Shore Power Cable cover

[rondds]

Anyone find a GOOD shore power cable cover? I'm now on my second one of these and they seem to turn to an oxidized, faded, disintegrating piece of $50 garbage with ripping zippers after about 1.5 seasons. I'm thinking of making a cover out of matching sunbrella.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I don't use them... but I was just about to suggest making your own out of Sunbrella... and then I read your WHOLE post...:lol:

Would sewing in small "tabs" every X inches be helpful? Either install grommets to hang the cord nicely along the dock. Or, maybe even female snaps - and screw the male side of the snap to the dock?

 

[fwebster]

I don't mess with covers. I keep a set of almost new travel cords and have several velcro bands to hold them together. I find it easier to handle them without a cover since I use 2 -30A cords and seldom find 2 working receptacles close to each other at transient docks. I have to take the covers off anyway so I save the $ for a cover.

 

[xravenx]

My cables were leaving sticky crap on the boat, which was hard to remove. I was going to do the covers but they didn't get good reviews, was going to do the Sunbrella (and still might). But in the mean time to get me by, I wrapped each cable with yellow 3M 33+ electrical tape. Turned out great, made them look like new, for $3.50 a roll (took 2 rolls) I thought what the heck, if it don't hold up I'll go to plan B, whatever that is.

This is great tape, been using it forever.

 

[Lazy Daze]

X - how long have you had the tape on there? It's always been my experience with electrical tape that it gets sticky in a short amount of time when left out in the sun. And the edges shortly turn black as the glue along the edges attracts dirt. And then, when you go to remove it, it leaves a huge, sticky mess.

 

[xravenx]

Dennis,

Cheap tape will do what you said, the 3M tape does not, that is why I used it. I've only had it on since mid March when I launched...........I will report back at the end of the season also.

John

 

[JediJD]

The Marinco cover was a disappointment for me as well. I got about two seasons out of it, and I'm under cover. I tried the Hardline Zipit (about $35 on Amazon) and thought it was a little better made. Didn't have the cool yellow graphics, but under cover should also last as long...at least a couple of years...and be a little cheaper. Nice clean black look with room for two cables and two coax cables. At the end of the day, the only durable solution is probably Sunbrella and an industrial zipper, but for 35' I'm betting the price tag is north of $250. For a perfect fit, I ordered some 3/4" grommets and cut two small holes for the coax exit points. I'm hoping it saves the fabric from tearing prematurely.

 

[Mystic Dreamer]

I was going through Marinco covers nearly every season here in Florida...so I decided to call Marinco a few months ago and explain my frustration. They said the recently improved the quality of the cover material including new UV protection, better zippers, etc. Since I had my online receipts from when I bought two, they offered me two new ones at no cost. The new ones don't look significantly different than the old ones. I am only a few months in, so we will see if they truly are "improved".

 

[Nehalennia]

I keep mine in the transom locker in this

It's a Cord Pro. The ends don't end up inside but it works well and so far I've been happy with it.
http://www.cordpro.com/cpxl.html

 

[mistercomputerman]

Dr. Ron

My upholstery guy made me a cord cover out of sunbrella and it is lasting great. I purchased two of the Marinco covers and they each went to crap after 1 year. The Sunbrella seems to be the ticket. He just sewed some long strips together and put velcro on the edges to open and close.

 

[johnsross3]

I've also had poor longevity from the Marinco cord covers, plus they are a real tight fit when I try to run two power cords, my shore water line and TV cable through them. I saw what's called Utili-Tube Stocking Style Power Cord Organizers at a Defender booth at a boat show. They can be seen here (http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|299260|319690&id=1545335) and come in 25 and 50 foot lengths. The looked intriguing but I haven't tried them yet. The only downside I saw was that they don't have the ties that come every few feet with the Marinco's.

 

[rondds]

I was actually going to sew it up myself. I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine but not good enough to sew a zipper in place - so my idea was snaps every 8" or so, but I kinda like the velcro idea. Todd, the cover I'm using is for the power cables that are always plugged into the dockside receptacle. That gizmo is great for transporting but not for my needs. I keep 2 50' cables in a storage compartment below decks in the salon for long runs when travelling.

Somehow, uncovered cables grow a diseased sticky black/grey slime coating. It does clean up with acetone but that's a lot of work. I love the concept of the cover but hate the Marinco black and yellow.

The one I have now was put into service in spring 2011 and the side that faced up is no longer black - it's faded lackluster battleship grey. When I went to load in the cables this spring, I had a heck of a time getting the stupid zipper to stay zipped, and a few sections are tearing. I must have messed with that zipper for an hour before I FINALLY tried spraying the whole zipper with silicone. That did the trick and it zipped up in 10 seconds and didn't separate. Very odd. By the end of this season, it'll be flaking apart.

I'm not looking for water tight - I want to keep the cables clean, orderly and prevent them from developing sticky slime syndrome, which leaves residue on your hands and on the fiberglass.

 

[mistercomputerman]

Ron

Use the velcro to close the opening instead of snaps. You can sew the velcro straight down the length of the tube you are creating.

 

[rondds]

Use the velcro

That sounds like a plan. Is it velcro FULL LENGTH or like 4" segments every foot or so?

 

[sporters78]

i just use zip ties ever few feet ( 2 30's amp cords ) ,seems to work fine. had a cover lasted only one season