CharlesinGA wrote:
Blacklane wrote:
If you're going to install residential outlets in an RV, at least don't use the screws on the side: use the spring-loaded quick connect kind. Vibration can loosen screws, causing huge risk of arc and fire. That's why RV electrical devices have the punch-down connectors and self-contained boxes that are made to hold the wires in-place.
Terrible advise. The push in type receptacles barely hold the wires in, and barely make contact with the wire, all of that is in a fixed installation in a house. In a motorhome it would fail rather quickly. The push in receptacles are only rated to accept 14 gauge wire, and will not accept 12 gauge, and the contacts for the plug are simply a bent over piece of metal that quickly looses its tension.
Charles
Actually, the brass spring tab is only half of the contact area. It pushes the wire against a much larger piece of metal. There is certainly much more area than is obtainable in a punch-down connector.
This type of connection was invented when aluminum wire was introduced in the 1970's. It was discovered that aluminum wire expands and contracts much more than copper and that movement would cause it to loosen under screw connections. It needed a spring-type connection to hold it over many years of temperature cycles, which is not unlike the vibration environment in RVs.
Some more info here:
http://inspectapedia.com/electric/Electrical_Outlet_Backwired.php#Back_Wire_Details
