Dons DIY Projects: RV Power Cord Panel

Stowing the power cord

All RVers know the annoying process of removing the main power cord from its storage compartment.

You pull the cord fully out of the compartment, then feed it back in and through the floor of the compartment through the slot with the hinged cover and eventually to the power box.

To stow the cord you pull it fully out through the floor and then coil it into the storage compartment.

I researched ways to make this easier. There seemed to be two prevailing approaches:

Cut the cord at the opening of the compartment and add a female socket connector to the cable. This facilitates plugging and unplugging the entire roll of cable rather than feeding it in and out of the storage area. This makes it easier to plug and unplug the coil of cable but you still have to feed it through the floor???
Put a female outlet on the side of the RV. This facilitates taking the cord from the storage area and simply plugging it into the side of the RV. To stow, the cord unplug, roll up the cord and replace it in the storage compartment

A Different Approach

I decided to implement # 1 because I did not want to cut a hole in the RV. However, the addition of another connection in a high current cable just did not feel like the right thing to do.

Then it occurred to me why not come up with a way for the cable to exit the compartment without going through the floor. A way where the cable is just pulled out and then recoiled for storage.

I started investigating simply putting a hold in the door for the cable to exit. The latch was in the way and I really don't like cutting into the RV's skin.

Why not open the door pull out the cable and then insert a panel in the compartment opening.

I decided this would be my approach.

The Panel

I make a template & prototype from 1/4" board so that I could get the corner radiuses correct and check the fit. The final version was to be a clear acrylic.

The dimensions are included in the picture in case you want to make one.
The notch in the left side is to clear the hinge,
The nut on the right side is for the locking bolt. The acrylic version is threaded.
The hole in the middle is for your finger to be able to insert/remove the panel
The notch at the bottom is for the cable

The acrylic panel fastener

The acrylic panel is locked in place. The yellow item in the upper left is an AC plug tester I leave in the socket to show proper AC power.

The Locking Hardware

The panel is locked in place by a rotating disk (washer) that interposed the back surface of the compartments frame. You turn in counterclockwise to tighten and clockwise to release.

The knob for this assembly was made by pouring hot glue into a box wrench with the bolt standing in the center.

Optional Door Latch

The wife thought the door should be secured out of the way when this panel is installed so it's not flapping freely. Two magnets were glued (Plumbers goop) on the outside of the door and fender to secure the door in the open position. I use Plumbers Goop a lot on the RV. It has strong holding power but also can be removed if necessary. We will see if this will stay attached when underway.