Thumbs
Souderton, Pa. USA
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I have been having problems with my connections getting hot and melting the plastic plugs. This mostly happens at my 50 amp to 30 amp pigtail going into the camper. I have replace the power cord connectors but they just seem to do the same thing. I check my voltage and its over 110 V. I am careful not to over load the line. Only one thing at a time. For example if the air is on the water heater and microwave are off. And visa versa with the other appliances. I have changed out the 30 amp cord female plug with Campco connectors. I am beginning to think the connections aren not tight and there must be some arcing going on and creating the heat. The female 50 amp connector from the pigtail to the camper is fine and never has a problem. Its just the connection from the pigtail to the 30 amp cord that has the problem.
Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do to correct it? I am thinking put a male twist on 30 amp on the pigtail and a female twist on on the power cord to insure and tight connection. Ocationaly I have to use two 30 amp cords together to get the length I need but where that conection is made I have no problems.
thanks for the help
Gary
Souderton, Pa.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Thumbs,
For 50 amps the continuous rating is only 40 (on each leg)
For 30 amps the continous rating is 24 amps.
110 is safe--but low, assuming that is voltage under load. Consider getting an autoformer to correct the voltage.
Mine is set to boost voltage to 124. It cuts in at about 115 volts. No more burned plugs.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.
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Thumbs
Souderton, Pa. USA
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Hi Don thanks
Ok I'll check it out. I am assuming you had the same problem I am having? The only place I have the problem is at the connection from the power cored to the 50amp to 30 amp pigtail. Where the 30 amp female on the power cord connect to the male on the pigtail. One of the legs gets hot and burns and melts the plastic plug. The male 50 amp connector on the trailer is fine. Is this a voltage problem or a loose connection problem?
thanks Im goin to check out the Autoformer
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Skibane
San Antonio, TX
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Thumbs wrote:I am beginning to think the connections aren not tight and there must be some arcing going on and creating the heat.
Yep, poor connections create heat when there's a lot of current flowing through them.
Make sure that the exposed pins on your 30 amp shore power plug are clean and bright - You can use a Scotch-Brite pad and a spritz of WD-40 to clean them up.
Also, the quality of 30-to-50-amp adapters varies - Some of the cheapies have contacts that don't mate tightly with the pins on your shore power plug.
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Thumbs
Souderton, Pa. USA
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Yeah I think thats the problem. Camco connectors. They aren't to expensive but I think thats the problem. Who makes better ones? Ha no cleaning these up. These boys are shot. One of the connectors came out od the cord connector and stuck in the pigtail.
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naturist
Lynchburg, VA
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When I've had such a problem in the past, it has proven to be a bad receptacle into which I had plugged the power cable. Given that melting/burning on one side of the junction will cause melting/burning on the other side. Replace both plug and receptacle when you have that issue. This being the simplest and probably cheapest fix, I'd start there before looking into more exotic/expensive potential problems.
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2oldman
NM
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Thumbs wrote:I am beginning to think the connections aren not tight and there must be some arcing going on and creating the heat. That would be where I'd start looking. Connect it all back up, and open the Camco connector exposing the connections (careful) and test for heat there.
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Thumbs
Souderton, Pa. USA
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Thanks. Last year or so I cut all the ends off the cables and replaced all the connectors. The pigtail was, operative word is was, new. Years ago I has a plug overheat to the shore power of the campground. Theirs was faulty and did the damage to my connector.
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BB_TX
McKinney, Texas
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Joined: 04/04/2005
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Definitely poor contact between the plug and receptacle. Either loose fitting contacts or dirty or burned contacts or poor wire connections. All cause resistance and resistance plus electrical current equals heat. (Power loss in watts is equal to amps squared times resistance if you care). Replace both the plug and receptacle with good quality ones.
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agesilaus
North Florida
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BB_TX wrote:Definitely poor contact between the plug and receptacle. Either loose fitting contacts or dirty or burned contacts or poor wire connections. All cause resistance and resistance plus electrical current equals heat. (Power loss in watts is equal to amps squared times resistance if you care). Replace both the plug and receptacle with good quality ones.
My suspicion too. I've had it happen twice over the years and carry a spare male 30 amp plug. Never happens when I use the surge protector tho. Which is 50 amp, I use a 50 to 30 adapter which is very tight.
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