question on hooking up power

[citgodan]

just a curious question - when you are hooking up power at home in preparation for a trip, do you plug in hot shore power into your unit? Do you plug into your unit and then go plug into your house (hot)? Do you actually hook up the power to your rig, and then go inside and make the unit hot by switching on all breakers inside the unit?

I have always just plugged in my power hot into my unit. I did last night and found a good spark/arc when I plugged in during some rain. It did scare me a tad.

[2edgesword]

Extension cord plugged into the a "hot" home outlet.

[John from Central Florida]

We don’t turn the camper’s breakers off. What we do is turn off house breaker that goes to our 30amp socket, plug in camper to the dead socket, turn on house breaker to power up the camper.

We do this in the field as well, but before we turn on the power at the campsite post we connect our “surge protector”

[hboy]

I keep all the breaker in the camper on. I keep the breaker at home turned off. After I plug both ends of the power cord in, then I turn on the breaker in the house. I always try to plug the camper power cord into the outlet before it's hot. Then turn the breaker on after i'm all plugged in.

[Swampy]

Originally Posted by citgodan

just a curious question - when you are hooking up power at home in preparation for a trip, do you plug in hot shore power into your unit? Do you plug into your unit and then go plug into your house (hot)? Do you actually hook up the power to your rig, and then go inside and make the unit hot by switching on all breakers inside the unit?

I have always just plugged in my power hot into my unit. I did last night and found a good spark/arc when I plugged in during some rain. It did scare me a tad.

citgodan,

Unless you want to be replacing the plug and outlet, you should never plug the camper into the hot outlet. That "spark" you saw probably caused some of the plug or outlet metal to spatter and erode the contacts. I suggest you lightly file the plug prong if damaged and you may have to test the outlet for a good connection. Once they have been plugged in or un-plugged while under load, they normally will have the displaced contact metal and begin to run hot, leading to failure ... sometimes catastrophically.

Good Camping ...... Swampy

[hoppers4]

Plug in hot as the EMS doesn't turn on house power for 15 seconds.

[citgodan]

Yes, I think I will change my powering up connections at home. I do have a surge protector on the connection, and at the campgrounds I do turn off the 30/50 amp before hooking up - just lazy at home I guess.

thanks, I will get the camper out today in preparations for the next trip. I just hope I didn't cause any damages to any appliances...

thanks all !

[NewBlackDak]

I put in a 50A switched box outside, and just turn the box off before plugging in/out.

[Tommyb]

Originally Posted by John from Central Florida

We don’t turn the camper’s breakers off. What we do is turn off house breaker that goes to our 30amp socket, plug in camper to the dead socket, turn on house breaker to power up the camper.

We do this in the field as well, but before we turn on the power at the campsite post we connect our “surge protector”

x2

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by John from Central Florida

We don’t turn the camper’s breakers off. What we do is turn off house breaker that goes to our 30amp socket, plug in camper to the dead socket, turn on house breaker to power up the camper.

We do this in the field as well, but before we turn on the power at the campsite post we connect our “surge protector”

+1

Except I don't have an EMS yet. I know I know...

Arcing is baaad, ummkaaay. It can be especially bad if you have a high draw item on inside your rig like the air conditioner. Unless you're able to slam that plug home instantly, you're going to create problems with those items. More times than not, I can't quickly plug the cord in for one reason or another. So using the breaker and plugging "cold" cables is best.

[citgodan]

Yes, luckily nothing was turned on inside the unit.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by citgodan

Yes, luckily nothing was turned on inside the unit.

Good. Been there, done that. It was a facepalm moment when I would be fiddling with the power cord, and I would hear the AC trying to cycle because we forgot to turn it off last time we were in the unit.

Now that I've changed my procedure and use the breaker EVERY time (at home or away), I don't worry about it.