I'm pretty tired of trying to push about 30 ft. of power cable back into a little hole in the side of my travel trailer after every use.I want to convert it to a 30-amp twist-lock inlet... 30-amp only.Any suggestions for a quality kit that will last, or the individual parts?Thanks

Marinco Park Power Conversion Kit

Gulfcoast wrote:I'm pretty tired of trying to push about 30 ft. of power cable back into a little hole in the side of my travel trailer after every use.I want to convert it to a 30-amp twist-lock inlet... 30-amp only.Me too. I was just thinking about that today.SoundGuy wrote:Marinco Park Power Conversion KitThis is exactly what I added to my Amazon wish list earlier today! I will probably snag it soon.

SoundGuy wrote:Marinco Park Power Conversion KitSecond this suggestion. Works great!

I understand your motivation for this. Our 30A coils into a small compartment. Making 8" coils out of this heavy cable isn't much fun, but I know it's easier than poking it into a hole your hand won't fit into is even worse. That said:Never seen a shore tie cable fail in the middle. At least one that hasn't been run over by a bulldozer, hit by a mower, etc.No, all the problems happen at connections. Receptacles, Plugs with scorched contacts, screws holding wire in connectors, etc. So I'm actually glad to have only one end to be careful about. If you mount your own twist-lock like that Marinco, you'll probably do OK with it. Still, I had my own home made extension cord. My own RV shore tie plugged into it. Loud knocking on the coach. Outlet box was on fire! I did a temporary splice, then made it permanent at home. Connections crimped then soldered, padded out to cable diameter with tape then shrink wrapped. More cable to coil into that little compartment, but a JOY to have one less plug-in. Just sayin' and YMMV.There's a BUT with built-in: If the splice between the flexible shore tie cable and the hard wire leading to the breaker box isn't very well done, it can burn out and go open. Happens regularly on 30A coaches when they run two electric space heaters.

Thanks for the kit info.... I am ordering one.

30-amp Power Inlet | Good Sam Community

20 Replies

MDKMDK
Explorer
Apr 22, 2018
sgfrye wrote:
dougrainer wrote:
Just buy a 30 amp extension cord. Then just pull out the necessary few inches to connect the 2 ends and connect to the CG plug. The amp rating of the 30 amp cord is way higher than the combined 50 foot of the 2 cords together. Then you have that extra 25 feet if you need it in the future. Doug

X2

This is what I do

X3

(Honorable mention to DutchmenSport's setup)
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Apr 22, 2018
As to the person who removed his Marinco inlet and the person who can not understand how it can be "Troublesom"

There is an old saying "Different strokes for different folks"

And the law of requisite variety: You may live only so long as TOTAL CHOICES exceeds FATAL CHOICES.

Both statements say the same thing... Choice is good.. I respect both the person who does not wish to wrestle the cord in and out and the person who does not wish to mess with the Marinco. Which does not bother me at all.
sgfrye
Explorer
Apr 21, 2018
dougrainer wrote:
Just buy a 30 amp extension cord. Then just pull out the necessary few inches to connect the 2 ends and connect to the CG plug. The amp rating of the 30 amp cord is way higher than the combined 50 foot of the 2 cords together. Then you have that extra 25 feet if you need it in the future. Doug

X2

This is what I do
myredracer
Explorer II
Apr 21, 2018
I did this on a previous TT. One thing you may find is that the opening for the mouse hole is larger in diameter than the new power inlet housing. I found a 1/8" thick HDPE cutting board at a dollar store. Even had cross-hatching on it to help hold the caulking. Perfect! Used a jigsaw in a simple jig to cut the inner and outer circles. The inlet covers are available in round or square.

Def. go straight for the Marinco/Park Power kit. Beware of the knockoffs and cheapo equivalents out there. Hubbell has one that would be good too.

Instead of buying a 90 degree adapter, see if you can get a complete cord with the 90 degree connector. With some diligent shopping around, you may find one for around the same cost or not much more. Those adapters can be as much as a cord itself.

FWIW, there's two types of the locking collars - one is threaded and the other is 1/8 turn. I've found the 1/8 turn is much easier to use.
Gulfcoast
Explorer
Apr 21, 2018
The twist-lock kit, which is sealed on the side of the TT, keeps critter's from crawling in also.
gmctoyman
Explorer
Apr 21, 2018
Make sure you have a good storage place fou the cord. Often, on the connected cords, the cord goes into an area that is otherwise unusable due to access.
Gulfcoast
Explorer
Apr 21, 2018
That sounds like a plan, but I don't ever want to push another cord back into that tiny hole again.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Apr 21, 2018
Dang Doug why didn't i think of something like that? :S

I converted to Marico eons ago.
dougrainer
Nomad
Apr 21, 2018
Just buy a 30 amp extension cord. Then just pull out the necessary few inches to connect the 2 ends and connect to the CG plug. The amp rating of the 30 amp cord is way higher than the combined 50 foot of the 2 cords together. Then you have that extra 25 feet if you need it in the future. Doug
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Apr 20, 2018
For the longest time ... like on 3 different travel trailers, I just kept the cord tucked inside the wall and pulled out the plug just long enough to plug in an extension cord. Rolling up the extension cord was no problem at all.

Then, our current camper, I cut the cord, made it shorter and ended up plugging in a surge protector. The original 35 foot cord? I attached a new end on it, and use it for the "extension cord". So I don't have to deal with stuffing the cord inside the hole now. I just roll it up and throw it in the pass through.

If you consider this, you may save yourself some modifications to fit that new connection with the screw in mount cord. (something to think about)....

If anything happens to the surge protector, I can just unplug it and plug back in the original cord and go back to stuffing it in and out of the hole. If we ever sell the camper, I'll take the surge protector with me and just plug back in the original cord. (it works for me).