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50 to 30Amp dog bone. What causes this to happen?

June 02, 2011, 04:15:29 pm

This is the 3rd dog bone in 21 months.  I unplugged this one today after being in place for 7 days.  No error codes on the EMS.

Fortunately, the camp ground we traveled to sells this item. 

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Re: 50 to 30Amp dog bone. What causes this to happen?

Reply #1 – June 02, 2011, 05:40:04 pm

George,

That extreme overheating could be cause by either a poor or corroded connection within the dogbone OR an older, perhaps pitted CG receptacle. Resistance at either place will overheat that prong and can lead to that failure.

You are wise to replace it-- it is a fire waiting to happen.

Brett

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Re: 50 to 30Amp dog bone. What causes this to happen?

Reply #2 – June 02, 2011, 05:55:04 pm

George, 
  It has been my experience, its almost always, a poor CG receptacle.  These get used/abused over the years and just make poor connections..I always carry two of the dogbones, just for this problem. Always have a spare plug that I use to replace the overheated plug on the dogbone. It would be very unsafe to use the plug you have pictured.
Good luck, Dave Abel

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Re: 50 to 30Amp dog bone. What causes this to happen?

Reply #3 – June 02, 2011, 06:40:29 pm

George, I have also gone through several of those and they all look like yours. I have three spares on hand now.
I think that is mostly caused by old receptacles on the pedestal. They age, get tired, and lose their grip...hmmm sounds familiar.
We use a three light circuit tester in a 30 A plug and try to pay attention to how tight the receptacle grips the plug. Recently one was so loose, I asked maintenance to install a new receptacle; which they did. We also avoid receptacles that have cracks or breaks in the bakelite.
At one park we stayed at, maintenance came around with a small hammer and a small sharpened screwdriver expanded the prongs on everyones plugs so they would fit tighter. So I have been doing that on our dogbones and I think it does help. Caution though as you could easily do this too much and break the blade. Some blades are a solid piece too.

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Re: 50 to 30Amp dog bone. What causes this to happen?

Reply #4 – June 02, 2011, 07:54:42 pm

Good information to learn.  Thank you.  The dog bone went into the trash right after I took the photo.

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