Southwire Shoreline RL5 Cord Reel Replacement Options for Lost Power Leg

[Brynjohn1]

Hi !
We have a 2020 3120RL Legacy with the Southwire Shoreline cord Reel model #RL5 low profile. I have been experiencing the dropping out of one leg of power sometimes and what seemed to be random when connected to shore power. After extensive troubleshooting & testing with the help of my trusted mobile tech, looking at other posts, what I have found is that the loss of one leg of power is dependent on where the reel is in its rotation. In about 1/2 to 2/3 of the rotation there is loss of one leg of power. In about the other 1/2 to 1/3 of the rotation there is power to both legs. This has been measured at the transfer switch and main panel. There is always power on reel input lugs. Based on my research, it is likely that bronze fingers or circular contact ring is shot and there is no repair possible - thus looks like I will be replacing the cord reel.
So - my question is, before I just go by another Southwire Shoreline reel, has anyone done a replacement with another mfgr/model and had a better experience? or do I go back with another Southwire Shoreline #RL5 low profile? and yes, I really want to keep an electric reel, I don't what to convert to a plug in cord unless have too.

Thanks for your recommendations and everyone take care!

Bryan

 

[ChuckS]

Many of the Shoreline power cord reels have issues similar to yours .. and it is on going ..

Images of the contact fingers and the contact slipping assy showing typical damage found that cause loss of power on one or more legs of 50 amp shore line feed to RV

You can’t buy the slip ring assy or contact finger assy from shoreline or anyone that I’ve been able to locate

If the damage is not to bad on the slip rings you can try cleaning them up with some 800 grit crocus cloth and wipe down with contact cleaner after wards and do the same with the contact fingers if they are damaged or burnt up .

Otherwise it’s a new cord reel

 

[Mikendebbie]

If or when my cord reel bites the dust (meaning the bronze fingers and the contact ring) - I will likely convert to an external plug to attach the anaconda power cord to…OR re-wire and figure out how to make a manual cord reel work, and give up some space in the basement storage compartment. I have not looked at electric cord reel pricing in a while, but I think they are pricey.

If the cord reel chain drive gets wonky - I will try to fix that (as other members here have done).

 

[Brynjohn1]

Many of the Shoreline power cord reels have issues similar to yours .. and it is on going ..

Images of the contact fingers and the contact slipping assy showing typical damage found that cause loss of power on one or more legs of 50 amp shore line feed to RV

You can’t buy the slip ring assy or contact finger assy from shoreline or anyone that I’ve been able to locate

If the damage is not to bad on the slip rings you can try cleaning them up with some 800 grit crocus cloth and wipe down with contact cleaner after wards and do the same with the contact fingers if they are damaged or burnt up .

Otherwise it’s a new cord reel

Thank you Chuck. I think I am going to take apart and see if I can clean the surfaces, can't hurt before I spend the $$ to replace it.

 

[Pr3dict]

I'm experiencing this issue right now as well. The black L1 has an open circuit when checked with a multimeter.

Weirdly my power watchdog, that's inline after the reel, shows voltage leaking to to the L1.

There seems to have been a short at some point.

Can you provide the guide that shows how you disassemble the reel?

2022 2131rl

 

[Mikendebbie]

I think you have to remove the sheetmetal j-mold completely to expose the support frame and cord reel.

 

[Brynjohn1]

Pr3dict, sorry to hear,
I took my efforts step-by-step. First, if you unhide the cord completely and rotate the drum you’ll see an access plate with four screws one each corner. I took that off first then you’ll see a pc board that is riveted to the enter drum that holds the fingers on the other side. Then I disconnected the cord wires from this PC board, and I drilled out the rivets, knowing that if everything worked good, I could always replace the rivets with small screws and that accessed the fingers and then you can see the drum. Then I could look at the fingers and see if they were in bad shape or not and look at the drum. In my case I had one finger that was probably 70% gone from pitting and another finger that was probably 20% gone from pitting and the other one looked fine and when I looked on the drum, I could also see where the coating on the drum had rubbed off so at that point I gave up because the manufacturer does not sell any replacement parts and decided that I had to replace the whole assembly. and as someone else said to actually remove and replace the assembly, you have to take off or at least loosen about half of the lower skirt in my case to be able to gently bend it out a little bit to be able to get to the mounting bolts and be able to on both the reel and take it out and disconnect the wires between the reel and the coach, and then just reverse it all to install the new one. I could not find any documentation about the installation or disassembly of the reel itself. In your case, maybe you would just get lucky and find out that some of the lugs between the cord and the Reel or the reel and the coach are just loose.
I wish you the best of luck in your repair efforts and let me know if I could help in anyway

 

[Mikendebbie]

Here is a thread where forum member ScottZ describes rebuilding his cord reel…

Shore power cord reel; safety issue

I just installed the retrofit kit to rebuild my shore power cord reel. While doing so, I inspected the #6 cable from the front of the RV where it attaches to the cord reel. At the rear of the RV, above the fresh water tank, my cable runs through the frame rail and through the cord reel box...

www.montanaowners.com

 

[Brynjohn1]

Looks like the kit replaces mech parts but no electrical parts. There does not seem to be a kit for any electrical parts

 

[ChuckS]

There is no kit that i have seen for replacement of the tabs or drum contact surface.. Some have made new spring contacts but its a bit of a tedious project.. And since many folks have to remove the skirting just to remove the cord reel the worth of the effort versus longevity of the repair would not be the direction I would choose...

 

[LeftOverParts]

FWIW, posting a thread from irv2 with a recent post (#16, Jan ‘26) where someone designed and built better brushes and appears to offer the same. They look to be the same as I chucks’ picture. (I realize if the rings aren't salvageable, prob won’t be of any help - though it might be a worthwhile preventive step if it helps avoid a new $900ish cord reel.

Some of the other posts in this thread might be of interest too like polishing up rings that aren’t too worn (another preventive step?) or not spinning the reel while connected to power.

Shore Power Problems 2024 Allegro Bus 45OPP

Hoping someone on here smarter than me (most probably are). Had problems a couple of months ago with the power cord hose reel not providing power to the transfer switch. Changed that out and all worked fine. Now problems with the transfer switch. It's showing 124v on each leg at the switch but...

www.irv2.com

 

[BB_TX]

Never had such a reel so never experienced one. But the severely burned spots on the rings almost surely indicates arcing and the resulting extreme heat at that singular point. The arcing is likely caused by contamination (dirt, dust, grit) on the ring causing poor contact at that point. Once it starts it just gets progressively worse.

It would be a pain in the butt, but a yearly cleaning with a spray contact cleaner and wipe down of fingers and rings may be a good preventative measure.

 

[ChuckS]

Never had such a reel so never experienced one. But the severely burned spots on the rings almost surely indicates arcing and the resulting extreme heat at that singular point. The arcing is likely caused by contamination (dirt, dust, grit) on the ring causing poor contact at that point. Once it starts it just gets progressively worse.

It would be a pain in the butt, but a yearly cleaning with a spray contact cleaner and wipe down of fingers and rings may be a good preventative measure.

The one issue for many folks is the actual plate to access the slip ring and finger contacts is riveted in place.. Not a. big issue for those that have some basic mech skills... just drill out the rivets, inspect, clean, install sheet metal screws in place of the old rivets

 

[Brynjohn1]

FWIW, posting a thread from irv2 with a recent post (#16, Jan ‘26) where someone designed and built better brushes and appears to offer the same. They look to be the same as I chucks’ picture. (I realize if the rings aren't salvageable, prob won’t be of any help - though it might be a worthwhile preventive step if it helps avoid a new $900ish cord reel.

Some of the other posts in this thread might be of interest too like polishing up rings that aren’t too worn (another preventive step?) or not spinning the reel while connected to power.

Shore Power Problems 2024 Allegro Bus 45OPP

Hoping someone on here smarter than me (most probably are). Had problems a couple of months ago with the power cord hose reel not providing power to the transfer switch. Changed that out and all worked fine. Now problems with the transfer switch. It's showing 124v on each leg at the switch but...

www.irv2.com

Thank you, yea rings were toast too, ended up with a new reel.

 

[Pr3dict]

Thanks everyone for the response so far. Finally got around to opening this up. Not sure how to see the ring without an inspection camera or without destroying the reel itself.

From what I can tell some of the spots were arcing and caused a burn which caused my issue. Not sure why it happened but it is what it is.

I can definitely replace the fingers with another piece of metal, so that's not an issue.

However, how can I clean the other side of the ring where it's not showing.

The alternate if this doesn't work is in going to screw a few taps into the reel to hold it in place and keep it from spinning and then somehow tap the rings and attach a permanent outlet.

I have very very little appetite to try and pull out the side skirt because our rig is painted and pulling everything apart seems like it will destroy the paint.

Thoughts?