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BrianGlenn · 05-28-2016, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagles

My bucket & works is hidden behind a square box that takes up the lower half of the DS of my end-cap closet. It's covered with carpet. Nobody bit on my request for help in getting that carpet off. Is my 38' Allure unique in having its Cablemaster installed/hidden in this way?

J Lewis

I have not yet found the access panel in the carpeted box at the back of my 38 Allure. And I've looked pretty closely.

Brian

IASM · 05-28-2016, 12:41 AM

On the coach I worked on the whole box came off.It was a two sided box with only screws on the top back of the box. I just dug around and found the screws. Only took 5 minutes to remove box.

Training Wheels · 05-28-2016, 09:52 PM

It always seems to be about communication . . .

Please describe the procedure one more time; maybe I'll get it. The box has a horizontal top, a vertical front (next to the sliding door), and another verticlal side facing the rest of the closet.

I have so far found 4-bronze, 1 1/4", square head screws and removed them. Two were on the top flat panel, Driver Side. These were relatively neat the corners. Two we're on the same flat panel end cap side; but oddly, both were near the back rear corner. I searched in vain for other screws along that end cap side edge. After removing these 4, my box still won't budge. It's late; so, I'll try again in the daylight.

I'm also still unclear what to do once I'm in there. Both Glendinning Service and you say screwing the yellow knob will restore tension and make it all better. Glendinning said sometimes the rollers have to be replaced because their openings have worn too large for their shaft.

Whatever, I may install an easier-to-open access panel on the front vertical panel. when the box goes back in. If tightening the yellow knob is going to be regular maintenance, I don't want to,have to disassemble my closet each time.

Also, and I may be ahead of myself, if part of the problem is the cord coiling into a tight barrel, I can solve that by removing the barrel. I can rig it so the cord has the whole box to fall in to.

JL

macnanday · 05-29-2016, 12:09 AM

Great to find this thread as this is a small issue for me right now. Our '04 Allure has a cord that is also difficult to get in sometimes. The first solution we tried was extending the cable, cleaning it, and, noticing it had a bit of a twist to it, untwisted it and retracted. It helped, but still has some issues in a couple places.

So, had my CC guy look at it and he adjusted the rollers (or whatever needs adjusting in the box). But, he said the cable is "stretched" and likely the only real fix is to replace the cable. I'm plugged in now and won't unplug till Friday. At that time I'll see how well the cord retracts. May go for a new cord. But, for now, it's not that big of an issue. Yes, it's frustrating. But, I always get it in eventually.

Interesting tip Smitty mentioned about letting the weight of the cable work for you. I have tried a similar technique but always hold the cable away from the coach (don't want to risk a scratch). It didn't seem to make a difference but I'll try it again.

Of course, I always wipe down and clean the cable. I also have a 20' extension. If I ever get too annoyed, I'll just start only extending the cord 1 foot then plug in the extension cord. That's pretty simple, easy, and a lot cheaper then a whole new cord from Glendinning.

IASM · 05-29-2016, 12:20 AM

The box came off as a unit. It was as you describe,a top,front side and left side. The screws were all on the top by the rear edge. There likely is one last screw.Once off there is nothing around the unit. the bucket or barrel was horizontal and part of the unit.You can see the yellow adjusting knob in the photo. This unit had the bolt and assembly just loosed and it took several turns just to contact the spring so it had been loose for some time. The grooved wheel that the cord runs over which looks like a pully wheel will move the cable without the rollers to some extant but the rollers with the spring pressure help hold the cord tight in the pully groove.I would continue to patently look for the screws close to walls of the closet. Possibly pulling on the box to identify which section is still holding. The box I pulled only had three screws along the back wall on top and they were at a slight angle like they wanted to go thru the top panel and fasten to the real wall.

Smitty77 · 05-29-2016, 05:14 AM

I too appreciated the info sharing on this thread. And again I'll admit that their seems to be many best practices in regards to taming the snake!!!! I'd been told multiple times to never apply any type of protective coating to the cord. As it makes it harder for the the rollers to get a bite. But, I also understand the comment about having the line coil easier too. I've been thinking about the 303, and after a good cleaning, I'm thinking of trying it.

Our box has never been opened, and our cord goes in without problems about 7 out of 10 times. I find extreme cold makes it more of a challenge, so did not include that in the 7 out of 10. And it is usually with the last few feet that we have problems.

I also liked the comment about the cord 'stretching' over time. Not sure if it is stretching, as much as it is squeezed/compacted together. But when I hold the coach cord up against our 25' extension (Use this whenever the run to the power pole is over say 15'.), the coach board is noticeable smaller diameter. And pretty sure the started life the same size.

I think during this years downtime, I'll remove the box, and clean and inspect everything well, and may to ahead and this the yellow knob a few turns too.

As far as ready access, well coach builtin in Sept of 2003, and the first time I'll have the box off, and I know the previous owner did not do so...

Thanks again for the tips and info sharing,
Smitty

TR4 · 05-29-2016, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianGlenn

I have not yet found the access panel in the carpeted box at the back of my 38 Allure. And I've looked pretty closely.

Brian

On my coach it's a three sided box. The carpet is glued to the box. Three screws in the top hidden in the carpet and three on the bottom. After removing the screws I hit the box sideways to break it loose.

I started having problems with the cord retracting (sluggish). Finally one day it just quit. Pulled the box and checked for power and found one crimped connector was bad. The wire just pulled out. Removed the connectors and soldered the wires. Running with no problems (no longer sluggish).

Bill

B Bob · 05-29-2016, 09:18 PM

After reading this I will have to extend mine all the way and clean it. The only time I have had any trouble at all with mine was when a nincompoop RV mechanic pushed the cable in instead of using the motor. I had to get into it through the back storage bay and wrestle with it. I have a remote control with mine. So I hold the remote with one hand, push the retract button, guide in the cable trying to keep the tension on it moderate.

This is a very welcome feature. My last coach was an absolute PIA to put the cable away.

Mr_D · 05-29-2016, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Bob

This is a very welcome feature. My last coach was an absolute PIA to put the cable away.

The worst we ever had was the 30 amp cord on the 1988 Okanagan 17' Type B MH. Just a small 3" hole and spring loaded cover. You had to push the cord in and if your hand slipped the cover was sharp. Finally ended up having to use gloves everytime. With the two Dutch Stars I could just coil the 50 amp cables on the floor of the electrical bay.

To add to the other posts earlier: I did try a rag and 303 on ours. It did work with no retract trouble even when just sprayed.

B Bob · 05-31-2016, 08:30 AM

Mr D our last coach was a GMC Glenbrook. It has a 50amp cord and a storage space just big enough to hold it. If the cord was cool or cold you had to really wrestle the thing to get it into the space.

Training Wheels · 06-30-2016, 07:20 PM

I am the OP that spawned all this. Would never have guessed over 1,300 folks had same problems or history to report! I'll close off the thread by reporting my final things.

I COULD not get the box to budge. I knew there was one more screw; but I couldn't find it. So, I just backed away for a couple of weeks to let the frustration wipe my slates clean. Finally, I found it. They put one screw along the bottom front but must have done so before the mirror doors we're installed. It was hidden behind the seam of the two.

After removing it I could tell the box was loose; but it would not budge. I used a small crowbar and pried up the side in the other closet. It popped it loose, but it would not come out. CC had really wedged it in using the carpet as sort of a seal. It also would not slide over on its own. I had to hunker it, reposition, hunker it some more, until I could get my right hand under the top and lift it to the left.

Inside we're two surprises. My '08 is new enough it should have had the model with the yellow adjustment knob. It didn't. After studying with a bright flashlight I found this version's knob. It is the same gray/brown color as the other machinery. The turning knob is hidden. Had I not recognized the mechanics from seeing similar contraptions, I would have been stumped. I put my hand down in the darkness, felt the knob, and started turning.

I could clearly see the white roller tightening against the cord. However, I didn't know how much to tighten. When the white roller of the tensioner started squishing into the cord, I backed off an eighth turn and quit. There were 3 other white rollers BTW all held in with large cotter pins. What roles they played I could not tell. All three we're very loose on their pins.

The other surprise, and not a good one, is the finding the can was installed horizontally versus downward. This means I cannot rely on gravity to stow the cord. The gizmo must work as designed or it won't work. How it DOES work is a mystery to me. There must be some sort of gathering and ordering mechanism inside the can that pushes the coils to the back/left of the drum and holds them in place while more cord enters. Donno. The reason for this design was to help short folks reach the cord hatch. They had to build an el in the intake pipe/tensioner to get it down lower on the outside wall. Otherwise, it would be the same height as the top of the engine compartment. In spite of all this, they still needed more engine space. So, the boxey area under the drum is enclosed and used by an engine component.

Going outside, I straightened the cord and removed what few twists I could see. Not many. I switched the toggle up and the cord started going in on its own. A new thing. However, with a little lifting of the upcoming cord, the tensioner worked much easier. It never locked up up as before and went in very quickly. It pulled the plug in so fast, I had to quickly move my hand.

A third surprise was I could see where all the grass and dirt fell as it went up through the tensioner. Pleasantly, there wasn't much at all. I'm still dedicated to cleaning it with a rag as it goes in.

Noticing the horizontal drum and the apparently fancy stuff inside to stow the cord, I can easily see where the urban legend comes from to roll all the cord out each time. If the internal mystery stuff is working right, this shouldn't be necessary because however it does it, it holds whatever number of coils it has against the back, always leaving space for the incoming. However, if that gizmo becomes faulty or worn, I can see that to make it work on a horizontal drum, you'd have to get all the coils out of the way to "clear it".

So, all's well, it seems. Thanks to this forum and the many, many posters who helped. Also thanks to the Customer Service at Glendinning. They sent me pix, although not of my unit. That gave me confidence to keep trying. They also said they were standing by to help more once I got the box loose. Thanks to Kevin in Oregon who offered a phone call if I needed. No one, however, was able to help me find the screws. I did learn from this forum that the screws existed. It just took me on my own lonesome self to find them, plus a little crowbar t break the seal.

Jerry

smlranger · 07-27-2016, 09:46 AM

Well I finally got my coach back home from the shop doing the carpet replacement (they did a nice job on the carpet). So I decided to tackle the cord reel issue.

All four of the screws in the top of my carpeted box were easy to find. Took them out, leaned the box to the side and gave the adjuster knob a couple of turns. I will see if it took care of my issue when I store the cord in a couple of weeks. Since the box is so easy to remove, I can always readjust if necessary.

whitewaterMk · 08-18-2016, 05:34 PM

Well, that worked. Also exposed a serious issue. The box cover in my CC was rubbing on the power out to the surge protector so bad it wore through the casing. Also the whole cable drum and it's attendant mount was seriously loose. I can now retrieve all the cord easily though! Thanks for the tips guys!

'05 Country Coach Allure 470 Siskiyou Summit