Friday, May 23, 2014

Protect your outside RV cords from the elements


Go from messy to neat and clean with this bucket that holds your 30/50 amp cord.   Total time to build about one hour plus drying time.





Here is an easy way to keep your 30/50 amp cord from being damaged by outside elements like sun, rain, dirt, as well as possible slices or cuts from a rock or tree limb.  I recently thought about coming up with a way to protect and extend the life of my 30/50 amp outside RV cord.  I knew it had to be contained in something.  What would be inexpensive and do the trick?  As I was walking through a RV service area I noticed a cord all coiled up inside a 5 gallon bucket.  

 It hit me!!!  Use the 5 gallon bucket as a case for the 30/50 amp cord.   

Hmmm??  

 Will it store the cord inside for travel?  Yes.  Will it be easy to carry and set up?  Yes.  Will it protect the cord from the elements of the outside world?   Yes.  Will it still be useable without problems?  YES, YES, YES!!!  
So here is what I did.  Go to your local hardware store or Walmart and purchase a 5 gallon bucket with the lid.  Pick up a small thing of silicone as well as about 2 feet of ½ inch hosing of your choice.  I used black with the threading inside it.  

 Get your razor knife, a rag for wiping your hands off after using the silicone, and a pencil or pen.  A drill with a bit (I used a ¼ bit), as well as a work area.   


At the bottom of the bucket, straight down from where the handle is hanging.  Measure a rectangle hole in the bottom of the bucket large enough to slide one end of the 30/50 amp cord through.  I went about 4”x 3”. 

 After you mark the square on the bucket, take your drill and drill a hole for each corner.  Using your razor, carefully run it from one hole to the other until it breaks the surface and cuts through the rectangle.  Cut the bottom of the bucket last as the bottom will assist you with holding the piece of plastic you will eventually throw out.   

Now that you have a rectangle cut out at the bottom of the bucket, take your electric cord and slide one end through the hole to assure the hole is large enough.  NOTE: If the cord just fits or you have to force it through, you may want to enlarge it some.  When you are certain the hole is large enough, you can begin the next step. 


  

Take the ½ hose and with a lot of careful cutting, slice it from one end to the other allowing it the capability to slide over the cut area and hide the edge of the rectangle.  After you decide how much hose you will need to cover the entire perimeter of the hole, proceed to silicone around the entire hole on both sides and let dry before going forward.   

Your next step is to use your razor knife again and go to the opposite side of the bucket from the rectangle and at the top where the lid secures, cut a U shape or rectangle shape that will be large enough to pass the cord through and still be able to close the lid.   You can do it many ways, choose what works for you.

   


Use another piece of the black ½ hose to go around the cut out again and be sure to silicone that area as well.  

 In a day you will have a dry and ready case for your 30/50 amp cord.  Take the shore side of the cord and insert it through the bucket and out the bottom hole.  Allow about 2 feet of cord to be left outside.  (This cord can also be slide back inside the bottom of the bucket when traveling.)   

 



Using a spiral method, coil the remaining cord and the other plug into the bucket until the opposite end is all in the bucket.  Close the lid.  Now you are ready to store it away. 

 
 When you use it, pull the shore side plug out and plug your shore side in, after that allow just enough cord from the bucket to connect to your RV.   



Replace the lid on the bucket and there you have it.  Neat, protected from the elements, and safe.  Have fun and good luck!!!

15 comments:

  1. Well aren't you brilliant! I'll have to share this with my friends who have a trailer. Thanks for sharing this with us.

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  2. I wish that all instructions were this easy to read and understand!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, I always thought by (KISS) keeping it simple silly, I can reach more people.

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  3. Wow, this is great.. I have a small camper, when I'm home and working on it, I have to use the extension.. this will do the trick for storage!!! Thanks so much!!

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  4. I am working on the same concept with our water hose connection. Should be another useful item.

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  5. Does water get in the holes when it rains leaving a small puddle in the bottom?

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  6. You may have an issue if there is a lot of current flowing, as you have just built an inductive coil with some impedance? Why drop your voltage and make your A/C work harder??

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  7. Replies
    1. How could this possibly start a fire???

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    2. Australian RV Cords come with a warning not to use coiled up. Those of us who work with electricity understand the physics behind inductance and have commented here.If the coil is not neatly placed in the bucket there is less likely to be coupling between coils and this might reduce risk.

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  8. Very bad idea, a coiled up cord when in use heats up

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  9. Yes, probably not a good idea, a coiled cord will heat up. If you don't agree with this notion test it out, just put your hand on a coiled conduction cord when it is in use, at the end of a day of use, say when you are connected to shore power and running your AC units all day. I did a search on the internet and came up with the following bits of information.
    from (https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/192923/why-is-it-dangerous-use-a-coiled-extension-cord/279593)

    Many wires in close proximity, all getting warm. This dense "clump" of wires simply cannot dissipate the heat, and they have a "meltdown".
    The National Electrical Code talks about this, in the various parts of NEC 310.15. Here is the "Cables bunched together" (coiled=raceway) derate table.

    You see these burned up coils with 20+ loops of cable... that's 40+ conductors bundled on the reel, which calls for derating cable capacity to 35%. Now, many cables can't run at 90C, so you have to derate from the temperature they are good for. Say your extension cord is good for 60 degrees C, NEC 310.15(B)16 doesn't have a figure for that, but we can extrapolate and get 11A. Derate that to 35%, and we have 3.85 amps. That's all you should be putting through it when it's coiled up on the reel like that!
    Of course, people are pulling 10-12 amps, that's why it burnt up.
    But if you're pulling 1-2 amps through that coiled up cord, that's no problem as you can see.

    and another (https://www.barlowsaireforceone.com):

    Extension cords that are coiled up can create a fire hazard, even those fancy cord reels are at risk, because flowing current generates heat, and when that heat cannot properly dispense because of the coiling, fires may occur.

    and another, from (https://fire9prevention.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/extension-cord-safety/)
    A final problem is coiling electrical cords. I know, coiled cords look much neater but there are some physics principles involved here that can start a fire. Household alternating current sets up a weak magnetic field and collapses it 60 times every second. Setting up and collapsing that magnetic field results in heat. A single cord by itself won’t create enough heat to be a problem. However, if you coil the cord so you have multiple strands running together, constructive interference increases the amount of heat generated. Coil a cord enough times, and run enough current through it and you can create enough heat to ignite household furnishings. I’ve fought two fires from extension cords that were coiled while in use.

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