50 Amp Power Cord - Montana Owners Club

Jim · 08-08-2006, 02:01 PM

Getting tired lugging around the laundry basket with this heavy cord that we don't need. We only use 30 amps since we don't have a second AC unit or washer dryer prep. Thought I would buy a 30 amp cord and cut off the female end. Then remove the female end from our 50 amp cord and attach it to the 30 amp cord. Since the 30 amp is a three wire and the 50 amp is a four wire, the logical thing would be to leave the red wire unattached. Does this make sense with the "wise men" of the MOC. Thanks for your help.

Jim & Dagmar Swift
"Plan B" 2004 2980RL,
2006 Chevy 2500 , Duramax, Allison Automatic, Short Box Crew Cab,
2 Dalmations,
Kelowna, B.C., CANADA

bsmeaton · 08-08-2006, 03:06 PM

Jim,

Logic would say it's the red, but murphy always kicks in. No harm in trying - if it's wrong the worst that will happen is the main 30A service and appliances will not be powered but the second AC circuit will. If that happens, re-attach the red and remove the black. For something a little more waterproof, Camping world makes an adapter that does the same thing without cutting cable ends.
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...d/skunum=12854

2003 2955RL - 5.5KW Gen - great for the lake!
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Brad & Dory

hazmic · 08-08-2006, 03:10 PM

You can buy a pigtail that will do that. 30 amp cord and pigtail that fits the 50 amp connector on the trailer and you are set. I wrapped plastic tape around the plug to hold it tight and keep out rain. that you don't have to carry the heavy cord. If you buy a 30 amp cord see if you can buy a rubber one and NOT plastic. Cold weather and you can not bend the plastic one very easy. The rubber one is flexible.

Mickey,Mary and Wilson[the westie]2006 3475 5th wheel 2000 f350 crew cab dually diesel

Cat320 · 08-08-2006, 03:11 PM

Since you are going to buy a 30 amp cord anyway, why not just get one that has both ends on it? Then, if you ever need the 50 amp, you'll have it too...and won't have to fool with cutting and splicing.

sreigle · 08-08-2006, 03:32 PM

Camping World now has a 30 amp cord with the 50 amp adapter as one end. I have the adapter Brad mentioned since that cord was not available way back when I bought the adapter. By the way, we can run the AC, the washer, and the dryer while connected to 30 amp.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

gkbutler · 08-08-2006, 03:57 PM

Best thing to do is to buy the thirty amp adapter and put it on the end of your cord.

Gary and Karen
SFC USAR Ret.
MOC (4049)
2006 2950RK
2005 Chev 2500HD Duramax/Allison SB
16K Pull rite Super Glide
Prodigy brake controller

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did, so throw off the bow lines, sail away from safe harbor and catch the trade winds in your sails." Mark Twain

Jim · 08-08-2006, 04:52 PM

Unfortunately we don't have a Camping World in our neck of the woods and the adapter you speak of is priced at $160 in our local RV parts store, so I am looking at a cheaper alternative. Thats why I want to take the 50 Amp female end off the cord that came with the Montana. What I really was wondering, was whether my logic was correct with the wiring. I guess I will just have to experiment. Thanks for all your replies.

Jim & Dagmar Swift
"Plan B" 2004 2980RL,
2006 Chevy 2500 , Duramax, Allison Automatic, Short Box Crew Cab,
2 Dalmations,
Kelowna, B.C., CANADA

JH Sechelt · 08-08-2006, 07:13 PM

Hi Jim,

I took a 30 amp 25' cord and cut the female end off and put a Marinco 50 amp end on it so I could use it most of the time at Campsites with only 30 amp services. A 50 amp cord has 2 hot wires 1 neutral & 1 ground. You will have to add a jumper inside your 50amp female end, from the one and only hot side of your 30 amp cord to the other side of the 50 amp female plug end. If you don't only half of the plugs inside your trailer will be powered. I know I tried with only one side of the plug powered.

p/s Marinco make two 50 amp female ends, one is for 3 wires, and one is for 4 wires. You need the one for 4 wires, the two side spades are the hot ones, so that is where the jumper comes in. Test your cord with a circuit tester before hooking it to your Monty.

Hope this helps,
J&D

[IMG]John & Dawn

Sunshine Coast, British Columbia
2006 2980RL &
2005 F350 Lariet, Crewcab
Shortbox Powerstroke 4X4

bsmeaton · 08-09-2006, 05:53 AM

I think J&D is right, my error on the first message. The red and black on the 50 amp will need to be tied together to the black on the 30 amp to power everything up. The neutral should be white, and the ground green. I believe that is exactly what the adapter do.

Broome101 · 08-09-2006, 06:20 AM

Here you go this will take all your questions and give you correct answer on all electrical needs of your RV, on left side of the page are different links for different RV power needs.
http://www.myrv.us/electric/

Broome101
2005 F350 PSD,SRW,CC,LB, King Ranch, 4x4
2005 3685FL
http://www.picturetrail.com/broome101

sreigle · 08-09-2006, 10:19 AM

Jim, if unsure, it might be worth your while to pay an electrician a little bit to wire the plug for you.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

CountryGuy · 08-09-2006, 11:26 AM

I suppose it would cost too much to buy from CW online and pay the shipping and not have to bother with making one up yourself??

We rarely use the 50, but sure don't want to cut it apart and then never have it, just the time we say never, never bites us back! HA HA

Good luck with your fix.

Carol

Parrothead · 08-09-2006, 01:31 PM

We stayed at an old campground in Flagstaff and only had 20amp and 50amp. No 30. Probably at first it only had 20 and then they upgraded and only put in 50. First time that has happened to us.
Happy trails.....................

Sue and Ed Rowe
Hemet California

2005 3400RL

2006 GMC 3500 Dually, D/A, Crew Cab, Long Bed

Countryfolks · 08-09-2006, 02:27 PM

We fried the female end of a 30A cable and the male end on one of the pigtail adapters. I cut the damaged female end off of the 30A and removed the 50A plug from the pigtail and installed it on the 30A cord. The wires in the 50A plug [green, white and black] were connected to the pigtail with screws. The green was ground, and the others I connected the same as in the pigtail. One is the neutral and the other is hot. We used it on the last trip with no problems.

I just went out and looked at the 50A connector from the pigtail. For information only. Looking at the plug from the rear there are 4 holes:
1- At 12:00, has a green circle around it, labeled 'G', green wire from 30A cable, it is apparently connected to the metal plate on the outside of the plug also.
2- At ~3:00, labled "Y" is jumpered to #3 below, black jumper wire.
3- At 6:00, labled "X" is jumpered to #2 above, black wire from 30A cable.
4- At ~ 9:00, has a white circle painted around it, labled "W", white wire from 30A cable.

Skip

Skip and Mary
Black '04.5 Dodge 3500, CTD, 2x4, 48RE, LB, DRW, 3.73, LineX, AFE air filter, Donaldson muffler
'05 3500RL, TrailAir Pinbox

Jim · 08-09-2006, 06:07 PM

Thanks to all of the folks that replied. I now feel comfortable to do what I want. What a great website where all you folks can give everyone elso so much help. It really reinforces the positive decison to buy a Montana. Thanks again.

Jim & Dagmar Swift
"Plan B" 2004 2980RL,
2006 Chevy 2500 , Duramax, Allison Automatic, Short Box Crew Cab,
2 Dalmations,
Kelowna, B.C., CANADA

Jim · 08-23-2006, 03:54 PM

Thanks to the info the JHSechlet gave me I went to Walmart in Omak, WA. on the weekend and bought a 30Amp cord that is 30ft. long for about $30. Swapped the 50Amp Marinco female end on to it and it works great. I will keep the 50Amp cord, complete with laundry basket in the garage. I will save about 20lbs weight as well as have a lot more room and the price was right. I would recommend this approach to anyone who doesn't think they will use 50Amps.

Jim & Dagmar Swift
"Plan B" 2004 2980RL,
2006 Chevy 2500 , Duramax, Allison Automatic, Short Box Crew Cab,
2 Dalmations,
Kelowna, B.C., CANADA

Ozz · 08-23-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by bsmeaton

I think J&D is right, my error on the first message. The red and black on the 50 amp will need to be tied together to the black on the 30 amp to power everything up. The neutral should be white, and the ground green. I believe that is exactly what the adapter do.

Yep.
Ozz

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 3,000 watt inverter, automatic transfer switch
Honda 2000 Generator, Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish, LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge, LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets, On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat, Hadley Air Horns, Truck inverter with 110 volts: laptop, Color Backup Camera, Awning lock

Jim · 08-23-2006, 05:20 PM

Ozz
Thats what I did. I got a small piece of red wire to use a jumper and attached it to the black terminal to power both sides.

Jim & Dagmar Swift
"Plan B" 2004 2980RL,
2006 Chevy 2500 , Duramax, Allison Automatic, Short Box Crew Cab,
2 Dalmations,
Kelowna, B.C., CANADA

richfaa · 08-23-2006, 05:36 PM

Well ..I take that big ole heavy 50 amp cord with us everywhere we go..I mean this is a 50 amp camper..we do have 2 A/C's and a bunch of other energy consuming stuff. True not every C.G has 50 amp so we also carry around a 30 foot 30amp cord and a assortment of adaptors.If Keystone did not provide a 50 amp cord with our campers we would be raising holy heck. Anyhow Helen is a big strong Irish person..She can handle it..

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

dsprik · 08-23-2006, 05:46 PM

You really don't much of the heavy lifting/climbing when rigging up and down, do you, Rich... You have a good wife.

Dave and Cheryl Sprik
Bellaire, MI
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2002 GMC 2500HD
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