RV Power Cord FIRE!!!

[longislandcampe]

A while back I noticed that the actual black cord had detached from the plug on our 30a cord. There was about a 1/2” gap were you could see the actual white, black and green wires. Been meaning to replace the cord but never got around to it.

Anyway, camper is on the side of our house and plugged in using a 30a to 15a adapter to an extension cord. The fridge was on electric and perhaps 2 or 3 lights were on in the camper, but they are all led’s. I was sitting at the kitchen table yesterday morning and it was raining. All of a sudden I noticed some white smoke coming from the side yard. I ran to a window over there but didn’t see any more smoke. I ran to another window and was assuming the neighbor was power washing his fence but when I got to the second window I saw the rv cord with a small flame, almost like a fuse or sparkler burning.

At this point I ran outside and pulled the extension cord from the house and then checked out the camper. By then all the smoke, flames and sparks had subsided but the smell was in the air. The extension cord, adapter and the plug for the camper cord were still connected but there were no visible signs of any wires inside the camper plug. I looked at the camper cord and the end was melted and again, I didn’t see any wires. Later in the day I noticed some gfi outlets in my house and tripped, but they are on the other side of the house so I don’t believe they were on the same circuit.

My wife was out at the time so I had her stop to the local rv dealer for a new cord and I had everything replaced about 5 hours after the initial incident. All seems well now. I’m glad I was home at the time because who know what would have happened if I didn’t unplug it.

We’ve only been keeping the camper at the house instead of a storage yard since December. Having a dedicated 30a receptacle installed is in the works.

[wa8yxm]

In this case I'd recomment the OP Do precisely what he did. Get a new cord. not try to fix a cord that had FLAMED ON.

I would love to cord-opsy the original cord to see if I can figure out why it flamed on... a 30 amp cord on a 15/20 amp outlet should never flame on

[NamMedevac_70]

Do you keep the camper plugged in all the time for battery maintenance or whatever??

[BB_TX]

Most likely you had some loose and/or bad wire connections in your power cord or the RV connector. Loose connections equals resistance. And resistance and electrical current equals heat. Enough heat to burn connectors and wires. Not unusual to see posts like this of burned connectors where they plug into the RV.

[nickthehunter]

I’ve been using the same 30A to 15A “hockey puck” for 25 years and it still looks and works fine. Never has it felt hot. I guess I must of gotten the last good one (or the stories may be a little over the top). Not sure why the hockey puck was even introduced into the conversation. From what I read, the OP said hie 30A RV cord was separated; that’s not a hockey puck issue.

[longislandcampe]

ktmrfs wrote:
I've found that the combo of a 30A RV cord, 30A to 15A adapter and extension cord is a BAD combination. many of the 30A/15A adapters have very weak contacts on the 30A side which will loose tension against the 30A blades pretty easy. = overheating= weaker contacts= trouble. And the heat affects not only the adapter, but the nice copper high heat conductivity to the 30A plug assy. Not a good combo.

If I'm going from a 30A plug to extension cord I use one of the short "dogbones" that has a real 30A receptical on one end and a stout 15A blade on the other end with about 12" of wire in between

We used a dogbane for the past 12 years and I finally bought a new one last month. The new one was working fine and we just got back from a trip last weekend and I could t find the brand new dogbone and I already got rid of the really old one. I ended up using a hockey puck one and my replacement arrived today.

I still have no idea where that month old one went. 😞

As I said, I fully intend on just bypassing the adapters and plugging right into a 30a receptacle at the house in the coming months. No need for adapters and no need to drag my 250lb genny across the lawn just to power the AC while we are cleaning and setting the camper up.

[ktmrfs]

I've found that the combo of a 30A RV cord, 30A to 15A adapter and extension cord is a BAD combination. many of the 30A/15A adapters have very weak contacts on the 30A side which will loose tension against the 30A blades pretty easy. = overheating= weaker contacts= trouble. And the heat affects not only the adapter, but the nice copper high heat conductivity to the 30A plug assy. Not a good combo.

If I'm going from a 30A plug to extension cord I use one of the short "dogbones" that has a real 30A receptical on one end and a stout 15A blade on the other end with about 12" of wire in between

[enblethen]

Separation of the molded cord body is common. The conductor insulation gets cracked and shorts out.
You can get replacement cord bodies that are much better. Camco makes a decent one. Amazon