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Old 05-10-2019, 09:29 AM   #21
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That's the kit I bought. I threw away half of it. I didnt know any better or I would have looked around for something with just the plates an receptacle.
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Old 05-10-2019, 10:09 AM   #22
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This is good stuff. New to camping just last fall. I'll pull mine out now.

Wags999, are you going to complete the northeast this year? (Looking at your map) And thank you for your service.
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Old 05-10-2019, 10:49 AM   #23
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This is good stuff. New to camping just last fall. I'll pull mine out now.

Wags999, are you going to complete the northeast this year? (Looking at your map) And thank you for your service.



Probably not... we have been there years ago, but not with an RV. Have graduations and wedding in NC, so, will head there and then meander back West till Sept Oct. Will be visiting a few buddies I was in Nam with, haven't seen them since 1967 so that will be fun.



Thanks and you will build many memories while camping, this is a beautiful country and most people are great, enjoy.
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:06 PM   #24
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I have seen comments about laying out the cord completely to reduce over heating. How many follow this practice. No knowledge of electricity just seems that is the cord over heated it would trip a breaker..help me understand this.

It isn’t totally a factor of overheating though in part it is. It is also a generation of ref interference and generation of electromagnetic fields. Coil of wire is like a transformer.

The more it is coiled up. He stronger the field it generates is.

Best to not use a cord that is coiled up.

And just because it gets hot doesn’t mean it will pop a breaker. Inductance can generate heat without drawing additional amps.

In general it won’t cause issues but in general is a good idea to not leave it coiled up. That way it doesn’t cause interference in your tv, computer or other electronics or cause voltage drops in your rv.
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:22 PM   #25
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Usually by the time we reach power post half of our 35' cord is out. The interior cord storage area is pretty big and we rarely use much power. A/C sometimes, catalytic heater on ~40 or colder nights, but otherwise have no heavy-draw items. A couple times a year I draw the entire cord out just to make sure it isn't tangled or jammed somehow. It's against the regs, but I'm not too concerned. If I had heavy use items or a number of electrical items going at once, I'd re-consider.
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:29 PM   #26
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Be Safe above all. We have had extension cords heat up and melt. I have seen extension boxes cause house fires form over heating. Yes the cord on your RV is very large but is it worth it. Trailer fires are some of the worst I have seen, with few ways out, many fatalities. Chances are small....but is it worth it???....is your family worth it???

I choose to sleep without worry. Don't Coil Your Cord.
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:34 PM   #27
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electrical cord

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I have seen comments about laying out the cord completely to reduce over heating. How many follow this practice. No knowledge of electricity just seems that is the cord over heated it would trip a breaker..help me understand this.

The power cord as instilled will have been engineered to use the correct wire Gauge for the the length and electrical current capacity. That is an electrical code requirement.



The only time you need to be be careful is if you are adding additional length in the form of an extension cord. In that case you need to make sure it is of sufficient gauge for the current capacity given the additional length at the rated current capacity.


Cables are sized based on voltage, amperage and length to limit the amount of voltage drop across the cable, which is dissipated as heat. The size is set such that it will not overheat at its specified operating voltage,current and length,
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Old 05-15-2019, 12:54 PM   #28
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I would be careful switching to a Marine twist type connector. By design they have a very small contact point because of the twist lock. They are prone to overheating and fires. I have had two power cords fail in this manor. I switched my boat to this SmartPlug 30 Amp Ss Inlet & Connector
As for power cord overheating as stated wire will heat up as it reaches max current rating. That combined with high ambient temperatures can lead to a fire. As wire heats the resistance increases which increases current which increases heat and so on and so on. Coiling the wire there by reducing ventilation is a small concern. Vendor posted as a CYA in my opinon but it is something you the user should be aware of

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Old 05-15-2019, 01:14 PM   #29
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[QUOTE=Halifax Jack;755111]I would be careful switching to a Marine twist type connector. By design they have a very small contact point because of the twist lock. They are prone to overheating and fires. I have had two power cords fail in this manor.


That's just funny!
How do you think twistlocks got thier UL and CSA certification?
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Old 05-15-2019, 01:59 PM   #30
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Safety First

As an electronics technician in my past life I will make a strong, educated suggestion to everyone. Never leave electrical cords coiled up - no matter how much power you plan on drawing from the socket. The inductive load (in DC you know the same thing as resistance) is basically a heater coil. It will heat up no matter what size wire. The few seconds it takes to pull everything out and lay it out so that it is not coiled is well worth the time and peace of mind.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:00 PM   #31
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Power cord coil

The coiling is not and issue. It will not overheat and cause an issue. It might get a little warm if useing the total rated
30amp draw for about an hour. A total continuous 30amp draw is not the normal. Think about what your Ac draws, then microwave, ALL theses devices would need to be on all the time continues to cause any effect. In the real world your not usring that amount 30amps. Now the real problem to pay attention to is the plug and sockets. They need to be clean. That’s where the real resistance and real overheating happens. Ever noticed burn marks on the blades of the plug. Any melted spots on plug. Your cord is not an issue. The connections are.
Degree in electrical engineering. I have replace several plugs and jacks on cords because of poor connections from dirty unclean plugs jacks. Resistance is your concern.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:13 PM   #32
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The coiling is not and issue. It will not overheat and cause an issue. It might get a little warm if useing the total rated
30amp draw for about an hour. A total continuous 30amp draw is not the normal. Think about what your Ac draws, then microwave, ALL theses devices would need to be on all the time continues to cause any effect. In the real world your not usring that amount 30amps. Now the real problem to pay attention to is the plug and sockets. They need to be clean. That’s where the real resistance and real overheating happens. Ever noticed burn marks on the blades of the plug. Any melted spots on plug. Your cord is not an issue. The connections are.
Degree in electrical engineering. I have replace several plugs and jacks on cords because of poor connections from dirty unclean plugs jacks. Resistance is your concern.
Wow you sure don't know what your talking about, why do people give advise when they dont know a thing about what they are saying. This place is getting as bad as Facebook, people just love to post to be posting. Read what KevTev right above your post said, he is spot on and explained it properly
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:17 PM   #33
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I would be careful switching to a Marine twist type connector. By design they have a very small contact point because of the twist lock. They are prone to overheating and fires. I have had two power cords fail in this manor. I switched my boat to this SmartPlug 30 Amp Ss Inlet & Connector
As for power cord overheating as stated wire will heat up as it reaches max current rating. That combined with high ambient temperatures can lead to a fire. As wire heats the resistance increases which increases current which increases heat and so on and so on. Coiling the wire there by reducing ventilation is a small concern. Vendor posted as a CYA in my opinon but it is something you the user should be aware of

Cheers
I agree 100% that twist lock plugs are junk, have seen a few boats burn due to them. I also changed over to the SmartPlug system which also makes an RV setup. We dont camp enough to do the swap but since we spend most of the summer on the boat it was a no brainer to pitch the Marinco twist lock.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:22 PM   #34
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I have seen comments about laying out the cord completely to reduce over heating. How many follow this practice. No knowledge of electricity just seems that is the cord over heated it would trip a breaker..help me understand this.
Never worried about it and never had an issue with it.

If you don't need the full length, throw the excess cord under the camper in the shade to keep the sun off of it.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:40 PM   #35
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NEC-10 which is the normal shore power cord for 30 amp service has a working load of 30amps, (working, not max) with NEC90 insulation rated to 40amps (for heat dissipation), it is very unlikely the cable will ever get warm to the touch before the breaker trips, either the pedestal or RV one. I would be more concerned with the cable laying in the sun, or in water, for long periods, as this will degrade the insulation. If you have a 35' cord and are 5' from the connection not many are going to dump 30' of cord in a pile on the ground, or stretch it out down the side of the RV. Mine is on a reel, and I only pull as much as I need to reach the connector. The chances of your LP equip or fridge starting a fire is about 1000% more likely than your shore power cord. Has anyone, in all of the collective years of RV experience on here heard of a shore power cord spontaneously bursting into flame? It is always faulty equipment, either on the RV or the Park side. Just use common sense, keep your equipment in good working order and inspect the power cord for cuts and abrasions form time to time.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:52 PM   #36
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NEC-10 which is the normal shore power cord for 30 amp service has a working load of 30amps, (working, not max) with NEC90 insulation rated to 40amps (for heat dissipation), it is very unlikely the cable will ever get warm to the touch before the breaker trips, either the pedestal or RV one. I would be more concerned with the cable laying in the sun, or in water, for long periods, as this will degrade the insulation. If you have a 35' cord and are 5' from the connection not many are going to dump 30' of cord in a pile on the ground, or stretch it out down the side of the RV. Mine is on a reel, and I only pull as much as I need to reach the connector. The chances of your LP equip or fridge starting a fire is about 1000% more likely than your shore power cord. Has anyone, in all of the collective years of RV experience on here heard of a shore power cord spontaneously bursting into flame? It is always faulty equipment, either on the RV or the Park side. Just use common sense, keep your equipment in good working order and inspect the power cord for cuts and abrasions form time to time.
Good info. All those RV's with cord reels, probably very few unwind the whole cord when they may only need 5-10 feet.

Probably hasn't caused any problems leaving it on the reel.

I'm like you, any excess keep in in the shade if possible and maintain it.

We tend to over think a lot of this stuff.
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Old 05-15-2019, 09:31 PM   #37
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This has become a quite an interesting thread. I'm going to add my two cents just because I'm having fun reading everyone else who gave two cents.

I investigated fires with the State Fire Marshal's office (now Fire Investigation Unit) of the Michigan State Police for eight years and then in the private sector in retirement for an additional year before I decided retirement without work was more fun.

When I shove my 30' power cord into that pocket of my travel trailer, it's not coiled tight. It's probably in somewhat of a coiled mess but not so tightly wrapped that heat can't escape. The majority of electrical fires are from faulty connection or loose wiring. Some of you have that outlet at home that you've got to wiggle the plug in it to make the connection, that's a bad connection. If that's found on an extension cord, it's likely that you've seen some heat distortion or melting of the molded plastic around the male and female ends. Heat creates resistance, resistance creates heat, heat creates resistance... You get the point. In escalates to the point that combustible materials nearby will melt and/or ignite. Go ahead, touch the blade of the male end of the plug when your done running the vacuum for a bit and let us know how much it hurt (ok, don't do that).

I've been part of recreating faulty connection scenarios in past trainings. We were able to get a loose wire attached to the side of a household outlet to glow red with temps well over 800° while the hair dryer continued running and the breaker didn't flip. I've had RV fires, house fires, vehicle fires, field and forest fires. Those that involved electricity and tightly coiled cords we're always found to be caused by some other means. Pinched cords? Yes. Loosely connected cords? Yes. Wire gauge too small for the load? Yes. Have I seen pictures of overheated coiled cords? Yes. It was one picture. It was wrapped tightly. It was over 150' in length. It was plugged into an ambulance on standby at a fire station. The cord was too small of a gauge for the demand and it set the smoke detector off at the fire department from the melting, smoking insulation. The volunteer FD was dispatched to their own building. Oops!

Someone mentioned here that it's unlikely to be running at maximum electrical demand for the time needed to begin to turn your tightly coiled power cord into a toaster coil. I agree. That's an exception, not the norm.

Worn campsite outlets are going to be more of a concern than a coiled power cord. At least when that bad connection at the power supply melts the male end of your power cord, you can make the cheap fix with a new cord end.

Ok, somebody else's turn.
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Old 05-20-2019, 03:17 PM   #38
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Clearly to each his own, it is a free country.

In our previous rig, 45’ Newmar Essex I always pulled line all the way out and laid out the extra under the rig to help get rid of heat. Live in Houston TX camp in south and it gets hot. Yes cord was on electric power reel so not that hard to do.

Safe travels and enjoy the life
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