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Way back when in Florida my power cable sat in the Florida sun and got really soft causing it to separate at the 50 amp twist lock. It happened because the cable was plugged into the outlet at a 90 degree angle putting undue force on the connection. When it got warm from the sun it relaxed, and separate, leaving wires exposed. I decided that was not acceptable so put a replacement plug on the end and purchased a 90 degree 50 amp dogbone. It plugged into the RV outlet and hung straight down, allowing me to plug the power cable into it without straining the power cable. Perfect.
Years later I bought a Grand Design Momentum. Same issue, the power cable plugs into the RV at a 90 degree angle causing strain in the cable. But I still had my 90 degree dogbone so all was good. No strain.
Then I read in a forum about how the 90 degree dogbone was causing fires.
It seems they would get pulled slightly and the connection would get twisted and then short out. Yikes. So I attached a broom hanger on the side of the RV and made sure my power cable was clipped in so it would be impossible for it to twist and short. Yea!
I like tight connections. But my old dog bone and my new Momentum were never tight. There was always some play in the connection. When connected you could grab the dog bone and lift it up and down and get about 1/4 inch play. Without proper tools and only eye balling the connections it appears to me that the ID of the Momentum connection is larger than the OD of the dogbone connection. But it works. Mostly.
We have been running generator for the last week boondocking. Checked into an RV campground with power tonight and one leg of electricity is not working. I figured the transfer switch was wonky. I turned off the pedestal power and fired up the generator, power on all legs. Shut generator off, turned pedestal power on, lost a leg. What a pain to take stuff out and dig down to the transfer switch. Put the meter on it and found out there was no power coming from the pedestal on one leg, wasn't the deeply embedded transfer switch after all. Chased it backwards, when I took the dog bone out and reconnected everything works fine.
I brought the dog bone inside and checked it for continuity. Good on all legs. Hmmm! It's not broken but it doesn't work. I have seen this before, but after reinstalling it worked. Hmmm! Having had an issue with it before I am now on a search for a better solution. One thing of note, the dog bone I use and connection that Grand Design installed are not a tight fit, there is a lot of play in it. I am sure my electrician/engineer buddies will cringe and give dire warnings, loose electricity is not good.
But perhaps they can shed some light on 50 amp twist lock connections and how much of the surface has to be touching for it to work safely.
In the mean time I am searching for a better way to plug my power cable into the 90 degree connection on my Momentum without causing stress.
Years later I bought a Grand Design Momentum. Same issue, the power cable plugs into the RV at a 90 degree angle causing strain in the cable. But I still had my 90 degree dogbone so all was good. No strain.
Then I read in a forum about how the 90 degree dogbone was causing fires.
It seems they would get pulled slightly and the connection would get twisted and then short out. Yikes. So I attached a broom hanger on the side of the RV and made sure my power cable was clipped in so it would be impossible for it to twist and short. Yea!
I like tight connections. But my old dog bone and my new Momentum were never tight. There was always some play in the connection. When connected you could grab the dog bone and lift it up and down and get about 1/4 inch play. Without proper tools and only eye balling the connections it appears to me that the ID of the Momentum connection is larger than the OD of the dogbone connection. But it works. Mostly.
We have been running generator for the last week boondocking. Checked into an RV campground with power tonight and one leg of electricity is not working. I figured the transfer switch was wonky. I turned off the pedestal power and fired up the generator, power on all legs. Shut generator off, turned pedestal power on, lost a leg. What a pain to take stuff out and dig down to the transfer switch. Put the meter on it and found out there was no power coming from the pedestal on one leg, wasn't the deeply embedded transfer switch after all. Chased it backwards, when I took the dog bone out and reconnected everything works fine.
I brought the dog bone inside and checked it for continuity. Good on all legs. Hmmm! It's not broken but it doesn't work. I have seen this before, but after reinstalling it worked. Hmmm! Having had an issue with it before I am now on a search for a better solution. One thing of note, the dog bone I use and connection that Grand Design installed are not a tight fit, there is a lot of play in it. I am sure my electrician/engineer buddies will cringe and give dire warnings, loose electricity is not good.
But perhaps they can shed some light on 50 amp twist lock connections and how much of the surface has to be touching for it to work safely.
In the mean time I am searching for a better way to plug my power cable into the 90 degree connection on my Momentum without causing stress.
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