On my last trailer I had the normal internally attached electric cord with the factory molded 30 amp plug, I had the trailer 13 years. We were at a camp site and when I plugged it to shore power I thought the shore power receptacle looked a little old. I checked the polarity and then plugged in. The voltage measured inside the trailer was very good and remained good with appliances running.
We camped for a few weeks and one morning I was on the computer and having my coffee and I noticed the lights dim and come back up. Had I looked at the microwave I would have noticed that the 120 VAC power was gone! About 30 seconds later there was a banging on our door and someone yelling "You're on fire...your on fire!!" Needless to say, that got my attention!!! I opened the door and said to the guy "What is on fire?" The guy said our electric box (shore power) blew the door open and "FIRE came out." I said "OK, let me get my shoes on and I'll be out."
Well, the box was open and black with soot. I picked up a stick and switched the breaker off and carefully pulled the plug out. Everything was BLACK. The office was called and a staff guy came down on a golf cart. He looked at it and said "It's your plug"...I said "It's your receptacle." He said "we see this all the time, it's YOUR plug!" I plugged my circuit tester into the ugly black shore power and flicked the breaker on. Got good lights. I check it with my volt meter....120 VAC...it was my plug!! He had a plug and a receptacle with him. I changed my plug while he changed the receptacle and cleaned things up... and all was well.
The guy told me that they see this a LOT. He said on plugs that people drag on the ground and generally do not take care of, they see it after 4 to 5 years or less. The bottom line is; Pay attention to and take care of your plugs. Don't drag them on the ground as you pull the cord in....inspect the plug and clean it up once in a while. Recently we witnessed another plug explosion on a rig next to us. I had a spare plug and fixed him up.
We camped for a few weeks and one morning I was on the computer and having my coffee and I noticed the lights dim and come back up. Had I looked at the microwave I would have noticed that the 120 VAC power was gone! About 30 seconds later there was a banging on our door and someone yelling "You're on fire...your on fire!!" Needless to say, that got my attention!!! I opened the door and said to the guy "What is on fire?" The guy said our electric box (shore power) blew the door open and "FIRE came out." I said "OK, let me get my shoes on and I'll be out."
Well, the box was open and black with soot. I picked up a stick and switched the breaker off and carefully pulled the plug out. Everything was BLACK. The office was called and a staff guy came down on a golf cart. He looked at it and said "It's your plug"...I said "It's your receptacle." He said "we see this all the time, it's YOUR plug!" I plugged my circuit tester into the ugly black shore power and flicked the breaker on. Got good lights. I check it with my volt meter....120 VAC...it was my plug!! He had a plug and a receptacle with him. I changed my plug while he changed the receptacle and cleaned things up... and all was well.
The guy told me that they see this a LOT. He said on plugs that people drag on the ground and generally do not take care of, they see it after 4 to 5 years or less. The bottom line is; Pay attention to and take care of your plugs. Don't drag them on the ground as you pull the cord in....inspect the plug and clean it up once in a while. Recently we witnessed another plug explosion on a rig next to us. I had a spare plug and fixed him up.
