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Glendenning power cord

Yahoo Message Number: 92802
The pinch rollers on the Glendenning system wear out and cause severe retraction problems whereby the motor runs but the rollers are not tight enough on the cord to pull/push the cord into the bucket. Upon examination of the rollers you may find that the hole through them for their "axle" has elongated from wear thus they need to be replaced. Glendenning will supply (for a fee) new rollers that are beefier and therefore provide a tighter pinch on the cord. After replacing all of my rollers the retraction of the cord has been a breeze. The replacement is a touchy proposition but doable. The squat on the floor is a backbreaker.
Lyle Wetherholt
04 Intrigue 11740

Re: Glendenning power cord

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92806
? With my system the problem was not with the rollers but rather the drum pushing the chord would no longer turn. The motor would run but that was all. It sounded like a broken gear inside the housing. I lossened up the tension rolers but found it nearly impossible to pudj the chord in by hand. It basically took the strength of two men.
The concept is elegantly simple in nature but the mechanical implementation was anything but simple. It takes up a lot of closet space, is a fairly complicated drive mechanism and has no manual override that I could find. Scott called it a $2 solution to a $10 problem but if anything it is a $20 solution to a $10 problem. However it does solidly make the connection for the power chord coming into the coach. I did have it jam a few times but was always able to get it free by running it in the opposite direct a bit and then try again sometimes pulling or pushing on the chord.
After nine years the drive gear broke halfway home on what was to be my last trip. We gave up fulltiming when we got back and settled down in NH. Our coach went on it's way complete with the power chord wrapped around the tow hitch and secured with bungees. I didn't hide the problem but it is now somebody else's.

Don Seager

Former CC owner
 

Re: Glendenning power cord

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92813
Don - My quote was "Seems like a $10 solution to a $2 problem." just to set the record straight. Go back and reread my post. We're basically on the same page, however.

Cranes, for example, use a drum system to manage electrical wire that may feed a magnet. Cable is payed in and out constantly as the crank operates and the magnet is raised and lowered. We've all seen these at some point. The drum/reel approach makes a lot of sense. It's simple, effective, reasonably compact and adaptable. Where the problems creep in is when builders use substandard parts. Something that plagues the RV industry. Rollers, bearings, gears, axles, slip rings, brushes, fasteners, etc. are mostly hidden parts. It breeds opportunities to skimp in these places because no one sees it. That is until it breaks.
Using substandard parts ultimately leads to premature failures which the end user then ha$$le$ with. Blocking access to wearing parts so they can't be replaced is another snafu. Enter the Webasto turbine motor that can't be outfitted with a $5 set of brushes. Instead you buy the whole motor @ $450.00 I always love when builders offer new "improved" part$ as an after thought. If designs are complex, one can forgive over sights and subtle issues that couldn't be foreseen on the drawing board. Retroactively issuing better replacements and corrections is perfectly understandable. But in stupidly simple designs, making a non consumable part a consumable part tips the cash register drawer too far toward the builder. None of this is rocket science. It's simply a lack of attention to details, no pride and perhaps greed. Rollers, for example, can be outfitted with sleeves in their ID. Or outfitted with sealed lubrication roller bearings. Especially those subjected to radial forces. This isn't splitting the atom either. Quality is just lacking plain and simple.

For example, my cord reel is flimsy given the weight of the cord is manages. The reel sides are thin and sharp and the mounting isn't strong. It's a product from the "just enough to get by" design school.
Listening to it operate it's easy to tell the gear train isn't designed properly either. As for the slip rings, they can't be seen without taking it apart. I'll know more when I remove it and inspect the guts.
I have a good idea what I'll find too.

Personally, I'd be uncomfortable with any cable management system that continues to squeeze and pinch a 50A power cord with frictional pressure rollers. I don't think the cord's sheath is designed to take that abuse. Thinking another way, it is a system that inflicts unnecessary wear on the cable's sheath, insulation and interior conductors which will ultimately shorten the cable's life. The reel method doesn't have these issues and is much more cable friendly. A reel system does require a robust design for the slip rings as well as the other moving parts (gears, bearings and axles). Safe travels to one and all. Stay connected!!

Best - Scott

2006 Allure 430 40' #31349

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