Breaker never tripped!

[Johnynorthla]

How is this possible?! Almost a fire Between my surge protector and extension cord and the campground breaker never tripped! Had to hacksaw them apart!

[palehorse89]

Breaker needs to see higher amp draw than its rated for or a dead short, what you had is bad connectections at low amp draw making high resistance which makes heat.......and in time stuff melts. The wiring never went to ground, came in contact with each other thus no breaker trip. Loose wiring , bad connections cause this. I have seen outlets, plugs do this when drawing close to breakers rated amps. Glad you caught it !

[davendeb]

I had that happen at the 30 amp inlet on my rv wall. First trip in new class c. White wire in the wall had never been tightened from factory. Lost power when it built up carbon from arching I guess. Went out to check problem and smelled burnt rubber. Ruined outlet and power cord. Forest river paid!

[THenne1713]

Originally Posted by Johnynorthla

How is this possible?! Almost a fire Between my surge protector and extension cord and the campground breaker never tripped! Had to hacksaw them apart!

(Further), I say your problem was LOOSE WIRE/ LOOSE CONNECTION in the RECEPTACLE NEUTRAL, noting greater heat damage on Receptacle, but also Greater Neutral Insulation melt than on the HOT while NOT enough to say the PLUG was the cause, but more enough that it was a symptom. LUCK

[gatorb8]

plug looks like heavily tarnished causing resistance causing heat causing melt down
need to remove tarnish on old plugs and replace tarnished receptacles

[TXiceman]

Looks like a loose connection of a loose plug was the problem. I keep some No-Ox on the plugs to help out.

Ken

[Persistent]

Good advice above.
30 amp circuit breaker in pedestal did not trip.
30 amp? circuit breaker in RV did not trip.
So current was not too high.

Socket got hot.
Plug less so.
High resistance equals heat.
Probably one or more bad connections in the socket. Could be corroded blades or socket or could be screws loose.
I can't tell if your picture shows plug or socket.

Good luck! Minimal Damage! Repair, replace and move on.

Checking and tightening all screw connections in RV service entrance area is a good practice. Check breaker connections. Check all buss bar connections. Check all inverter, charger, converter, transfer switch connections. Check all ground connections. It tends to prevent these kinds of issues inside the RV.

I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!

[arcaguy]

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Looks like a loose connection of a loose plug was the problem. I keep some No-Ox on the plugs to help out.

Ken

What he said!

[astrnmrtom]

I replaced the cord end on my power cord because of signs it was heating up. It was a molded plug so no way to tighten the internal connection.

Its pretty amazing how much heat is generated by a loose connection. One time at work I entered a mechanical room to access the roof and before I flipped the lights on noticed a bright red glow on the wall. Turning on the lights I saw it was a screw connection on a piece of equipment. It was glowing bright enough to see even with the light on. I suspect a decent amount of RV fires caused are caused by connections vibrating loose over time.

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by astrnmrtom

I suspect a decent amount of RV fires caused are caused by connections vibrating loose over time.

One comment I read somewhere.... "A RV or travel trailer in motion is a studio apartment in a continuous earthquake."

Mike

[Old Scout]

What they said!....basically you had a 30 amp toaster plugged in--no short, just lots of resistance.....you tend see this a lot at older campgrounds and with more modern 30 amp rigs with lots of electric toys, or with 50 amp rigs using 30 amp dog-bones....scary part is that this sort of thing can also happen to any loose connection inside your rig, eg, transfer switch, surge protector, inverter, breaker boxes, and wall plugs!!!!!

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by astrnmrtom

I replaced the cord end on my power cord because of signs it was heating up. It was a molded plug so no way to tighten the internal connection.

Its pretty amazing how much heat is generated by a loose connection. One time at work I entered a mechanical room to access the roof and before I flipped the lights on noticed a bright red glow on the wall. Turning on the lights I saw it was a screw connection on a piece of equipment. It was glowing bright enough to see even with the light on. I suspect a decent amount of RV fires caused are caused by connections vibrating loose over time.

Elecric welding is a bad connection.

You make the connection to start the arc and then back away.

[Old Scout]

TB--great description of a "loose connection"....my compliments...

[Johnynorthla]

I am OP on this subject.

I contacted Sure guard, whom is Actually Southwire, (the company who manufactures and sells the surge protection device),. I explain to them the unit is 5 years old and I was looking for service, a new male end and testing the unit and that I was not looking for warranty work. see the below response. At $250, I Don’t think I’ll ever purchase another item from them in the future.

“Hi John:

If your male plug melted, that is usually due to a loose connection in the female plug it is inserted in. Normal configuration is to plug 34730 into pedestal and use an extension cord on the load side. That will keep the 34730 off of the ground.

The 34730 is an older device and the unit only had a one year warranty. We do not service any devices nor sell any spare parts due to the safety nature of it’s protection.

Regards,
S.

Image
Steve Guarcello
Technical Support
Southwire Company, LLC

Phone 727-812-0578
Email stephen.guarcello@southwire.com”