Corrosion on cable end!

Damdifino wrote:
OP here. Thanks for all the help. I think the cause may be that I didn't turn off my battery disconnect last time I parked it for 2-3 months. Would that make sense? I keep the coach plugged in at the house all the time.

No, that is not the reason for the corrosion.

I keep my TT plugged into the shore power 24/7 with no ill effects.

The difference between mine and yours is I tuck my plug under the propane tank COVER. That keeps the plug out of the weather which reduces the speed of corrosion.

From your pix, it looks like the plug was hanging down from the tongue and the rain followed the outside wire cover into the back of the plug and eventually weeped through the inside of the plug contacts.

Additionally, if you are seaside or in the rust belt (like I am)where salt spray is prevalent it will cause even faster corrosion to brass and pretty much any other metal..

My TT sits only ten feet from the side of the road and gets hammered with road salt spray from the heavy traffic in the winter.. But yet, since I tuck the plug under the tank cover it does not get direct salt water exposure.

Shine the contacts with sandpaper then plug it in, I am certain that you have a 99% chance that the plug will be fine.

Just make sure you never leave the plug dangling out in the weather again..

rhagfo wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
RELAX FOLKS, the contacts ARE still there.

No need to just replace because of some corrosion.

You CAN fix that easily without resorting to cutting off the connector and putting a new one on..

Take some 240 grit sandpaper and a flat blade screw driver, wrap some of the sand paper around the blade of the screw driver.

Then SCRUB the contacts until all the corrosion is gone and you have shiny contact surface showing. The screw driver allows you to put pressure on the contacts.

Alternately, you can possibly also use FINGERNAIL EMERY BOARDS if they are not to thick, you may need to trim the width of the boards to fit into the slots.

Now, once you have the contacts shined up, you CAN protect them by putting some NO ALOX which is a electrical grease formulated to prevent corrosion to electrical connections.

IF you cannot get the contacts to shine or they crumble when cleaning THEN it is time to replace..

If I replaced mine every time they get a little dull I would have to buy the ends by the case..

Sorry, before I would go to this much effort, I would replace with nice new clean zero corrosion. You still don’t know how corroded the screw terminals are for the $10ish that the plug end cost way better and easier!

So what YOU are saying is that it IS easier to CUT the plug off, strip back the outside jacket, then strip off insulation off of each of the 7 wires, put the wires through the replacement cover/shell, then match and insert each of the wires into the correct places, tighten the screws, then put the cover/shell over the connector then tighten the wire clamp, taking a half hr of time to do so..

Rather than simply taking a small piece of $.05 sheet of sand paper and a screw driver and scratch off the tarnish off of 7 contacts all taking a mere 30 seconds....



I am sorry, but replacing that plug IS stupid if you did not try to clean the contacts first..

Brass IS going to OXIDIZE (IE tarnish, corrode)just from the moisture in the air. Shining the contacts via sand paper is an easy and cheap way to restore good electrical contact with no need what so ever to replace the plug.

OP here. Thanks for all the help. I think the cause may be that I didn't turn off my battery disconnect last time I parked it for 2-3 months. Would that make sense? I keep the coach plugged in at the house all the time.

Considering the OP’s 2 units are ‘13 & ‘14 that’s a LOT of corrosion for a plug that’s on 3 or 4 years old.

Unless the cause is determined and eliminated swapping out the plug will become an annual tradition.

Gdetrailer wrote:
RELAX FOLKS, the contacts ARE still there.

No need to just replace because of some corrosion.

You CAN fix that easily without resorting to cutting off the connector and putting a new one on..

Take some 240 grit sandpaper and a flat blade screw driver, wrap some of the sand paper around the blade of the screw driver.

Then SCRUB the contacts until all the corrosion is gone and you have shiny contact surface showing. The screw driver allows you to put pressure on the contacts.

Alternately, you can possibly also use FINGERNAIL EMERY BOARDS if they are not to thick, you may need to trim the width of the boards to fit into the slots.

Now, once you have the contacts shined up, you CAN protect them by putting some NO ALOX which is a electrical grease formulated to prevent corrosion to electrical connections.

IF you cannot get the contacts to shine or they crumble when cleaning THEN it is time to replace..

If I replaced mine every time they get a little dull I would have to buy the ends by the case..

Sorry, before I would go to this much effort, I would replace with nice new clean zero corrosion. You still don’t know how corroded the screw terminals are for the $10ish that the plug end cost way better and easier!

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Wires held by screw tension less an inch away -- hidden until disassembled...

Yeah, the plug in the pix link, IS a aftermarket replacement and not a OEM molded plug.

And, yes, aftermarket plugs use a screw clamp arraignment to connect the wires.

And, yes, the wires COULD have SOME corrosion, BUT, in MOST CASES it IS NOT A FACTOR UNLESS YOU DISTURB THE SCREWS AND REMOVE THE WIRE OR THE WIRE HAS CORRODED TO THE POINT OF BREAKAGE.

OPs pix does not show the terminal end of the wires and as long as the wires have not broken there is nothing wrong with shining up the contacts.

Folks ARE overreacting to a little bit of tarnish on the contact surface for no real reason.

As long as the contacts have not worn completely away or have gotten brittle, shining them up and using the connector will not be a cause for concern.

Once cleaned, it will most likely perform good as new.

To PREVENT further damage, coat contacts with a light layer of No-Alox or similar antioxidation grease, THEN, tuck the plug UNDER the propane tanks (shield the plug from direct rain contact when not towing) and make sure the wire going to the plug has a slight sag (plug higher than the wire) to create a drip loop which will stop the water from going in the plug from the wire side.

Clean and apply dielectric grease to the terminals.

Wires held by screw tension less an inch away -- hidden until disassembled...

RELAX FOLKS, the contacts ARE still there.

No need to just replace because of some corrosion.

You CAN fix that easily without resorting to cutting off the connector and putting a new one on..

Take some 240 grit sandpaper and a flat blade screw driver, wrap some of the sand paper around the blade of the screw driver.

Then SCRUB the contacts until all the corrosion is gone and you have shiny contact surface showing. The screw driver allows you to put pressure on the contacts.

Alternately, you can possibly also use FINGERNAIL EMERY BOARDS if they are not to thick, you may need to trim the width of the boards to fit into the slots.

Now, once you have the contacts shined up, you CAN protect them by putting some NO ALOX which is a electrical grease formulated to prevent corrosion to electrical connections.

IF you cannot get the contacts to shine or they crumble when cleaning THEN it is time to replace..

If I replaced mine every time they get a little dull I would have to buy the ends by the case..

I agree that you should replace the connector at this point. For connectors that get a lot of exposure to corrosive environments like salt or whatever I will clean it up as suggested above, then apply some di-electric grease.