Melting extension cord

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
And folks wondered why I used 10 gauge marine wire and Hubbell hospital green dot 20-amp receptacles in Quicksilver.

How are you finding the hospital grade receptacles for being able to plug in and pull out? They have a very high rentention force. I'd worry that a big piece of luan plywood wall would come out along with the cord, lol.

Electric water heating and A/C are the two "meanies" of RV power eaters. Measuring partial loads is like sticking a fever thermometer between two of your toes...

myredracer wrote:

Claybe wrote:


I am pretty sure I do not have a power management system. Is there one I should look at??? Recommendations appreciated.

The two popular ones are SurgeGuard and Progessive Industries and come in hardwired or portable versions. The latter is considered superior because it has a lifetime warranty, is made in the US and they have excellent support. You want an energy management system unit (EMS) that monitors low voltage, reversed polarity along with a few other things, not a surge protector. They often get mixed up.

an 'Energy Management System'
is internal to the RV, key circuits, like the A/C, WH, MW, kitchen outlets, go thru the system, if you have limited power, when turn on the MW it shuts of the A/C, etc

a low voltage monitor in the shore cord will protect the A/C by shutting of power if voltage is too low or high

it will not 'Load Manage' or limit your amps draws

it will take a professional install to put in an 'EM system'

And folks wondered why I used 10 gauge marine wire and Hubbell hospital green dot 20-amp receptacles in Quicksilver. I picked up half a pallet of brand new receptacles (black) at the Lockheed auctions for fifty cents a pound. For some reason the contacts, strips, wipers, and screws were nickel plated. Loved the Antelope Valley for 6-months worth of Thursday's auctions. A 300 lb spool of 8-gauge aviation cable cost me $150. I sold a quarter of it for $500 in a dozen or so sales to pilots and PMA mechanics.

When you go to Home Despot or Lowe's, choose nylon rather than plastic receptacles and plugs. Then you're assured of getting fire-engine resistant quality.

Sounds very normal on the re-do

As I said earlier... slightly re-written----- Very few people bother to clean the plug, also the socket can tarnish as well.. Quality sockets self clean when you plug in and may self clean the plug as well but not all are quality.. Spring tension (in the outlet) gets weak as well.. The result is poor contact and high heat and melted plugs.

You now have a new plug, a new outlet, and clean contacts.. Naturally they work better.

A Kill-a-watt meter (About 20 bucks) is a plug in most every thing meter

Volts and frequency for system.. And for things you plug into the KAW you get Amps, Volt-Amps, Watts, Power factor, KWH and I think one or two other thigns.

I highly recommend them,, that's about a thousand dollars worth of meters, for under 20 bucks.

This morning I took a volt meter and cut the wires and hooked those up to a male 110v plug end I had laying around so I could just plug it into an outlet and see the voltage. I plugged it in inside the RV. It read around 126v. I turned the AC on and it went down to around 120.0. After it being on for about 10 minutes the lowest voltage reading I saw was 118.3 but that was only briefly. On high it hovered around 119. And on low it hovered around 120. The puck style adapter never got hot and I didn't blow a fuse. Mind you this is a 20 amp circuit and nothing else was on. Thoughts?

Claybe wrote:


I am pretty sure I do not have a power management system. Is there one I should look at??? Recommendations appreciated.

The two popular ones are SurgeGuard and Progessive Industries and come in hardwired or portable versions. The latter is considered superior because it has a lifetime warranty, is made in the US and they have excellent support. You want an energy management system unit (EMS) that monitors low voltage, reversed polarity along with a few other things, not a surge protector. They often get mixed up.

MrWizard wrote:
One more thing to add
While the avg house built in the last 45 years has 15 amp duplex outlets
The wire to those outlets is 12ga and the circuit breaker in the panel is 20 amps
So it is possible to draw more than 15 amps and burn the outlet and melt the plug and not trip the circuit breaker in the house service panel
If your RV has a power management system, you should set it for 15 amp input on shore power,
It will turn off loads to keep you from exceeding that setting
Many newer RVs have that option , mine does not

I am pretty sure I do not have a power management system. Is there one I should look at??? Recommendations appreciated.

Hi MrWizard,

15 amps--but not 15 continuous. 80% of 15 is only 12 amps.

One of the things I love about my Magnum 3012 hybrid inverter is that I can limit to 12 amps--and draw the extra power needed from the battery bank.

One more thing to add
While the avg house built in the last 45 years has 15 amp duplex outlets
The wire to those outlets is 12ga and the circuit breaker in the panel is 20 amps
So it is possible to draw more than 15 amps and burn the outlet and melt the plug and not trip the circuit breaker in the house service panel
If your RV has a power management system, you should set it for 15 amp input on shore power,
It will turn off loads to keep you from exceeding that setting
Many newer RVs have that option , mine does not