50 Amp Detachable Power Cord Storage

[SALTY]

milk crate from wallmart

[jar3316]

take your cord lay it out straight in the driveway in the sun. leave it out until its warm to hot, then roll it up warm it should lay just fine let it cool down overnight in that shape. If you repeat this process every now and again you will "train" the cord.

[HAARubicon]

Hondo, You will use the dual AC's, especially how this summer is starting out. The salesmen told us the duct work for each unit runs the full length of the trailer but in feeling the air I think the front unit only serves the front and the back unit serves the back, maybe RVGuy can confirm this.

My only complaint is the AC units are right above the beds and they are loud, my poor daughter is is inches away from hers in the back. She says she doesnt mind it.

Me and my cord that I have nicknamed the "angry anaconda" have a few battles but have got some good ides from this thread.

[jsilvius]

I user something like this. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._AA1500_.jpg

[strokendiesel002]

I too am confused on the "reel" set-ups... are these really used for the 50amp service? In 2008 I drove a show rig around the US and required 50amp service and in one of the expo's my hook-up was about 2' further than my standard shoreline. Not wanting anyone to trip, I plugged in my 25' extension and coiled it under the rig (diameter of the loop was about 3'). This worked for about 45 minutes and I suddenly lost power. I called it in and they reset my breaker, but it only took about 15 minutes for it to trip the second time. After about 2hours of the service staff checking and re-checking current, voltage, etc. the guy next to me mentioned that it was probably due to the coil under my rig- he had that problem once before. They ignored him and hooked me back up. A short time later the same thing happened, so I figured it was worth a try to check the loop and boy was it warm! I called it in again and requested a shorter lead (they had a 6' extension) and I went the next 3 days without a hitch.

To this day I won't coil any of my cords if I'm running anything more than a battery tender.

I'm no expert, but I don't think that coiling the shoreline is capable of stabalizing the power coming in... in my experience, if you want to stabalize, you need a capacitor(s) to act as a buffer against spikes/ or store a little for momentary drops. Thoughts?

IMO training the cords is a must, complimented by your prefered method of storage (clamps, straps, or bins) I prefer to use a combination of those methods (clamping/ straping the cords, then putting them in a bin). Thanks dad for the anal-retentive tendencies

[jar3316]

Coiling wire will build up heat (more than just use of said wire) think of a transformer. They get hot they are just coiled wire. I won't get into the technical stuff but it has to do with magnetic fields, it creates more "draw" on the wire. the longer the wire the more resistance, the more current the wire takes up, that current is used up as heat. Magnetic fields create heat also, so all that heat runs up to the breaker (which uses heat as its guage) and if the breaker is old it becomes more susceptible to heat, its a perfect storm of breaker breaking-ness

[jimh]

i just coil mine in the cargo bay. i don't think i could get mine in a milk crate. the 50 amp is a large cable.
somewhere on here, someone has used a hand cranked hose real mounted in the cargo bay to store theirs on. that has been awhile back...maybe under mods.

[strokendiesel002]

"breaker-breakingness"- too funny Jar!

jimh- that sounds like a great way to keep it tame while in storage, great recall! I think I may try that

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by herk7769

I coil my 30 amp extension cord in a "milk" crate.
(Not stolen - bought at WalMart)

You can buy them from WalMart?????
I generally get mine from the Mess Hall when the Public Service plow drivers push them into the main roadway in winter time.

We used to say whats white and sleeps 5?
A Public Service crew cab.

I put my jack, 2 jack stands, generator oil, funnel etc in one crate,
in another crate my highway breakdown kit with traffic cuffs, electronic led pucks, triangles cones, handgun, etc...
In the third goes electrical lines and adaptors.

[jimh]

Originally Posted by strokendiesel002

"breaker-breakingness"- too funny Jar!

jimh- that sounds like a great way to keep it tame while in storage, great recall! I think I may try that

i'd test the idea out before i actually mounted it. that 50 amp cord is heavy. the real would have to be strong enough to hold up to realing that much weight.

i went back over a year and couldn't find the post. whoever did it had pictures. seems like he had a real for the water hose also.

[strokendiesel002]

Well, if anyone is interested, I'll give it a shot- snap some pics and report back... I have 30 and 50 amp cables (different rigs)

[jimh]

i would like to see the pictures. would also like to know if u had any problems winding that 50A cord.

[strokendiesel002]

Here is the Harbor Freight hose reel (item #46342). It was $20, and took about 10 min. to put together. It doesn't include the allen wrench necessaryto complete assembly, but otherwise it went together nicely.

Starting the cable- I used a little pin to hold the end of the cable while winding

another shot of the clip

25' of 30 amp cable. It didn't seem to stress anything.


I'll try to remember to grab the 50 amp cable next time I go to the camper, and I'll take pics and do a little stress testing. If it works, I'll mount it andtake more pics!

[ironj]

Hmm....i like that....and harbor freight too.....wrap that 50 and let us know!...

[jimh]

i'm interested in what and how u mount them. what abt doing the same with the water hose?

[strokendiesel002]

I think this would work fine for a water hose as long as it is a 25' hose.

I've got several ideas for mounting it. One involves a piano hinge and some plywood, mounted vertically as it is designed to be, if the space is there... maybe even for the electric and water hose (electric on the inside). I'll sketch it ok and post some pics later, but im thinking while in storage position it will be latched against with the front or back wall of the front storage capacity. If the takes up too much room, I may weld a ring around the outer perimeter and mount it horizontally to the roof of the storage

[ironj]

Awesome.....get it all figured out so we can steal....errrrrrr......BORROW your hard work........you will of course get all the credit and i will buy you many virtual beers

[jimh]

what abt along the same line as mounting it to a board, have it store horiz attached to the overhead and swing down into a vertical position to wind and unwind?
seems like the one i saw pictured (that i can't find) mounted them side by side but i can see where that can block part of ur access.

[strokendiesel002]

That could work depending upon the amount of space available

[strokendiesel002]

Sorry about the pics, first time uploading from a phone