Replacing 30-Amp Pedestal Outlets!
Here’s what campgrounds should be doing for pedestal maintenance…
Bruce commented on your post Everything you know is wrong (about circuit breakers)!.
This article brought up memory of a camp host gig we had in Arizona just a few years back during the winter. First week there had a camper tell me his camper plug, 30amp, wouldn't stay in the receptacle. Already knowing what the problem was I went to the shed and grabbed a new receptacle. After killing the power and verifying same I open the box and wow, talk about weakened contact springs!! When I replaced that one I had to cut off about 2 inches of wire as they had been really HOT. Such that the sheath was dark brown on the ends and hard as a rock.
I ultimately found 11 more that way, weak contacts and cooked, and replaced them. This campground is right on the Colorado River and summer use is minimal but the A/C's are on max 24/7.
I wish I would have taken a few photos. Those wire ends were crazy cooked. Would have been a good presentation of how hot the wiring and breaker can get and still function. I have a bad/good habit of telling campers about cleaning plug contacts and how to check for good connection with the receptacle. Thank goodness we have 50amp!! -Bruce
Hey Bruce,
Thanks for the reminder. And while RV owners should NEVER open up a campground pedestal to replace a receptacle themselves, perhaps a note to the campground manager would get the ball rolling.
Decent quality TT-30 Receptacles are available at many big box stores, such as Lowe’s. For example, this one from Utilitech has great ratings and costs $12 or so.
Torque those screws properly
I’m still a firm believer in using a torque limiting screwdriver to properly torque all terminating screws. Here’s my previous article with charts for common electrical termination torque values, and where to buy a torque limiting screwdriver. You can read the original article HERE.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
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In my opinion, the real problem with 30 AMP RV receptacles, is that campgrounds are lacking 50 AMP receptacles (power) and many 30 AMP RV’s should have been equipped with 50 AMP service. Adding up the potential current draw on a 30 AMP RV with a roof air conditioner, electric water heater, electric refrigerator, microwave/convection oven, converter for powering 12V TV’s lights, fans, charging batteries, and anything else and it is a simple formula for disaster when there is only an electrical connection (receptacle) rated for only 24 AMPS of continuous power consumption. And then, those pesky 50 AMP RV’s that have no choice but to adapt down to a 30 AMP receptacle. Reminds me of Green Acres Season 1 Episode 9 (1965) “You Can't Plug in a 2 with a 6.”
There were several things about what happened here that are puzzling. First, he said he was there in the winter and there was minimal summer use but also said the ACs were on constantly. He said he found 11 bad receptacles which suggests a systemic problem like improper torque (as you suspected), a bad batch of receptacles (or poor quality as you suspected), or possibly moisture and corrosion although you’d think he’d mention that. Maybe with it being Arizona, the temperature in got so high in summer and so cold in winter that it contributed to the problem. The whole story is a bit mysterious. I wish there was more info.