Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 09, 2025 ...

Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

March 24, 2022, 09:02:44 pm

  Been having electrical gremlins  for a while now.  Finally diagnosed the problem was with my TDI Shoreline 50Amp power cord reel.  It's 19 years old and tired and no longer available.  I have located a suitable replacement cord reel (Technology Research Corp RH54331RMK 50 Amp RV Power Cord Reel, High Profile - 33' Cord) but need some info on how the old unit is connected (wired) into the coach junction box.  I haven't yanked the old unit out so don't know exactly how the pig tail connections line up.  I presume there is a junction box with the wire connections inside.  Ring terminals?  Wire nuts? Lugs of some sort?  Any description or pictures would be greatly appreciated.  Like to have all my ducks lined up so as to minimize to the time I'm without shore power. 

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #1 – March 24, 2022, 09:30:46 pm

FYI DAvid,

I have an extra 50 amp power reel for anyone who is interested.

Jim Frerichs
2002 U320 42'

308-440-5154

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #2 – March 24, 2022, 10:01:12 pm

I replaced mine a few months ago.  The water reel was leaking and the new one was wider and wouldn't fit in the bay next to the original power reel, so I swapped that too.  The original power reel (TDI) leader seems to be hard-wired into the coach.  The cable goes up from the back of the bay, in front of the fresh tank and disappears from sight.  Rather than replace it, I decided to remove the connections from the original reel and reuse it.  The terminals were covered by a plate that was riveted on, so I drilled those out and exposed the end of the cable.  3/16" post ring terminals were used.  Of course those were too small to fit the new reel (1/4" posts), so I had to find 6awg to 1/4" post crimp connectors and buy a hydraulic crimper.  I bought a Southwire RH54331RMK to replace it.

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #3 – March 25, 2022, 07:17:26 pm

You should find a junction box probably have to remove the fiberglass panels in the wet bay where the access to the dump valves are.

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #4 – March 26, 2022, 01:12:23 am

David, your junction box should be on the overhead above your fresh water tank. Square metal box about 4" square.

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #5 – April 22, 2022, 02:11:43 pm

Thanks for all the advice.  I ordered a Technology Research Corp RH54331RMK 50 Amp RV Power Cord Reel, High Profile - 33' Cord from Amazon in March.  It took about a week to arrive and then it set in the box for some time until I was ready to tackle the project.  I removed the fiberglass shelf and panel located above the power cord  and fresh water reels which was fairly easy task.  After removing these items the end of the fresh water tank is clearly visible.  The electrical junction box for the cable reel was attached to the ceiling behind the panel.  Inside the junction box the coach wiring is joined to the cable reel wiring by use of split bolt connectors.  The split bolt connectors were wrapped in regular looking electrical tape and some other different types of tape I had never seen before. So I had to do some research on the Internet to learn how these connectors are insulated.  Unwrapping the old tape was not fun to say the least.  I disconnected the reel from the coach floor by removing three bolts and then pulled the old cable reel out of the plumbing bay.  Naturally the new unit attachment points did not line up with the old, so had to drill three new attachment holes thru the bay floor.  I used some 1/16 x 2" alum flat plate under the coach to help distribute the bolt load points.  I was able to reuse the split bolt connectors which was somewhat difficult because of the space limitations and heavy gauge wiring.  However the worst part of this job was wrapping / insulating the connectors given the wiring and electrical box they were in..  My first attempt failed since I had some sparks from the box cover plate when I turned on the power.  That can't be good!!  I guess one of the copper strands somehow poked thru the insulation and touched the junction box plate.  Cut the power and applied some more insulation.  Foretravel could have made this easier by using a much larger junction box.  After restoring power to the coach I hooked up the 12 VDC connections to power the winding mechanism and reinstalled the shelf and panel.  I had to cut about 3 or 4 inches off the back panel to reinstall it.  I took apart the old cable reel to salvage the cord and to see what ailed it.  The mechanism uses brass rings for red, black and neural with two bushings per ring to make the connections.  I found the neutral ring to have burned markings on just about all the surface area and the neutral bushings were almost completely burned up.  I have attached some pictures for your review.  More to follow.

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #6 – April 22, 2022, 02:18:15 pm

More pictures.

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #7 – April 22, 2022, 10:44:40 pm

Rotate the electric reel, even a little like what could happen from stepping on the shore cable as it lay on the ground, when heavy loads are running, the brass ring / bushing could arc and burn.

But since you found neutral damaged, it could happen if drawing over 50 amps total cable current on a not-240v source...

Quote Selected

Re: Replacing 50Amp Power Cord Reel - Questions??

Reply #8 – April 23, 2022, 07:46:10 am

Pitting/burning can also occur just from corrosion which causes resistance which causes heat which starts the process all over again.

Wish those "contact rings"/brushes were easier to check. Would be great to include checking them as part of an annual maintenance schedule.

Quote Selected