Cheap RV electrical connectors

[MarkB_MI]

> I'm curious as to whether it is a failure of the spring tension or was it corrosion causing it to overheat? Considering the environment in which it's used a dab of dielectric grease in each of the female holes every now and then should be beneficial.

Based on how the plastic melted, the heat seemed to come from the wire-to-terminal connections. No sign of corrosion or arcing where the female terminals mate with the male connector.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> I take it you believe Marinco makes a quality connector. I bought a few for half of P&S when P&S' prices exceeded $100. Now you have me wondering if I made the right choice. Haven't noticed any difference on the 1Ph and 3Ph 240 and 480 plugs. The greed of some of these manufacturers is astounding.

The original equipment twist-lock connector on our camper is Marinco. Of course manufacturers rarely use top-of-the-line components, but that Marinco connector has held up well over the past six years. Stay tooned.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> Might be a good time to check & clean your AC unit after all that excitement. It doesn't take much for those RV AC units to crud up.

Good point, but my problem right now is the evaporator ices up. I think the AC was undercharged from the factory. I'm trying to decide whether to try topping off the refrigerant or to just replace the whole thing. In hot weather I have to switch it to fan-only once or twice an hour to defrost the evaporator.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

If you have the equipment & supplies it's worth a shot. Hopefully the connection for the coolant line is easy to get to.

Mike

 

[MarkB_MI]

> If you have the equipment & supplies it's worth a shot. Hopefully the connection for the coolant line is easy to get to.

There are no service ports on these air conditioners, so that's the first problem.

 

[Check Break]

(quoted from post at 03:47:15 08/23/23) > If you have the equipment & supplies it's worth a shot. Hopefully the connection for the coolant line is easy to get to.

There are no service ports on these air conditioners, so that's the first problem.

It's like most appliances. You have to cut into the high and low side and solder a service port onto the line.

 

[Blackhole49]

Personally, I would just buy the 25' 30 amp extension cords. I carry 2 in my RV and have never needed more in 30+ years. Never had an issue, even in rain and snow.

 

[miangus]

Soldering that stranded wire helps retain the torque level on the wire in the connector. I have been told that when making a connection on a stranded wire it doesn't hurt to tighten the screw flex the wire and retighten the screw. Some people actually use a torque wrench on electrical connections, I guess I will have to get one of those screwdrivers capable of torquing connections.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> Personally, I would just buy the 25' 30 amp extension cords. I carry 2 in my RV and have never needed more in 30+ years. Never had an issue, even in rain and snow.

Yes, that's probably what I should have done. They're cheap compared to buying individual parts.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> It's like most appliances. You have to cut into the high and low side and solder a service port onto the line.

And once I've done all that, I'll still have a very noisy air conditioner. I'd really like to replace it with a quieter unit, if there is such a thing.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Well, the replacement connector arrived yesterday. It looks even cheesier than the old one, and doesn't carry a UL approval. I got four years out of the old one; I suppose this one will be good for at least a couple of years.