Internally Shorted 30Amp Power Pedestal Plug
Back in late Sep we were camped at the US Naval Academy FAMCAMP. The sites are all wooded, gravel, and fairly level. There is electric & water, but no sewer hookup.
On about the 4th day of camping I decided to disconnect power & water and go to the dump site to dump my black & gray holding tanks. I turned off water at the pedestal and turned off the circuit breaker at the power pedestal. When I turned to go to the RV and disconnect power and water, I noticed the power cable connector plugged in the side of the RV was angled down at about a 60 degree angle.
I thought that was more than a bit odd, and after I spun the power cord locking ring, the power plug connector would not disconnect from the connector on the outside of the RV. I eventually pulled hard enough to get the plug out; however, the hot terminal pin on the RV connector had fused to the hot pin on the power plug. Pulling the plug resulted in me pulling the hot pin out of the connector on the side of the RV.
Long story short -- the connector on the power pedestal had shorted internally and a surge burned my 20' power cable the length of the hot wire in the cable and caused the hot pin in the RV connector to fuse to the hot pin in the cable connector. I had to get an RV mobile repair to bring me a new cable and replace the connector on the outside of my RV. The FAMCAMP host had Navy maintenance replace the connector on the power pedestal. I have filed a claim with the Navy Tort office.
And here is something hard to believe -- I had my surge protector plugged into the shore power plug and it never detected the surge or popped off.
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Ed & Bev Felker
Retired USAF Col and retired Nurse
Traveling with Lily & Bella ('Teddy Bear' breed)
2015 Vegas 24.1 (E-350)
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