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Old 04-23-2021, 10:07 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Patandlinda View Post
Hi Gary . Very good looking too! I changed out our plastic cable connection to what else , Stainless too ! Pat
Very nice. Sooo excited to pick up our 5.0 in August.
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Old 04-24-2021, 10:10 AM   #22
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I was formerly in the Fire / EMS Service for a time. Our ambulances were converted to the Smart Plug for shore power. It initially seemed to be an improvement but the weaknesses of the design soon became apparent. Perhaps it was due to the "Careful" handling of the power cord at 3 AM by many of our fellow employees. We almost always lost the two side clips on the male side first and often the plastic surrounding would then break. I am sure under careful personal use they would be fine but then again under careful personal use the supplied cord attachment would work fine as well.
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Old 04-24-2021, 10:52 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by Ryanb-72 View Post
I was formerly in the Fire / EMS Service for a time. Our ambulances were converted to the Smart Plug for shore power. It initially seemed to be an improvement but the weaknesses of the design soon became apparent. Perhaps it was due to the "Careful" handling of the power cord at 3 AM by many of our fellow employees. We almost always lost the two side clips on the male side first and often the plastic surrounding would then break. I am sure under careful personal use they would be fine but then again under careful personal use the supplied cord attachment would work fine as well.
Too many cooks in the kitchen . You can break anything . Our system has been in use for several years now . But then we take care with our assets . The cords both are stored in their bags when not in use . There is no problem with our system and expect many years of no problems . Pat
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Old 04-24-2021, 12:44 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Ryanb-72 View Post
I was formerly in the Fire / EMS Service for a time. Our ambulances were converted to the Smart Plug for shore power. It initially seemed to be an improvement but the weaknesses of the design soon became apparent. Perhaps it was due to the "Careful" handling of the power cord at 3 AM by many of our fellow employees. We almost always lost the two side clips on the male side first and often the plastic surrounding would then break. I am sure under careful personal use they would be fine but then again under careful personal use the supplied cord attachment would work fine as well.
In my research on this modification I discovered that there is more to this issue than just ease of alignment during insertion and security of the connection. The surface contact area of the male blades in the plug is much smaller with a traditional plug which CAN lead to increased resistance and overheating to the point of creating a fire. It's much more common with boats exposed to a saltwater environment but the principle holds true no matter what. It may never be a problem with the screw latch connector but I just prefer to approach things from the perspective of minimizing risks, no matter how small if there is a reasonable way to do this. I believe I read that Airstream is now installing the SmartPlug as standard equipment on all their trailer builds. Something about a better mousetrap comes to mind.

Watch this video to get a better explanation of the benefits of the SmartPlug.
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Old 04-24-2021, 03:49 PM   #25
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I went with the SmartPlug and did the install after we received the trailer. I simply asked Escape to not install the standard outlet box for the cord, just leaving it coiled under the dinette seat. For the price of the removable cord from Escape I was able to get a SmartPlug set from Amazon.
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Old 04-24-2021, 04:23 PM   #26
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After spending 6 months last summer work camping. When I unplugged to head home I noticed the standard twist lock was burned on the neutral. I ordered the smart plug and installed it myself. The plug has more surface area and more tension on the plug. It is well worth the cost and an easy upgrade for the escape detachable cord.
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Old 04-25-2021, 10:51 PM   #27
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I went with the SmartPlug and did the install after we received the trailer. I simply asked Escape to not install the standard outlet box for the cord, just leaving it coiled under the dinette seat. For the price of the removable cord from Escape I was able to get a SmartPlug set from Amazon.
As it currently stands, with an ETI denial for factory installation, this is exactly what we intend to do.
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Old 04-28-2021, 10:21 AM   #28
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The connector that Escape uses was originally designed for use in the boating industry. It has since been adopted by the RV industry. Of course someone always comes up with a better idea. So you always have a choice.

In talking to RV sales people they preferred wired in cord as they were less likely to be stolen, although that seemed silly as someone with wire cutters could always take your power cord. Big advantage to a removable cord is easy to find alternate storage locations.
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Old 04-28-2021, 11:00 AM   #29
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Yes, get SmartPlug

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They definitely aren't cheap but considering the overall trailer value it seems like it could be wise investment for the long-haul. Thoughts.
We have a 30A SmartPlug on our ETI 19' and a 50A SmartPlug on our 30' Airstream.



Can highly recommend switching to SmartPlug. Takes about 30 minutes to swap out. Send a PM, and I can forward images of the entire process on our 19' and our daughter's 21NE.

73/gus
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Old 04-28-2021, 11:10 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by Galen View Post
The connector that Escape uses was originally designed for use in the boating industry. It has since been adopted by the RV industry. Of course someone always comes up with a better idea. So you always have a choice.

In talking to RV sales people they preferred wired in cord as they were less likely to be stolen, although that seemed silly as someone with wire cutters could always take your power cord. Big advantage to a removable cord is easy to find alternate storage locations.
Hadn't thought about it from that perspective. Perhaps that is another advantage of the SmartPlug. With it NOT being as common a connector in the RV world as it is in the marine industry it will not be as much of a target for theft because a different plug would need to be wired on the RV end. But again, if someone really wants your cord, wired or removable, it's not going to be a challenge for them to just cut and run. In that situation I would much rather have a removable cord because at least my RV connector is still intact. I also plan to always carry a short "dogbone" adapter with SmartPlug/standard male 30-Amp connector ends which would allow me to use a standard "extension" cord should that need arise. The extension cord does double duty should I need to run a power cord farther than the 30' SmartPlug cord I will carry as my primary power cord.
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Old 04-28-2021, 11:15 AM   #31
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I think the theft has more to do with the copper wire scrap price than being able to use the power cord on their own trailer.
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Old 04-28-2021, 11:23 AM   #32
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I think the theft has more to do with the copper wire scrap price than being able to use the power cord on their own trailer.
Kind of a sad statement on the world we live in when even camping and traveling in your RV has a theft risk like this (albeit low) just for the value of some metal. "Getting Away" in your RV used to be one of the last bastions of civility as everyone had a common interest to share and compare; places you've been or your rig and it's mods. As for me and my wife, we'll soon be working diligently to maintain that sense of civility and hope to meet many of you that frequent this forum out on the road somewhere.
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Old 04-28-2021, 11:27 AM   #33
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Perhaps that is another advantage of the SmartPlug. With it NOT being as common a connector in the RV world as it is in the marine industry it will not be as much of a target for theft because a different plug would need to be wired on the RV end.
That assumes they would steal it to use it. The scumbags that would steal a cord would likely just turn it in for scrap to get a few bucks for the copper.
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Old 04-28-2021, 12:08 PM   #34
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I'll see you down the road

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As for me and my wife, we'll soon be working diligently to maintain that sense of civility and hope to meet many of you that frequent this forum out on the road somewhere.
As Bob Wells said in Nomadland, "I'll see you down the road." Looking forward to it.

73/gus
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Old 04-28-2021, 12:30 PM   #35
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As it currently stands, with an ETI denial for factory installation, this is exactly what we intend to do.
We also asked ETI to install SmartPlug in our 19' build, even if we supplied the inlet. ETI politely declined, and we installed the SmartPlug inlet as our first trailer modification.

SmartPlug has been tested by Intertek, whose mark is ETL. So it is a "listed" device.

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Old 04-28-2021, 12:33 PM   #36
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My suggestion is to keep those SmartPlug requests coming into ETI on your builds. Perhaps if enough people make the request they will at least certify it as an "approved" personalization option.
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Old 04-28-2021, 12:38 PM   #37
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It’s not the camping community, most everyone you meet are great. It’s criminals out looking for any opportunity to make a buck. Power cord aside. If you have read some of the conversations on this forum, there are a lot of folks concerned and and taking precautions for getting their whole Escape trailer stolen.
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Old 04-28-2021, 12:46 PM   #38
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It’s not the camping community, most everyone you meet are great. It’s criminals out looking for any opportunity to make a buck. Power cord aside. If you have read some of the conversations on this forum, there are a lot of folks concerned and and taking precautions for getting their whole Escape trailer stolen.
True enough! See the forum thread link below as one way to deal with this. The same issue is prevalent with Casita's (we are previous owners of a 2007 16'). When your unit is small and relatively easy to hitch the risk level goes way up. The first time we took our Casita out to camp at a small "out of the way" campground we had our receiver hitch stolen. We had the trailer locked up with two hitch locks but never even thought about the receiver side. Now I lock it while towing and remove it at every campground and keep it stowed in my TV until we're ready to move on. Sad!

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post380486
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Old 04-28-2021, 01:24 PM   #39
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I was asked by my insurance company to swap out the old power plug on my boat for a Smart plug. Apparently they felt that there was a lower risk of fire with the new plug. For that they gave me a 10% discount every year thereafter.
I asked ETI to install a Smart Plug on my 2019 E19, but they declined, apparently because it slowed the production line to install aftermarket products. Not very forward thinking in my opinion. I plan to convert to the new system shortly!
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Old 04-28-2021, 01:43 PM   #40
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The connector that Escape uses was originally designed for use in the boating industry. It has since been adopted by the RV industry
The standard Escape connector is a NEMA L5-30. It is widely used anywhere a locking 120 V 30 amp connection is needed; there are lots in industrial and commercial settings. This connection is inherently unsuitable for outdoor use, and the goofy "weatherproof" cover used to fix that may have been a marine addition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Galen View Post
In talking to RV sales people they preferred wired in cord as they were less likely to be stolen, although that seemed silly as someone with wire cutters could always take your power cord.
If someone is stealing your cord to sell the copper as scrap they will cut it off. I doubt that many people will cut a cord to steal it then buy a connector and install it on the cord, or wire it into their own RV.

I think being accidentally left behind is likely more of a risk than theft, but of course any removable cord with an exposed connection can be easily stolen, unless some custom locking arrangement is added. It would be easy to add a steel cable that, with a padlock, would prevent theft without cutting the lock or steel cable, but of course the electrical cable could still just be cut off.
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