Hi Mike, Our plug melted at a Wisconsin state park campground. We thought someone was burning plastic plates. We could smell it. No idea it was our plug. Image our surprise when we saw this. So lucky we didn’t burn down our camper. Everything still works in our camper, the only thing that got damaged was our decorative outside lights (we use Christmas lights).
As a mobile RV tech (specializing in electrical systems) I very frequently find customers who don’t know or forget to twist the twist lock. Or that it became un-twisted due to tension on the cord. I am trying to think of a way to mark a line on the plug and receptacle to show when it is lined up correctly and help the customer remember to twist. Also putting a couple of counter clockwise twists in the cord before plugging in may help it from working itself untwisted.
Two questions - I think. If we are close to our power post at an RV park, is it a good idea to roll out our entire cord and curl it up nice and pretty anyway? We have a trailer that has the cord hard wired in and comes out of the side of the trailer? I've always wondered if bunching the cord up in that storage space can cause it to heat up.
Also, when we're boondocking I have it set up so we plug us into ourselves. I have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter installed near my batteries in the front crawl space. There is a heavy duty extension cord plugged into the inverter and it runs to the rear of the trailer where the power cord is. I HAVE been doing this "plug into ourselves" thing for decades now (yes, I've had solar that long) but the hard wired shore cord then sits in the storage space all jumbled up and plugged into the extension cord that leads to the inverter in the front, Is there a problem with all that cord bunched up in that small space?
I hope my explanation isn't too convoluted. I understand it completely - HA.
Since you are limited to 2000 watts, I doubt if you are going to overheat the cord or connections provided the "extension cord" you mentioned is rated for 30 amps.
On a separate item, the longer your total cord length the greater your voltage drop from the inverter to the appliance. So you might want to consider ways to shorten it, perhaps by using the regular shore cord as long as it will reach toward the inverter and then make a custom length 30 amp cord just long enough to cover the final distance to the inverter.
Larry Lee BS Engineering Physics University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Hmmm, this gives me an idea. I could 'unpack' the entire shore cord and run it to the front of the trailer through a series of hooks to keep it off the ground. Then make a much shorter extension to connect it to the inverter. I'm going to work on this idea. I thought power loss with AC was not that much compared to DC when calculating loss over distance. Thanks Larry.
You are correct that voltage loss is more noticeable with 12V DC, however, with battery power going through an inverter encountering some loss coupled with your concern about the shore cable coiled up in its compartment, it seems like you would like to conserve all the energy you can while also providing full AC voltage for your appliances. This looks to be like a project you can do easily and answer several concerns at once. Best of luck.
As a mobile RV tech (specializing in electrical systems) I very frequently find customers who don’t know or forget to twist the twist lock. Or that it became un-twisted due to tension on the cord. I am trying to think of a way to mark a line on the plug and receptacle to show when it is lined up correctly and help the customer remember to twist. Also putting a couple of counter clockwise twists in the cord before plugging in may help it from working itself untwisted.
I’ve talked to RV owners who said the dealership never showed them about the twist-lock process. So much to teach!
Two questions - I think. If we are close to our power post at an RV park, is it a good idea to roll out our entire cord and curl it up nice and pretty anyway? We have a trailer that has the cord hard wired in and comes out of the side of the trailer? I've always wondered if bunching the cord up in that storage space can cause it to heat up.
Also, when we're boondocking I have it set up so we plug us into ourselves. I have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter installed near my batteries in the front crawl space. There is a heavy duty extension cord plugged into the inverter and it runs to the rear of the trailer where the power cord is. I HAVE been doing this "plug into ourselves" thing for decades now (yes, I've had solar that long) but the hard wired shore cord then sits in the storage space all jumbled up and plugged into the extension cord that leads to the inverter in the front, Is there a problem with all that cord bunched up in that small space?
I hope my explanation isn't too convoluted. I understand it completely - HA.
Since you are limited to 2000 watts, I doubt if you are going to overheat the cord or connections provided the "extension cord" you mentioned is rated for 30 amps.
On a separate item, the longer your total cord length the greater your voltage drop from the inverter to the appliance. So you might want to consider ways to shorten it, perhaps by using the regular shore cord as long as it will reach toward the inverter and then make a custom length 30 amp cord just long enough to cover the final distance to the inverter.
Larry Lee BS Engineering Physics University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Hmmm, this gives me an idea. I could 'unpack' the entire shore cord and run it to the front of the trailer through a series of hooks to keep it off the ground. Then make a much shorter extension to connect it to the inverter. I'm going to work on this idea. I thought power loss with AC was not that much compared to DC when calculating loss over distance. Thanks Larry.
You are correct that voltage loss is more noticeable with 12V DC, however, with battery power going through an inverter encountering some loss coupled with your concern about the shore cable coiled up in its compartment, it seems like you would like to conserve all the energy you can while also providing full AC voltage for your appliances. This looks to be like a project you can do easily and answer several concerns at once. Best of luck.