Overheated plug

[woody]

Last week while I was preparing our rig for departure from our campsite in Ocean Lake in Myrtle Beach I noticed the red caution light on our surge guard was on(30 amp,model 34830). The display indicated an overheated plug. After shutting off the power I had to use some muscle to separate the plug from the pedestal. At no time was there an interruption of power to the rv. I'm wondering if anyone else has ever encountered a similar situation. While enroute to our next destination we stopped and purchased a new surge guard.

[Laco]

No have not had that happen, but I would guess there was a bad contact between your plug and the pedestal outlet. One or the other is worn, corroded or very dirty. Again just guessing here.

[Bob Denman]

It's a good thing that the surge guard was standing Guard Duty for you guys!

[woody]

Amen to that.

[lazinskm]

I had this happen to me when a friend was using it- the surge protector was pretty much melted. I got a new one, cleaned the ends of the plug w/ wire brush. I still have a tiny bit of melting at the prong/plug interface- any issues? It seems to be working just fine....

[VJRocky]

I've had that happen to my shore cord that I had connected to 110 on my driveway through an adapter. Recent rain got between the connections and apparently caused arching which partially melted the plug. Now I tape the connections to keep out moisture. You may be getting weather into the connection if not protected from the elements.

[bevedfelker]

Had something similar at the Naval Academy FAMCAMP about 3 weeks ago ; however, it was at the other end of the shore power plug. There was a bad terminal on the shore power plug on the pedestal. My surge protector never tripped off nor did I lose power to the RV.

The hot pin in pedestal overloaded and caused the hot pin in the connector on the side of my Vegas to fuse to the hot pin in the 20' power cable. We were lucky there was no fire. I called a mobile RV repair from Stevensville MD to replace the connector on the Vegas and bring me a new 20' cable. Maintenance at the Academy came out & replaced the bad plug on the pedestal.

You can see both ends of the cable had overloads on the hot pin. You can also see how the insulation melted on the connector on the Vegas and the pin pulled completely out of the connector when I disconnected because the pins were fused together.

[VJRocky]

Luckily, it only fried the adapter and not the shore power cord

[brucev]

If there is a bad connection then it will over heat. Most often caused by corrosion. I suspect the outlet on the park side as the culprit. Most of the pedestals at older parks or humid areas that I see probably should have the recepticles replaced.

[jimespich]

Originally Posted by brucev

If there is a bad connection then it will over heat. Most often caused by corrosion. I suspect the outlet on the park side as the culprit. Most of the pedestals at older parks or humid areas that I see probably should have the recepticles replaced.

I've had this problem more than once on my Freedom Elite. Have replaced the plug a couple of times. As long as I keep the terminals clean and a small amount of dielectric grease on the terminals, it doesn't happen.