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Vance's avatar

I work for an RV repair facility and I have also seen this problem on the 50 amp plugs and surge protectors. Usually on the male side of the plug. I have my techs inspect the power cords when a trailer comes in for repair. We have even opened up a couple of these damaged power cables and found the insulation on the neutral wire to be melted from extreme heat.

I have also had to replace a 50 amp breaker panel because all of the neutral wires had burned up and melted the plastic box.

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Mike Sokol's avatar

The neutral conductor and contacts on a 50-amp RV power cord can meltdown when plugged into a pedestal that’s connected to single-pole power rather than split-phase power.

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brian's avatar

Mike, This is something we noticed over the years on duplex receptacles as well, it was usually the neutral. I chalked it up to most electricians being right handed and better able to get the right side screw more secure, that's all I could come up with.

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Mike Sokol's avatar

Yeah… that’s as good a theory as any! 😎

Note that on a polarized 5-15 receptacle the taller slot and wider blade is the neutral.

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