The black wire on my plug is burnt up...

[groundhogy]

So after the winter, I pulled up and moved.

I was using the 50A socket with the 50-30 adapter.

One of my connections was burnt up and the plastic was melted.
The flat prong was black.

The part that plugs into the pedestal was ok. That part was also shielded from weather.

The 50-30 adapter part is about 12" long.
The 50 side was ok as mentioned above. The problem was on the 30 side, which was in the weather.

The black wire terminal was the one that was burnt up.

Anybody have insight on causes here?

[myredracer]

CA Traveler wrote:
Plus the maximum recommended sustained load is 80%. ie 24A for 30A power.

Where does that come from? Except for the condition of the receptacle in a pedestal and your shore power plug, you should be able to draw 30 amps continuously.

[groundhogy]

How about this?

We put a 50A plug on our 30A RV.
Normally plug into the 50 socket.
Provides much more metal surface area.

Get a 30 male to 50 female adapter when you must plug into the 30 socket.

[DFord]

CA Traveler wrote:
Plus the maximum recommended sustained load is 80%. ie 24A for 30A power.

That's been my experience. Any draw over 20A and the cord and connectors begin to feel warm (much worse if the cord is coiled up). I've ruined my share of connectors over the years but not since I've been using the di-electric grease. The male connectors have nice large blades but those blades never make good contact with the dimples inside the female connectors or the pedestal socket. There's just not enough surface area making contact to pass a heavy load. The best thing you can do is prevent the oxidation that forms because of the intense heat generated in the tiny contact area available so it won't get any worse.

[time2roll]

Considering the heat involved... any moisture would have boiled off.
Rain was not an issue IMO.

[CA_Traveler]

Plus the maximum recommended sustained load is 80%. ie 24A for 30A power.

[2oldman]

groundhogy wrote:
I’m starting to think to use the protectant and some rain shielding.

I'm not sure how rain affects anything.

The 'bottom line' is you drew too much power for too long of a time for the connection to handle it.

[groundhogy]

2oldman,
Because the interface that burnt was pretty much a new socket and plug.
People here have ruled out a wiring issue.
The dielectric grease/no-ox suggestions are in the same direction as my thinking on the weather.
I’m starting to think to use the protectant and some rain shielding.

[groundhogy]

Hmmm..
Cavie.. thank you for taking time to read and comment on my post.

[2oldman]

groundhogy wrote:
It is likely that weather is playing a large part in this.

How do you figure that?

[cavie]

It just amazes me when somebody comes here asking a question they know nothing about and they don't like the answers given by dozen professional trades people and experienced RV owners. Why do they bother to ask????

[red31]

groundhogy wrote:
Remember..
-The plug/socket in the pedestal was unaffected.
-plug/socket at 30A end of adapter was burnt.

the blade and internal spring receptacle were not making good contact, replace.

[myredracer]

groundhogy wrote:
It is likely that weather is playing a large part in this.

Is there a weather shielding product or method for a hanging plug/socket?

I *think* I saw somebody post a photo of an off-the-shelf product but could be wrong. Providing you keep the plug blades clean and never plug in with the power on, you shouldn't have a problem for the occasional time a 30 up to 50 amp adapter is needed and it's done all the time. If you have a choice of plugging into a 50 amp receptacle in a pedestal instead of a 30, that can often be a better choice because 50 amp receptacles are often in much better condition.

BTW, when buying a new plug or adapter, get one that has "UL" printed on it. Unlike just about everything else electrical, extension cords and adapters aren't required to be UL listed and if they aren't, you are buying unknown quality of components (think Ch*nese quality).

Also, buy the highest quality replacement plug for the shore power cord. Cheap ones are terrible to work with as I found out when I bought a replacement one for our autoformer. Unfortunately, replacement plugs aren't watertight. Sometimes you can just find a complete new shore power cord instead at a decent price and if you do that, you can have a spare extension cord for the occasional time the pedestal is too far away.

If a person has a 30 amp RV and is plugging into a 50 amp receptacle in a pedestal using a 30 to 50 adapter, it's impossible to draw more than 30 amps due to the main breaker in the RV panel and a 30 amp shore power cord is not an issue.

[groundhogy]

Remember..
-The plug/socket in the pedestal was unaffected.
-plug/socket at 30A end of adapter was burnt.

It is likely that weather is playing a large part in this.

Is there a weather shielding product or method for a hanging plug/socket?

[westend]

bob213 wrote:
In wet conditions dielectric grease helps but it is really a non conductor. If you keep your plug blades shiney clean with emery cloth and use DeOxit you will have a better connection. Deoxit is conductive, and a cleaner.
deoxit

This "service temporairly unavailable" problem is sure getting old. Can't even make a link.

Best advice but the dielectric grease will work, too.
Mr OP, your blades on that plug may be made from two different metals. I have seen brass blades corrode faster than their plated steel counterparts. A small amount of moisture or inadvertently dropping a cord end onto the ground is enough to start oxidation. We don't need to get into electrolysis for further causes. Extension cords go bad all the time. Replace with a stout repair plug and see if your luck gets better.

[D_E_Bishop]

Just go buy a new dog bone, repair parts will cost more than new.

By the way, the pedestal breaker does not determine how many amps are being used, some posts seem to indicate that if you are hooked up to 50 amps that there will be 50 amps flowing in the cord, not so, only what is needed will flow, if you ask the pedestal to supply 35 amps it will but the CB will trip if all is good in the 120 vac panel in your rig.