12 volt receptacle too small?

[Redtail Cruiser]

Hi Y'all,
DW and I recently decided to up grade our beds by ditching the foam mattress and putting an air mattress under the 3 inch memory foam. I bought a Coleman 12 volt Quick Pump to inflate and deflate the mattress; however upon trying to plug the 12 volt plug into the 12 volt receptical next to the bed I discovered that it appears too small for the plug. I tried the other plug in buy the dinette and found it was the same. It seemed that they had never been used before so I cleaned the metal and smeared a little lube in the hole and on the metal wings of the male end. I tried again and was able to push it in about half way, but it was very difficult. Kept trying, but to no avail. Has anyone had this problem? Is there an adaptor? I thought all of these type cigarette lighter type plugs were the same. Am I wrong?

Every RV I have owned uses 12v female plugs that are snug to ridiculously tight. They must all use the same supplier. I rarely use them.

[ZekenSpider]

Originally Posted by Redtail Cruiser

Hi Y'all,
..........Kept trying, but to no avail. Has anyone had this problem? Is there an adaptor? I thought all of these type cigarette lighter type plugs were the same. Am I wrong?

I believe they are all "intended" to be the same but I'll bet there is no standard to which they are produced. I have had similar experience with the 12V receptacles in my TM.

Even the plug sizes vary from one producer to another. I recently bought a 12 v extension cord from Camping World. The plug end fits into my Suburban cigarette lighter receptacle, but the receptacle end will not accept my new super whiz-bang emergency trouble light plug. I took the cord to an auto parts store and tried several replacement plugs until one fit. Then I replaced the plug on the end of the whiz-bang.

I think it is a case of what used to be manufactured in USA is no longer available.

It's a pain in the ,,,,,

Regards,

Jerry

Mine were extremely tight also. After a year of trying, I finally got ticked and really forced it it. After that, it worked just fine. Just had to show it who the boss was I guess!

[TrailManorMan]

I added two because the TM plug ins were so tight they were not convenient ,
Easier to change than use the factory supplied ones

[LoveToCamp]

Okay, 2720 owners, I guess I don't feel so bad about my "low-rent" 2417 not having ANY 12v outlets in it. Since it had none, I put one in myself, and my Coleman 12v pump fits just fine, thank you, as do my electronics-charger plugs.

I also ditched the foam mattress for the Coleman air mattress and a foam mattress pad. Much more comfortable!

But, back to the outlet problem - I have found some adapters at auto-parts stores, which will take a larger plug, while the male end of the adapter fits into the smaller outlet. I would simply replace the 12v receptacle, if you can get to the back side of it. I was going to send an email to TM to suggest they put an outlet in, but I guess they do on the larger models.

Same problem with mine. I finally added an aftermarket three socket 12V outlet next to the one that is OEM. No longer have a problem.

[Sterman]

That's just weird that TM would continue to install a 12V receptacle that is pretty much unusable.
I tried to plug in my phone car charger and it was so tight that I pulled the receptacle loose from the thin paneling it is secured to when I gave up and removed the charger.

[B_and_D]

Years ago I put in a 12V splitter into the Winegard outlet that has two outlets, and just left it there. Just can't run anything with high amps with that outlet (including the high volume air pump). DVD player, phone chargers, TV runs fine.

[Redtail Cruiser]

Thank you all for the response. I will take your advice and replace the factory outlet with an after market one. You would think that TM would have found a better device to install in their trailers by now.