Glendinning Cablemaster and hose master

[petrel]

Anyone use these products in their TC? I'm toying with the idea of at least the cable master to ease camp ground hassles.

Right now my service cord is hardwired to the coach, so the entire thing has to be fed down through the hole in the bay, or I use the spare cord and just stick the end up through the hole and connect it to the permanent cord. Either way it is a bit of a hassle.

I hate to add something mechanical to a beautifully simple system, but it would be awfully convenient to just spool off what is needed and let the gizmo wind it up when I'm done. Specifically I am considering a CRR-50.

Your insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Bob86ZZ4]

I have my 50 amp service entrance cable coiled up in the bay. When I set up I take the whole cable out onto the ground. Then I open up the round plastic access door in the bottom of the bay. Then I start feeding the cable down through that whole until I get enough fed to reach the post. Then the extra I just kind of coil up into the bay and shut the big bay door. I have seen guys with those motorized cord reels setting up. Doesn't look like a huge time saver. And I'm a huge anti complications guy. I don't think I'd want a motorized cord reel. Not only the motor to break, but also those 50 amp connections spinning around.

[petrel]

Maybe I'm just being lazy, but I think aside from the power retraction, it would also tidy up my electrical bay and free up some space. I guess if the thing failed, I'd just use my spare. I wonder how reliable the units really are?

[hot rod]

All I have is secondhand from a discussion on another forum, and one guy said his reel quit with the cord out, which apparently did not have a manual way to reel it up and left him stuck there and had to fix it to reel up the cord. From his context the bay the reel was in must not have had room to simply coil up the excess. So I guess as long as you set it up so you can coil up the cord in an emergency you don't have to worry about failure, at least from a practical standpoint. They do look convenient, it's not that it takes me a long time, but my old 50a cord is like wrangling a python to coil up.

[petrel]

That is what I was looking for. I am concerned about the reliability. That is one strike against it.

[bushpilot]

I just hand coil my fixed 36ft - i have a 35 foot extension that i occasionally carry....theyre heavy sure but i don't have room for the coiler or roller.

i occasionally carry a 70 foot (50a) extension cord too...now THAT is a beast....that i hand coil and carry, and set in my electrical bay (surely I'm testing the maximum weight / capacity of my bins).

[petrel]

I was amazed at how compact the RV version of their cable reel is. The marine version is a much more robust unit, but it requires much more space.