As we expected, the weather dashed our Valentine’s Day dinner plans. We planned to go to Roma Cafe Ristorante a few miles from Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort – our current home. The rain started falling around noon and persisted into the night. It wasn’t the typical rain we often get around here, which are thunderstorms with heavy rain in short periods. This was more reminiscent of Seattle – light to moderate rain under a heavy overcast. It would occasionally lighten up to a drizzle or a few scattered drops, then fall steadily again with small raindrops – just enough to keep everything wet.

The Phoenix area averages eight inches of rain annually. A quarter of that amount falls in July and August during the monsoon season. The monsoon happens when the prevailing winds come up from the southwest carrying moisture from the Sea of Cortez through central Arizona. That’s when you’ll see heavy thundershowers here. Anyway, we weren’t about to head out on the Spyder and didn’t want to hassle with an Uber ride of only a few miles.

I spent most of the day lazing about and reading a book. I was waiting for parts to be delivered before I could work on my next project. It seemed a simple project, but I’d already had a false start on it – more on that in a minute. Donna replaced our dinner plans with a dish of creamy champagne chicken served over veggie pasta and zucchini spirals with sauteed peppers. It was a good excuse for Donna to open the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne she had on hand!

In our galley area, we were having trouble with one of the wall outlets. One day last week, a breaker tripped and we lost power to all of the kitchen outlets. When I investigated, I discovered that one of the outlets was worn and the induction cooktop plug was barely making contact. At one point, it must have lost contact and a spark arced from the outlet to the plug causing a current spike, thus tripping the breaker. I could wiggle the plug at the outlet and make or break contact with the wall outlet.

The wall outlets are 1-1/4″ X 2-1/2″ rectangular duplex type with a surrounding wall plate.

Last weekend I rode the Spyder over to the Ace Hardware on Main Street and bought three new standard household Leviton brand duplex receptacle rectangular wall outlets – I figured I should replace all three outlets in the galley area.

When I came home and removed the trim plate, I discovered that ours weren’t standard household type receptacles. The mounting screws were offset and the wall plate snapped into a square hole centered above and below the receptacles.

These outlets were made by a company called Pass and Seymour. A little digging online and I found they are self-contained wall outlets made specifically for mobile homes and RVs. They don’t use a metal or plastic junction box like you would find in a standard home installation. The power supply wires and ground lug do not use any screws. Instead, the Romex power cables are stripped of the outer sheath and the individual wires are forced into slots cut into the brass conductors of the outlets. Similarly, the copper ground wire is also captured in a slot. Once it’s wired, a plastic cover snaps over the back of the assembly, completely enclosing it.

I found the replacement Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacles online from an outfit called Mobile Home Parts Store and ordered half a dozen. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have enough on hand to replace the rest of our wall outlets and the shipping cost was the same whether I ordered three or six.

The parts came on Friday and after lunch, I set to work. The first step was to trip the breaker and make sure no current was flowing through the circuit. I tested the circuit with my multimeter to be sure. Once I had the outlet out of the wall, I removed the rear plastic cover by pushing the tabs in with a small punch. Then I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry the wires out of the receptacles. The brass slots are undersized so they bite into the wire, creating a secure connection with good conductivity.

The self-contained outlets are held to wall with clever locking levers that rotate 90 degrees when you tighten the screws. Tightening the screw rotates them to a vertical position to clamp against the backside of the wall. Loosening the screw rotates the lever against the housing and releases it from the wall.

Pushing the wire into the slots on the outlet wasn’t easy. It has to be pushed with great force. There is a tool available to do this. It’s a plastic handle that has a “U” shaped end to fit over the wire. It costs $38, so I passed on it. It didn’t look very durable and I’d only be using it a few times if I bought one.

I used a metal punch with a flat tip about 5mm in diameter. It was difficult to force the wire into place, but with a few choice words, I got it done. The advantage I see in using this type of receptacle in this application is this – it takes less wall depth and fits thin wall construction. It also doesn’t have any screws that can loosen while traveling – the wires are secure in the slots and not likely to ever work free. It took some pressure to lever the wire out of the old receptacles.

The second outlet I replaced was similar to the first one, but the main difference was the Romex cable. In this one, they stripped a small portion of the outer PVC Romex sheathing and passed the cable through the receptacle and continued on to the next outlet. The job was the same though – pry the wires from the old outlet and force them into place in the new one. Then assemble in reverse order.

The only Pass and Seymour self-contained outlets I could find were white. Our originals were more of a bone color. Since I replaced all three in the galley area, they match with a two-tone look.

I flipped the circuit breaker to the closed position (on) and tested the outlets. Job done!

Friday’s weather was cool – the high was in the mid-60s – but it was dry. We rode the Spyder to Roma Cafe Ristorante and had our Valentine’s Day dinner a couple of nights late. Donna had the eggplant parmigiana with pasta and a meatball with marinara on the side. I had the cannelloni ripieni, which is rolled sheets of pasta filled with crumbled sausage and covered in marinara and melted mozzarella. I also had a meatball on the side. Roma Cafe serves reasonable portions – not oversized. It’s similar to how Donna typically plates a meal. But I was stuffed. It was a good meal.

Today we have clear skies with only a few high, thin clouds. The temperature should reach the 70s. I have a few errands to run, but other than that, no plans. I’m still getting over the sinusitis although I’m feeling much better than I did earlier in the week.

Update – I’ve read on a few RV forums where the poster advises using a regular household type duplex receptacle as a replacement. They claim it’s easier to install and somehow “safer.” While I’ll agree it may be easier to install, I can’t advise their use or understand how it could enhance safety. Standard household receptacles are designed to be installed in an existing junction box, not freestanding in the wall. If the hot leads secured by screws to the conductors were to vibrate loose, you’d have hot wires floating free inside the wall of your coach without an insulating surround.

On the other hand, a Pass and Seymour self-contained receptacle is fully enclosed once the plastic back cover is snapped into place. It also has no screws securing the wiring – the wires are tightly held in the brass slots. These are designed for this application, standard household receptacles are not!