Amputating my 3124KS' elec. power cord!

With what seems to be a little lull in the posting of new threads on our TM forum, I decided to show how I amputated the electrical power cord of my older 3124KS to make it more manageable.

For a few years I've been mildly irritated whenever I've had to connect or disconnect my 1999 3124KS TM to electrical power. The approx. 30' long power cord, you see, is stored in the lower part of an interior cabinet near the front of the trailer. After raising the shells, I pull the cord out through its flap-covered, access hole. Because it's coiled inside the crowded cabinet, it often takes quite a bit of pulling to extricate the cord. Pushing the cord back in also takes much effort since I'll have to push and twist the thick cord until it somehow coils itself in the cabinet. The dirt and grime that's accumulated on the cord must also be wiped off before it's pushed back in through the access hole - I don't want all that dirt inside the cabinet. This is the same cabinet, by the way, in which the battery, water tank, water pump, and converter are located. The first photo shows the crowded conditions inside the lower part of the cabinet.

I decided, therefore, to amputate the cord and leave only 4' of it attached to the converter. I installed a 30 amp. twist-lock connector on the end of this short piece. I put a mating twist-lock connector on the remaining 25' length of the cord. If you decide to price these 30 amp. twist-lock connectors at your Home Depot or Lowes, don't faint - over $50 for the pair! Detaching most of the cord now allows me to store the longer part in an outside cabinet.

The following photo shows a guide-retainer piece I built to keep the short section of cord just inside the access hole. I glued it to the top of the water tank. This piece may not be necessary but I don't mind building things. The next few photos show my connector puller, cord's short length pulled outside, connectors locked together outside and then pushed back inside the access hole. The final photo shows the mated connectors sitting on top of the tank in the now uncluttered cabinet.

One surprising discovery I made while manipulating the cord inside the cabinet was that there were several screw points protruding as much as a quarter inch through the wood partition in the top of this cabinet. I received several superficial cuts on a hand from running it across these screw points. In examining the detached piece of cord, I noticed that there also were several superficial cuts in its outer cover. Pulling the cord out of and pushing it back into the cabinet apparently subjected its insulating cover to being lacerated by the screws' points. This is not a good feature of storing the power cord in this location!

Credit must go to Bill, one of our electrical gurus, for giving me electrical safety pointers when I made this modification. Thanks for your helpful advice, Bill. Before making this modification I gave a few hours of thought to snaking the power cord all the way back to my TM's rear bumper - so that I might have access to it even when the TM is folded down. I gave up that idea because it seemed a daunting task to snake the cord or electrical wires almost 20' back, through some unseen recesses, to the bumper.

[B_and_D]

Larry, I think what you did makes a lot of sense. Our power cord storage area is towards the back of the trailer, towards the front of the rear hatch, but the area designed especially for the sole purpose of being able to store this cord takes up a lot of room, especially in a 2720 like ours. I'd rather use a detachable cord and be able to use that area as an extension of the interior cabinet under the rear bed and to the rear of the tub.

I took out our side A/C unit last weekend, and am amazed at how much drawer/cabinet space there is now that it's gone. There really is a lot of storage space in the TM's, but it could be better utilized.

B_D, I'm not sure if I can visualize where your power cord is stored. However, a couple of months ago I saw a photo of the rear of Bill's TM in which the cord was pushed back through a hole in a rear wall. If yours is like his then it should be a small job to cut off most of the cord and install male and female twist lock connectors on the ends of the cord. Then you should be able to utilize the cord storage space for something else while storing the longer piece of the cord in another spot.

fwiw

My 2005 2720 has the cord in the rear bumper. It coils up into a small area about a foot square, between the outside edge of the TM and the frame.

The long center section contains all of my sewer hoses and fittings. The other small compartment is where I keep my sanitation gloves.

It looks like I have the advantage of one of the more recent TM improvements.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

fwiw

My 2005 2720 has the cord in the rear bumper. It coils up into a small area about a foot square, between the outside edge of the TM and the frame.

The long center section contains all of my sewer hoses and fittings. The other small compartment is where I keep my sanitation gloves.

It looks like I have the advantage of one of the more recent TM improvements.

Pop, the improved location of your AC power cord may be due to the TM Factorys listening to their customers clamors for a power cord that could be plugged in when the trailers are folded down. Past threads on this forum voiced the complaints about the access holes of the cords being blocked when the upper shell was folded down - and some home-brewed solutions resulted.

On my 1999 3124KS, however, rerouting the power cord all the way to its rear bumper appeared to be a task that wasn't worth the labor I felt it involved. Therefore, I did the next best thing: improved the manner in which the bulk of the cord was stored and cleaned up the front, interior cabinet of my 3124KS.

Have the late-model versions of the larger TMs, such as the 2005 3124 and 3326, had their AC power cords rerouted to the rear bumpers also?

This is my first time on this forum. My husband Sal and I recently purchased a 2000 2720SL.
We have used it once. We went to Bass Lake in Ca. (about an hour away from where we live) during the recent heat wave. By the way it is still hot!!! Anyway, the side AC is fine for morning, but the afternoon temperture inside the TM was about 97 degrees.
We have read with great interest about someone suggesting a changeout to a higher BTU. Has anyone really done that? Did it work? We have seen a 10,000 BTU window AC at Home Depot, but we need info before we go any farther.
I'm not at all sure just how to use this forum, but I have enjoyed everyone's input so very much.
We have upgraded from a 2002 TT and I love the "living room" arrangement while my husband Sal loves the way it pulls.
Thanks, Maxine

Larry
My '04 3325 (manufactured in Sept '03) has the power cord in the rear bumper. The connector is accessable with the shells closed down.
bob

Bob, thanks for the info. Again, I believe that credit must go to Bill and others who worked on methods of making their power cords more accessible when their older model TMs were folded down. I believe that the TM Factory learned of their work and decided that this was an improvement that was needed in the later models.

[Bill]

Maxine -

I can't address the adequacy of the side air conditioner - never had one. But ...

If it is going to be really hot out, it is critically important to get your TM under some shade. The sun can pour heat into a closed space like a TM far faster than a relatively small air conditioner can remove it. Trees, of course, provide great shade - but seem to be in short supply in the southwest.

Out in the desert southwest especially, I have seen people erect a false roof over a mobile home - basically a sun shade about a foot off the roof, with open sides to let the heat out. I suppose you could do the same thing with a TM, making the "roof" out of a tarp on some aluminum poles. Even if you just shade the south and west sides of the TM, it should help considerably. You would have to take it down when it gets windy, of course.

In my home in Scottsdale, AZ, I erected a cloth-and-plastic-pipe sunshade over the outdoor unit of the whole-house air conditioner. The compressor unit works much less hard, now.

Bill

I have found putting foil (the kind with air pockets between the foil layers)over the windows, It does a wonderful job. I have cut pieces to size for each window. Then when needed we just slide the pieces behind the closed curtains. It is great for the cold weather too. My side air does very well in the 100 degree heat, holds between 78 & 82 degrees. It is not expensive, light weight & easy to stow.

Try it yu'll like it.

Jack