the things to impress me when we bought our first RV new from the dealer was the big fat cord that pulls out of a hole in the side to hook up to a shore power supply. I don’t know if it was the quality feel of that black 30amp cable or the fact it disappeared all neat and tidy from whence it came, but I was suitably impressed.
We bought it in Florida, picked it up in a nice dry delivery area, and enjoyed hands on instruction as the agent performed a walk through demonstrating setup and tear down for us.
One of the first things to flash through my mind was how nice it would be if the cable would retract onto a sprung loaded spool, or an electrically driven drum……. this is how my mind works, and being of an engineering/ creative ilk, my wife has come to accept this foible.
I quickly realized space and weight are two factors to be considered when owning an RV so complex heavy mechanisms got dismissed early on.
The first time we ‘packed up’ out of Florida in the cold and rain at a farm campsite with dirt lots, I realized what all of you already know. Trying to stuff 30’ of stiff, wet and muddy, rather uncooperative cable into the inside of my coach through a 3” plastic port is no fun. I’m not that impressed anymore, something had to be done.
The more I thought of this arrangement the less I was seeing the benefit.
That ‘mouse hole’ is exactly that, not to mention an open invitation for anything creepy crawly to invade our space via the plugged in cord.
The option for me was to seal it up and install a shore power disconnect. This replaces the ‘mouse hole’ with an outlet and lets the shore power cable completely detach for transit, in my case, in a clear plastic sealed bin from Ikea stowed in the front hold.
I searched for options and decided the offering from ‘Marinco’ best suited my needs. My decision was influenced by the fact that my existing ‘mouse hole’ is circular as is the flange of their product. Some others were square which seemed counterintuitive.
Forever a bargain hunter, I found the cheapest source to be ‘Walmart’s’ online service. After ordering I picked it up at my local store 2 days later and with for a further 5% off their already unbeatable price, amazing.
The kit comes complete for a ‘new’ installation and included some pieces I didn’t need. I my case, to replace an existing ‘mouse hole’ there are a couple of different size mounting flanges, a 30amp outlet with a faceplate and cover flap, several neoprene gaskets, a matching 30amp plug and threaded quick release shroud.
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The installation took me exactly 30 minutes I swear.
Everything gets done outside the coach, first order of business, fully extended the shore power cable and cut it about 12” from the outside of the port,
gulp, no going back now.
Cutting back the outer sheath exposed the three thick color coded conductors. Following the included instructions, the next step is to connect the outlet, which is exactly like fitting a plug. The nice people at Marinco have even colored the holes in the back of the outlet to match the conductors so unless you’re color blind this is a cinch.
The outlet is secured to the faceplate with it’s flap down cover and the mounting flange using three stainless steel machine screws. This assembly now attached to the 12” of cable coming from the inside fits neatly into the existing ‘mouse hole’ and in my case utilizes the very same three screws to secure it into the side of the coach as installed by the original builders. I chose to use a bead of clear silicone rather than the gaskets between the flanges to prevent moisture from getting in.
Fitting the plug to the cut end of the shore power cable is even easier. The bright yellow shroud goes on first followed by the plug, again color coded to ensure correct connections of the respective conductors.
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Once it’s all together the female shore power cable simply pushes onto the male outlet on the side of the coach, and gets secured with a 1/8 turn of the black locking ring once aligned with the threaded collar on the outlet. It makes for a great connection completely protected against the elements with internal silicone rubber seals.
Now I’m really impressed !
Marinco shore power disconnect ADDED.
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