Community Forums

PirateCamper · 09-17-2012, 10:14 AM

Fresh from our Company electrician back from his RV vacation, to help prevent Shoreline plug burn, Flip off the main breaker on the Coach before plugging in. This will prevent the prongs of the plug from getting scorched as there will be no load on it. A bad outlet could also cause burns.

This is also after checking the pole/shore outlet to make sure its setup properly. He recommends one of the plugs available at Walmart in the RV section as well as Lowe's and Home Depot. The yellow plug that will let you know if the plug is set up right with a series of lights.

Voltage can also be checked, but the grounding issue is more likely to be wrong in his opinion.

Drive safe!

Sky_Boss · 09-17-2012, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PirateCamper

Fresh from our Company electrician back from his RV vacation, to help prevent Shoreline plug burn, Flip off the main breaker on the Coach before plugging in. This will prevent the prongs of the plug from getting scorched as there will be no load on it. A bad outlet could also cause burns....

Drive safe!

Wouldn't be just as easy and effective to kill the breakers on the pedestal?

PirateCamper · 09-17-2012, 11:34 AM

Aaa I guess, same thing actually. 6 of one and a half dozen of the other...

Tha_Rooster · 09-17-2012, 04:29 PM

I thought that's what you a suppose to do is make sure breaker is off at pedistal plug in and turn on then turn off and unplug when leaving.

1ciderdog · 09-17-2012, 06:21 PM

Unfortunately not all pedestals have a circuit breaker you can turn off so in those areas shutting off the main circuit breaker is a good idea.

Mr_D · 09-17-2012, 06:34 PM

Almsot every park I'm in has breakers at the box now, I always make sure they're off before plugging in. Now I need to rewire my home connection to do the same thing!

Firecapt · 09-17-2012, 06:46 PM

Before we even back-in/pull-in I check the electrical hook-up with this:

It tells me the full state of the electrical at that site.

historyljc · 09-17-2012, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

I thought that's what you a suppose to do is make sure breaker is off at pedistal plug in and turn on then turn off and unplug when leaving.

This is what I do. I have a box with a breaker at the house also.

BobGed · 09-17-2012, 10:52 PM

I made a circuit tester that I documented here: http://photobucket.com/BG-Circuit_Tester I use it every time prior to connecting the coach. So far it has detected two open neutrals and one bad ground.

Arch Hoagland · 09-17-2012, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Unfortunately not all pedestals have a circuit breaker you can turn off so in those areas shutting off the main circuit breaker is a good idea.

I have found one park (it was in Texas) that didn't have breakers at the site. The breakers were located at a panel in the middle of the 40 site park.

I don't know how many parks we've stayed in but at least 200 and that was the only one without breakers.

I always shut off the pedestal power when plugging or unplugging.

PirateCamper · 09-18-2012, 09:11 AM

That is bad azz FireCapt

I'll be making a copy of that item just so you'll know...

Hikerdogs · 09-19-2012, 07:26 AM

Good idea about shutting off the main house breaker. We always shut off the breaker on the pedestal when there's one available.
We've found several parks without breakers in just the last few months. Earlier this year we took a trip around Lake Superior. We stayed at 4 parks both in Canada and the US that didn't have breakers.

Another tip to keep the plug in good shape is to polish it with some emery paper every once in a while. Over time it oxidizes and gets a dull coating which increases the resistance.

A clean plug is a happy plug.

Arch Hoagland · 09-19-2012, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

Good idea about shutting off the main house breaker. We always shut off the breaker on the pedestal when there's one available.
We've found several parks without breakers in just the last few months. Earlier this year we took a trip around Lake Superior. We stayed at 4 parks both in Canada and the US that didn't have breakers.

Another tip to keep the plug in good shape is to polish it with some emery paper every once in a while. Over time it oxidizes and gets a dull coating which increases the resistance.

A clean plug is a happy plug.

At the parks with no breakers.....There were non located anywhere in the park?

Hikerdogs · 09-19-2012, 04:33 PM

In 3 of the 4 parks there were no breakers in the camping loop they were in a locked distribution panel near the restrooms. In the 4th park there was a locked panel in the center of the camping loop which I assume contained the breakers. In all cases the breakers were not accessible to anyone except the park maintenance personnel