Please help---> household current plug in

[groovzilla]

All,

I purchased my 63 GT 7 months ago and from what I remember, seller had the trailer plugged into an extension cord(regular every day orange extension cord) from his garage to single exterior outlet on lower street side of trailer.

For the 1st time I am attempting to plug my extension cord into this outlet and I see the outlet is a FEMALE plug in - Not the male style I have used before.

Is there a special adapter(male-male) used for this outlet??

Any help appreciated!

[GMFL]

Photos would help us understand what you are looking at.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok, what the seller was doing is ...errr.... a bit non-standard. They did a back feed on the outside socket on the trailer. That's not normally the recommended way to do things. Far better to go in through a standard shore power connector, even if it's fed by a normal house circuit.

Step one would be to locate the shore power connection and check to see that it is ok ( = not broken in some way).

Bob

[groovzilla]

here are photos - this is the outlet the seller(previous owner)had extension cord plugged into when i tested interior lights - he had no battery in the trailer

**also when i tested the 110v lights, the small orange light on top of circuit breaker box in rear closet was glowing

[overlander64]

Greetings n2916s!

You have a situation very similar to what I had with my 1964 Overlander its original Bargman power connector had been replaced by an electrical outlet with an extension cord having two male plugs on it -- a very dangerous situation posing immediate possibility of electrical shock. I never used the "make-do" arrangement and had a more modern entrance installed (1995) and more recently (2008) had a Marino entrance installed. In 1995, I also had a new circuit breaker box installed to replace the fuse box as well as a new power converter.

Good luck with your investigation!

Kevin

[groovzilla]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Ok, what the seller was doing is ...errr.... a bit non-standard. They did a back feed on the outside socket on the trailer. That's not normally the recommended way to do things. Far better to go in through a standard shore power connector, even if it's fed by a normal house circuit.

Step one would be to locate the shore power connection and check to see that it is ok ( = not broken in some way).

Bob

bob - i have done nothing since bringing the trailer home in august - have not tried hooking up household current - i am just starting retoration and wanted to use the interior outlets so attempted to plug in my extension cord in the outlet in photos above - since i have done nothing since testing lights/outlets prior to purchase, i assume everything would be functioning the same if i use this outlet
question is what type of adapter can i use??

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by groovzilla

here are photos - this is the outlet the seller(previous owner)had extension cord plugged into when i tested interior lights - he had no battery in the trailer

**also when i tested the 110v lights, the small orange light on top of circuit breaker box in rear closet was glowing

Hi

That seems to be a pretty typical outside outlet. My guess is that the shore power inlet is somewhere else on the trailer.

Bob

[waninae39]

VERY DANGEROUS

WALK AWAY

this is VERY illegal and can easily kill someone.
get it fixed ASAP

IMHO, think about getting a smart-plug as a replacement
mush more sturdy and less likely to arc or heat up.

find them on amazon

many postings about the smart plug in this forum

[groovzilla]

can anyone please tell me where the original shore power plug in was located on my 63 GT??
there are no other exterior or interior plug ins for household current?

[overlander64]

Greetings groovzilla!

Originally Posted by groovzilla

can anyone please tell me where the original shore power plug in was located on my 63 GT??
there are no other exterior or interior plug ins for household current?

I am almost certain that you are the victim of a previous owner's modification as I was. According to the Airstream Document Archives, your coach was originally equipped with a permanently attached 25' power cord that would have been stored in a compartment in the rear bumper. The alternate that was used on some coaches of the time period was a Bargman connector that would have been installed in a box of similar design to that used by your standard outlet -- but if that were the case and that original cord disappeared, the connector was obsolete by the 1990s and owners often resorted to "unusual" and sometimes dangerous fixes as is the case with the double male extension cord that was used by the previous owner of my coach and evidently was done by the previous owner of your coach. Both the trailer and cord ends of the Bargman connectors are unobtanium today so the best advice I can offer is to research and choose a modern RV connector that you have confidence in and make the conversion. Back in 2008 when I made the most recent conversion on my Overlander, I went with the Marinco entrance as mentioned earlier. It truly is not safe to try to connect your coach with the setup that you now have.


Good luck with your investigation!


Kevin

P.S.: Your 120-Volt AC fuse box is most likely in the rear wardrobe/closet near the bathroom. Your coach would not have had a Univolt from the factory as they were not offered until 1964.

[groovzilla]

**kevin,

i have company coming for dinner but ran outside and looked everywhere - in the side vented compartment just behind the refrigerator, there is a cut thick cord which looks like the end of the original shore power cord - it is located near the outlet described above - it has black electrical tape covering the end.

i will get photos and research and post tomorrow

thank you everyone for your help and insight!

regards from seattle!

[groovzilla]

update - i was able to contact seller of trailer(previous owner) - he explained that he made a home made "male/male" adapter so he could plug into house power.

i am taking everyone's advice and changing over to a safer setup
i'm inspecting the old/cut shore power cord tomorrow and see if that can be used - if not, the current female outlet wiring is going to circuit breaker and everything is functioning properly

i'll get some photos/info posted tomorrow

all the best!

[TG Twinkie]

Originally Posted by groovzilla

update - i was able to contact seller of trailer(previous owner) - he explained that he made a home made "male/male" adapter so he could plug into house power.

i am taking everyone's advice and changing over to a safer setup
i'm inspecting the old/cut shore power cord tomorrow and see if that can be used - if not, the current female outlet wiring is going to circuit breaker and everything is functioning properly

i'll get some photos/info posted tomorrow

all the best!

Here is what you need.
Leviton 4937-15 amp receptacle.

[Mollysdad]

He probable had a bogus Male-Male extension cord. By plugging into an outlet you will have power on any circuit on that buss.
(I have seen that as a way to power a few things on a house from a generator during a power outage) It's totally illegal and dangerous.

[TG Twinkie]

Get a Leviton 4937-15 household inlet.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

What you do / where to go from here depends a *lot* on what your objectives are.

One route would be to re-wire the trailer with a modern 30A or 50A socket (depending on how ambitious you are) and re-do all the internal wiring to match up with it. If you are planing an extensive refurb, this might make sense.

Another route would be to "revive" the old power cord. I'd take a real close look at it. The first step might be to replace it, since rubber cable insulation can degrade over a 50 year span. The result would be true to the original (with it's ...errr ... advantages and disadvantages).

Replacing the 120V socket with a twist lock works and it's reasonable / safe / legal. They are not real easy to find. You will have a "non standard" cord to mate up with it. That's sort of a "who cares" kind of thing. The cord will lock in and eliminate "fall out of the socket" issue.

As noted above, you *can* get a legit socket for this application with a blade connector on it. It's cheap and it works with a very normal extension cord. It's just as safe / legal as any of the other approaches. My only knock on it is that they are easy to accidentally unplug.

=======

The risk in doing what the PO was doing is pretty simple - with a plug on both ends of the extension, you can have live voltage hanging out in the open. Somebody knocks the cord, it falls out of the trailer and you have a disaster. Indeed I've seen people do equally nutty things over the years. In one case the offender had a PHd in Electrical Engineering .....

Bob

[gklott]

Originally Posted by waninae39

VERY DANGEROUS WALK AWAY
this is VERY illegal and can easily kill someone. get it fixed ASAP
IMHO, think about getting a smart-plug as a replacement much more sturdy and less likely to arc or heat up.

Good advice!

Recommend “FIGURE 551.46(C)(1) Configurations for Grounding-Type Receptacles and Attachment Plug Caps Used for Recreational Vehicle Supply Cords and Recreational Vehicle Lots.” in “NFPA 70: National Electrical Code Handbook.” The figure shows you the standardized RV attachment receptacle to replace what you showed.

NEC “551.46 Means for Connecting to Power Supply.” describes the other details for the supply cord, etc.

73/gus

[gklott]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

As noted above, you *can* get a legit socket for this application with a blade connector on it. It's cheap and it works with a very normal extension cord. It's just as safe / legal as any of the other approaches. My only knock on it is that they are easy to accidentally unplug.

Recommend ensuring that the inlet you select is marked "Suitable for wet locations". Most of the regular household inlets are not rated for wet locations.

For all weather use, and to withstand repeated RV connecting, I can highly recommend this inlet:
- Leviton 59W47 15 Amp, 125 Volt Wetguard Straight Blade Grounding Single Inlet Cover

Put the matching connector on the end of a really good, industrial grade, 12 AWG extension cord:
- Leviton 79W47-C 15 Amp, 125 Volt, NEMA 5-15, 2P, 3W, Straight Blade Connector for Single Inlet, Industrial Grade, Grounding, Yellow

These Levitron WetGuard products will take the punishment from many years of RV use. For a straight blade, these products are not as "easy to accidentally unplug", as uncle_bob mentioned. I also like the feature on the inlet where you can insert a pin to lock down the inlet cover.

73/gus

[68 Overlander]

Originally Posted by groovzilla

here are photos - this is the outlet the seller(previous owner)had extension cord plugged into when i tested interior lights - he had no battery in the trailer

**also when i tested the 110v lights, the small orange light on top of circuit breaker box in rear closet was glowing

If that is where the PO actually had power connected, he would have had to build a double male extension cord and I don't like it. Keep looking for another place that might more than a 15 amp plug. You can't run much on 15 amps and you will probably want 30 amp service especially if you plan to have an air conditioner. If you are planning to restore this gem, you might want to consider the Smartplug. They are very popular and Airstream is starting to install them on request at the factory. Here is a link to their website.

[TG Twinkie]

The coach may not have come with Air Conditioning.
No micro wave, no television, etc.
It may not have had an electric water pump. Even if it did, it wouldn't require much power.
Don't know if it had an ice box or refer. Even a refer would not require more than 300 watts.
Throw in the furnace. Maybe an amp or so on 120 volts.
A few lights and outlets.
Seems to me that 15 amps at 120 volts would be more than adequate.
My '69 Shasta had the same Leviton inlet that I listed above as part of the original equipment.
My Son owns the Shasta today. We just replaced the original Leviton with an exact match.