Power Watchdog Fried

EddieK82

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
490
Location
South Jersey
Our power watchdog was fried where the rv cord plugs in. the rv cord inner plastic was melted to the watchdog inner plastic next to the metal connector. It was almost locked together and took some screw driver prying to get it apart. The RV cord has some black rust looking stuff on the metal tips.

We were plugged in at home in PA where it did rain and snow, but we've been there before like that and it was fine. Any idea what could have caused that?

When I went to try to use it again, it fried it, we have since purchased a new one.
 
The same thing happened to our Watchdog. It makes me a bit concerned about the plug connections. Ours is never unplugged, so I don't see how it could have become loose enough to cause connection overheating due to a subsequent poor connection. I really like the Watchdog, but I am a bit concerned about buying another one.
 
Funny... they do have a sacrificial surge protection and monitoring. Would think it would also have some heat monitoring too?
 
Funny... they do have a sacrificial surge protection and monitoring. Would think it would also have some heat monitoring too?
Well, the heat monitoring would have to be in the plug, and that's pretty unlikely.

I never contacted the company since I figured it was a bad connection. But FWIW, this is the second one I've read about besides mine. Which, considering the number they sell, probably still could be just couple bad connections.
 
True.... but a high enough temperature in the plug that could damage the watchdog device itself would indicate resistance in the plug/wire and that heat can and will travel.

Similar to a electric radiator style heater issue I saw once. Had witnessed a plug get hot enough to discolor the outlet face, but at the same time the heat had transfered back down the electrical wire of the hreater when I luckily found found it before it created a fire or melted. The whole plug wire got fairly warm to touch due to some resistance of what turned out to be from a bad outlet. Seems like that should be measurable - if it could be felt by my hand?

Found this on the interweb:
A Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) can be used to tell if a 50 amp circuit is getting too hot because it directly measures temperature by detecting changes in its electrical resistance as the temperature increases; by monitoring the RTD's resistance, you can identify when the circuit reaches a potentially dangerous temperature level.
 
Last edited:
Well, the heat monitoring would have to be in the plug, and that's pretty unlikely.

I never contacted the company since I figured it was a bad connection. But FWIW, this is the second one I've read about besides mine. Which, considering the number they sell, probably still could be just couple bad connections.
Interesting. This is the first I've heard of the Hughes unit faulting/melting. Have heard of numerous Progressive Ind. units melting down around the lems.
 
Is it safe to assume these are the external units (at the pedestal) and not the hardwired (in the trailer) model?
 
After an exhaustive internet search, I found this: You have reached the end!:roflblack: I guess nobody makes a hard wired unit with a plug
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom