Power cord out of the king pin??

[CLAYTON]

Is there a way to have a power cord come out of the king pin? I put my Honda EU3000 in the bed of the truck up in the corner and it would be nice if we pull over at a rest stop or where ever to pull the extension cord out of the king pin and plug in for power instead of having to run the cord all the way up the side of the trailer. I guess you could even leave it running while your going if you wanted. Or on a really hot day have the AC running so it's cool when you get to your destination. Any thoughts on that?

 

[B.G. Smith]

I thought about that, it is possible but depends on the construction of the trailer as to how hard it would be, it the trailer frame is box beam that would be a possible route to the front. If it has slide outs there is lots of space between the floor and bottom of most units. To keep from having the plug hot and exposed on one end or the other you would need to have a receptacle at the rear end of the cord from the front so you could plug the trailer cord into it or into shore power. Probably would be best to cut the trailer cord off where it exits the trailer (and make it an extension cord) to keep from having too much cord in the line when running off the generator. bg

 

[jelag]

I opened the electrical box on my trailer and spliced in a 10/3 SO extension cord... . Ran this cord up to the front of the trailer and put a 50 amp plug like whats on the gen set in a water proof box next to the electrical connector for the 12V system... I built a 6 ft 10/3 cable with 2 male plugs on it... . again that fits the gen set... . I plug in the cord and start the gen set... . I've even run down the highway and stopped to start the gen set and AC 30 min before we stop for the night... to pre-cool the trailer... Under $75 for the whole thing and works great.....

 

[CLAYTON]

I opened the electrical box on my trailer and spliced in a 10/3 SO extension cord... . Ran this cord up to the front of the trailer and put a 50 amp plug like whats on the gen set in a water proof box next to the electrical connector for the 12V system... I built a 6 ft 10/3 cable with 2 male plugs on it... . again that fits the gen set... . I plug in the cord and start the gen set... . I've even run down the highway and stopped to start the gen set and AC 30 min before we stop for the night... to pre-cool the trailer... Under $75 for the whole thing and works great.....

Was the 10/3 extension cord a 20amp or 30amp cord?

 

[GCrowell]

Generator Connection

I have a Titanium 32E37DS and did just what you are talking about. It was not an easy thing to get the power cord fished through to the pin box but it is really worth it. I installed a manual transfer switch in the basement (60 amp on one side and 30 amp on the other). I disconnected the trailer 50 amp shore power from the trailer main breaker box and rerouted it to the 60 amp side. I then fished in a 30 amp cord forward to the pin box (the really hard part!). From the transfer switch I installed a run to the trailer main breaker box. That way, I can feed the trailer from either the shore power or from the generator but no way I can have both tied to the main breaker box at the same time (to protect the generator while connected to shore power and to prevent backfeed into the shore power connector while running the generator(s)). At the pin box end of the 30 amp cord, I put a standard 30 amp RV male connector. I built a parallel connection box arrangement so that I can run either one or two eu2000i Honda generators and I plug the 30 amp pigtail into that box. The box just hangs on the pin box while parked or if traveling the parallel box sits in the bed of the truck.

I have not tried it while traveling but made the provision for it.

It took me the better part of a day to get it installed but I really appreciate not having to drag that 50 amp power cord out especially on a cool day when it is as stiff as a poker.



George

 

[lizzyhermit]

... . I've even run down the highway and stopped to start the gen set and AC 30 min before we stop for the night... to pre-cool the trailer... .....

sure hope the spouse never reads this... ... ... ... ... ..... ! I have her just appreciating the fact we can fire up the AC once we're parked !!

 

[CLAYTON]

30 amp from the King Pin

I am just going to have Camping World wire this for me tomorrow. I figure if something goes wrong then it's on them instead of me frying my whole electrical system. They are going to put in the transfer switch and all. I'll take some pics when it's all done.

 

[hutch]

Generator in truck bed

In 1996 I was pulling a 30' TT with a Genapac 4800 in the bed of a Ford F250 with bed liner. I stopped in Mes. Nev. in a packing lot for the night. Have a girl with asthuma so started the generator and went back into the trailer. When 30 min. was up I went out to turn it off and to my sursprize I had about a gallon of gas in the bed of the truck. Got I shut off OK. The gen. had a leaking fuel pump. I have never run a Gen. in the truck since. Just cover all bases.

 

[jacqnbill]

Is there a way to have a power cord come out of the king pin? I put my Honda EU3000 in the bed of the truck up in the corner and it would be nice if we pull over at a rest stop or where ever to pull the extension cord out of the king pin and plug in for power instead of having to run the cord all the way up the side of the trailer. I guess you could even leave it running while your going if you wanted. Or on a really hot day have the AC running so it's cool when you get to your destination. Any thoughts on that?

Be careful installing this without a transfer switch. I did this on my last fiver and just spliced the additional cable into the existing power cable. It worked but the prongs on the other power plug was hot so I installed a glove over it and put a warning label on the plug.

I had the factory install an additional front plug on my new unit and they use an automatic transfer switch to prevent this safety problem. Sure like the feature.



Bill

 

[wtfd6]

we built a rack on the back of my father in laws 5er. the honda 6500 watt generator locks down for anti theft. the regular power cord reaches right to the generator. and it also has a basket next to it for fire wood. and still has a trailer hitch off the back for towing the jet skis or atv's.



mark

 

[jwduke]

Hutch, that could have been a disaster! WOW, glad nothing serious happened!

 

[CLAYTON]

Be careful installing this without a transfer switch. I did this on my last fiver and just spliced the additional cable into the existing power cable. It worked but the prongs on the other power plug was hot so I installed a glove over it and put a warning label on the plug.

I had the factory install an additional front plug on my new unit and they use an automatic transfer switch to prevent this safety problem. Sure like the feature.



Bill

I had them put in the automatic transfer switch so I don't have to worry about making a costly mistake. The install looks great. They put the plug right up in the king pin out of the way. I left the 30amp cord long so if I wanted to park the truck 20 feet away from the trailer with the gen in there I could or I could push the extra cord in the king pin and use as much as I need. I'll take some pics later in the week. Thanks for all the replys