30 amp plug hot and started to melt
Hi guys, Plain and short, I packed up the 2016 30 ft. travel trailer to come home from the camp site and the plug (of the cord) burned my hand and the rubber was so hot it was slightly disfigured. ...
Forum Discussion
If you don't turn the power off before plugging in, the converter/charge has a momentary inrush current that causes pitting and dirt buildup leading to a bad connection. Same thing happens inside a CG pedestal from the many RV-ers that don't turn the power off first. A CG recept. can become loose due to physical abuse they get and age, and in some cases can be corroded inside if in a wet, high humidity environment. The result is a connection with high resistance that can overheat and melt and even go up in smoke & flames.
Drawing more current from the pedestal will increase the chances of a meltdown. Low voltage causes an AC unit to draw more current. Having a permanent plug-in or hardwired digital voltmeter is a good idea and an EMS is the best thing to have to protect you against low voltage.
If you are at a site and the recept. in the pedestal looks crispy, blackened and in rough shape and/or the plug wants to fall out of the recept., consider finding another site. If you can't and the whole CG is bad (BTDT), don't run the AC and keep loads to a minimum. If the voltage is really low, like near 105 volts, an autoformer can help in these situations. If the voltage gets below 105 volts, turn the AC unit off. For situations when the pedestal recept. is in bad shape and you have no other choice, you could use a 30 amp to 30 amp pigtail adapter so that only the adapter will get damaged- Camco has one and we carry one just in case.
Always turn power off before plugging in and always make sure your shore power plug blades are kept clean with some emery cloth or sandpaper as needed. If you see a pedestal like in the photo, expect trouble before you even plug into it and go elsewhere if you can. This one needed a stick to hold the plug in place.
Drawing more current from the pedestal will increase the chances of a meltdown. Low voltage causes an AC unit to draw more current. Having a permanent plug-in or hardwired digital voltmeter is a good idea and an EMS is the best thing to have to protect you against low voltage.
If you are at a site and the recept. in the pedestal looks crispy, blackened and in rough shape and/or the plug wants to fall out of the recept., consider finding another site. If you can't and the whole CG is bad (BTDT), don't run the AC and keep loads to a minimum. If the voltage is really low, like near 105 volts, an autoformer can help in these situations. If the voltage gets below 105 volts, turn the AC unit off. For situations when the pedestal recept. is in bad shape and you have no other choice, you could use a 30 amp to 30 amp pigtail adapter so that only the adapter will get damaged- Camco has one and we carry one just in case.
Always turn power off before plugging in and always make sure your shore power plug blades are kept clean with some emery cloth or sandpaper as needed. If you see a pedestal like in the photo, expect trouble before you even plug into it and go elsewhere if you can. This one needed a stick to hold the plug in place.
