An interesting piece on RV fires

[bigb56]

As a side note I learned that building fires are often written off as "electrical" when no cause can be found. Also, when a fire's cause is reported to be electrical and sent to wherever they send them to add to the statistics, there is no differential made between the building wiring and secondary wiring like extension cords. If more time was spent reporting fires and accidents accurately it would help folks more in prevention.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by bigb56

As a side note I learned that building fires are often written off as "electrical" when no cause can be found. Also, when a fire's cause is reported to be electrical and sent to wherever they send them to add to the statistics, there is no differential made between the building wiring and secondary wiring like extension cords. If more time was spent reporting fires and accidents accurately it would help folks more in prevention.

Underwriter's Labs has more, better info on failure modes *as they test for them* but less information on in situ failures unless it comes from an insurance investigation.

{slight swerve}
Folks at home, playing along: the "underwriters" in U.L. are, collectively, the casualty insurance industry. The industry also is where much of the funding for the National Fire Protection Association came from; it's the NFPA that writes the model "national codes". {/slight swerve}

The more data, the better. I suspect most folks don't know why the $1 duplex outlet costs less than the $4 duplex outlet or the impact of those cost savings. I like good plug retention and I'm willing to pay for it!

Heat, fuel, oxy... the connection need not be overloaded to make enough heat to ignite adjacent fuel...

[IcePyro]

Originally Posted by bigb56

As a side note I learned that building fires are often written off as "electrical" when no cause can be found. Also, when a fire's cause is reported to be electrical and sent to wherever they send them to add to the statistics, there is no differential made between the building wiring and secondary wiring like extension cords. If more time was spent reporting fires and accidents accurately it would help folks more in prevention.

There is a huge history of people overloading outlets and surge protectors

Never supposed to plug high-draw items into a surge protector or power strip (heaters, AC units, fridges, any sort of microwave, toaster, etc) but people still do

Not supposed to run space heaters off extension cords but people still do (myself included, but I only run them on low and I am mindful of wire gauges and resistance when I do)

Then you have house wiring where outlets, lights, etc are all looped on the same circuit. Think you're OK to plug 2 space heaters in on high in two bedrooms? Not if them suckers are on one 15a fuse! My current rental is a nightmare like that....

[tap4154]

Originally Posted by IcePyro

There is a huge history of people overloading outlets and surge protectors

Never supposed to plug high-draw items into a surge protector or power strip (heaters, AC units, fridges, any sort of microwave, toaster, etc) but people still do

Not supposed to run space heaters off extension cords but people still do (myself included, but I only run them on low and I am mindful of wire gauges and resistance when I do)

Then you have house wiring where outlets, lights, etc are all looped on the same circuit. Think you're OK to plug 2 space heaters in on high in two bedrooms? Not if them suckers are on one 15a fuse! My current rental is a nightmare like that....

They do make heavy duty three, six and nine-foot extension cords designed to work with portable air conditioners, refrigerators or space heaters. While it's always best not to use an extension cord, in some cases if you absolutely must, use the shortest one possible and make sure it's rated for the device that you're using. Where people really get into trouble is when they use those really thin household cords for a high draw appliance, and it overheats. Also replace any receptacles that have become somewhat loose, and breakers will wear over time as well. Loose connections cause resistance, which causes heat, which causes the fire. You're also right about those power strips, never use those with high draw electrical items.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by IcePyro

There is a huge history of people overloading outlets and surge protectors

Never supposed to plug high-draw items into a surge protector or power strip (heaters, AC units, fridges, any sort of microwave, toaster, etc) but people still do

Not supposed to run space heaters off extension cords but people still do (myself included, but I only run them on low and I am mindful of wire gauges and resistance when I do)

Then you have house wiring where outlets, lights, etc are all looped on the same circuit. Think you're OK to plug 2 space heaters in on high in two bedrooms? Not if them suckers are on one 15a fuse! My current rental is a nightmare like that....

Yep, and UL standards and Codes are written to take *some* of that behavior into account. Part of the reason some of the standards and Codes create additional expense is compensating for human insistence in not following directions, or that "just a little more won't matter".

My observation has been in situations where there are multiple power strips and extension cords in use, there tends to be a high rate of poor connections (loose) at mating connectors (obligatory RV content: power pedestal at the camp ground for we RVers), there are likely some missing ground pins, and an intermixing of various conductor sizes/ampacities. Pick your hazard - current carrying or thermal - and at some point there will be a loser.

[IcePyro]

Originally Posted by tap4154

They do make heavy duty three, six and nine-foot extension cords designed to work with portable air conditioners, refrigerators or space heaters. While it's always best not to use an extension cord, in some cases if you absolutely must, use the shortest one possible and make sure it's rated for the device that you're using. Where people really get into trouble is when they use those really thin household cords for a high draw appliance, and it overheats. Also replace any receptacles that have become somewhat loose, and breakers will wear over time as well. Loose connections cause resistance, which causes heat, which causes the fire. You're also right about those power strips, never use those with high draw electrical items.

For sure there are ways to get it done, we have some 10ga extension and splitter cords, we have the THICK (6ga?) generator cables and breakouts, but the average consumer goes to home depot and buys the run of the mill 16ga X-cord and sends it, which is where the problem stems from since all the plugs are the same and there's nothing stopping anyone