Coachman power cord hole

[aquavita]

We recently traded in our cruiser viewfinder with a seperate power cord to a coachman catalina that has a powercord that stays attached and goes into a hole. The plug head of the power cord is supposed to stay out in the door crevice and the cord goes through the hole into a closed compartment.

Well, when I pushed the cord in during our first trip out it pulled the plug head into the storage compartment and was a PITA to get out. We actually ended up bending the prongs trying. There does not appear to be a way to access the storage compartment, and there are hard plastic prongs at the head of the hole to the storage compartment that I believe are supposed to keep this from happening. But don't.

Are we the only people that have this problem? It took almost 30 minutes to work it out. Any suggestions to preventing it?

[GrandpaKip]

Changing to a removable shore cord was one of the first mods I did. Bought the Park Power kit from Amazon, which fit with no problems. Took about 30 minutes. Should be standard equipment on all campers.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I chose to shorten the shore power cord to two feet. I kept to the normal 30 amp three prong standard and can use an inexpensive extension from Walmart.

Cost $14.97 for a male plug from Amazon and $20.26 for a female end.





If the cord goes missing or is damaged--it is an inexpensive replacement that is easily available.

I use the rest of the space in the box for storing dog bone adapters.

[myredracer]

Our first TT was a Coachmen Catalina 20RD. It had the same mouse hole that you push the cord into. On the 20RD, the box is just below a small exterior storage compartment at the left rear of the TT. When we bought it, we asked the dealer to make the box accessible in case the cord ever got hung up. It didn't take long to find pushing in the cord was a bother.

I ended up converting to a detachable Marinco power cord and inlet. The first pic shows a 1/8" thick HDPE cutting board that I got at a dollar store. Since the hole through the TT for the mouse hole cover was larger than the power inlet, I cut a donut shaped piece of the HDPE and mounted the inlet on that. I bought the round style inlet and cord on ebay for cheap. The complete kits and cord can be expensive and you don't need all parts like the outlet box. Along with a tube of RV caulk, the total cost was around $120.

If you want to mount the new outlet where the existing mouse hole is, you will find that both the round and square style inlets are smaller than the hole in the side of your TT.

The box for the power cord ended making a good storage spot for spares and things that don't ever get used much.

FWIW, the collars on the shore power cord connector come in two types, a threaded one and an 1/8 turn type. I've found that the threaded type can be a bit of a pain to thread on, while the 1/8 turn one is much nicer.

[RoyB]

IN my case i was wanting to change my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer to one of these type shore power cables so I can use my idea for manual hook method power change over procedure.

Something like this



Using the short 30A to 15A adapter cable I can easily connect my trailer to my 1500WATT PSW Inverter setup to power up all of my 120VAC receptacles inside the trailer. (Poor man's auto transfer setup)

Just adds more to my style of camping off the power grids...

This is my OFF-ROAD Trailer floorplan I am working towards for my next battery bank upgrades for more AHs...


Roy Ken

[mlts22]

As an added bonus, it is one less point that critters can get into your vehicle.

[hddecker]

RoyB wrote:
This is what you will typically get with a 30A Shore Power cable conversion kit. One source is AMAZON...


the finished product should look something like this


Your new 30A receptacle mounted on the trailer side will be a TWIST LOCK SOCKET that looks like this. This plug will be direct wired to your 120VAC Power Distribution Panel...


The problem is sometimes by removing the door from your original pull out cable installation the kit will need a backing plate to completely cover the original hole.

Other than that it is a great kit to get. I like the idea of having the 30AMP plug on the side of my trailer verses the long pull out cable.

I want to re-do mine one of these days as well...

Roy ken

I'll trade you. My Airstream had the fixed power cord and I loved it.

I know have the style you are showing and it is just one more thing that wears out. The female end on my power cord is worn to the point that it no longer locks in place properly.

It's just one more thing on the ever growing to do list.

[aquavita]

Excellent. Thank you. That seems pretty simple. I did electrical work in the Navy in the past, so I should be able to swing that.

[RoyB]

This is what you will typically get with a 30A Shore Power cable conversion kit. One source is AMAZON...


the finished product should look something like this


Your new 30A receptacle mounted on the trailer side will be a TWIST LOCK SOCKET that looks like this. This plug will be direct wired to your 120VAC Power Distribution Panel...


The problem is sometimes by removing the door from your original pull out cable installation the kit will need a backing plate to completely cover the original hole.

Other than that it is a great kit to get. I like the idea of having the 30AMP plug on the side of my trailer verses the long pull out cable.

I want to re-do mine one of these days as well...

Roy ken

[aquavita]

Thanks! Both great ideas. I am going to have to look inside when I get home to see if there is an access place. Honestly, it may be worth the $100 to convert it. This thing is annoying, but I love the trailer.

What would the conversion entail? I am going to guess there is no plug inside that little hole and it is direct wired in.

[ryanw821]

I keep my 30amp>15amp adapter "puck" on the end of my plug, its too big to fit all the way through the hole in the back of the compartment with that attached, also ensures I don't loose the adapter.

[goducks10]

Had the same thing on our last trailer. I did as you did and gave it one push too much and it went into the hole. I ended up just unscrewing the outside receptacle so I could reach it. It could also be reached from the inside thru some drawers in the bedroom I found out latter. I hated that setup as the cord was always getting tangled. You could always convert the whole thing to a fixed plug in like your old one. It seems like it runs $75-100.00 and that's why I never did. Hated the trailer and traded it anyways.