Shore power connection. What is your method ?

[scanzel]

What type of connection do you use to connect to the shore power ? Is your cable hard wired, is it in a bay, do you plug it into a plug in the bay ? Does anyone use any of the power surge protector like Surge Guard or the one from Progressive industries with the remote monitors ? Setting up my connections now and just want to see what others do. Thank you.

[TomC]

100ft 50amp 4-wire cord wired directly into the circuit breaker box with the universal 4 prong 50amp plug.  Then carry a female 50amp to male 30amp and a female 30amp to male 15amp converter plugs and you'll have all covered. Good Luck, TomC

[bevans6]

I use a 30 amp cord, 50 feet, with a Marinco connector at the bus end, and I carry the conversion plugs and a 25 ft extension.

Brian

[Lin]

I forget the length of ours, but we have a couple of extensions anyway.  We use a 2+ground, #6 cable.  Hence, it has only one leg of up to 50 amps.  That goes to a receptacle/disconnect on the side of the bus.  That receptacle is wired to 3-prong, 50 amp receptacle next to the breaker box.  The breaker box has its own cord that can be plugged into that receptacle for shore power.  That shore power receptacle has a jumper in it so that both legs of the breaker box are fed from the one 50 amp line. This of course means that there is no 240v service to the box when plugged in there.  We do not have any 240v loads to care about.  There is also another receptacle next to the one just mentioned to connect to the generator: that one is true 240v.

The funny thing is, that this is similar to what I did on my former bus.  When I bought this one, I was not aware of this and only found out later when taking a much closer look at things.  Since the shore cord uses an RV type, four prong 50 amp plug, I have removed the prong that is not connected; just makes it a little easier to use.  Also, since the cable only has 3 instead of 4 wires, it is 25% lighter, more flexible, and easier to store.

I would not consider anything like this for an all electric conversion. 

[belfert]

I have a Marinco 50 amp inlet on the side of the bus mounted the same distance back as a standard motorhome.  I have a 30 foot cable that is 50 amp.  I don't even take the shore cable on trips as we never stay in a campground.  We just use the generator as necessary.

[Dave5Cs]

Yep same with a 100 50 Amp cord 4 wire



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[opus]

Ha, simple 110v into an outlet.  I refuse to have anything over 20A.

[oldmansax]

The BlueBird has a recessed socket to plug the cord into at the rear. My old MCI (Mike's bus now) has a socket at the front and at the rear to give more options for shore power.

TOM

[Scott & Heather]

Recessed 50 amp socket in side of coach with a weatherproof spring loaded cover. Marinco twist lock. 25 foot 50 amp cord with Marinco twist lock connector.


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[Mike in GA]

I have the Progressive Industries electric monitor in the elec. bay, with its digital read-out upstairs in the hall closet with the main distribution panel.
     The device sniffs out bad a.c. including low voltage, open ground, switched neutral,  correct cycles per second, etc. Won't let any current into the bus until it has been examined - about 10-15 seconds. Then you hear a subtle click over, opening the connection. It also acts as a surge protector.
     It wasn't cheap, but I feel it has paid for itself in three years use. Good for peace of mind, i.m.h.o.
Mike in GA

[sledhead]

With our coach we camp at provincial and state parks a lot. Most only have 30 amp hook ups so we went with a 50' 30 amp cord. Hard wired to the auto transfer inverter.            2 extenion cords 1   25' and 1   50 '  (10 gage wire cord from camping world )                        dave

[4905 doc]

30 amp rv outlet mounted inside bay. 50' 30 amp rv cord comes up through hole in floor and plugs in. generator cord comes through bulkhead from next  bay. Inverter cord comes across top of tanks. You must unplug one cord to use any of the other cords, therefore insuring no cross feeding or accidental damage. Simple, crude, ugly, but efficient.

[bevans6]

One more thought, on the issue of using a plug in cord (like the Marinco on the side of the bus) vs the pull out permanently connected type.  Both are at the same risk if you are plugged in at an RV park, but I have heard of people pulling the cords out and cutting them, stealing them, in parking lots and storage facilities.  You can often just open a hatch and pull the cord on a lot of RV's. 

Brian

[Iceni John]

30 amp rv outlet mounted inside bay.

Is that a female outlet, or a male inlet?   What's on the bus end of your cable?

John

[belfert]

I've had my bus plugged in at home for six years and the cable hasn't taken a walk yet.  Any half way organized thief would carry a bolt cutters or something to cut a permanently attached cable.  I don't think a Marinoc type connector makes any difference in theft rate personally.