Jayco class c power cord

cherv · 05-13-2019, 05:48 PM

We have a 2019 22j and power cord storage compartment is a joke. What has anyone done to make it easier to store and remove...TOLD YOU NEED TO TAKE CORD OUT COMPLETELY OR CHANCE IT OVERHEATING??

jd99336 · 05-13-2019, 06:06 PM

Never heard the one about taking it out completely. Neve had an issue in 3 years of ownership.

That said, a common modification is to remove the cord, wire in an exterior plug, then have the power cord as a separate unit similar to your water hose. I have watched some video's on this, but honestly, just haven't gotten fed up enough yet.

Beyond that, I am not sure if there is enough room in the compartment for a reel of some kind.

I find the only realy hassle being running the cord through the little hole. A novel solution may to simply make a "plug" from foam or board of some kind and leave the door open but run the cord through a hole in the plug. The idea is to keep critters out of the inside compartment. Just a thought.

Love To Travel 2 · 05-13-2019, 06:45 PM

There are two sides to every story...some say the cords will overheat, others say it won't. I have an EMS which I plug into the pedestal then my shore line gets plugged into the EMS, so it's always stretched out, not coiled up. I always wrap a chain with a lock around the pedestal so the EMS won't walk away, but I'm probably being a little too protective, or anal.

To remedy the situation, I was going to cut the shore line at about three feet from the junction box in the compartment, install a male 30A plug on the end, then put a 30A female on the open end of the long cord. This way I can accomplish two things...keep the cord coiled properly in an adjacent compartment when I don't need it and then only insert a foot or two of the cord into the rat hole instead of all 25 feet, AND I could keep the EMS connected inside the locked electrical compartment without fearing that it will walk away. Unfortunately, it will make it more difficult to check on the status of the EMS since it would be inside a locked compartment.

But with all good things, I still have this on my to-do list for another day.

Sundancer330 · 05-13-2019, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherv

..TOLD YOU NEED TO TAKE CORD OUT COMPLETELY OR CHANCE IT OVERHEATING??

Read your owners manual, it says to pull cord all the way out. It may or may not ever happen but why chance starting a fire in the middle of the night when you're sleeping. I love when people say mine doesn't get hot, and I dont ever pull it all the way out.

RetiredOne · 05-13-2019, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Love To Travel 2

To remedy the situation, I was going to cut the shore line at about three feet from the junction box in the compartment, install a male 30A plug on the end, then put a 30A female on the open end of the long cord. This way I can accomplish two things...keep the cord coiled properly in an adjacent compartment when I don't need it and then only insert a foot or two of the cord into the rat hole instead of all 25 feet, AND I could keep the EMS connected inside the locked electrical compartment without fearing that it will walk away.

That's actually an interesting solution, keeping the EMS inside. I also lock mine to the pedestal now.

I'm wondering though, I never checked mine, but does the EMS itself get warm if you're running high amps through it? Any issue from the heat of the EMS inside the compartment instead of the heat from a coiled wire?

SloPoke · 05-13-2019, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherv

and remove...TOLD YOU NEED TO TAKE CORD OUT COMPLETELY OR CHANCE IT OVERHEATING??

Who told you that? oh.. never mind - I bet I know....

Love To Travel 2 · 05-13-2019, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

I'm wondering though, I never checked mine, but does the EMS itself get warm if you're running high amps through it? Any issue from the heat of the EMS inside the compartment instead of the heat from a coiled wire?

I don't know. We camp more in the cooler weather, so I don't have much history with the A/C running 24 hours a day along with other large draw electrical equipment.

I'll feel safer with the EMS locked inside a compartment, but the way our 29MV is with window locations, I can usually look out a window and see the readout on the EMS hanging on the pedestal. If it's locked up, then I'll need to go outside, unlock the door, check the readout, then lock the door, back inside, etc. If I do anything, I'll do the cord cut and add the new male and female ends to make a 23 foot extension cord that I can easily push a foot or two up into the rat hole.

RetiredOne · 05-13-2019, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Who told you that? oh.. never mind - I bet I know....

It is actually written in the owners manual, don't know if it's scare tactics or not, but it's there.

SloPoke · 05-13-2019, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

It is actually written in the owners manual, don't know if it's scare tactics or not, but it's there.

And do you follow EVERY WARNING in the instruction manual too? This is my favorite!!!

 Do not connect the shore power cord to any power receptacle until you have
contacted the campground owner and/or premise attendant to verify proper
shore receptacle polarity and grounding.

Come on... the manual was written with the safety warnings that the lawyers insisted on... How many of you call the campground owner out at 10PM and have them come out with a circuit tester and test the power pedestal before you plug in your stuff (EMS or not).

If I tested it, why do I need the campground owner to come out in her Pajamas to verify it for me?

Yea... I've run with scissors... tried it for a marathon until I dropped them by accident.

cherv · 05-14-2019, 06:51 AM

Could be a cya

cherv · 05-14-2019, 06:54 AM

This should have been adressed during coach mfg. If a potential overheating could be a fire hazzard. Owners should not have to deal with it.

cherv · 05-14-2019, 07:03 AM

Just received a reply from jayco customer service. No need to extend cord completely just roll out what you need. What a relief not to have to modify or extend cord.

Jopopsy · 05-14-2019, 07:44 AM

I cut my cord about 3' off the box inside the coach (maybe its 4' not sure), and put new ends on each of the cut ends. Much easier to stuff the cord into the small compartment when you can roll it up like an extension cord.

When I'm using the camper, I dangle the short end out the bottom of the coach, and connect the other end from there.

JimD · 05-14-2019, 12:24 PM

If the power cord has the correct gauge wires for the application (30 amp or 50 amp), it may get warm to the touch if you are pulling a major load. Multiple ac units on at the same time is a large load.

Just running lights, microwaves, etc. will not warm up the power cord at all. If you wonder why the cord is so big and clumsy, it is because the wires need to be large to prevent heating up due to voltage drop.

Voltage drop basically occurs in any wire. All wire has a certain amount of resistance to it. The larger the wire, the less resistance. Current running through a resistance causes a voltage drop and heat therefore you need large enough wires for minimal resistance.

If you are worried about your power cord just feel it when in use. If it is HOT to the touch rather than just warm, you probably should extend it to allow it to run cooler. This is a worst case scenario.

cherv · 05-14-2019, 01:01 PM

thanks, see my comment from Jayco above..

Camper_bob · 05-14-2019, 02:45 PM

I re-wired my cord as has been mentioned in this thread several times. Not because I was worried about heat, but because it was a PITA the way they had it.

Now I can coil my cord nicely and store it wherever I want. Plus I can use the appropriate length of cord I need (I carry a 30' and a 50' cord)

I don't have one yet, but when I finally get DW to release the funds, my EMS will probably live in the little compartment and be plugged in-line and locked up to prevent the growth of legs. Better yet, if I decide to hard-wire one, that would be super easy the way I have it configured, and I would have the benefit of a remote status indicator that could be seen from inside the rig...

Jimmyd · 05-14-2019, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherv

We have a 2019 22j and power cord storage compartment is a joke. What has anyone done to make it easier to store and remove...TOLD YOU NEED TO TAKE CORD OUT COMPLETELY OR CHANCE IT OVERHEATING??

Cherv, I am attaching a few pictures showing what I did to avoid rolling the cord tightly into that small box on our 29 MV.
Also, as JimD said you can feel your cord and don’t overlook the plugs heating up. More than likely they will get hot first.
Several years ago I had a 50 amp cord cap on a yacht that turned black. That lead to investigating why? As the wire heats up and cools down the connections inside the cord cap can loosen. Check the tightness of the ends from time to time.
You’ll see in my 2nd picture I use a 50 amp Progressive Surge Protector from our previous bus. The 50 amp outlets are usually in better shape that the 30 amp.
Hope this info combined with others answers helps you. Jimmyd
Forgot to mention that the second 30 amp cord is for my additional 15,000 AC unit. We can use it separately as needed.

1Cruzin · 05-22-2019, 12:19 PM

I completely agree with your comments. The first thing I did when I purchased my White Hawk 27FBOK was to remove the Power cable and install a new power receptacle purchased from Good Sam. It works great and when leaving camp ground I unplug and stow the cable in a five gallon bucket.

jd99336 · 05-22-2019, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1Cruzin

I completely agree with your comments. The first thing I did when I purchased my White Hawk 27FBOK was to remove the Power cable and install a new power receptacle purchased from Good Sam. It works great and when leaving camp ground I unplug and stow the cable in a five gallon bucket.

I am kicking around this modification. Probably makes sense to drop the short cord/plug out the existing hole, otherwise you would likely have to put the new exterior plug in the door itself.

Any threads you could link here to show the process. I am comfortable with the whole cut the cord and install new plugs part of it, but looking more for idea's on what approach to take for the exterior plug and what plug are more highly recommended. Thanks.

t18skyguy · 05-22-2019, 02:12 PM

I don't like stuffing that cord back in there either. A really nice way to do it is like on the Phoenix Cruiser. The cord is separate from the unit. There is a twist lock recepticle on the side of the rig. You just get the cord out of storage, twist lock it in at the rig end then plug in as usual at the power stalk. You can see it at the Phoenix Cruiser comparison video on youtube. I wish I could get the part number for the cord and twist lock and I would do that mod.

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