Driving off with the power plugged in.

[inverseParanoid]

Our RV was plugged in outside of our apartment when my girlfriend drove off with the power still hooked up to our 100 ft extension cord. The wire wasn't live as I'd unplugged the extension cord from the house, but the weight of the 100 ft cord must have been enough to cause some serious tension as a portion of about 8 inches our RV electrical cord ended up getting pulled apart.

None of the wires are stripped, just the insulation, and it looks like it could be patched up just fine with electrical tape. Is there some way we can test to see if the electrical system is still functional without plugging it in and turning it on?

EDIT: It is a 30 amp system.

[inverseParanoid]

Final Update:
The new cord is great. About 5 feet longer and much easier to unplug than our old one.
Microwave works fine when plugged into a 30a outlet.
Started clipping a small orange chip clip to the ignition so that we always remember to unplug in the future.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. You really helped steer us in the right direction and we got to know our new (to us) RV a lot better in the process!

[luvztheoutdoor1]

I did this once. Replace it.

[CA_Traveler]

Buy an cheap digital voltmeter and check the voltage with the MW on.

[inverseParanoid]

So we finished installing the new power cord. Everything seems to work fine when we plugged into the apartment (even the AC), but then we turned the AC to try to run the microwave and the microwave seemed clearly underpowered and not running correctly so we turned it off.

We never tried running the microwave while hooked up to house power before, so I'm not sure if there's a problem or it's just that we need to be plugged into a full 30 amp outlet in order to run the microwave properly. I guess we'll just test it the next time we're at a campsite and not run the microwave if there's problems. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

[CA_Traveler]

dsurette wrote:
I would replace the cord but I would also cut off the bad sections from the original and attach male and female ends and use it as an extension cable. The insulation on the individual wires in the cable is pretty tough and I doubt that it got damaged.

X2

[gkainz]

Olddud wrote:

gkainz wrote:
If it makes you feel any better, I did that once in my C, packing up camp in -20*F and distracted by the cold. Saw the cord in the mirror, dragging behind me about 20 yards from the site. Fortunately, nothing damaged and nobody around to witness it.

Yeh, but now you just went and told everybody!:)

LOL! Yep, but long time ago and notice I said "once"? Lesson learned!

[indyzmike]

I like the idea of having a longer cord versus having indicator lights. You should have a separate outlet tester to check the outlet before you plug in. Once you plug in, it could be too late.
I find it convenient to stop at Hanna and buy some things for my RV. Just check pricing, as usual.

[inverseParanoid]

Alright, I disconnected the old cord from the power converter and I'm all ready to order a new cord. The power converter lives under the bed and the cord runs below the bed, bathroom and sink before making it's way outside the RV.

Which Power Cord Should I Buy?

The old cord gave us 25ft worth of slack outside of the RV (with another 11-13ft inside the RV running to the power converter).

I found This 36ft Cord that should give us 23ft of slack outside the RV. It has a cool handle with voltage and reverse polarity indicator LEDs, but the gf is concerned that the handle might be too big and prop open the campsite's power box, potentially allowing in rain or other elements that cause problems.

Or I could get This 50ft Extension Cord and cut and strip the female end, giving us about 37ft of slack outside the RV. It doesn't have the cool indicator LEDs, but it does have a pull out T handle that won't prop open the campsite power box but should still allow for easy removal.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these brands or handle types?

[Olddud]

gkainz wrote:
If it makes you feel any better, I did that once in my C, packing up camp in -20*F and distracted by the cold. Saw the cord in the mirror, dragging behind me about 20 yards from the site. Fortunately, nothing damaged and nobody around to witness it.

Yeh, but now you just went and told everybody!:)

[maillemaker]

If the cord was unplugged, I don't see how you could have done this.

I'm betting she ran over the cord. That would do it for sure.

[inverseParanoid]

Thanks for the suggestion about turning the good part of the old cord into an extension cord. I started looking for plugs at PPL Motor Homes and it would be almost $20 for male and female pigtail ends, while a brand new 25 foot extension cord would only be $40. I think if we needed an extension cord it might be better to just get the new 25 footer instead of rigging up a 10-15 footer with both ends needing to be connected mid-line. Unless someone knows of a place where you can get cheaper plugs (potentially ones where you can connect the wire directly into the plug instead of pig tailing them together in the middle of the line).

I will sav the good parts of the old cord just in case, though.

[gkainz]

If it makes you feel any better, I did that once in my C, packing up camp in -20*F and distracted by the cold. Saw the cord in the mirror, dragging behind me about 20 yards from the site. Fortunately, nothing damaged and nobody around to witness it.

[super_camper]

dsurette wrote:
I would replace the cord but I would also cut off the bad sections from the original and attach male and female ends and use it as an extension cable. The insulation on the individual wires in the cable is pretty tough and I doubt that it got damaged.

x2. I would make an extension from it.

[dsurette]

I would replace the cord but I would also cut off the bad sections from the original and attach male and female ends and use it as an extension cable. The insulation on the individual wires in the cable is pretty tough and I doubt that it got damaged.