Page 1 of 1

Strange 3 prong receptical.

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:47 pm
by basketbandit
I just purchased a 1997 B190 and am woking to learm more about it. First off I tried to plug in house power and discovered Airstream has a strange (new to me) three prong male receptical that doesn't fit anything in my electrical inventory. What is this thing and where doi I get something that will allow me to attach an extention cord to power up the unit?

Re: Strange 3 prong receptical.

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 12:36 pm
by skater
basketbandit wrote:I just purchased a 1997 B190 and am woking to learm more about it. First off I tried to plug in house power and discovered Airstream has a strange (new to me) three prong male receptical that doesn't fit anything in my electrical inventory. What is this thing and where doi I get something that will allow me to attach an extention cord to power up the unit?
It should have a standard 30 amp plug on it. If you aren't planning to run the air conditioner or microwave, you can get a 30-amp to 15-amp adapter that will let you plug it into a standard 15 amp house circuit (be careful - you can safely run the fans, lights, and even the fridge, but you're going to start pushing the limits if you run the A/C or microwave with other stuff). You should be able to get one of the 30 amp-to-15 amp adapters at any RV supply place.

This site has information about RV plugs - we have 30 amp service in our campers (at least, that's what they came with from Airstream). At campgrounds you may also see the 50 amp service that's described on that site.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:01 pm
by Alaskan
1997 thru 2000 are somewhat different in that the power cord can be unplugged from the rig. The Airstream supplied power cord was actually a standard marine 30 amp "Shore Power Cord"...yellow in color with twist-locks on both ends..

Here is the receptacle....its actually a very common marine plug made by Marinco, and as stated its a 3-prone male

There is a simple adapter that fits onto it the 3-prong twist-lock and a standard extension cord can be plugged into that adapter....but, you would not be able to use the roof air conditioner as a standard 15 amp extension would not be large enough to do that safely.. !

That adapter can be purchased at pretty much and marine store...like West Marine or any Ace Hardware should be able to order it...

Image

And...here is the adapter, 125v 15amp Marinco L5-30 ....same people that make the receptacle.

Image

Image