Good afternoon, I am new to the forum so please bear with me. I just bought a 1985 Elkhart Traveler 5th wheel. It has pass through several hands. My question is about the main power box it seem that someone has removed the shore cord. I have a large cable running from what appears to be the converter to the main power box but it is not hooked up- the cable is made up of four wires 1-black, 1-red, 1-white, 1-copper. The main breaker in the box is a 40amp breaker. Now what I need to know is if you hook these four wires up to the main breaker, how and where do you hook up the wires for the shore line. A diagram would be a big big help, but if someone could give me some instructions on how to hook these wires up that to would be awesome. Thanks

Bare wire goes to ground bussWhite wire goes to the neutral buss.Black and red connect to wire lugs of the 40 ampere breakerThe shore power cord missing, sounds like the rig may have been setup for permanent wiring.You will need to purchase a new shore power cord. One end has no connector, other end is a four wire male cord body. Standard is a fifty amp same as a range four wire connector.A junction box is normally installed where the rig's wiring connects to the shore power cord.

enblethen, thank you for the information, but how do I get the new shore line hooked in to the power box, by way of a junction box

On the right side of the rig, there will be a compartment that has/had the shore power cord. You will need to locate that. The cable maybe still there that goes to the panel with the 120/240 volt circuit breakers in it. Cable should be 6/3 with ground range cable.Locate the rig's model number and post. Someone here may have the exact or similar model. I would be able to go online and search for pictures of the rig.

The wires from the converter would not hook to the main breaker. Are you sure it's just a converter or did a previous owner install an inverter/charger with a transfer switch?The shore cord hooks to the main breaker unless you also have a transfer switch for use of an onboard generator or an inverter.The wires you describe, since there are a black and a red, would normally indicate a 240v/120v circuit. That is highly unusual for a converter. I strongly suspect it's an inverter/charger. In that case, your shore cord probably connects to it and the wire you have, being the inverter/charger's output, would hook to your main breaker.

Red and black are the normal phase conductors in range cable along with white neutral and bare ground. Range Romex 6/3 with ground is commonly used in fifty amp 120/240 shore power cable.

missing shore line | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

enblethen
Nomad
Jun 06, 2020
On the right side of the rig, there will be a compartment that has/had the shore power cord. You will need to locate that. The cable maybe still there that goes to the panel with the 120/240 volt circuit breakers in it. Cable should be 6/3 with ground range cable.
Locate the rig's model number and post. Someone here may have the exact or similar model. I would be able to go online and search for pictures of the rig.
tk85
Explorer
Jun 06, 2020
enblethen, thank you for the information, but how do I get the new shore line hooked in to the power box, by way of a junction box
enblethen
Nomad
Jun 06, 2020
Bare wire goes to ground buss
White wire goes to the neutral buss.
Black and red connect to wire lugs of the 40 ampere breaker
The shore power cord missing, sounds like the rig may have been setup for permanent wiring.
You will need to purchase a new shore power cord. One end has no connector, other end is a four wire male cord body. Standard is a fifty amp same as a range four wire connector.
A junction box is normally installed where the rig's wiring connects to the shore power cord.

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missing shore line

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