I know that when the temps drop my 30 amp cord is difficult to coil up and store in the elect. bay but, watching a gentleman with a big class A try to manhandle his 50 amp cord made me wonder how many of you have to really struggle to store those things. I know some rigs have powered reels but, for manual storage, how do you manage?
I roll them up in about a 2' circle on the ground and secure the cord with bungees. Then man handle them into the compartment. The 50' cords are the worst to work with.
I had to coil my 50A cord at one site last fall on a 25ºF morning wasn't too bad I just made sure I coiled it the way it "wanted" to go. All cords take a set from being coiled. Just be sure you're coiling it the way the cord "wants" to coil and it's a lot easier.
Different coverings also can impact the stiffness of the cord. I have plastic air hoses for my jeeps and a reinforced rubber one, the plastic (PVC probably) becomes unmanageable below about 35ºF the rubber one stays flexible way colder than I want to go wheeling.
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Use gloves to help grip it. Rotate as you store to help it form into loops. Store it during daylight hours so you can see what you are doing. If its raining or snowing, go back inside and sleep till the next day.
Noel and Betty Johnson 2005 GulfStream Ultra Supreme, 1 wife, 1 Poodle
My trailer has a "rear basement" area - it is roughly the width of the trailer, about 5 feet deep, and 18" high. I keep very little in there, a couple extra upholstered folding chairs and a 13' magic ladder is all.
So come time to store the 50a cord, I just feed one end of it into the basement and just keep pushing it in. It "free forms" itself into the available space easily with plenty of room for more.
But I do understand how it might be a bit of a job to man-handle into a defined form of limited area.
Friend of mine located some cable last year, identified as CCI 4. Most 50A cords are 8/8/8/6 guage. This stuff is 6/6/6/4 guage. We bought new male ends and female ends (NOT the Marinco,but receptacle) and made new cords. The old cord became an extension cord, if needed, and the newly made became primary. It is physically lighter weight, coils like a 30A, and we made them as 35 footer's. Dont' know where he acquired the cord, but it was $100.00 for a 35 foot length. 5 of our group spent an afternoon at a rally, "re-manufacturing" power cords.
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In those occasions that make it possible to use an easier to handle 30 amp cord to the storage compartment, you can ease the 50 amp pain by at least a third the effort.
hershey - albuquerque, nm Someday Finally Got Here
My wife does all the driving - I just get to hold the steering wheel.
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