-
Trouble in 50 AMP LAND – Ouch!
-
Harry the easiest thing to do is re-attach the mounting plate so that the two plugs are pointing down, that way the power cord only has to come in an straight up, no bends.
Greg
-
I wonder if somewhere in the life of the bus someone relocated the plug, maybe because it got damaged in the original location?
-
I went back to the park today to hook up power and it just wasn’t happening. I talked to one of the Park managers and asked for his help because I knew he’s been RVing for over 20 years. He couldn’t get it hooked up either and commented with the cold cord it just wasn’t going to make the bend. He said he’s seen this setup once before on a Wonder lodged.
We decided to pull the cord and connector out through the hole so we could go at the connector straight on and it went in with no problem. Then we took the end plugged into the power pole and fed it through the hole, a two man job for sure, and plugged it back into the power pole so I could close the bay door.
I’ll be ordering a 50 amp pigtail so I don’t have to go through this again. The combination of the plate holding the connector being broken at the bottom and the quick bend needed to the cord is just crazy. But even if the plate wasn’t broken, connectivity would still me a nightmare. So a pigtail it is!
Harry
-
Tom wrote: “Harry’s coach has 3 a wire male plug that you connect a 3 wire female plug that terminates to 4 wire on the end that plugs into the 50 amp shore power. The neutral and ground are tied together. What I posted was basically a short 3 wire extension which is what he was looking for. Just like the Liberty’s that have port and starboard power connections and those plugs are 3 wire.”
I think (gulp) Tom might not be completely correct in his assessment. Its my understanding adapter pigtail is a four wire (a pair of 120volt wires, ground, and neutral). While there are only three prongs on the plug, the fourth wire is attached to the a metal contact surface on the circumference of the plug. I looked at the wiring diagram for a Marinco plug (no cord or cable) like the one used for this pigtail and the instructions depict where to fasten the four wires. I don’t think the neutral and ground are tied together.
I hope that no one infers I’m saying that Tom is wrong, far be it for me to say “Tom is wrong”; I just don’t think his assessment is completely correct.
Harry wrote: “I like the pigtail, we have an auto supply here in town and I’ll check with them first.”
Harry, my first choice to get a pigtail like the one that Tom found for you would not be an auto supply store. I don’t want to discourage you from using the NAPA discount card you obtained through this website. I’ve found that lots of things, especially plumbing and electrical stuff, comes from the big boat/yachting industry. Marinco seems to be one of the top vendors to that market. NAPA is great for chassis batteries as well as probably brake chambers, filters, fluids, and even bags. There is only one reliable source of house batteries and that of course is Tom Chilcotte.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
This is what I need right? Top part of the pigtail connector is female the bottom is male correct!
Harry
-
Or is this what I need?
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Harry: From what I can see from the pictures, it appears they both solve the same problem and will likely fit your coach and shore power cable. I lean towards Marinco products because it appears to me their products are higher quality. Some of the boating/yachting guys and gals might have a different opinion based on their experiences and offer a different, better vendor.
Don’t forget to “fix” your existing shore power cable/plug. As has been mentioned, you should NOT have any individual wires showing where the sheathed cable enters the plug. Its likely that the wires have been pulled in their lugs in the plug. LOTS of electricity must pass through the plug when you’re drawing lots of juice. This isn’t like putting a simple 120 volt plug on a lamp wire. If the connections are poor, there will be lots of heat build up and the plug/cable might fail or cause a fire.
-
Harry,
This is what a proper 50 amp RV connection looks like:
-
Hi Doug,
Mine doesn’t look that way… Mine looks likes what you see above in the 2nd picture I posted.
Harry
-
The Conntek is the right configuration for your needs Harry. The Walmart plug doesn’t show the ends, but it looks the same as the Marinco I posted above and is molded for the 90 degree angle. I agree with Dick, Marinco is good stuff.
-
Thanks Tom, I agree with you guys and ordered the Marinco you posted. In a couple weeks I’m going to take the water spooling device off to fix it. Someone said it may be the springs need replacement so I’ll see what I need to fix it.
While I have it off I’ll do what I can to fix the bottom of the plate holding the 50 amp connector. I need to fix these things as I’m aware of them. Tomorrow I’m replacing the water hose that’s leaking and will check the others after doing so.
It gives a good feeling to work on something that gives so much enjoyment. It’s like my Dad always said “ take care of your tools and your tools will take care of you”! I’ve always found that as very sound advice.
Harry
-
A word of caution here. I am looking at this entire situation as something not being quite right, except without seeing the big picture I can only go by gut feel.
My first concern is that Beaver made a great coach and would not have set up a shore power receptacle that was so difficult to use. I don’t know why I keep having that rattle around in my brain but it sure gets my attention. Right now I cannot shake the feeling the receptacle at one time was like Greg’s, accessible from the outside. But something changed during the life of the coach, maybe some bent sheet metal that made the owner relocate the receptacle so a replacement skin could be used without outside receptacles. I would want to see the coach to see if I am anywhere near correct.
But there is another nagging concern. On professional conversions such as the Beaver and all others the converters took steps to isolate every power source from the other. They used transfer switches, manual switches or some type of electrical contactor to prevent back feeding power.
I mention this because again something doesn’t add up. Harry posted a while back about having to access a switch in a cabinet so he could get the AC to work with the generator running. My first thought was that he should have had an automatic transfer switch, but even if his vintage coach did not have such a feature, there is no way Beaver would have put an electric source master switch in an inaccessible location such as a cabinet Harry described. That becomes concern number 2.
But I also know someone messed up Harry’s house electrical system from the excellent one originally installed by Beaver. I won’t go into details but that is concern number 3 and makes me see all kinds of red flags waving.
So here is my strong suggestion……You likely will not be doing anything regarding the coach mounted receptacle besides the use of a 90 degree adapter, but until you know other wise treat it as “hot”. Even with the shore power cord disconnected from the pedestal assume the receptacle on the coach is a potential electrical hazard unless and until you use a volt meter to verify it is dead. Be safe.
-
Ditto Jon’s caution on the live plug, verify it’s dead even after unhooking shore power and shutting down the house battery and inverters.
-
Harry going on what Jon said, how about a picture of the area between that bay and the wheel well?
-
Here you go Greg.
Log in to reply.