NEW, 30a plug starting to melt
Ok, I have a 2011 Hornet Hideout. We was down at the lake in a 30amp spot for about a week or maybe more. I am a 100% disabled OEF Veteran due to an IED. So when we go camping, we don't pay attention ...
Forum Discussion
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.
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.
