Dogbone gone bad?

Don't let a broken power connection drive you crazy!

Everyone,

Here’s a post from a long-time reader about lost pedestal power due to a dog bone adapter that had failed. .

Hey Mike

I want to pass on a lesson I learned recently about making an assumption when it comes to electricity. I recently bought a pre-owned Class C RV, which came with a 30 amp cord and a 50 to 30 amp dog bone adapter.

When I arrived at a campsite yesterday, I found that the 30 amp socket on the pedestal was damaged. I tried using the adapter along with my 50 amp Watchdog to connect to the 50 amp socket. The Watchdog surge protector shone white face but I had no power at the coach. After about a 1/2 hour of trying to sort this out I moved to another site. I later checked the dogbone for continuity with a multimeter and found that there must be some internal damage as I measured no continuity, end to end, for any sockets. The dog bone showed no sign of damage. This is just a lesson to check/test everything. You should not assume that if it's new it is good. ~Loel H.

Hey Loel,

You are 100% correct. I’ve also been fooled a few times by assuming that a new cord or adapter was properly wired and fully operational.

I don’t think I’ve previously posted an article specifially on dogbone adapter testing, but here’s the basics of using a meter to test extension cords. I’ll publish an article on dogbone adapter testing soon…

My webcast on types of dogbone adapters

Don’t assume anything!

Let’s play safe out there… Mike