Shore Power Cord Modification?

[JDHoge]

Members,
My shore power cord simply hangs out of its bay, leaving the door ajar, so I'm thinking that I need to do something to better protect my Thor 31F from mice during these colder months.
My question is whether anyone on this list has either notched the moldings or figured out some other way to get the power cord more securely deployed? (For example, maybe someone knows of who sells a flexible rubber hole seal that I could put in the bottom of the bay?)
Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions.
John
Athens, GA

[blw2]

Originally Posted by JDHoge

Members,
My shore power cord simply hangs out of its bay, leaving the door ajar, so I'm thinking that I need to do something to better protect my Thor 31F from mice during these colder months.
My question is whether anyone on this list has either notched the moldings or figured out some other way to get the power cord more securely deployed? (For example, maybe someone knows of who sells a flexible rubber hole seal that I could put in the bottom of the bay?)
Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions.
John
Athens, GA

Check your bay carefully.
Mine has one of these
Ronstan White Threaded Inspection Hatch Cover 5in.
except black, mounted in the rear, towards the bumper.

[FW28z]

I also have an inspection hatch thingie in the bottom of my power cord compartment.

I took a funnel and cut a slot in it to go over the power cord (and duct-taping the cut), so it fits into the round inspection hatch so that no critters can get into the compartment.

If you wanted to be fancy, you could probably buy a spare inspection hatch (they are common boating items) and mount a receptacle of sorts onto it.

On the other hand, should mice get into the compartment it's sealed from the rest of the coach, so they probably won't cause many problems. And you could always put D-Con or Peppermint Oil into the compartment.

We used Peppermint Oil last season with great success. Mice don't like the smell, so they stay away. We put 4 glass cups in the inside of the RV with a cotton ball in each one - soaked in Peppermint Oil. It made the RV inside stink though, but the smell dissipated within a week of opening it up when we commissioned it last spring.

If you use Peppermint Oil, make sure you use glass containers as it will eat through plastic cups.

This is what we used:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It does not kill the mice (for those of you concerned about that). They just don't like the smell and they stay away. The stuff is called "Mouse Away", not "Mouse Be Dead".

[JDHoge]

You all are right! It does have a port on the rear towards the bumper. And, I think I'll use the funnel trick to help seal it up.
Thanks much for the help.
John
Athens, Ga

[blw2]

yeah, that funnel idea seems like a good one. I notice though that he said his port is in the bottom, so gravity is working for him..... and against us in this case.

I studied on this problem when i first bought the coach.
Decided that since I only camp short term, and that since the bin is very well sealed up, even if a critter does crawl in there the worst they could do is scare the stuff out of me when I open the door. I can imagine closing the hole up would be much more important if the coach was left with its cord hanging out for a long time.... to keep critters form nesting in there.

[FW28z]

Yes, the port is through the bottom on my rig.



I only use the funnel in winter storage. I don't bother with it during use. In fact, I rarely even use the port... I usually just leave the door open when camping... same method as JDHoge uses.