Dirty campground power receptacles - What's your solution?

[Ken Allan]

Our only need for shore power is for occassional Air-Con, and in colder temps, using an electric heater. We normally use a 15-20 amp extension cord althought we do have a 30 amp cord. I image everyone finds the same thing... The camp receptacles are horrible: Filled with webs, bugs, holes filled with mud from some insect, or grit. Some appear to have not been used for 20+ years.

I am trying to figure out how best to deal with these contaminated connections. Maybe a can of compressed air? Electric contact cleaner? a plastic brush? I may consider a "dummy" plug to push in and out to try and clean the contacts.

What's your solution? How do you deal with these nasty recptacles?

[Want a B]

Insert the male plug into the dirty outlet a few times to knock any debris loose then remove the male plug before blowing on the outlet?

[mkguitar]

if a pedestal looks that bad, I'd be concerned about it's safety and correct wiring

I work with electronics and use my meter to check every pedestal before plugging into it.

You can but an inline tester/surge suppressor if you don't have a meter and know how to understand the readings.

I've found a few pedestals miswired

( plug in with the breaker in the off position)

some campgrounds don't know/care
...but I've seen a few pedestals bashed by too big RV too small a space no good driver- in one case the offender propped it up with rocks and found another spot, not telling anyone of the damage.

We told the CG operators, and they fixed it


don't care about webs or insects, unless they sting

in theory the connection between plug and socket is made bright and clean with the insert- I've never experienced voltage drop from a bad connection ( I have a meter on my outlet in the van)
cleaning up the plug with scotchbrite is easy and I do that from time to time

mike

[mikeehlert]

Spray each hole with Deoxit 5 before use.

[michaelingp]

Originally Posted by Ken Allan

I image everyone finds the same thing...

Actually, my experience is not the same as yours. I can't ever remember finding a receptacle like you describe in many years of camping. Mostly we stay at city, state and national parks but I'd think private campgrounds would be even better maintained. I have come across a mis-wired or under-voltage outlet but very rarely, and that has nothing to do with dirt. It's hard to imagine with the post-COVID rush that there is a campground receptacle in the U.S. that hasn't been used in the past year, much less 20.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by michaelingp

Actually, my experience is not the same as yours. I can't ever remember finding a receptacle like you describe in many years of camping. Mostly we stay at city, state and national parks but I'd think private campgrounds would be even better maintained. I have come across a mis-wired or under-voltage outlet but very rarely, and that has nothing to do with dirt. It's hard to imagine with the post-COVID rush that there is a campground receptacle in the U.S. that hasn't been used in the past year, much less 20.

This reflects my experience exactly.

[mikeehlert]

Originally Posted by michaelingp

Actually, my experience is not the same as yours. I can't ever remember finding a receptacle like you describe in many years of camping. Mostly we stay at city, state and national parks but I'd think private campgrounds would be even better maintained. I have come across a mis-wired or under-voltage outlet but very rarely, and that has nothing to do with dirt. It's hard to imagine with the post-COVID rush that there is a campground receptacle in the U.S. that hasn't been used in the past year, much less 20.

Guess it depends on where you are. KOA park in upper peninsula of Michigan two weeks ago….. filthy.

COA in Minnesota, nice and clean. Be careful about generalizations, they are all wrong..

[Ken Allan]

After thinking about this for a while I will add a few small items to the van's bag that holds the electric cables...

__A cheap voltmeter and/or a test plug to make sure there is power at the receptacle.
__A small stiff brush for webs.
__A small thin plastic straw to clean, push out any lodged bugs or mud packed holes.
__A can of electrical spray. Deoxit5 or similar product.

A surge protector of some type would probably be a good idea too. I need to investigate.

[Ken Allan]

We are just back from an 18 day trip (OH to WY). We had to plug in 6 times. 2 clean plugs. 2 not too bad. 2 packed with bugs or mud from some pollinator or wasp. A mix of state parks and private stops.

Also, it could be that we have been out more in late fall and early spring. That makes for more unused receptacles and may allow more bugs/dirt to accumulate. Some really dirty plugs were in our Ohio State Parks (electric only) sites. The full hookup sites get constant use from the big rigs people. I would expect those sites to have well used receptacles.

[GeorgeRa]

Regarding power outlets cleanliness, I didn’t notice a lot of dirt, had more issues with overall technical state, loose lids, wobbly switches, discolored plastic from overheating etc.

I use Smart Plug cable which has a blue LED power indicator, I like it a lot, it is very easy verification of getting power on the van’s end of the cable. Just noticed, these cables got very pricy.

[booster]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Regarding power outlets cleanliness, I didn’t notice a lot of dirt, had more issues with overall technical state, loose lids, wobbly switches, discolored plastic from overheating etc.

I use Smart Plug cable which has a blue LED power indicator, I like it a lot, it is very easy verification of getting power on the van’s end of the cable. Just noticed, these cables got very pricy.

We got one a over a year ago but didn't really use it until this year. It is also a bit longer than the Roadtrek one was and more flexible. I have a thread on the too hard to put plug in, that I made OK by changing to a softer gasket.



Was very nice to use on the last trip as we unplugged many times over two weeks.



They were a long wait when we go ours and very expensive.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by Ken Allan

A cheap voltmeter and/or a test plug to make sure there is power at the receptacle.

the often "free with coupon" meter from harbor freight is dandy, and will tell you more than a test plug



I own flukes and such, I leave a harbor freight in the van


you need to determine and know which prong on the plug does what and what a normal reading looks like


you should have less than 5 volts ac between ground and neutral- 0 is better , but up to 5 is ok


you should have somewhere between 110~128 between hot and neutral, hot and ground


if you are not comfy pushing probes into an outlet, the test plug is ok



mike

[Davydd]

With campgrounds in constant use I’ve never found a box I thought I would need to clean out. I’ve got the Smartplug with two vans now. It is nice to see if you have electrical power with the blue indicator light and it way easier to plug into the van. In my 16 years of Class B camping I encountered only one faulty campground electrical box but admit I don’t use them 90% of the time now anyway. I have a built in surge suppressor inside the van so don’t need a dongle surge suppressor at the post. Having enough electrical capacity for 3 days I seldom plug into shore power at a campground anyway since that is most times my limit of staying in one place is but two days and I can drive for just one hour to replenish my lithium batteries over that time with a 330a second alternator (Delco Remy not Nations.)

[avanti]

I have a SmartPlug as well. It is great, but I am terrified that some day I will drive away with it plugged in. With a standard RV cord, the wires just pull out of their screw clamps. With this thing, I am worried that it would tear off the side of Van.

[Arlo]

ARV generates a warning message and tone on the dash if one tries to start the van with the SmartPlug attached. Not sure how or when they added that feature, but it is nice to have.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Arlo

ARV generates a warning message and tone on the dash if one tries to start the van with the SmartPlug attached. Not sure how or when they added that feature, but it is nice to have.

Actually, I did that, too. It is a good idea and really quite easy with any kind of cord:

Just wire a 120VAC relay to the power circuit upstream of the transfer switch such that it is activated whenever power is present. Use the relay to provide ground to a little buzzer. In fact, I built a little panel that has a bunch of sensors attached to it. A ground from any of them will make the buzzer sound. You can instrument things like ceiling vents, TV antennas, windows, or most anything that you frequent forget.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

Actually, I did that, too. It is a good idea and really quite easy with any kind of cord:

Just wire a 120VAC relay to the power circuit upstream of the transfer switch such that it is activated whenever power is present. Use the relay to provide ground to a little buzzer. In fact, I built a little panel that has a bunch of sensors attached to it. A ground from any of them will make the buzzer sound. You can instrument things like ceiling vents, TV antennas, windows, or most anything that you frequent forget.

Relay wired normally open and power to the buzzer contacts off the ignition switch?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by booster

Relay wired normally open and power to the buzzer contacts off the ignition switch?

Yes, exactly. By having the sensors switch ground, you can "wire-or" any number of them to the same buzzer. This lets you play a "what is it this time?" game when you attempt to drive off.

[LostInWoods]

The discussion of driving off with cord attached reminds me of this video. I wonder whether something like that can work for SmartPlug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgV0iTOU5gU

[rowiebowie]

I vote buzzer, like th eone that sounds if I start my van with the power step out. Pretty sure the awning does the same thing.

But that self-ejecting outlet is quite a marvel (at least to the geek in me).