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Lance Power Plug options

Ty151
Explorer
Explorer
Hi all, new to the forum here and new to RV’ing! Bought myself a 2005 Lance 815 that’s in great condition and threw it on top of my 1995 Dodge 2500 5.9l Cummins with a 5 speed!

The original owner of the truck hailed a truck camper at some point and had a plug installed at the front of the bed, but it’s the standard 6 pin connector. I’ve learned that Lance has its own proprietary plug that appears to have 5 pins and a notch near the 12, or 6 o’clock position depending on how you’re looking at it.

My question is, are there any options to use what I have with an adapter or something? Or do I have to buy the Lance truck side plug and have it spliced in? I don’t feel comfortable doing that myself so that’s why I’m asking?

And does anyone has experience with the install costs to splice a plug into the truck that way? Thanks in advance

Tyler
18 REPLIES 18

Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Explorer II
wnjj wrote:
Eric&Lisa wrote:
donn0128 wrote:
Cut the Lance plug off and wire a standard Bargman style plug in. The diagrams are all over the internet. It has been the industry standard for years and years so it will only make things easier at the end of the day.


Purchased my Lance in 2006. Swapped the socket in the bed over to a Lance socket. I don't know why one way or the other would be 'easier'. At the end of my day, it has worked fine and I have never had to change it.

-Eric

Easier because if you someday end up with a 5th wheel, you have the right plug already installed in the truck. Easier if you ever buy another brand or need to haul someone else's camper in a pinch (or if you need someone to haul yours). Easier to replace failed plugs with one from auto parts rather than Lance's one-off one.

Sure it's for a larger charge wire but few actually use that or even have the large wire on the truck end of things. Lance's custom plug is like Betamax, perhaps better but not widely adopted makes it a nuisance.


Shrug. Bought the camper in 2006. None of those possibilities have happened yet. Selling the camper and getting a 5th wheel would be a pretty big change, and installing a different plug seems rather minor in the overall scheme of things. It's not like I wouldn't be in the truck bed already installing a 5th wheel hitch or removing now useless camper tie-downs....LOL!

IIRC, my truck pre-dates the built-in wiring harness charge wire and I had to run my own anyway. Made sure it was big enough.

Your points are all valid for 'what if'. My point is it isn't that big of a deal either way. There is no right answer other than what is best for each individual Lance owner.

Ah, Betamax! A classic case study from many college courses. It was a better technology and had a better picture than VHS. Sony failed in assuming they could dominate the market by limiting the licensing of their technology. They also failed in assuming most users would use their tape recorders to time-shift and record over-the-air programs for later viewing - thus the original Betamax tapes were only an hour in length. They failed to realize the movie purchase/rental market where longer video tapes are needed. VHS with a larger tape carriage allowed that market to be created. That's why many of the Betamax movies ended up edited for length and having scenes cut. VHS won, only to be replaced by DVD, Blu-ray, streaming, 4k, and whatever else is next...

-Eric
Eric & Lisa - Oregon
'97 Silverado K2500, New HT383 motor!, Airbags, anti-sway bar
'03 Lance model 1030, generator, solar,

jaycocreek
Explorer
Explorer
The guy I bought my Lance from just had gull boat and RV in Missoula make him an extended plug from the Lance to the 7 way in his pickup bed..

Problem solved with extra length. Ready for a fith wheel or Lance.
Lance 9.6
400 watts solar mounted/200 watts portable
500ah Lifep04

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
Eric&Lisa wrote:
donn0128 wrote:
Cut the Lance plug off and wire a standard Bargman style plug in. The diagrams are all over the internet. It has been the industry standard for years and years so it will only make things easier at the end of the day.


Purchased my Lance in 2006. Swapped the socket in the bed over to a Lance socket. I don't know why one way or the other would be 'easier'. At the end of my day, it has worked fine and I have never had to change it.

-Eric

Easier because if you someday end up with a 5th wheel, you have the right plug already installed in the truck. Easier if you ever buy another brand or need to haul someone else's camper in a pinch (or if you need someone to haul yours). Easier to replace failed plugs with one from auto parts rather than Lance's one-off one.

Sure it's for a larger charge wire but few actually use that or even have the large wire on the truck end of things. Lance's custom plug is like Betamax, perhaps better but not widely adopted makes it a nuisance.

Kayteg1
Explorer
Explorer
swapping the socket is defeating whole purpose of Lance plug who suppose to give you more charging amps.
sure it will patch the immediate problem, but when you change the camper, you will have to do it again.
Doing job twice in not easier

Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Explorer II
donn0128 wrote:
Cut the Lance plug off and wire a standard Bargman style plug in. The diagrams are all over the internet. It has been the industry standard for years and years so it will only make things easier at the end of the day.


Purchased my Lance in 2006. Swapped the socket in the bed over to a Lance socket. I don't know why one way or the other would be 'easier'. At the end of my day, it has worked fine and I have never had to change it.

-Eric
Eric & Lisa - Oregon
'97 Silverado K2500, New HT383 motor!, Airbags, anti-sway bar
'03 Lance model 1030, generator, solar,

Kayteg1
Explorer
Explorer
Proper installation include ignition -operated HD relay and 40 amp (?) fuse.

Ty151
Explorer
Explorer
I ended up purchasing the Lance truck side plug and will have someone install it for me. I’d prefer to do it right and will look at changing it out in the future, but for now, I plan on keep this camper and truck for a while.

I have a couple friends and neighbors are electricians so I’m hoping pizza and beer will entice them to help me :B

Kayteg1
Explorer
Explorer
When you can find and adapter from small socket on the truck to more common blade plug, the Lance plug calls for bigger charging wire, so connect it right require lot of work.
Any adapter is additional risk of bad connection, so I would just do parallel blade socket on the truck and cut the darn cable for new plug.

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
Ty151 wrote:
The plug on the camper could very well be modified to something different t than the stock lance plug. The owner I bought it from was under the assumption that it was the stock plug, but this is my first camper so I don’t know the difference.

I just want something that works and don’t want to spend a fortune switching stuff out


It looks to be factory Lance. https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26883755

Ty151
Explorer
Explorer
The plug on the camper could very well be modified to something different t than the stock lance plug. The owner I bought it from was under the assumption that it was the stock plug, but this is my first camper so I don’t know the difference.

I just want something that works and don’t want to spend a fortune switching stuff out

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
Apparently the Lance “6-pin” wiring uses a 7-pin plug?

Regardless, your truck is wired with a 6-pin trailer receptacle commonly found on utility and horse trailers. I would change that to 7-way standard one or maybe you can find an adapter.

Ty151
Explorer
Explorer
Here is what is in my truck:



Here is the lance plug on my camper:

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
The center is a pin too so the Lance plug has 6 pins and the standard one has 7.

If it were me, I'd change the camper end too.

Ty151
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks, I like the idea of cutting the lance plug off and splicing a standard plug on it. I’d still like to use the added plug near the front of the bed so I will probably just replace the Lance plug with a 6 pin round plug to match what’s mounted in the bed now.

I plan to run the refrigerator on propane and will be using a 2000 watt generator once on site fmto power whatever I need. I think by using the standard plug, I’ll be just fine