Hardwiring a portable surge protector

[lil_camping_fam]

Has anyone ever converted a portable surge protector into a hardwire one? Meaning, cut the plug ends off and connected it directly into the incoming lines inside (so this can not be stolen).

[pianotuna]

Yes, Greydennyhawk, it is best to unwind all the cord from the "mouse hole". I solved that issue by cutting off the shore power cord and putting on standard male and female 30 amp RV ends. I keep my cords elsewhere.

Leaving the shore power cord coiled can cause it to heat. It does depend on how heavily it is being used.

All the 30 amp cords but one are now made from all weather freeze proof wire. It sure makes life a lot easier.

[Greydennyhawk]

I have been under the impression that you are supposed to uncoil all of the 30 ( or 50 ) amp wire that is contained under the rv, and not leave it coiled up inside that little box.
The dealer told me that the wire gets very hot and could fail in time. Is there any truth to this? Am I misled, or just a simpleton?

[BFL13]

I did. Didn't like leaving that $200 thing out there for somebody to steal. Our trailer has a fairly big box with a locking door for the cable, so it was possible to cut the surge protector, do a swappy-change with its ends, and add it between the bitter end of the shore cord inside the box and the junction box that went to.

The surge protector can still be worked inside the box for pushing its two buttons. One thing though, years ago its green light quit working and I thought the thing was dead, but it turned out to be just the light burnt out.

[SoundGuy]

lil_camping_family wrote:
Has anyone ever converted a portable surge protector into a hardwire one? Meaning, cut the plug ends off and connected it directly into the incoming lines inside (so this can not be stolen).

I did, but I sure didn't cut the ends off the surge protector. Instead, I wired in a matching set of 30 amp connectors which the surge protector itself would plug into ... that way if I want to later remove the SP I can simply unplug it, plug the two ends together, and the trailer will receive power as it normally would.

[Bobbo]

I did just the opposite, kind of. I took the "hard wired" version, and added 30 amp twist lock plug/sockets to it, using about 3 feet of 10/2wG Romex. Then, behind the breaker box, I cut the main wire from outside, and put matching plug/sockets on. I installed the hard wired unit, and plugged it in. In case of an emergency, or selling the RV, I can unplug the unit and take it out, plugging the factory wire back together.

[DutchmenSport]

Just a thought? Rather than cutting the plugs and wiring direct (you'll have to splice both ends of the protector, why not just pull the trailer cord into the camper (completely inside, plug and all.) Then plug the protector in inside the camper. On the other end of the protector, plug in an RV extension cord and slip it out the hole of the RV where the power cord goes through. This way, your portable unit is still portable. You are not voiding any warranties by cutting the plugs off, and if you have problems with the protector, it's quick and easy to just unplug and simply pull the original power cord back out the hole. And if you ever decided to sell the camper, you can simply unplug the protector and slip the original cord back out the hole, and keep the protector for your next camper. The only extra investment is an RV extension cord.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[pianotuna]

Yes, it is quite common to do so. Make sure you retain the ability to bypass the surge device.

[Bumpyroad]

no but I moved my portable into a basement compartment and just plugged another 30 amp cord to that. if you have access to your inside lines you could easily unhook and put a male and female 30 amp outlet/inlet on those ends and plug in your surge protector.
last I checked portables were more expensive than hard wired ones so I can't see "destroying" a portable one unnecessarily.
bumpy