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A final thought.  The electrical pedestals at many campgrounds are often maintained by campground "handymen" rather than by REAL electricians, and way too many of them have wiring problems, like hot and neutral wires reversed, no ground wire, etc.  Smart RV'ers ALWAYS check them out before p[lugging in to them.  Here's a short video to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Led8UIMtbI8
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
A final thought.  The electrical pedestals at many campgrounds are often maintained by campground "handymen" rather than by REAL electricians, and way too many of them have wiring problems, like hot and neutral wires reversed, no ground wire, etc.  Smart RV'ers ALWAYS check them out before p[lugging in to them.  Here's a short video to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Led8UIMtbI8
Click to expand...

I watched it thank you. I don't have any of those devices, so will probably start by getting a multi-meter. I always wondered how even to use one, but I feel I could check voltage at a campsite after watching the video.

Mark&Sandy   
 
It's easy to test a 30 amp outlet using readily available parts:

30 amp Male-15 amp Female adapter (or a pigtail version, the reverse of what came with your trailer)

3 way adapter strip plugged into the above.

A small plug in voltmeter and a 3 light outlet tester plugged side-by-side into the 3 way adapter.

Plug this combo into a 30 amp outlet before you plug in the trailer and you'll see the voltage on the meter, while the sequence of lights on the outlet tester will let you know if the outlet is wired correctly.

Thanks to Jayne Murray who assembled one of these and showed it to me when she began fulltiming back in 2000.
 
mpolsue1 said:
I watched it thank you. I don't have any of those devices, so will probably start by getting a multi-meter. I always wondered how even to use one, but I feel I could check voltage at a campsite after watching the video.
Click to expand...

I'll give you an opportunity to practice.  If you poke around on YouTube, you can find some videos on the subject of whether it is dangerous to use those adapters.  Short Answer is:  it could be.

Mark Sokol from the NOSHOCKZONE, who really knows what he is talking about, says that every once in a while, he runs across one of those adapters that's wired wrong.  In other words, it may reverse the Hot and Neutral connections.  Or the Ground may not actually be there.

(You would think, in this day and age, you could depend on the factories not to screw this up.  Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.)

Anyway, use your meter to test your 15 amp outlet, as shown in the video.  Once you've verified it's wired correctly, plug just the adapter in and use your meter to verify that the 30 amp side is also correct, as shown by the meter.  Use the continuity setting to confirm that the ground prong on one side is hooked up to the ground on the other.  If it's all good, go ahead and plug your RV's power cord in.

Now that you've verified the adapter is good, you won't have to do that again.  And, honestly, 999 times out of 1,000 it's going to be fine.  It's the 1 time in 1,000 that's going to bite you in the posterior. 
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
I'll give you an opportunity to practice.  If you poke around on YouTube, you can find some videos on the subject of whether it is dangerous to use those adapters.  Short Answer is:  it could be.

Mark Sokol from the NOSHOCKZONE, who really knows what he is talking about, says that every once in a while, he runs across one of those adapters that's wired wrong.  In other words, it may reverse the Hot and Neutral connections.  Or the Ground may not actually be there.

(You would think, in this day and age, you could depend on the factories not to screw this up.  Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.)

Anyway, use your meter to test your 15 amp outlet, as shown in the video.  Once you've verified it's wired correctly, plug just the adapter in and use your meter to verify that the 30 amp side is also correct, as shown by the meter.  Use the continuity setting to confirm that the ground prong on one side is hooked up to the ground on the other.  If it's all good, go ahead and plug your RV's power cord in.

Now that you've verified the adapter is good, you won't have to do that again.  And, honestly, 999 times out of 1,000 it's going to be fine.  It's the 1 time in 1,000 that's going to bite you in the posterior.
Click to expand...

I think your paranoia may be catching lol, but that is probably a good thing as I am prone to worrying anyway. Not wanting to be bitten in the butt, I may go down to the Pawn Shop and see how much a used one is. Just got home about 15 minutes ago, and haven't started messing with the trailer yet.

Thank you. 

Mark&Sandy
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
I'll give you an opportunity to practice.  If you poke around on YouTube, you can find some videos on the subject of whether it is dangerous to use those adapters.  Short Answer is:  it could be.

Mark Sokol from the NOSHOCKZONE, who really knows what he is talking about, says that every once in a while, he runs across one of those adapters that's wired wrong.  In other words, it may reverse the Hot and Neutral connections.  Or the Ground may not actually be there.

(You would think, in this day and age, you could depend on the factories not to screw this up.  Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.)

Anyway, use your meter to test your 15 amp outlet, as shown in the video.  Once you've verified it's wired correctly, plug just the adapter in and use your meter to verify that the 30 amp side is also correct, as shown by the meter.  Use the continuity setting to confirm that the ground prong on one side is hooked up to the ground on the other.  If it's all good, go ahead and plug your RV's power cord in.

Now that you've verified the adapter is good, you won't have to do that again.  And, honestly, 999 times out of 1,000 it's going to be fine.  It's the 1 time in 1,000 that's going to bite you in the posterior.
Click to expand...

I bought a digital multi-meter at the pawn shop. Sperry DM-6450. Did the first two tests with the expected results, but not sure (even with Google) how to do the continuity test on the adapter as you described. I Know which two of the four holes at the bottom of the DMM to plug the red and black into. Got no reaction at all from the adapter (sitting on the kitchen table) on the continuity setting, so I'm doing something wrong, probably. Help?

Mark&Sandy 
 
First touch the meter's probes together to make sure the meter is working properly - you should get an infinite reading with them apart, then the meter will read zero and/or it will beep when they're touching.

Now you need to test from each pin on the plug to the corresponding hole in the socket on the other end.  Do ground first - go from the ground pin to the ground socket.  You may have to wiggle the probe around a bit in the socket until it touches the metal inside.

Then do the same for each of the power pins.

You want the wiring to go from each power pin to the same hole in the socket.  Note if you turn the plug around so you're looking into the pins the side to side placement is reversed.  You want each hole in the socket to match up with the same pin on the plug when it's inserted into the park's pedestal.
 
To add to Lou's description: You must use the Ohms (resistance) setting on the meter to test for continuity. Make sure there is no power on the thing you wish to measure (IE not plugged into anything).
 
It wouldn't hurt to check around, sounds like. Thanks Gary.
Click to expand...
Always. Do not assume that everything on the Amazon.com website is the lowest price available, and don't assume that all items on the website are sold, delivered or warranteed by Amazon.  Each item on the Amazon site will identify the source and shipper, e.g. "Shipped and sold by xxxx".  It's not always Amazon.com.
 
Lou Schneider said:
First touch the meter's probes together to make sure the meter is working properly - you should get an infinite reading with them apart, then the meter will read zero and/or it will beep when they're touching.

Now you need to test from each pin on the plug to the corresponding hole in the socket on the other end.  Do ground first - go from the ground pin to the ground socket.  You may have to wiggle the probe around a bit in the socket until it touches the metal inside.

Then do the same for each of the power pins.

You want the wiring to go from each power pin to the same hole in the socket.  Note if you turn the plug around so you're looking into the pins the side to side placement is reversed.  You want each hole in the socket to match up with the same pin on the plug when it's inserted into the park's pedestal.
Click to expand...

Turns out mine doesn't beep, but everything else was good. Thank you very much, Lou! The slide is out.
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
I'll give you an opportunity to practice.  If you poke around on YouTube, you can find some videos on the subject of whether it is dangerous to use those adapters.  Short Answer is:  it could be.

Mark Sokol from the NOSHOCKZONE, who really knows what he is talking about, says that every once in a while, he runs across one of those adapters that's wired wrong.  In other words, it may reverse the Hot and Neutral connections.  Or the Ground may not actually be there.

(You would think, in this day and age, you could depend on the factories not to screw this up.  Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.)

Anyway, use your meter to test your 15 amp outlet, as shown in the video.  Once you've verified it's wired correctly, plug just the adapter in and use your meter to verify that the 30 amp side is also correct, as shown by the meter.  Use the continuity setting to confirm that the ground prong on one side is hooked up to the ground on the other.  If it's all good, go ahead and plug your RV's power cord in.

Now that you've verified the adapter is good, you won't have to do that again.  And, honestly, 999 times out of 1,000 it's going to be fine.  It's the 1 time in 1,000 that's going to bite you in the posterior.
Click to expand...

I really don't want to trust someone else's skills to my detriment. So, thank you. Now I know how to do the above tests and have plugged the power cord in and have opened my slide-out.

Mark&Sandy
 
I just can't wrap my head around the fact that all you experts never questioned why he needed shore power in the first place to just open a slide?
It will open from the on board battery.........
 
Yes, it should. I guess we all missed that, or maybe just assumed the battery was depleted and unable to muster enough amps for the job.  It's a rather small battery in the Rockwood Mini.
 
postmandug said:
I just can't wrap my head around the fact that all you experts never questioned why he needed shore power in the first place to just open a slide?
It will open from the on board battery.........
Click to expand...

Well, as you've gathered probably, lol, I am definitely a rookie and still learning. We tried to open the slide and absolutely nothing happened until we plugged into shore power. We hadn't had it home from the dealer very long.

Mark & Sandy 
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Yes, it should. I guess we all missed that, or maybe just assumed the battery was depleted and unable to muster enough amps for the job.  It's a rather small battery in the Rockwood Mini.
Click to expand...

That was our guess. As mentioned, we had just recently brought it home, but were surprised when the slide wouldn't open.

Mark & Sandy
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Yes, it should. I guess we all missed that, or maybe just assumed the battery was depleted and unable to muster enough amps for the job.  It's a rather small battery in the Rockwood Mini.
Click to expand...

I read this again and have a question for the forum. Being as my RV has a small battery, are there any other potential surprises that may occur due to this? Thank you.

Mark& Sandy
 
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