Shore Power Connection

[Montana_1968]

Here's a modification I made to my power cord recently. One place I stay at has the power post at the very front of the site. It's a deep site and my 50' power cord will not reach. Keystone placed a Marinco 50amp connection at the very rear of the trailer right under the roof drain. The A/C condensation drips off that corner of the trailer right onto that "220v. connector." And if that isn't bad enough. My power cord with the "Marinco" male-end, did not come with the 'weatherproof' boot that covers the whole assembly. I purchased it separately at a Marine supply store. It totally keeps water out of that connections, even if you sprayed it full force with a water hose. I also purchased an identical Marinco female connector, just like the one from the factory and mounted it at the very front of the trailer just under the the overhang next to the front access door to the Mechanical Compartment. From that point it is not far to wire it into your Main Power Bus. Your 50' Power Cord now reaches 50' from both ends of the trailer. If you have a generator in the bed of your truck, you can plug it in using the "new" front connector and 50amp service while underway. mdw.

[8.1al]

That's a great idea Riverman. Was it much trouble hooking the front connector to the 110v system?

[Montana_1968]

Actually the Main Power Distribution Panel is 220 v. coming in. Inside the panel is two bus bars with 110v./bus each. Half of the circuits are on one bus and the other half of the circuits reside on the other bus bar. 50 amp service total. The power cord has 4 leads: 1 ground, 1 neutral, 2 hot leads (110v. each). Suppling a total of 220v. Hook the 2 hots separately to each bus bar; ground wire to ground in the panel and the same thing with the neutral wire. Just make sure the the wire is big enough to carry the total load. You can tie them in with the main power cables coming from the "rear" shore power connection if you like. Just keep in mind the unused shore powerconnector will be "hot" too, unless you put in a switch.

[Coro from Maryland]

Great idea, Riverman777.

[DHenry]

Now that is a great idea. Keystone should offer that as another option.

[NJ Hillbilly]

If You have the generator prep and don't have a generator built in then there already is a power lead in the front compartment. If You hook power to the transfer switch the rear shore line is automatically disconnected.

John

[fulltimedreamer]

Great idea, but I have a question for you? At the un-used Marinco connector is it possible for someone to come into contact with the 3 prong connector? If so, then there is the potential for someone to inadvertently come into contact with 220 Volts A.C. Are you using some sort of switch to prevent this from occuring? I don't have these connectors on my Mountaineer so I can't be certain what they look like, but I presume they are 3 prongs with a twist-on connection. If that's the case then there needs to be some sort of disconnect so that they are not hot such as with a transfer switch mentioned above.

[Montana_1968]

I'm on a towboat with a laptop/cellular connection, so forgive my tardiness (no signal earlier). I was off watch.

I use the new shore power connection up front a lot, now days, and I didn't have time to wire in a breaker or switch. Yes, it is HOT. So for the time being, I close the cover on the unused connection, and screw a (small) stainless steel self-tapping screw into the cover and assy, to make sure no little fingers get into it. A switch would be ideal though. It seems like everytime I go to hardware store, I hardly ever leave without dropping a hundred or so. I was probably being cheap that day. But if you don't have a switch or breaker installed, it would be prudent to have some kind of small warning sign indicating that it was hot, for YOUR own good. mdw.

[NJ Hillbilly]

Riverman, a disconnect for a hot tub or a household a/c disconnect would do the trick rather cheaply. A two slot circuit breaker box would work also.

John

[Montana_907]

I am curious about your description of how the Main Power Distribution is wired for 220. How can this be? At times, I have to hook up to non-50 amp services that are 110 volts and either 15 or 30 amp plugs. Is it the adapter that removes a leg? If so, what doesn't get power?

[NJ Hillbilly]

There's a jumper wire that bridges the 2 110v legs. Since our units don't utilize any 220v appliances this does not cause any problems. Some higher end busses utilize 220v heaters for heating water for hydronic(baseboard) heating. We po folk don't have these luxuries.

The main thing to consider is what electrical items You are trying to use when connected to service that is less than 50 amps. A/C and the electric water heater will more than have the ability to overload a 30 amp circuit.

John