Melting extension cord

[Claybe]

I will be taking our first big trip soon and we will need the air conditioner. We usually boondock and never use the AC. I have only used it at home a couple of times and when I did the extension cord got really hot and the converter adapter plug from 220 to a 110 plug was almost melting. I will only have 110 available at the houses I will be staying at and need to use the AC. What should I do???

[myredracer]

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.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

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...

[MrWizard]

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'

[MEXICOWANDERER]

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.

[wa8yxm]

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.

[Claybe]

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?

[myredracer]

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.

[Claybe]

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.

[pianotuna]

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.

[MrWizard]

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

[time2roll]

If you already have 50a to 2x 30a adapter you just need 14-30p to 14-50r adapter.

http://www.amazon.com/Conntek-14-30P

[DrewE]

Sam Spade wrote:

DrewE wrote:

A standard electric dryer outlet is not a 50A outlet, but a 30A outlet. If you're meaning a 30A RV to 50A RV adapter, it will not fit in a dryer outlet.

Oops. Brain cramp.

Haven't I seen "standard" adapters that have a 30 A male dryer plug on one end and a 30 A female RV plug on the other ??

Or maybe it was the 4-wire electric range type of plug ??

I would encourage 99 percent of the RV'ers out there to NOT make their own adapter for something like this; too many chances for a REALLY BAD outcome.

I haven't personally come across any dryer outlet adapters pre-made, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't exist. It would be a fairly straightforward thing to do (and perfectly safe and reasonable with a 4 wire dryer connection), and since having dryers in garages is not all that uncommon it seems like there would be somewhat of a market for such a thing. You could have two 30A RV's per dryer outlet without problems, save for the slight inconvenience of having both lose power if one overloads their side of the circuit.

A four wire 50A (range) plug to one or two 30A RV sockets is, of course, a very common adapter, since the 50A range plug and socket are identical in configuration to 50A RV plugs and sockets.

[wa8yxm]

Some terminlogy
220 and 120 do not really apply in the RV world.> So please do not describe plugs and outlets that way

50/30/20/15 amps, that is how the plugs and outlets are described.. YES a 50 is 120/240 volt (not 240 but 120/240 or 120/240/120) the others are NORMALLY 120 volt but I've seen a common 20 amp outlet that was 240, and so labeled.. Used it in fact.

Extension cords are often light weight cords, not up to a full 15 amps, let alonw 20 or more

30 amp plugs and 50/15 adapters are also rather close to limit.. Now I've never melted a 50 amp plug, but then this RV draws. at most 50 amps.. LESS than 30 per leg .

The big thing with plugs and sockets is tarnish or dirt.. Nice bright copper to nice bright copper = a good connection, low resistance.

Black = High Resistance, poor connection, Melted plastic

ONE: keep plugs CLEAN, polish if needed (Emery cloth works or a wire brush for plugs.. Sockets are a bit tricker and I do not recommend you try to clean them less you already know how)

Keep spares handy for 15/20/30 amp

Now what is the difference between 15 and 20 amp plugs?

15 amp has two parallel blades. IF one is "Wider" that is the neutral

20 has two perpenduclar blades kind of a "T" shape.. The top of the "T" is the hot lead and the upright (As shown) is the neutral

The outlet will normally have a 'T" shaped neutral slot that way it can take either a 15 or a 20 amp plug.. I have both kinds of plugs in my RV. NOTE that20 amp plugs will not fit the standard RV "Quick box" type outelt.. and for very very very good reason.. they are only rated for around 10 amps peak.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I didn't even include the high-head restarts. The writing an 900 dollar check for a replacement unit usually jolts the highly reluctant buyer back into reality.