Community Forums

Trillium · 05-06-2003, 04:19 PM

I have a 30 amp extension cord and need to purchase Male and Female weather proof 30 amp flat bar plug ends for the cord.

I have tried Electrical wholesalers,Marine dealers and Home depot without luck. Have only found the locking type cord ends. And do not believe that the locking type is compatible with the outlet poles at the campsites.

The last Electrical Wholesaler which I spoke to (Nedco) said that the flat bar RV Plug ends are not available for sale in Canada as they are not CSA approved. I explained that I purchased a 30 amp extension cord with the ends connected from Canadian Tire and the markings on the cord were, Made in Canada. He said the cord as a complete unit may be approved for use in Canada but the individual ends are not approved for sale?

Does anyone know of a make and model number for the flat bar cord ends?

2000 Coleman Utah

Trillium · 05-06-2003, 04:19 PM

I have a 30 amp extension cord and need to purchase Male and Female weather proof 30 amp flat bar plug ends for the cord.

I have tried Electrical wholesalers,Marine dealers and Home depot without luck. Have only found the locking type cord ends. And do not believe that the locking type is compatible with the outlet poles at the campsites.

The last Electrical Wholesaler which I spoke to (Nedco) said that the flat bar RV Plug ends are not available for sale in Canada as they are not CSA approved. I explained that I purchased a 30 amp extension cord with the ends connected from Canadian Tire and the markings on the cord were, Made in Canada. He said the cord as a complete unit may be approved for use in Canada but the individual ends are not approved for sale?

Does anyone know of a make and model number for the flat bar cord ends?

2000 Coleman Utah

Geodude · 05-06-2003, 05:06 PM

Did you try your RV dealer? Ours seemed to have all the various adapters.

'99 Pontiac Trans Sport
'02 Coleman Sun Valley (glued on with a Reese 350 Mini WD)
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GoneCamping · 05-06-2003, 05:38 PM

I've found them at Home Depot, but the above post is correct, most RV dealers have exactly what you're looking for (at a price!!!)

*Cliff*
03 Trail Cruiser C-23B (on order)
98 Coleman Rio
94 Jeep Grand Cherokee
94 Ford Aerostar

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Trillium · 05-06-2003, 05:39 PM

Geodude
iRV2.Com Member
posted Tue May 06 2003 10:06 PM
Did you try your RV dealer? Ours seemed to have all the various adapters.

Thanks Geodude, it seems I may have to check out the RV dealers as a last resort. I tried Electrical Wholesalers thinking that the cost of the plug ends would be cheaper than at the RV dealer as I probably would be able to purchase them at the same price as the dealer.

It seems as if most of the Wholesalers have never seen this type of plug before and cannot find it in their Manufacturers Catalogs. I even had one wholesaler call the manufacturer "Leviton" without any luck.

If after a few days, no leads develop from this message board, I will check out the RV Dealers.

Thanks

2000 Coleman Utah

Trillium · 05-06-2003, 05:46 PM

GoneCamping
Moderator
posted Tue May 06 2003 10:38 PM
I've found them at Home Depot, but the above post is correct, most RV dealers have exactly what you're looking for (at a price!!!)

Thanks Cliff, the Home Depot that I checked out had the Male end but it was not the water tight or weather proof type.

2000 Coleman Utah

Trailblazer · 05-06-2003, 05:57 PM

I have just checked through my Home Depot supply catelogue and I did not see the ends you want listed. Since you have already tried the local electrical supply store, I think you will have to try various RV dealers.

Bill
1978 Chevy Blazer
1992 GMC Safari
2000 Camplite 12SL
http://members.rogers.com/trail_blazer/

geotexZ71 · 05-06-2003, 06:04 PM

FWIW, www.giantrec.com has them and I was in both West Marine and Boater's World last weekend and both stores carried them in their aisles with shore power related supplies. Out of all of them, Boater's World was the cheapest. Don't know if either have retail stores across the border, but you can also order from them on-line.

Oz & Us · 05-07-2003, 02:05 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Trillium:
I have a 30 amp extension cord and need to purchase Male and Female weather proof 30 amp flat bar plug ends for the cord.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I gather what you have is a length of 30 amp 10 gauge CAB cable that you'd like to terminate at each end with male / female 30 amp RV connectors so you can make up your own extension cable. When I rewired our Santa Fe for 30 amp main service I had intended to do the same thing and did find all the parts I needed at our local Home Depot, however the connectors were certainly not waterproof and by the time I added up the cost of the cable and the connectors it wasn't much more to buy a prebuilt 50' 30 amp extension cable with sealed connectors. I bought our's from R.V. Warehouse, http://www.new-tecumseth.com/RVWarehouse.html ,north of TO, for a little over $100 Cdn. Along with the 20' or so coming out of the camper, I also carry a spare 25' 30 amp extension plus this 50' extension, and find particularly in our Ontario PP system that I use the 50' ALL the time and on occasion have to also add the 25' as well ... sometimes those power posts are a LONG way away! This past weekend at Bronte I JUST made it using the 50' extension added on to the camper cable.

Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to ... I guess" (Red Green)

Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to ... I guess" (Red Green)

Oz & Us Campsite
The Magical Flying Camper Club

Mike4947 · 05-07-2003, 06:08 AM

Bill, when using the extra 75 foot of extensions you might want to take along a multimeter and just check the voltage at the PU. While such extension cords are rated for the amperage and voltage when adding them together you can get a significant voltage drop.

While one gauge of wire might be fine for a 25 foot run, you might find when adding the PU's power cord, a 25 footer, and a 50 footer together you'll see a voltage drop.
I know my 100 foot 30 amp extension is significantly heavier gauge wire than my 25 foot 30 amp extension.

Oz & Us · 05-07-2003, 06:59 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Mike4947:
Bill, when using the extra 75 foot of extensions you might want to take along a multimeter and just check the voltage at the PU. While such extension cords are rated for the amperage and voltage when adding them together you can get a significant voltage drop.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I do ... no problem so far here in our Ontario PP park system ... I've been able to easily run my A/C, along with just about anything else I've wanted to run at the same time, with no difficulties at all even though I'm at at the end of nearly 100' of 10 gauge cable. Next trip out though, out of curiosity, I'll measure the actual voltage drop.

Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to ... I guess" (Red Green)

Oz & Us Campsite
The Magical Flying Camper Club

Trillium · 05-07-2003, 05:16 PM

Trail_blazer and geotexZ71, Thankyou for your suggestions. GeotexZ71, I like that link you supplied in your message and will save it to my favourites - Lots of neat stuff there. However, I am looking for a local supplier for the plug ends.

Oz & Us, Yes I do have a 60 foot length of 10 guage 30 amp cord which I got for free from an account I service. The only cost I need incur is to purchase the male and female plug ends. I suspect that each end will cost approx. $30.00. After what I have been through trying to locate the proper plug ends, I believe it may have been better to just purchase the complete cord as you did. However, if I can get the plug ends - I will still have saved approx. $40.00 and at this point after what I've been through its not the money saved but a matter of principal. " I will find those plug ends and get this cord to work!!!!"!!!!

So it looks like I will have give RV Warehouse a call. If only I knew then what I know now, I would have just bought the complete cord.

Thanks to all who have responded

Bob

2000 Coleman Utah

Mike4947 · 05-07-2003, 07:44 PM

Bill, I mentioned it because some of the 30 amp 25 foot extensions use 12 gauge wire and I've seen 2 or 3 hooked up and so hot you couldn't touch them when the park had low voltage (95-105)and the AC was running.

Oz & Us · 05-08-2003, 08:50 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Mike4947:
Bill, I mentioned it because some of the 30 amp 25 foot extensions use 12 gauge wire and I've seen 2 or 3 hooked up and so hot you couldn't touch them when the park had low voltage (95-105)and the AC was running.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mike:

I intentionally bought 10 gauge 30 amp RV cables just for that reason. However, if the park voltage drops to as low as 95 volts it's not gonna be much good to you (or me!) anyway since the converter (and my A/C!) will be very unhappy at anything less than 105 volts.

I just measured the voltage here at the house and it's running about 122 volts, so I'll have to make a point to check a few campgrounds this season and make a chart to see if there's any pattern of lower (i.e. dangerously low) voltage.

Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to ... I guess" (Red Green)

Oz & Us Campsite
The Magical Flying Camper Club