Smoking shore power plug when charging batteries at home

[wbdmadvt]

15C210P

I plugged into shore power at home so a 15 A circuit to charge house batteries. I always verify ac by seeing microwave display turns on. This time no display and no power. Go to unplug and plug was smoking. One prong had some blackening

Next I started the generator and AC came on and I ran the generator with air conditioner running for about 1/2 hr with no issues

Stopped generator and plugged back to shore power. Microwave display came on but seemed to be flickering and Triplite LEDs were flickering also. Unplugged and that is where I’m at now.

So ideas on what is happening with shore power? Auto Transfer Switch issue?

Anyone have an electrical schematic?

TIA

 

[booster]

First thought would be a bad plug on the cord or a bad outlet. The current should have been OK as it didn't trip the breaker but you definitely had high resistance at the plug.

 

[DaveBad]

I agree with Booster. Sounds like there is little tension connecting the blades of your power cord to the internal contacts of the duplex/outlet. Loose connections can generate a lot of heat when power is flowing through them.

 

[wbdmadvt]

Update: Seems the 2 extension cords I tried are NFG. Got a new one and seems to be working fine now.

Still anyone have an electrical schematic?

 

[booster]

Update: Seems the 2 extension cords I tried are NFG. Got a new one and seems to be working fine now.

Still anyone have an electrical schematic?

You will find that the vans don't like to be on an extension cord for heavy loads and in a 15 amp outlet. The AC will probably not run right and blow breakers sometimes depending on the cord length and gauge. I don't know exactly what shore charger it has in it, but some are large enough to draw a bunch of power also.

I don't think Roadtrek ever published any schematics or wiring diagrams for the AC power side of their products. Earlier vans had a component location drawing, but no wiring shown.

 

[Doneworking]

I have two cords for my Roadtrek. First, a standard rv cord (thirty amp I think?) and then years ago I got a good 12 gauge 25 foot extension cord, cut off the female end and put on an rv female connection. I use this lighter weight cord to plug into a 20 amp circuit in the garage just to charge the batteries. It works fine for that and is much handier than messing with the heavy cord and adapter. BUT I don't try to run appliances with it.

 

[Hatteras Jim]

The initial current draw on my AC is 17-18 amps and then it settles down to 13-14 amp range. You can buy an easy start kit for the AC to reduce the inrush current. So a dedicated 20 amp outlet should be used to run the AC while at home, without extension cords, unless you have a 10 ga, 25 foot cord which should be OK with your 25 foot shoreline. JMO