StingrayL82
Nampa, Idaho
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The old 10/3 120VAC extension cord I was using. Notice it's missing the ground lug.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/FJDgRd4l.jpg)
It looks like there was some burning going on inside the female end of the 10/3 cord.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/ObmcyVAl.jpg)
Fred
Retired Army Guy
2005 Monaco LaPalma 37PST
Workhorse W24 chassis
8.1L Vortec
Allison 2100 MH
Onyx Color Scheme
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TreeSeeker
San Diego
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StringrayL82 wrote:I don't have a 240V RV cord. The motorhome cord is 30-amp 120VAC.
My bad, I meant "120VAC RV cord".
StingrayL82 wrote:Like I said, everything is good to go.
Are you still getting shocked when touching the chassis while standing on the ground when using the new extension cord? If so, the ground and neutral are connected somewhere in your RV. This is a No-No. It may have been done accidentally as in an outlet. You can test this with a GFI tester.
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StingrayL82
Nampa, Idaho
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TreeSeeker wrote:StringrayL82 wrote:I don't have a 240V RV cord. The motorhome cord is 30-amp 120VAC.
My bad, I meant "120VAC RV cord".
StingrayL82 wrote:Like I said, everything is good to go.
Are you still getting shocked when touching the chassis while standing on the ground when using the new extension cord? If so, the ground and neutral are connected somewhere in your RV. This is a No-No. It may have been done accidentally as in an outlet. You can test this with a GFI tester.
Nope, no more hot skin. The culprit was the crappy 10/3 120VAC extension cord. My question is whether you guys think that might have caused the refrigerator fuse connector to melt on the panel.
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StingrayL82
Nampa, Idaho
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In other words, could not having the ground lug on that 10/3 cord cause a reverse polarity condition or some other issue that would have caused the 12VDC fuse connector to melt, when I accidentally turned the fridge to "12V", instead of "ELEC", when I was connected to shore power?
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TreeSeeker
San Diego
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Hard to say without more information.
It appears that there is a new white wire going to the fuse panel. What is this for?
Is the refer the original or a newer one. My original doesn't even have a 12v option, so I am guessing there was new wiring needed for your 12v option.
Was the blown fuse for the refer or something else?
When the refer is on 12vdc, it is getting this from the battery which is being charged by the converter which is connected to shorepower (or not).
See, its compilcated.
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TreeSeeker
San Diego
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StingrayL82,
The connector for the second fuse from the left looks like it is corroded. If that is the refer connector, it could explain why it overheated. The corrosion provides a lot of resistance and some some of the wire is gone further causing resistance.
Did the refer fuse blow or not?
How did you find this? Just happened to look at it? The refer wasn't getting power? You smelled something? There was smoke? Or?
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StingrayL82
Nampa, Idaho
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TreeSeeker wrote:Hard to say without more information.
It appears that there is a new white wire going to the fuse panel. What is this for?
See picture.
TreeSeeker wrote:Is the refer the original or a newer one. My original doesn't even have a 12v option, so I am guessing there was new wiring needed for your 12v option.
It is the original Dometic 3-way fridge.
TreeSeeker wrote:Was the blown fuse for the refer or something else?
The 15-amp fuse never blew. It had some condensation in it and a tinge of brown, but it was intact. The bakelite, to which the bottom part of the brass fuse connector attached, was melted.
TreeSeeker wrote:When the refer is on 12vdc, it is getting this from the battery which is being charged by the converter which is connected to shorepower (or not).
I don't have a battery in the coach right now, so the PowerMax PM4-100 is supplying the 12VDC to the coach, however it's really supplying a tad over 15VDC, since there is no load on the converter at the moment.
TreeSeeker wrote:See, its compilcated.
It is, but only if you have my ignorant butt trying to explain it in non-electrical engineer terms. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Here's the pic:
White wire goes to 12VDC positive fuse block.
Green wire goes to house battery positive.
Black wire goes to negative buss bar.
Copper wire goes to ground lug on coach frame.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/L6tJsVEl.jpg)
* This post was
edited 06/22/18 02:57pm by StingrayL82 *
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StingrayL82
Nampa, Idaho
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I'm actually tempted to throw the old Newmark converter back in. The only reason I don't is because they were notorious for boiling batteries.
The more reviews I read about PowerMax converters, the less I'm liking them. They don't really go into technical detail about anything and, truth be told, I got it because I'm on a budget and this was an open-box, never used $99 special.
* This post was
edited 06/22/18 03:20pm by StingrayL82 *
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TreeSeeker
San Diego
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StingrayL82,
OK, that green color on the black wire connected to the bottom of the second fuse bothers me. This appears to be corrosion and that is bad. It will cause heat.
First turn off the shore power.
That corroded connector needs to be cut off and the wire cut back until you find clean wire with no corrosion. Then put on a new connector and clean up the screw and buss on the bottom of the second fuse, then reconnect the wire.
Turn the shore power back on for about 15 seconds, turn it off, then see if the connection is hot. I use an IR thermometer for this type of thing, but you can use a finger (carefully) in a pinch.
If it is still cool, try the power for 30 seconds and check again. If still cool, then turn on the refer for about 30 seconds and check again. If still cool, then try for 5 minutes. Note that refers on 12vdc draw a lot of power, so a little resistance can cause a lot of heat. Because they draw so much 12vdc power they are normally only used when driving so they don't kill the battery.
Do you have an electrical meter? If not, you should get one and keep it in the RV. You can get one at Harbor Freight for about $10.
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j-d
Sunny Florida USA
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If I had a couple dollars for every posting here on RV.net, where a Professional Electrician (plus more than a few RV owners...) looked at that 120V/30A plug or receptacle and thought it just had to be 240V. And destroyed lots of electronic stuff in the RV...
Not code legal, and I took it off when we moved... Had a dedicated 120V/20A circuit to a room A/C we didn't use at the house. Drilled through and put one of those 30A RV/Mobile Home receptacles out there in a box with weatherproof cover. That allowed me to plug our 30A RV shore tie into a receptacle meant to handle more than just a few amps current. We could run our coach at home that way to cool it before a trip. Would handle Converter/Charger, Refrigerator on Electric, and 13500 rooftop A/C. We were burning those little "puck" adapters up, plugging 30A shore tie into "puck" then "puck" into ordinary 20A receptacle.
If God's Your Co-Pilot Move Over, jd
2003 Jayco Escapade 31A on 2002 Ford E450 V10 4R100 218" WB
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