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Old 07-03-2014, 07:07 PM   #1
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Oh No I Just Cut my Power Cord in Half

After more then fifteen years of dragging this 50 Ft extension cord around for camping and never needing more then maybe 10 or 15 feet of extra reach. I decided to cut this extension cord in half and leave one of the twenty five foot section home when going camping.I have always hated having a pile extension cord sitting on the ground getting dirty that you have to wipe off before you can pack it away.
Just curious of what length of extension cord do most people take camping ?
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:21 PM   #2
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I have a 50' that I've never had to use.
I did split my water hose though - 1/3 and 2/3 - I use one or the other or both.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:42 PM   #3
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Never even needed 30 ft, but 20 might have been a bit short at times. You could do a 30 and a 20 and see which one you use more..........
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Old 07-03-2014, 08:35 PM   #4
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Do you mean the shore cord? Or just a regular power cord? My shore cord is not detachable and I think it is 25'. I do carry an extension just in case. I do wipe mine with a damp rag when pushing it back inside.
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Old 07-03-2014, 10:44 PM   #5
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Just a word of caution. I did the exact same thing with a nearly identical cord about ten years ago, put new plugs on the cut ends, and had two shorter cords that were used many times over the succeeding years. Fast forward to last year when we bought our Escape with the surge protector option. When plugged in at home, we kept getting a reverse polarity error on the surge protector and could not figure out why. House plugs were fine and the problem seemed to come and go. We had Escape check the surge protector and they could find no fault with it. Finally thought about checking my extension cords, which I had been using to plug in at home. Well one of my short cords was fine and the other had the polarity reversed. Turns out my intermittent problem was due to using the good cord some times and the bad cord other times. Doh. Fixed the cord and everything is now great. Funny thing was that in about ten years of using that cord, the only problem I ever had was with the Escape surge protector.
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Old 07-03-2014, 11:49 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandra L View Post
Do you mean the shore cord? Or just a regular power cord? My shore cord is not detachable and I think it is 25'. I do carry an extension just in case. I do wipe mine with a damp rag when pushing it back inside.
Hi Sandra,
Yes , I do mean a extension cord for your shore power. In are area some of the private camp grounds seem to have there utility power post just a little more then twenty feet away. So you need to carry extension cord for that extra little reach you sometimes need.

Mark
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Old 07-04-2014, 12:02 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by tractors1 View Post
Never even needed 30 ft, but 20 might have been a bit short at times. You could do a 30 and a 20 and see which one you use more..........
Hi Charie,
It's a little late for a 30/20 cut I guess I will have to live with my two 25 foot extension cords .
Mark
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Old 07-04-2014, 12:26 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by ice-breaker View Post
Just a word of caution. I did the exact same thing with a nearly identical cord about ten years ago, put new plugs on the cut ends, and had two shorter cords that were used many times over the succeeding years. Fast forward to last year when we bought our Escape with the surge protector option. When plugged in at home, we kept getting a reverse polarity error on the surge protector and could not figure out why. House plugs were fine and the problem seemed to come and go. We had Escape check the surge protector and they could find no fault with it. Finally thought about checking my extension cords, which I had been using to plug in at home. Well one of my short cords was fine and the other had the polarity reversed. Turns out my intermittent problem was due to using the good cord some times and the bad cord other times. Doh. Fixed the cord and everything is now great. Funny thing was that in about ten years of using that cord, the only problem I ever had was with the Escape surge protector.
Hi Dave ,
I can easily see how a person could accidentally reverse the polarity on extension cord plug. It only takes a minute of not thinking and you're done for it. Thanks for the warning and I will double check the polarity on the extension cord before I use it.
Mark
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Old 07-04-2014, 03:24 AM   #9
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I've never needed one so don't carry one. I think the cord is longer on my old trailer then the Escape so the 1st time might be coming up. Guess it's something else to look for.
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Old 07-04-2014, 03:46 PM   #10
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In our four years of camping so far we have not needed an extension for our trailer's power cord, however we do carry a heavy duty extension cord which we use to supplement the 30 amp service to the trailer. Most serviced campsites seem to have both a 30 amp RV outlet and a 20 amp standard outlet. We plug the trailer into the 30 amp outlet, then run the extension cord from the 20 amp outlet to a power bar on a table outside our door where we do most of our cooking. Benefits of this are
  • Full power inside the trailer in cold weather for an electric heater
  • Adequate power outside to run a toaster oven, frying pan or electric kettle
  • Less smell and moisture inside the trailer
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Old 07-04-2014, 04:55 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bvansnell View Post
In our four years of camping so far we have not needed an extension for our trailer's power cord, however we do carry a heavy duty extension cord which we use to supplement the 30 amp service to the trailer. Most serviced campsites seem to have both a 30 amp RV outlet and a 20 amp standard outlet. We plug the trailer into the 30 amp outlet, then run the extension cord from the 20 amp outlet to a power bar on a table outside our door where we do most of our cooking. Benefits of this are
  • Full power inside the trailer in cold weather for an electric heater
  • Adequate power outside to run a toaster oven, frying pan or electric kettle
  • Less smell and moisture inside the trailer
See, this kind of info is very valuable to a first timer. You folks are the best.
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Old 07-04-2014, 07:00 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by markvt View Post
Yes , I do mean a extension cord for your shore power. In are area some of the private camp grounds seem to have there utility power post just a little more then twenty feet away. So you need to carry extension cord for that extra little reach you sometimes need.
Now I'm a little concerned. The Escape presumably has the usual 30-amp capacity power cord, and the extension cord shown is the common 15-amp capacity variety. If you plug into a 30-amp outlet with the extension (and an adapter on each end) you need to understand that your cord capacity is now only 15 amps, and yet there is no circuit breaker protecting you from pulling up to 30 amps through it. Just start the air conditioner (if you have one) and you have probably overloaded that extension cord.

Sometimes a 15-amp extension is used to plug into a 15-amp outlet - there's no issue doing that, and it is commonly done when the trailer is parked at home (rather than actually camping). The situation is similar if a campsite only provides a 15-amp outlet: you are limited in what electrical devices you can operate, but at least the campsite's circuit breaker should protect your extension cord from overloading.
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