Power Chord Reel

December 07, 2013, 05:22:34 pm

Scott,

Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you and others wondering. Mine failed halfway through a trip and I couldn't get it either in or out. Interesting trip home but that is why I had mine apart.
There is no reel per se. The power chord is fed in through the side wall opening and then forced over a rotating drum. The drum can rotate in either direction. A rather complicated feed mechanism forces the chord against the reel with spring loaded rollers. The chord drops off the drum about half way around the back. Mounted below the drum mechanism is a circular container with a hole at the top where the chord is being forced down through. The distance down to the container is short so the heavy chord does not tend to go anywhere but through the hole.
The chord itself is permanently connected to a terminal strip at the bottom back of the container. As the chord is fed into the circular container it tends to coil around in a circular loop with each successive coil landing on top of the one below it until all the chord has been retracted and the container is just about full. It is all in the shape of the container. The same thing happens in reverse when extending the chord. It is in effect is a mechanical version of what you do when you coil up a chord manually.
Because the chord is not tied to a rotating reel the connection is stationary eliminating the need for any power rings. I can't vouch for any other installations but that is how mine worked, To be honest, before I took it apart I envisioned the chord being rolled onto a reel also but not so.
If my explanation is not clear let me know where if have failed and I will be happy to try an take an another stab at it.

Don Seager
Ex CC owner

Re: Power Chord Reel

Reply #1 – December 07, 2013, 08:55:16 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 92792

Don - Thanks. I understand now. Seems like a $10 solution to a $2 problem. I can only vouch for one bus (make, model & year) for the five+ years we've been living in it. Here's a photo of our power cord reel setup:

http://muniac.smugmug.com/Travel/Country-Coach-2006-430-Allure/i-6TbMTvw/0/M/IMG_0642-M.jpg I'm sure many have this conceptual setup. It includes a sliding contact system of sorts. I've heard of several going south. That's why I don't use mine anymore.

I'm a BIG fan of keeping things simple, cost effective, reliable and easy to service. All of this with the understanding that we want to create more convenience. Creature comforts are great as are gadgets.
As long as they continue to work but many RV "thingies" fail before they should. It's personal choice that drives the market. I'll opt for manual crank windows and manual lock buttons anytime over the power stuff. But I'd never be without A/C. My Eldorado had heated seats which were great but then one broke. The car became a HUGE hassle after 75k miles. In contrast, my van just passed 240k and never skipped a beat. It still runs reliably. That said I opted for some proactive maintenance. Ford's Triton 5.4 V8 is one of the last gasoline engines that will go 250K - 300K.

We just completed a make over on the van and had two rental cars the dealer kindly provided for us over the 10-12 days the work was being completed. I was flabbergasted at the electronics, LCD touch screen, navigation, etc. Something simple like turning on the radio, selecting AM, adjusting volume and then tuning in a station is much more complex than in the van. The van's radio has a tuning dial, volume control, station presets and a band button. I can operate all of these without taking my eyes off the road. Some of this stuff, like capacitive touch sensors that replace dials don't work as well. Hands sweat, get cold, have hand cream on them or gloves. Not a good choice for consistency IMHO. Dials are much better. Also the safety of having to navigate through a complex touch screen seems very counter intuitive. But people like gadgets and seem not to consider the practicalities or lack thereof. Car makers offer these options as expensive upgrades because people will pay money for them. The fellows in the shop who fix this stuff will readily tell you, it's all great until they break. And they all break.

Mercedes offered a sports car that had a fiber optics high speed data network in it. A good friend of mine worked on the audio system design for these cars. He said it's simply ridiculous and a nightmare to service. I couldn't agree more. The roll out was thwart with problems. Interesting on an $80k car. Like I said, I'll opt for simple and reliable. Especially if it involves the lights going out in the middle of the night. I'm scared of the dark!

Best - Scott

2006 Allure 430 40' #31349

(Bus-Stead Lemon) My Allure Page http://www.muniac.com/Allure%20Page.html

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