NEW, 30a plug starting to melt

calamus wrote:
I would bet if you look at every camper in a park all the 30 amp plugs have gotten hot and melted some plastic on the plug. I put a brand new plug end and a brand new receptacle and with in a week the plug had gotten hot and melted a bit,100F degree days and a/c running full speed draws alot of power.

Not in any CG I've been in. Your dryer receptacle at home does not melt w/ extended use...this should not either. That what the breaker is for. I think too, it was a voltage issue at the pedestal. A voltage booster/surge protector is a must.

As a retired electrical guy, I have to agree with the statement regarding worn or damaged plugs. Here is a suggestion that should help you early on when setting up.

Go to a store that carries outlets and plugs and experiment with plugging in and removing a plug. A good quality setup will meet with resistance when pushing the plug it. Then when you are at a campground and you can slide the plug in you will know what a well maintained outlet and plug should feel like and wheather or not to plug your rig in..

I have been to campgrounds where the outlet was so loose I never turned the breaker on, I just disconnected and went to the office and told them there was a problem. If they didn't fix it immediately and there wasn't another site with good equipment, I left.

Now I have one of those adapters from China that has no cord, it is about 2" in diameter and 2" thick that is a 30 amp RV plug on one side and a 15 or 20 amp outlet on the other side. A dogbone adapter will work too. I plug that in first to check for tightness of the outlet. My little outlet tester with the three lights and pushbutton for checking wiring and operation of GFCI's is permanently left plugged into that adapter. I can tell in an instant if the outlet is tight and if it is wired correctly.

Wow, that picture is a pedestal in rough shape. I would recommend that as an opportnity to confirm all of the boondocking systems work.

The leading cause of overheating at a pedestal is from too many people not turning off the breaker when plugging in their shore power cord. The converter has a momentary inrush current which causes pitting on the blades of a plug and inside a connector or receptacle. If you plug in live, you can hear the zap and in the dark, you can see a flash. You may take good care of your cord but the inside of a CG pedestal receptacle can be in bad shape with lots of pitting. Pitting attracts dirt which leads to overheating.

Second cause is high use-age of the 30 amp CG receptacles which reduces the contact pressure inside them. Add pitting and there is a good chance of overheating. And the more current you draw, the more heat can be generated. It's a good idea to keep your plug blades clean. It would be nice if pedestals had a sign to turn the breaker off.

I've seen damage from overheating of shore power cords and connectors and the damage and it's not a pretty sight.

If the CG receptacle looks to be in poor shape, if there is a 50 amp at the same pedestal, using a dogbone adapter is a really good idea as the 50 amps don't get used as much. Sometimes there just isn't an alternative unless you go to another CG. I bought a 30 amp Camco 18" extender for the times we may run into pedestals in bad shape and there is only 30 amp available. If it does melt, then we would only lose the extender which cost under $20:



We were at a CG last year that had all 30 amp pedestals which were old and in really bad shape. The receptacle was so loose, I had to prop up our cord with a stick for the plug to stay in. Fortunately we didn't have much running and we were okay.

tvman44 wrote:
Voltage has everything to do with it, low line voltage will cause the current draw to go up especially with the A/C. Increased current with the resistance means more heat and it goes on. :(

Current causes the heat in the plug, not voltage. While low voltage may cause an inductive appliance to pull extra current, it is still the current that causes the hot plug. And you would get the same heat if you ran extra heaters in the winter at a full 120 volts and the same current with no inductive loads.

Whether you are pulling 25 amps at 100 volts or 25 amps at 120 volts, the heat created due to current flowing thru a poor (resistive) connection would be the same.

And again, you can overheat a connector even though the current may well below the breaker trip value.

I had a similar problem last year , the plug was getting hot . I had a small window fan and plugged it in at the box , on the 110 plug and aimed the fan right on the box . ( it was a 100 degree day )

leftybj wrote:
First and foremost, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO YOUR COUNTRY!!!!!
Now, I have set up in campgrounds where the 30 amp socket is old, loose, worn, and sometimes look like they have been really hot at some point. If this is the case I use a 50 to 30 adapter as those sockets are usually in better shape. I am not saying this will cure your problem but it is one thing that can cause excessive heat at the plugin. Might as well eliminate that one.

Good Luck.

I second that first sentence.

Voltage has everything to do with it, low line voltage will cause the current draw to go up especially with the A/C. Increased current with the resistance means more heat and it goes on. :(

Caveman Charlie wrote:
The advice above is all true and good. I would like to add that you should take a small piece of sand paper and polish up the ends of your plug before plugging in. If they are a little corroded or burnt it will aggravate the problem.

I agree with the above advise. But if your plug is in good condition, then the campground's outlet contacts are most likely corroded and in bad shape. I use a conductive grease like this Copper antiseize grease on my plug prongs to improve conductivity. Just don't get sloppy with it and short the prongs together with it.

The advice above is all true and good. I would like to add that you should take a small piece of sand paper and polish up the ends of your plug before plugging in. If they are a little corroded or burnt it will aggravate the problem.