Dogbone Melted

[allen8106]

Have any of you guys seen anything like this. My 2010 Jayco has 50 amp service and is usually hooked up to power to keep the batteries charged with a 50-30 amp and a 30-20 amp dog bone adapters. In this particular instance there has been no power draw on the rig except the converter and maybe a light or two on occasion if we enter the camper at night or need to run a slide out.

I suspect maybe moisture got inside the connection and caused a short which over heated the connection. The breaker inside my work shop that powers this circuit was tripped also.It's been raining a lot lately and this connection was exposed to the rain.

[allen8106]

2oldman wrote:
Seems to me if it was a short the breaker would have tripped.

Do you have any idea over what period of time this happened?

The breaker in my shop did trip.

I'm not sure when it happened. All I can say for sure is that I didn't notice it on Friday. I was gone most of the day Saturday and noticed it around 5 pm Saturday. The 50-30 adapter is 10 years old and the 30-15 adapter is only a few months old. I had replaced the 30-15 adapter because the ground prong broke off of the 15 amp end of the 30-15 adapter.

The camper has been plugged into shore power since the end of March when we returned from a trip to Arizona.

[allen8106]

pianotuna wrote:
Is it a Cameco female connector? I find those unreliable and subject to burn on low loads.

They are both Camco, the 30-15 is a few months old, the 50-30 is 10 years old.

Is there another brand besides Camco available?

[lj2654]

I have heard of these Camco ends shorting but have not seen one until yours. I started putting a plastic bag loosely over my connections to keep dampness and rain away from the connection point.

[Second_Chance]

I saw an instance of this over on another forum. It was a bad ground somewhere - don't remember if it was at the outlet, in the adapters, or in the rig. Sorry.

Rob

[RoyB]

WOW - same here never seen that happened before...

Roy Ken

[Sam_Spade]

allen8106 wrote:

I suspect maybe moisture got inside the connection and caused a short which over heated the connection. The breaker inside my work shop that powers this circuit was tripped also.

It's possible.
One should NOT leave a connection like that exposed to the weather.

That kind of a situation typically starts with a bad connection inside the plug. As it heats up, the connection gets worse. Eventually that progresses to the point that it starts arc'ing which produces carbon and then a short.

[pianotuna]

Is it a Cameco female connector? I find those unreliable and subject to burn on low loads.

Most recently, a home owner where I was staying switched me over (without my knowledge) to a #14 50 foot extension cord. The female on the cord was loosey goosey and sure enough the 15 amp male end burned.

I use anti corrosion on my plugs such as deoxit.

[2oldman]

No, I've never seen anything that bad. Seems to me if it was a short the breaker would have tripped. I've had lots of those exposed to rain without anything like that. That usually happens from too much load and a poor connection.

Do you have any idea over what period of time this happened?