Is there an alternative to the stock 50 amp cable that is manageable? I am sure that 25 feet is ample for most applications. Is there a light weight alternative?
50 Amp power cable weighs a ton.
- Thread starter Midtown842
- Start date
Jayhawk 29
roadway boater
First off what type of rv do you have? And how many ac units? Thats the starting point for us. When you say a 25 foot cord would work, this may be the case if you are mainly staying in one place for an extended length of time. But the plug in location on your rv really should be considered if you are considering only carrying the 25 foot cord. You can make up a 30 amp cord with special ends on them that can be adapted to the 50 amp male plug on one end and the female plug on the other end. I use this setup for a 125 30 amp generator.
Tadsher
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2021
- Posts
- 144
The cable has 3 - 6 gauge wires and 1 - 8 gauge wire and with the insulation to protect the wires from water (rain) and UV (sun) there is no way to make a 25 foot cable a lighter, it weighs about 30 pounds for a 25 foot cable. Wait until you find that you need a 60 foot cable. I go to a state camp ground and they recommend that you have 60 - 75 foot cable and hose because of the locations of the pedestal.
AZDIESELPIG
Glamper Elite
I would not recommend a 25 foot cable as you will be short in more RV parks than not. I recommend buying a cord spool that you can maybe mount in your pass thru or basement of your RV.
morryde.com
POWER CORD REELS – MORryde
morryde.com
Jayhawk 29,
Thanks for the response. My wife and I just bought a new Jayco Eagle HT 25 HUC, which is a 30 footer with one AC unit. It is set up for 50 amp and the cable that came with it is really stiff and weighs a lot. I am just looking for a better way to manage this. Some have suggested a cable reel but I don't have much room in this small 5th wheel.
Route 66 Traveler
Senior Member
I have a travel trailer and I use the manual MorRyde cable reel. It doesn’t take much room for mounting and I highly recommend it. Trying to coil up the cable in cold weather is extremely difficult, but the cable reel makes it so easy. Having a 50amp rig is a huge advantage, especially in the summer.
Here is my reel: Tall Easy Reel Spooler – MORryde
Here is my reel: Tall Easy Reel Spooler – MORryde
Jayhawk 29
roadway boater
I agree about the weight. I have a similar problem with the 50 amp cord since I have the ability to have two air conditioners. That's really the only time I would need the 50 amp. and I don't have two AC units. I do have the fireplace too. But running the fireplace and the air together does not happen. I even installed a residential fridge, but it draws about the same as the 12 volt I took out, which took its power from the battery and the converter charged them.
Some of the older TTs had the power cords fix wired into the panel with an access on the side wall that you pushed the cable back in and it rested inside a voided pocket. I don't know if that's possible to do in your unit. Maybe take a closer look at your arrangement and see if that's an option that will not take up additional room for a cable spool, Just a crazy idea, We like to make things a bit more user friendly sometimes. I know my space is a bit limited to carry some additional bulk equipment in my TT.
Some of the older TTs had the power cords fix wired into the panel with an access on the side wall that you pushed the cable back in and it rested inside a voided pocket. I don't know if that's possible to do in your unit. Maybe take a closer look at your arrangement and see if that's an option that will not take up additional room for a cable spool, Just a crazy idea, We like to make things a bit more user friendly sometimes. I know my space is a bit limited to carry some additional bulk equipment in my TT.
With one AC you can get away with a 30 amp cord and use the 30 amp plug on the pedestal.
In 25 years of camping I’ve seen a 50a pedestal maybe 4 times, so I’ve always used an adapter on the end of my 50a cord.
You just need to turn off the AC sometimes if you run another large appliance.
In 25 years of camping I’ve seen a 50a pedestal maybe 4 times, so I’ve always used an adapter on the end of my 50a cord.
You just need to turn off the AC sometimes if you run another large appliance.
Kevin Cooper
Senior Member
There is certainly an alternative. You can get a cord reel, as was suggested. You can only pick up a few feet at a time. Or you could buy a high quality cord plug, and cord receptacle that match the one on your existing cord. Cut the cord at whatever length you feel you can handle and will suit your needs from the RV to the pedestal, and install them. Although it may be more convenient, plugs and receptacles are higher failure rate than the cord.
Hint: Buy quality devices, not cheap junk.
TowPro
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2012
- Posts
- 1,917
In the past l bought a 30a cable from amazon. It had a 50a twist lock on the rv end and a 30a end on the pole end. It weighed about 1/2 the weight of the 50a cable. But than you can only run 2 of the 3 at the same time. Ac, electric water heat or microwave.
Grumpy
Senior Member
AMAZON has multiple lengths available so it all depends on how much you want to spend.
AZDIESELPIG
Glamper Elite
Even a 50 footer 50 amp is only 35 lbs...that's like carrying two twelve packs of your beverage of choice! I kid I kid, I get it tho, as we get older things get a little more difficult to do.
They do take a little work getting them wound up when its cold when we had our bumper pull. I am spoiled now since out 36SSWS has an electric cable spool.
For your unit I would stick with a 50 foot cord on a spool from the front generator bay if you don't have a generator.
They do take a little work getting them wound up when its cold when we had our bumper pull. I am spoiled now since out 36SSWS has an electric cable spool.
For your unit I would stick with a 50 foot cord on a spool from the front generator bay if you don't have a generator.
AZDIESELPIG,
Thanks for the analogy. I agree that especially when it is cold the cable is nearly unmanageable, at least for me. I am considering a 30 amp cable with proper connections. I don't have 2 AC units anyway. Thanks again
Rich
"I have a travel trailer and I use the manual MorRyde cable reel... Here is my reel: Tall Easy Reel Spooler – MORryde"
$175 just to save you all the trouble of looking.
Our 50amp snake is not $175 heavy yet. But next year may be a different story.
$175 just to save you all the trouble of looking.
Our 50amp snake is not $175 heavy yet. But next year may be a different story.
hjets
Advanced Member
What AZDieselPig said. Get the Moryde 50 Amp cord reel, it makes handling that cord so much easier. Worth every penny.
50amp-Camper-Plug-14-50P-to-SS2-50R-Marine-Twist-Lock-Receptacle-7FT/634217214
While I'm sure it's going to be too short for some parks, I haven't needed to pull out the big one since I got it. It's perfect for when you can line up the trailer port to the pedestal.
Dave
Here’s my solution to handling my 50 amp, 50 ft. cord. After a few times putting the wet muddy cord into the underside storage compartment I bought an appropriate sized plastic tote. I put the tote on the ground and the cord into the tote. I also do this with my water hose in a smaller tote. I added a bumper carrier rated to carry a 200 lb generator. I stack both totes on generator carrier, put on a cover and bungee them down. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the totes so water can drain out if things are wet.
Attachments
I bought one of the hose reels, but after a few uses I found that the end of the cable that I put on first was winding so tight that wire started coming out of the socket end.
you want to look for cable that is marked SOOW, that is much more flexible than the SOW that is provided by most dealers. I made my own because I couldn't get the SOW to roll up very well in the cooler/cold/freezing weather here in Western PA. weight is slightly less
Similar threads
Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days
- Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
- Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
- Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
- and much more...
