myredracer
No camping in the US now due to covid.
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Joined: 04/27/2013
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Not all that rare like in these few examples below. Can also happen at the twistlock connection on the power inlet too. For some reason, it seems to be the neutral blade on a 30 amp plug that goes bad and overheats.
First, always keep your plug blades clean and shiny. Use some sandpaper or emery cloth. If tarnished & discolored, it can cause resistance, leading to heat (depending on current draw).
Don't plug into a pedestal or elsewhere unless you have turned the power off first. The converter/charger has a small inrush current that will cause pitting and lead to dirt buildup and resistance.
Pedestals can suffer a lot of abuse plus they live outdoors with high temp. & humidity swings summer to winter. The receptacles in them can be worn and loose and cause a poor connection. If your plug slides in with barely any effort, it could be worn out. The contacts inside a receptacle can be badly pitted and dirty, also causing a poor connection. The problem with receptacles is you can't see inside them (same on the connector/female end of a detachable shore power cord).
If the pedestal looks anything like in the photo below, you could be asking for a melted plug. I had to use a stick to prop up the cord & plug so it wouldn't fall out of the receptacle. The entire CG of 300+ sites was like that. We kept loads in our TT to a bare min. and nothing melted.
I bought an 18" Camco 30 to 30 amp pigtail adapter to use when a pedestal is in obvious bad shape. That way, should the plug happen to melt, hopefully it will only take out the adapter.
![[image]](https://www.bugsmacker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/PowerPlug1.jpg) ![[image]](https://conntek.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/ac-burned-plug2.jpg?w=640)
![[image]](https://www.jaycoowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_542807_1_35a28fce3c45a54e8e8a444c0293acec.jpg) ![[image]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-yT0AIJwBKoQ/UAQhDECuGNI/AAAAAAAAIIY/fCcjiZPW0b0/s820/IMG_5289.JPG) ![[image]](http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/zippyfiat/038532x640.jpg)
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cavie
Port Charlotte Fl/ Hindsdale MA
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2oldman wrote:Do you have an electric water heater? You also have a converter that's likely going to be on a lot when it's cold outside.
Please tell me what the temperature has to do with how long a 12 volt converter runs?
2011 Keystone Sprinter 323BHS. Retired Master Electrician. Retired Building Inspector.
All Motor Homes are RV's. All RV's are not Motor Homes.
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cavie
Port Charlotte Fl/ Hindsdale MA
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2oldman wrote:groundhogy wrote: I sometimes assisted the propane furnace with the built in electric back up. And this only over nights. Not sure what that is.. what's the wattage of that?
OP has a back up heat strip. Probably about 600 watts. The whole RV is designed to run well on a 30 amp service. The simple answer is just LOOSE Connections
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2oldman
NM
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cavie wrote:Please tell me what the temperature has to do with how long a 12 volt converter runs? Cold batteries lose capacity.
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groundhogy
PA
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Myredracer shows pics of the WHITE wire getting burnt.
On mine, it was the BLACK wire.
If equal current is flowing through both prongs, why arent both white and black wires getting corroded and hot?
Why the white on redracers pic and the black wire on mine?
If this is normal and it's just a matter of putting some protective grease on the terminals/prongs fine. I can easily do that going forward. But if it is some type of wiring issue, I would like to know what that might be.
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time2roll
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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The connection matters, not the color of wire.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675w Solar pictures back up
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2oldman
NM
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When I overload my plugs only one wire burns.. can't remember which one.
Look, plugging in should not be considered 'set it and forget it.' You need to physically feel the connections when running high wattages. Warm is ok, hot is not. Warm serves as a warning that you're reaching your limit. Every rig is different, so you need to figure out what exactly that is for your situation.
For mine, it's the A/c and the water heater that will fry my plug, so when running lots of air I turn wh to gas.
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smarty
new mexico
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You did not state if you had one but I would highly recommend a surge protector of some type
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2oldman
NM
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smarty wrote:You did not state if you had one but I would highly recommend a surge protector of some type That's unlikely to help this situation.
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bob213
Fresno, CA
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Joined: 12/09/2007
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In wet conditions dielectric grease helps but it is really a non conductor. If you keep your plug blades shiney clean with emery cloth and use DeOxit you will have a better connection. Deoxit is conductive, and a cleaner.
deoxit
This "service temporairly unavailable" problem is sure getting old. Can't even make a link.
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality – Ayn Rand
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