Country Coach Electrical Cord Issue

[dreamchasers]

During recent work in my inverter bay, it was discovered that my electrical shore power cord needed attention. The electrical box where the shore power cord connects to coach's power system system, the strain relief fitting had come loose. To make matters worst, the shore power cord looped under a sheet metal wall to where the cord coiled up from the automatic cord retractor. When the shore power cord was fully extended, the cord stop retainer was adjusted in such a manner it allowed the cord to pull hard against the connection box and up against the metal wall. Repeated full extensions of the shore power cord could have resulted in cutting through the shore cord by the sharp metal wall.

To protect against accidentally cutting the shore power cord against shore power cord sheet metal enclosure, we did several things. First, we adjusted the end of cord stop to allow extra slack to prevent the shore power cord from being pulled to tight. Secondly, as the shore power cord looped through the hole in the sheet metal, we added cable clamps holding the cord down on both sides of the sheet metal opening. And third, we replaced the metal box with a water tight electrical enclosure to assure water tight connections.

I posted this particularly for Country Coach owners to check their installation to assure the possibility of a major electrical short can be avoided.

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This photo is what we found after removing the battery case. This junction box can be accessed without removing the battery case.

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This is a photo of the new junction box and the shore power cord has been anchored to the floor on both sides of the sheet metal wall.

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The finished installation.

I hope this helps.

Hector

[Alek&Lucia]

Hector,

Good catch !
I think that everybody with Glendining Auto retract should check their connections !
Stop the Prevost conversions "wars" for a while, this is serious problem !!!

Alek

[phorner]

Hector,

Good job! When I had our shore cord replaced at Liberty, we also found that the strain relief clamps had either come loose over time, or had not been properly replaced the last time someone was in the box.

Also, the electrical tape that had helped to seal the connections was rated for a lesser voltage than should have been used.

Although this connection is rarely inspected (and can be a real project on my vintage Liberty) it deserves a look see.

Thanks for the photo's.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Fine job Hector, wondering how many hours do you think you have invested.





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[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim,

You are getting into dangerous territory if you start considering hours spent working on a coach. Once we start doing that the next small step is to calculate the value of an hour's work, and then we start to realize the cost of ownership in a different light.

Repeat after me: "It's just a hobby, it's just a hobby, it's just a hobby......"

[Will Garner]

Jim,

If you follow through on your cost of labor for working on your love, I think there is another word you will want to chant softly to yourself. That is, take a dep breath first, letting it out slowly and sofly like trying to keep a feather floating in air, "Prozac, Prozac, " I'm told it works and is cheaper than having to get a prescription! All together now, "Prozac, Proza , Proz , Pro , Pr , P . See how well it works.

I'll mail you my bill for services rendered!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

All kidding aside regardless of who works on our coaches it takes many, many hours to keep them in first class condition. Will's hint that it may be theraputic is very true. When I did my first work (apart from oil changes and lube jobs) it was changing air bags. Time was the motivator because I quickly calculated that just the driving time to the nearest Prevost service center (Lyndhurst NJ at the time) was 8 hours I decided I would rather just do the work myself instead of investing 16 hours plus the cost of fuel just to get there.

What an eye opener that first foray into doing some serious work on the coach was. I had the tools so my only investment was the purchase of air bags plus time. Every night after dinner I went out and changed one air bag. By the time I finished, despite having to do this in a cold barn on the floor I had a great sense of accomlishment, I learned something, I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to work on the bus, and I began to sense the bus was not so intimidating as I first imagined.

From that point on I just never considered taking the bus to anyone for repairs or maintenance. The only exceptions were things I just could not do because of physical limitations or space. For example I could not change a failed alternator on my 8V92 because for a single man to try to heft a 130 pound alternator up over a bell housing while on his knees is not real easy. So Prevost got to do that. Luckily my choice was correct because by the time I finally had one that worked Prevost had replaced two and found a third bad one they did not try to install. It also took them 2 men and they actually used a bus lift as an elevator to make the job easier and the lifting less a part of the job.

But except for stuff like that I have bumbled through a lot of maintenance work and repairs, spent a lot of hours working on my buses, and like Hector and Paul point out finding things that need repair before they became serious issues, and fixing things before they failed so our use of the bus was as trouble free as possible. Stick's recent issue with loose alternator wires is a good example of why owner's are less likely to make that kind of mistake. They take pride in the work, are more cautious so simple stuff like that is less likely, and the only down side I can think of is sometimes we don't recognize some mechanical problems before they become a problem due to lack of professional skills.

But by considering my time spent working on the bus as pursuit of a hobby I have treated the insanity of buying such an expensive depreciating asset as actually paying me dividends by giving me a lot more pleasure than I would get just by using the coach for travel.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Fine job Hector, wondering how many hours do you think you have invested.





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You guys are putting too much of your own way of looking at things into my simple question.

How many hours did it take to do the job, period!

It's just something I wanted to know. Not to judge him in how he spends his time or how much time he spends working on his bus.

Thanks JIM :rolleyes:

[phorner]

Whenever I was questioned about my countless hours spent working on one of my collector cars, or one of my Harley's, I would always explain this by saying that as I worked/polished/whatever, that I was "bonding" with it. :)

There is actually a smidgeon of truth in that. As I occasionally get greasy pawed turning a wrench here or there on the bus, I do feel a closer "bond" to this massive chunk of stainless.

If that helps me be more protective of it when placed in the hands of a service technician for repairs, I see that as a good thing. If I become more observant of the slightest performance abnormality, another benefit.

And, whenever I correctly diagnose and repair something on the bus (yeah, I know, a rare event), I'm thrilled to think I'm earning a minimum of $100/hr. which is a considerable raise for me :D

[garyde]

The learning curve for me is quite high the first time I do a project on the bus. I have to determine the best way to go about the project, what tools to use, what parts and materials will be necessary, etc. So, it takes longer than I would like. A job which Prevost or Liberty might do in 3 hours, will take me two or three times that amount of time. No matter, I enjoy doing it and as Jon has said, I get a real sense of accomplishment when successfully completed. I only wish I had more up front knowledge .
A change out of a electrical box for the shore cord should take no more than 2 hours. How long from beginning to end did it take?

[dreamchasers]

I normally take my time, like many others, when doing work on the coach. This particular issue was discovered when I removed my house battery case for refurbishment. Estimating time for the sake of it, humm... 3 hours, after I had required replacement parts in hand.

My junction box is located a hard to reach area, so it would have taken some time to be able to stand straight after being on my side, stuck between to tight surfaces.

I am not the young pup I once was, but I still in the game...

I have more pictures to upload of upgrades, stay tuned....

Hector

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The way to analyze this is to imagine what the impact would have been had Hector NOT found this potential disaster. Maybe the shore power breaker would have tripped before it did any serious damage. Or maybe not.