Mod Description:

Tired of stuffing your shore power cord through the little mouse hole on the side of your RV into a compartment that the cord was never designed to easily fit in to? What about when it’s cold out and the cord is stiffer than a wood stick? Modding your RV with a Marinco power inlet receptacle can help you cope with all the stress and aggravation of something seemingly so simple to do.

Mod Difficulty:

Square Marinco 30 amp Receptacle

Round Marinco 30 amp Receptacle Installed

Marinco 30 amp Female Connector

Shortened Shorepower Cable from Receptacle to Converter

Installation is actually easier than coiling up your shore power cord. Marinco makes a nice kit which includes everything necessary for changing over to the receptacle-type power inlet. It contains the receptacle, gaskets, screws, and a 30 or 50 amp female connector, depending on your RV power center rating. When you cut the power cord during installation of the kit, the female connector attaches to the end of the cord, allowing you to keep your cord instead of buying an expensive replacement.

Start off this mod by removing the screws and mouse hole plug housing. Slide the housing down the cord enough so you can make a cut in the cord about 12-18″ from where the cord exits the sidewall. Strip the wires on each end of the cut. Attach the wires from the cord sticking out of the RV in to the color-coded receptacle and tighten the wire retaining screws. Slide the cord and receptacle in to the hole where the mouse hole plug used to be, lining up the screw holes with the original holes in the sidewall. Adapters are provided if the screws don’t line up or the hole is too large. You can use a little silicone between the sidewall and the receptacle or just use the gasket that came with the kit. Tighten the screws and your done!

All that’s left is to attach the color-coded female connector to the power cord and plug in. Be careful not force the connector in to the receptacle. There is 1 L-shaped spade terminal that must line up with the correct female counterpart on the connector. Line them up and push the connector in to the receptacle, giving a slight twist to the right once the connector is fully seated. This locks the connector in place. Twist the threaded ring on the receptacle so it threads on to the receptacle body. This makes sure that if you trip over the cord (we’ve all done it!) it won’t disconnect or damage the receptacle or cord, within reason of course. It also provides a weather-resistant seal in the event of rain.

ModMyRV recommends these parts for this mod:
Marinco / Park Power 301ELRV 30 AMP 125V standard RV inlet
Cordtec 30A 125V Inlet Socket 80425-SQWT
Conntek Parkpower 30FT 30A RV Plug to 30A Twist Lock Power Connector

10 Comments For This Mod

1. Bob Vaughn (March 4th, 2009 at 6:36 pm)

   My camper came with this type of cord….when I disconnect it I wipe the cord as I roll it up then I place it in the compartment under our bed….
2. jmt (March 5th, 2009 at 1:09 am)

   I like just pulling it out…not a big deal.
3. tvman44 (April 1st, 2009 at 10:23 am)

   I put one our last 2 trailers, all RV’s should come with this. So much easier and helps keep the little rodents out.
4. gnarlykaw (April 2nd, 2009 at 8:33 am)

   I did this mod last week. the 30A plug on the old cord was alittle melted from a bad post plug, so I went with this mod instead of putting a new plug on the old cord.
5. Bob Smith (May 18th, 2009 at 9:23 pm)

   Every RV I’ve ever owned has a 6″ or so square hatch over the storage for the power cord. Not a mouse hole. These conversion kits seem to ignore this very common setup.

   What do you put in place of the hatch?
6. ModMyRV (May 19th, 2009 at 7:35 am)

   The standard conversion kit does not include the adapter(s) necessary for the setup you have. Marinco does have an adapter however. Check out their site for the various mounting options available:

   http://www.marinco.com/productline/rv-power-conversion-kits
7. Nick (May 19th, 2009 at 4:01 pm)

   My motorhome requires that when using the generator, that the power cord be plugged into a box inside the storage compartment.

   Has anyone made this modification that has my setup?
8. rklingborg (December 4th, 2009 at 8:55 am)

   I did this after getting tired of going in and out of the camper to unstick the cord from the drawers and other thigs that it managed to get cought up on.
9. daveinwa (July 17th, 2010 at 7:35 am)

   I did this mod yesterday. Very simple, and will be much easier that stuffing the cord into that 3″ hole, and trying to untangle it while pulling the cord out. I’ll keep the 30′ cord, and will make up a 12′ to 14′ cord to use also.
10. bconst (August 1st, 2010 at 4:54 pm)

    I bought the 301elrv inlet and the305crv female plug and the 103elrv weather cover separatly. I don’t have a adapter plate
    to cover the 31/2″ factory hole. Can i get one or do i need to make my own? Byron

Let's hear your comments about this mod!