Exterior curbside AC outlet

[rodsterinfl]

Well after bragging about my AS as being nearly perfect as far as defects concerned I found one last night. The exterior AC outlet has been "cock-eyed" (crooked with one side much closer to the trailer wall than the other. I took it apart to see what the problem was and found that it was glued in and the two screws that I thought were stripped were doing nothing. I discovered a plastic item- a type of anchor stuck sideways in the goo, fished it out and another one down in the wall that supposedly attach to the screws from inside the wall. I tried to fix it to no avail. Now I am not sure how to go about it. There are two drilled holes underneath the fixture mount but those too were unused. It looks as if it was a problem at build and they just decided to fill the hole with some kind of rubbery caulk, stick the fixture in and leave it.

Now, I am trying to figure out how to fix this. There is nowhere to fasten the fixture and the plastic arms will not hold it in place. Anyone else ever fix one of these?

[DreamStreamr]

Rodsterinfl
Have you had any luck on this?

I tried to get into mine yesterday to check the terminals tightness. Undid the four mounting screws, was able to pull it less than 1/4 inch from the trailer's skin. Unscrewed the three "plug body" screws and gained nothing.

Went back inside, looked up marinco easy lock power inlet and found references to the components on the interior side of the wall. Best I can figure, the new install was done during rough-in at the factory. So I'm not going to have luck pulling it from outside.

If this had been installed from the exterior then I should have no problem pulling it out enough to visualize behind it. But it appears, as we often see in our airstreams, the factory may have given no thought to this.

Looking further, I think I might reach it from inside via a wardrobe. I found an access panel, appears easily removable and just about right on the location. Worst case (I guess) I will remove the lavatory base cabinet's rear panel (it's glued) to see behind it where I think the electrical inlet is.

I've asked a RV Service Tech friend if they know more -- haven't heard. Tomorrow I'm "going in".

[GoldFever]

Just brought home a "new to us" 2007 International 23 footer, "Ocean Breeze" model.
I, too, thought the same as to not having any issues and discovered the same curbside outlet problem. Cheap junkie outlet made of plastic and warped. So I was glad in a way to discover your question just now.
So I will be waiting for other AS owners solutions as well.
My thought is that I / we need to source another exterior grade outlet and just change over to something maybe metal and quality built so that it doesn't leak and never gives us a problem in the future.
My previous AS was a 1992 25 foot Excella Classic and the exterior outlet was metal and rock solid with a metal door. Will be looking for something similar.
Obtw, sold the 92 in 30 hours once posted here and found the 07 nearby at a dealer on consignment on the same day. Sold 92 Sunday morning at 9:45, bought 07 in the afternoon!! Awesome... ;-)
Gary in Hemet, CA

[DreamStreamr]

Originally Posted by GoldFever

Just brought home a "new to us" 2007 International 23 footer, "Ocean Breeze" model.
I, too, thought the same as to not having any issues and discovered the same curbside outlet problem. Cheap junkie outlet made of plastic and warped. So I was glad in a way to discover your question just now.
So I will be waiting for other AS owners solutions as well.
My thought is that I / we need to source another exterior grade outlet and just change over to something maybe metal and quality built so that it doesn't leak and never gives us a problem in the future.
My previous AS was a 1992 25 foot Excella Classic and the exterior outlet was metal and rock solid with a metal door. Will be looking for something similar.
Obtw, sold the 92 in 30 hours once posted here and found the 07 nearby at a dealer on consignment on the same day. Sold 92 Sunday morning at 9:45, bought 07 in the afternoon!! Awesome... ;-)
Gary in Hemet, CA

Gary,

I heard back from RV SVC Tech friend with photos of the Marinco 30a power inlet. The pictures didn't help me enough but we were visiting a West Marine store last week. I held in my hand the same Marinco inlet you and I have on our trailers. Then I saw and understood how it assembles and fastens to the trailer.

Although I had correctly taken the four fastening screws loose from outside, the inlet plug would NOT pull out more than 1/4". I probed yesterday from inside the trailer. In my wardrobe is a removable 18"X18" laminated panel on the bottom side. I removed this and could visualize, but not quite reach the inside aspect of the Marinco. I removed the two doors from the lavatory sink base and could now see straight through AND reach to the inlet's rear.

I removed the fiberglas insulation and could now see the problem. It looked like 1/4 pound of sikaflex caulk was ringing the inlet's housing. There is no way I could have pried the Marinco from the outside.

I peeled the caulk donut off in one piece. Unplugged the shore power cord, removed the four screws again, and the Marinco readily pulled out. A small problem here, the lid popped out of its socket amd seems to have lost a spring? I was able to slip the lid back into place but found later, after reinstallation, the lid doesn't seem to snap and stay closed as well as before.

Withdrawn, I was able to see and put my screwdriver to tightening the black, white, and green wire terminals. The black, somewhat predictably, I thought, required almost a 1/8 turn to be fully tight. Neither the neutral nor the ground would tighten at all.

The Marinco unit slid back in cleanly and the four screws snugged it nicely against the exterior gasket. Except for the lid not snapping closed, everything is great!

There is a really nice stainless steel Marinco for same application, installs same way but looks tons better. Costs more but some airstreamers have switched and love their new power inlet.

[dznf0g]

I installed this one. I like it better than the Marinco.

Furrion 30 Amp Inlet Round

[batman]

Rich, me too.
Furrion makes a full line on marine cables, inlets and outlets. I have added the Furrion 30 amp inlet and a cable tv/telephone inlet on my 64. I also got there power cable w/screw lock and led indicator, in silver.


Dennis

[mefly2]

Are you folks using the term outlet and inlet interchangeably ? I guess that I'm a bit confused ...

[batman]

Originally Posted by mefly2

Are you folks using the term outlet and inlet interchangeably ? I guess that I'm a bit confused ...

Probably.
I just use it as I see it. Power, cable, telephone come out of an outlet and they go into an inlet.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by mefly2

Are you folks using the term outlet and inlet interchangeably ? I guess that I'm a bit confused ...

Actually I think DreamStreamr highjacked the thread and the OP was talking about the curbside 20 amp outlet, not the streetside 30 amp inlet.

[dznf0g]

oops, you're right. I replaced the cheap plastic curbside outlet with a cast aluminum one from HD. Painted it with Rustoleum "Bright Aluminum". Good Match.
There is not enough room for a residential Box, so I used friction (cloth) electrical tape and protected the back VERY WELL.

I don't recall any issues with mounting to the skin.

[DreamStreamr]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

Actually I think DreamStreamr highjacked the thread and the OP was talking about the curbside 20 amp outlet, not the streetside 30 amp inlet.

Oh crap, I hate when someone does that. Sorry folks, I was so excited about getting the STREETSIDE INLET done after initial unsuccessful attempt, and I really did think OP was looking at same problem. My bad, didn't mean to hijack anything.

[cwf]

I need to replace warped plastic cover on 1999 Excella 34'.

[cwf]

Originally Posted by cwf

I need to replace warped plastic cover on 1999 Excella 34'.

Recommendations?

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by cwf

Recommendations?

While you're taking pictures tomorrow, why don't you take one of what you need to replace and post it here?

If yours is a surface mount, what dznf0g posted looks pretty good. Mine on my 1983 Excella is recessed with a metal cover and completely different.

[cwf]

Here are coupe of pics,

[dznf0g]

I would use an aluminum setup like the one I got. It is an outdoor outlet cover with a pretty good gasket and a rather strong spring for closure sealing. Yours is down lower than mine, but should work. It appears that down there you should have room for a proper outlet box behind the skin and everything could easily be done to wet area residential standards.

[Melody Ranch]

The aluminum ones at Home Depot are waterproof and they polish up nice. I also put a 12volt outlet there.

[cwf]

Thanks!

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

The aluminum ones at Home Depot are waterproof and they polish up nice. I also put a 12volt outlet there.

How did you polish the cast aluminum. I tried a small spot and it came out kind of splotchy and not really an appearance close to anything else on the AS. Thus, I painted with the Rustoleum "bright aluminum".

Maybe a different alloy?????? Did you clear coat afterwards? Pics?????

[rodsterinfl]

Nice "ac outlet" dznf0g. I worked with the little clips and stuck mine back in with caulk and sponge gasket all around it - certainly not picture worthy! I will start looking for an outlet like the one shown.

By the way, any potential Airstream owners questioning quality at this point, let me share my observation on a new class A Vista in March. I was looking at this big nice RV as a consideration with full-time thoughts on my mind when I had to chuckle to myself over the crooked outlets both inside and out. Then when looking at the front laptop computer slideout on the dash of the passenger seat, the bracket came loose and jammed the slide. So, my thoughts are that ANY RV is a labor of love. Its just that some have more to go wrong than others. At least we have support on here!

Who/where is HD on that outlet dznf0g?