Shore Line / External power

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

I am looking for the correct electrical plug for the 54XL's shoreline. I have looked everywhere around here and can not find one.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

It looks like a L5-15P without the locking tab. There was a similar type of plug on my 1963 Chrysler, and it was obsolete, and no matter where I looked, I couldn't ever find one. I think that you are going to be up to the same challenge, and the only way to work around this will be to buy a new receptacle to update it. The 3 terminals are positive, neutral, and ground. I have dealt with this eBay seller on numerous times when I need a specialty plug or receptacle. If you buy one, ask for a Hubbell since they are the gold standard of quality in the electrical world, in my opinion.

L5-15R, (1) 15 Amp, 125 Volt, 3 Wire, Twistlock Receptacle | eBay

L5-15R TWISTLOCK RECEPTACLE. A TOTAL OF 1 RECEPTACLE . 15 AMP, 125 VOLT, 3 WIRE. One Year Warranty - All New Reconditioned and/or Reconditioned with Test Report. RECONDITIONED CIRCUIT BREAKERS WITH WARRANTY: Used circuit breakers have been previously energized and have been removed.

www.ebay.com

 

[Steve Ahlstedt]

Jean-Marc
The photos you attached appear to be twist lock. Any service where that was used would have a straight blade male & female on a short pigtail so that if the driver started to drive away with the cord connected, the cord would break apart at the straight blade male & female with little damage.
My 1976 Cadillac Superior came with a NEMA 5-15 male behind the cover. I wired any battery powered emergency equipment (suction, Streamlight, etc.) to charge only when the ambulance is running so as not to drain the engine starting batteries.

In my area almost all current emergency equipment use an auto ejector similar to Kussmaul.com. This has a plunger wired to the engine starter motor to electrically push out the plug if the driver forgets to remove the shore power before starting the engine.

 

[Walter Suiter]

As one of the biggest violators of shore power regulations known to mankind, the receptacle in that car is completely bass ackwards. Somebody done changed it long ago and I'd be looking for more problems like Romex before going too far.

The connector on the vehicle should be male and the connector on the cord female.

You can find 15 & 20 amp male plugs that fit in an electrical box on ebay fairly cheap. They're regularly installed as generator connections.

I can't make out the manufacture of yours but I will advise that "twistlocks" are manufacturer specific in blade configuration. Hubbel won't interface with anything but Hubbel and that went across the industry.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

As one of the biggest violators of shore power regulations known to mankind, the receptacle in that car is completely bass ackwards. Somebody done changed it long ago and I'd be looking for more problems like Romex before going too far.

The connector on the vehicle should be male and the connector on the cord female.

You can find 15 & 20 amp male plugs that fit in an electrical box on ebay fairly cheap. They're regularly installed as generator connections.

I can't make out the manufacture of yours but I will advise that "twistlocks" are manufacturer specific in blade configuration. Hubbel won't interface with anything but Hubbel and that went across the industry.

In addition to lobbying activities, NEMA publishes more than 700 standards,[14] application guides, white papers,[15] and technical papers. Among its major standards are those for electrical enclosures, motors and magnet wire, AC plugs and receptacles; the NEMA connectors are universal in North America and also used by some other countries.[16]

This is absolutely incorrect. All manufacturers manufacture to the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) standards. The specifications for each design plug and receptacle are exactingly held to by all the manufactures, and will interchange with each other regardless of brand.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association is the largest trade association of electrical equipment manufacturers in the United States. Founded in 1926, it advocates for the industry, and publishes standards for electrical products. Wikipedia

The only difference that you will find between different manufacturers is in the type of materials that they use. They all have to manufacture to a minimum quality grade, and Hubbell manufactures to a higher grade than the minimum standard.

 

[Kurt Arends]

There have to be scads of these out there, both NOS and used. I see them frequently, but have never grabbed them as I didn't know
there was any demand for them.

 

[Walter Suiter]

""

This is absolutely incorrect. All manufacturers manufacture to the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) standards. The specifications for each design plug and receptacle are exactingly held to by all the manufactures, and will interchange with each other regardless of brand.""

We'll just disagree until you stop by and demonstrate your ability to interface Hubbel to Arrow Heart or Pass & Seymour I have a few drawers full of. Pile National pin plugs don't interface to any other manufacturer either.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

They won't connect unless they are all manufactured to the same NEMA standard. You can't connect a L5-15 to a L5-20, even if they are the same brand. But a L5-15 plug of one brand will connect with any of the other brands L5-15 receptacle.

 

[Daniel Scully]

 

[Walter Suiter]

STOP SPILLING POPCORN
You'll get the ants back in the house!

They won't connect unless they are all manufactured to the same NEMA standard. You can't connect a L5-15 to a L5-20, even if they are the same brand. But a L5-15 plug of one brand will connect with any of the other brands L5-15 receptacle.

I'd rate that a possible MAYBE if all plugs & receptacles were made after 1980.

 

[Jacob M. Fournier]

I'm going to jump in with my thoughts here -
A couple of people (here and Facebook) have mentioned that you have the wrong (female) plug on the car - that is true if the outlet is a shoreline connector for a battery charger in the car (120V AC into the car), however, I believe what you have is a power outlet coming from the inverter in the car - (120V AC out), in order to run lights, an electric saw for extrication, etc. It should be simple enough to trace the wiring back inside the car to confirm (assuming either the inverter or on board charger are still in the car). The twist lock style connector also makes more sense for an outlet - as mentioned, if you used a twist lock for the shore power connection, and the ambulance crew is so excited to leave on a call that they forget to unplug the connection, you want something that will pull apart, to prevent damage. You would be more likely to want twist lock connection for the inverter output, so that as you're using the extrication saw, if you accidentally tug on the extension cord, it wouldn't come unplugged.

Above is a photo of a '73 S&S with both - output from the inverter on the left (twist lock, but only a two prong), and shore power on the right (recessed male plug).

My best guess on the matching plug is that (as Walter said) it is probably a manufacturer (Bell Electric Company) specific twist lock - pre- NEMA standardization for twist lock plugs. I don't know exactly when the NEMA standard for twist lock plugs was introduced, and I don't have any electrical catalogs that old. Bell is now a division of Hubbell, and I would imagine you will have to keep your eyes on Ebay for a vintage one if you really want to find a mate. If it were my car, and the inverter worked, and I wanted to be able to have a cord that plugged into it, I would take Paul's suggestion, and replace the outlet with a NEMA L5-15R (receptacle) and get a cord with a NEMA L5-15P (plug). It is rated for the same 15 amps at 120V AC as your current plug, and most people are not going to be able to tell the difference. It should work with your existing cover, so it will look the same externally.

 

[Walter Suiter]

I still have a bunch of genuine Hubbel NOS in yellow cardboard boxes that don't connect to anything else I have in stock.

I've whittled away enough brass to get what I had to work to fill a gallon milk jug. The shore power that charges the aux battery in my Explorer connects to a plug sticking out the window, I'm too lazy to mount a proper camper plug in the grill.
There's an Anderson plug under the hood for battery jumping and that's the ONLY way anybody is getting jumped off my vehicle. All my garden tractors have Andersons too.

Also got a couple milk crates full of Pile National pin plugs and a stash of 50s vintage military jumper plugs. Gonna be one hell of an auction after I assume room temperature.