Anyone install a 30 amp Marinco inlet fitting?

[myredracer]

I've been pondering installation of a Marinco cord inlet to make the 30 amp cord detachable. I read on the ModmyRV site that you can remove your old "pull-through" cord hatch (mouse hole) and install a round inlet right in the same opening as the old hatch. And it says you can even use the same mounting holes.

But.... Our hatch is 5" in diameter and the Marinco inlet is under 4". What would I do? Leave the old cord hatch in place and install the new inlet elsewhere? Cut out the center part of the existing hatch and try and mount the new inlet into the old hatch? Or, if the old opening happens to be small enough, use that and caulk the old screw holes?

The Marinco site seems to show another ring in the conversion kit that mounts behind the contoured inlet which makes it wider overall, but there is no mention of it or a part number. It just seems to show up in one photo. Is that extra ring what I need I wonder?

Kinda confused here as I'm not sure if we have a non-standard cord hatch or if ModmyRV is incorrect. Anyone know what the right approach is?

ps: The cord storage area is under/behind a dinette seat. The cavity had no access to it in case the cord got tangled up. So I removed the 5/8" plywood top (accessible from inside the rear storage compartment) and put in a removeable cover. There's a ton of space in the cavity so if I put in a detachable cord inlet, there'll be more storage space available in the TT, albeit not the easiest to get to.

[TURBS]

links ? pictures ?

[ddemme]

Marinco makes a kit that includes a trim ring, gasket, box, and everything: Marinco 55-8880 Maro 30A RV Detachable Power Conversion Kit

This was going to be my next mod if we'd kept the popup. Fortunately, the Roo came the the detachable plug.

[camper_Lucy]

I think you would need to install a support/cover that you could then use to drill a reduced size hole. Marinco inlets are made to fit into either a 2&3/4 or 2&7/8 hole depending on which model you chose.

http://www.marinco.com/files/support...als/100697.pdf

Even with the conversion kit you still have the same hole issue, here are the install instructions. a 5" hole will be to big the kit fits into a 2 & 3/4 hole.

http://www.marinco.com/files/support...als/200781.pdf

[TURBS]

Just a random thought but why change it?

[ddemme]

If you have the standard mouse hole, you need the 30ARVKIT from Marinco and you'll want to follow installation type B from the manual: http://www.marinco.com/files/support...als/200781.pdf

Some reasons to do the conversion are that it frees up storage space in the camper and you can secure the cord when not in use. Thieves have been known to go through storage lots and steal the cords. It only takes 2 seconds to pull a cord out of the mouse hole and lop it off and I guess there's a lot of copper in those 30 amp cords.

[wayne anthony]

My old trailer had the pull-out cord, the new one has the detachable one. Preferred the pull out one. As I was typing this, read your reply directly above. How do you plan on securing the cord when not in use? Just about all storage compartments can be unlocked with the same key. Wayne

[rkswyo]

I would trade my detachable cord for the permanant one in a second. One of these days I'm going to see if there is room to do such.

[TURBS]

Which is why I asked why would you change it!
Besides either way you still are storing the cord

[ddemme]

Originally Posted by wayne anthony

My old trailer had the pull-out cord, the new one has the detachable one. Preferred the pull out one. As I was typing this, read your reply directly above. How do you plan on securing the cord when not in use? Just about all storage compartments can be unlocked with the same key. Wayne

The main reason I wanted to do this on our popup was space. The cord storage took up half of the rear dinette bench which could have been better utilized. A neatly wrapped 25' cord takes up much less space than that. Had I done it, it would've been stored in my 'power' rubbermaid container which used to live in the front bin of the popup.

As far as the security part goes, its not an issue for us. We're fortunate to have a yard big enough to keep our camper in. You're mostly right about the key, but I think that FR is changing it up a little more these days. However, I don't think we're talking about some kind of organized crime syndicate that has access to RV keys and a detailed plan for the heist.

Having a detachable cord that can be neatly stored in a minimum amount of space either inside the coach or in a locked storage compartment is by no means foolproof, but its better than nothing.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -Douglas Adams

[myredracer]

The reasons I am thinking of for doing this are 1) the push-in cord takes up a lot of wasted space in the enclosure behind the dinette bench, 2) I would like to install a surge protector and there really isn't another decent location for it other than the space the cord is in now, 3) the existing cord gets quite stiff the colder it gets out and is harder to manhandle back into the enclosure 4) the Marinco cordsets have fine-stranded conductors and are much more flexible, as is the insulation type and thus it coils up fairly tightly, 5) by using a detachable cord, the existing cord enclosure can be used for storing other things like spare tools that don't get used much.


I've also just installed a 15A inlet and a receptacle by the kitchen counter. Now we need space to store the 15A cord.


I've looked at buying a Marinco conversion kit but I can buy a new Marinco cordset and inlet for the same amount or less than the kit costs. At first I thought I could just buy an inlet and a female connector and re-use the old cable, but just the connectors are like $50 each including the weatherproof boot. This is a frustrating math exercise to be sure.


Regarding theft concerns, it seems like no matter what, you are at some level of risk. I thought about putting the receptacle behind a locking hatch cover but that turned to be too expensive anyway. I'd at the least want to have a 30 - 15 amp pigtail adapter so we could use a 15 amp cord temporarily if the 30A cord got swiped.


When we have the 30A and 15A cords running at the same time, theoretically, I could design a circuit that sets off an alarm if one cord was not pulled out or cut at exactly the same time (within milliseconds) as the other. The only way for anyone else to prevent the alarm going off would be under a site power failure then stealing the cable(s). However, I digress a bit on this and am guessing it would just be cheaper and easier to have a spare cable handy.


On dimensions, it *looks* like what you do is retain the mouse hole cover and remove it's lid. The inside dimension of our mouse hole is 3 1/4" which coordinates with the Marinco outer diameter. The Marinco support info. is vague on the details. So I think I am going to get a countered model and take it from there.

This is a photo of our mouse hole.