Better way to stow 30 amp cord in small cubby hole

Buy some SO wire whatever length you want and wire it in very flexible and you can go up in size for better amp capacity

I picked up a 25' 30 amp extension cord the other day along with a cord reel to wrap it up on. It'll live in a storage bin along with my fresh water hoses and bin of sewer accessories. I think if the cord cubby hole is pretty close to the plug in, I'll just pull a few loops of cord out, but if it's more than 10' away or so, I'll just pull the end out, plug my extension cord in and use it instead. This also gives me 50' of total cord should I need it for an unusual plug in situation like I ran into at a race track with my partner's Class A last summer.

I still have yet to find any circuit breakers, fuses, or any electrical panel at all on this coach. Surely there has to be something somewhere...? There are removable access panels in several spots inside the coach that I haven't peeked behind yet, maybe behind one of them. Near the batteries is a battery on\off switch and inside the battery tray is a couple of connections, a relay and two 10 amp fuse holders...that's it. I'll probably start another thread on this if it becomes a challenge to figure out.

I haven't worked out an alternative because I have room to coil up 25-30 feet of 30-amp and throw a couple of coiled up hoses on top.

If space were a problem, I would shorten the power cord to just reach outside the RV, and use a 30-amp extension cord. Might do that anyway, because the plug tends to get banged up dragging it the full length of the long cord as I coil. With one end attached to seven tons of motorhome, can't do a "walk towards the other end" as I coil, as I do for hoses.

I have the same system. I just push the cord into the hole and let it coil inside as I push it in. I think it works fine. If you try to coil it and then put it in the hole, I could imagine the nightmare.

Work with it, Brian

I do basically the same as Bobbo, but I stop a little short of the door. I plug it in after the cord is coiled up.

I loop the cord ALL the way to the back, using the full depth of the cubby. Then push the next coil ALL the way to the back. Then push the next coil ALL the way to the back. And so on.

Each coil touches both the back wall of the cubby and the door over the cubby.

Pulls out more easily too.

Hi,

I cut my cord and put on a male end. Then I got a female end for the remainder of the cord.

That makes sense, starting without a load. Just seems strange to me that you plug the line in after the genset is started. This coach does not have any breakers that I have found yet. I'm sure there has to be an electrical panel with fuses and breakers on it somewhere, but dang if I have found it yet.

Regarding the cable, I think what I'll probably do is pick up a 25' 30 amp extension cord and keep it with my water lines and such in the underneath storage. Then when camping I'll pull it out, plug it into the coach shore line and then the receptacle and go. When leaving, just unplug both ends, wrap the cord up and stow it and be done. This way, if I ever need more than 25' of cord, I can pull the other cord out of the hole and use it.

Ideally you do not want to start the genset under load. But you don't want to plug the cord in under load.
Best to do is to turn off main breaker, start genset with plug in place then turn on the breaker.
I would install the short pigtail. I did so I didn't have to cramp the cord in. I did have a transfer switch so I did not have to plug it in like you do.

enblethen wrote:
OP does not appear to have a transfer switch. He must plug the shore power cord into receptacle to connect genset to rig. That is what photo indicates to me

Correct... In fact when I was inspecting the RV, we got the genset started and still had no 110v inside. The seller called Coachmen and they reminded him he had to plug the shore power line into the genset receptacle.

The book says to start the genset first, then plug the cable in (to prevent damage) but that seems strange to me.

The genset receptacle is what makes stowing the cable so difficult, plus it's not real easy to plug the cable into it and it's orientated so the top of the plug is pointed out (cable towards middle of RV) so you have to stuff the cable in to line the plug up with the receptacle.

Reading all of the comments here makes me happy that I'm not the only one this bothers. I WILL figure out some easier way to deal with this.