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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> RV Maintenance and Technical Tips -> Power cord and RV connection fried!
Post Info TOPIC: Power cord and RV connection fried!
msjudylynn


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Power cord and RV connection fried!
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no

We smelled something burning.  Shut down appliances. Found the short when I disconnected to leave.  We have a master breaker and separate ones for appliances.  I think one of those should have blown but maybe it was outside of that circuit, and a part of the site's power supply?  Any thoughts on how to stop this?

 

 

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Judy Lynn
Bill and Linda


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Replace both the male and female connectors.  The burned up blade or receptacle wasn't making good contact hence resistance = heat.  Breakers won't trip as the current never exceeded the breakers rating.

Bill

 



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arcaguy


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I agree with Bill this looks like a high-resistance connection issue. This looks to be a 30 amp plug, were you by any chance plugged into 50 amp service and the main breaker didn't trip? Are the contacts on the plug (the cord side) corroded? If they are that is likely the cause. You might also want to check if any screw connections on the back of the plug are loose. Whatever the issue is, I would replace both this receptacle and the plug that goes into it as I would bet both are damaged.



-- Edited by arcaguy on Thursday 2nd of August 2018 03:18:26 PM

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msjudylynn


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Thanks for the replies.  To answer one question:  the male-end of the power cord can only fit a 30 Amp outlet.



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Judy Lynn
BART


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There was a loose connection either on the plug or back of the receptacle. I tighten all of our power connections about every 6 months. Just be sure to have the power off before sticking a screwdriver on the terminal connection!

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Terry and Jo


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msjudylynn wrote:

Thanks for the replies.  To answer one question:  the male-end of the power cord can only fit a 30 Amp outlet.

 This is true, but there are adapters, referred to by many RV'ers as "dogbones," which have a female receptacle for the end of your power cord but has a 50 amp plug for plugging into a 50 amp socket at the power box.  They also have adapters that do the reverse.  Many of us with 50 amp carry those adapters.  Oddly enough, I still have two 30 amp extension cords stored away in a tub in our basement.

To top it all of, there are also "dogbones" that plug into a 30 amp receptacle that allow a 20 amp cord to be plugged into the other end.  And, some adapters allow one to plug a 30 amp power cord into a receptacle on a portable generator.

Camping World Power Adapters

Terry



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msjudylynn


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Good point and I do have and have used the adaptor for a 20 Amp outlet.  However, this was not the case here.  Also, thanks for the term "dogbone" I will have to add that to my RV vocab!



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Judy Lynn
mjdenn


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A little dielectric grease will also help to improve the connection between the plug and socket.



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msjudylynn


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Sorry that I did not close this out sooner, but BART was correct. The wires on the back were not tightened. And for Bill's suggestion. The male and female connections have been replaced.

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Judy Lynn
RonC


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thanks for "closing the loop".



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