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Old 09-28-2021, 08:27 PM   #1
Augie
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Power Cable Split

Just spent a week at a campground. As you can see the power pole is very short so my surge protector was near the ground and my cable bent sharply at the plug. On leaving the whole casing was split open at the plug head. Has this happened to anyone else?


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Old 09-28-2021, 09:17 PM   #2
sourdough
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Yes it has. Some things I did; first I bought a new cable, 2nd I bought a wind up reel for the cable to keep it from twisting and 3rd I bought an 18" "sacrificial" dog bone to go from the ped to the EMS to keep that sharp turn off the cable connector. And lastly, I said "EMS", what you have is a "surge protector" which doesn't do you much good. Get a real EMS, which will cost about 4 times as much, but does about 500 times more. What you have there from what I can see won't do you much good.
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Old 09-28-2021, 09:50 PM   #3
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Well you could simply replace the cable end with quality replacement.

You could take the cable into a warm room, trim off the loose paper, put some silicone sealant in the plug opening and work the cable jacket back into the plug head. I would let the cable sit in the warm room for at least a day before and after working the jacked back in the plug head.

You could build your own cable as I did. I used quality ends and SOOW cable which is very soft and flexible. I store my 40’ cable in a 3 gallon bucket. The cable uses rubber as the jacket and cable covers rather than the thermoplastic of most 50 amp shore cables. Cable is still going strong after over four years of full time use.
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:33 AM   #4
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Thank you for all that. What kind of EMS do you use?
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:34 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rhagfo View Post
Well you could simply replace the cable end with quality replacement.

You could take the cable into a warm room, trim off the loose paper, put some silicone sealant in the plug opening and work the cable jacket back into the plug head. I would let the cable sit in the warm room for at least a day before and after working the jacked back in the plug head.

You could build your own cable as I did. I used quality ends and SOOW cable which is very soft and flexible. I store my 40’ cable in a 3 gallon bucket. The cable uses rubber as the jacket and cable covers rather than the thermoplastic of most 50 amp shore cables. Cable is still going strong after over four years of full time use.
Thank you!
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:58 AM   #6
sourdough
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Thank you for all that. What kind of EMS do you use?

Looks like you currently have a Surge Guard surge protector only. I use a Surge Guard EMS. The one they currently make is model 34951 with a wireless monitor. That is a 50A unit which it appears you have. Others like the Progressive Industries models so look at those as well. There are other brands that might interest you so you might do a little investigating.

When checking note the huge differences in what the EMS does for you and what the "surge protector" does not. There is no comparison.

From your pic it looks like you have a drop frame 5th wheel. You might look into a MorRyde power cable reel. It makes storing and deploying that power cable a snap - we love it. They make powered and non powered units either of which work great.
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Old 09-29-2021, 10:22 AM   #7
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Looks like you currently have a Surge Guard surge protector only. I use a Surge Guard EMS. The one they currently make is model 34951 with a wireless monitor. That is a 50A unit which it appears you have. Others like the Progressive Industries models so look at those as well. There are other brands that might interest you so you might do a little investigating.

When checking note the huge differences in what the EMS does for you and what the "surge protector" does not. There is no comparison.

From your pic it looks like you have a drop frame 5th wheel. You might look into a MorRyde power cable reel. It makes storing and deploying that power cable a snap - we love it. They make powered and non powered units either of which work great.
I appreciate all of that very much. Have a terrific day.
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Old 09-29-2021, 11:00 AM   #8
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Same thing happened to me with a new cable without the paper showing. I used Loctite superglue it’s been holding for six years..
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Old 09-29-2021, 03:09 PM   #9
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My original 50 amp cord did the same thing. I ended up purchasing a new 50 amp cord that was 25 feet long. I already had a 50 amp 25 foot extension. But meanwhile, I trimmed off the paper and then used simple black electrical tape over the exposed gap. I did shove the outer rubber casing back in the hole as far as I could, then taped the stuffing's out of it. I figured I'd continue using the cord until it completely separated or broke, or something. That was more than 2 years ago and it's been plugged in 24x7 ever since, except when actually on the road, and it's still doing well. I have the new one for a back up, I've never used it.
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Old 09-29-2021, 11:22 PM   #10
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I don't think you cam blame the campground outlet for this failure. If the bend at the bottom was really severe, it should have torqued some sideways slack out of the surge protector above it.

It was probably just ready to let go. I've had plenty of cable ends do this to me. It's not a particularly demanding job to buy a replacement plug head, cut the old one off, and put on a sturdier one. Just make sure you ID the conductors correctly before cutting of the bad head (I pierce each conductor at the separation with a sharp probe, then ohm out which prong it belongs to).
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Old 09-30-2021, 06:40 AM   #11
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IMO, I wouldn't "just push it back in and seal the gap".. My reasoning for that is because the actual electrical connection at the pins "could be weakened". Stretching the wire will pull on the pin and could cause damage or separation in the terminal connections between the stranded wire and the pin base.

If that connection is damaged, then the plug won't carry the load as readily and could overheat or increase resistance and reduce the voltage to the trailer components....

I'd recommend cutting off the end plug, replacing it with a quality plug and avoiding "excessive bends" where possible. Where it's not possible to avoid "excessive bends" then I would do a careful visual check of the connections after extreme bending of the cable ends.
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