Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Class C Motorhomes: B+ motorhomes

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Topic: B+ motorhomes

Posted By: cheeze1 on 06/27/09 07:16am

Its located near the kitchen sink cabinet in what was the old dinette. Its within inches of its original location. I'm thinking now, thanks to Artum and another poster that maybe there are some loose lines. I'm going to check now, and I'm going to use the Parallax troubleshooting flow chart with my voltmeter to see what may be happening.

Chas Morristown, NJ
Trail Lite
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Posted By: cheeze1 on 06/27/09 07:57am

I just opened the breaker side of the converter panel and found the insulation on all of the common wires melted and even the buss was partly melted as well. Mention of red hot earlier certainly applies here. I don't know what the cause might have been, and since the buss and the associated wires are a mess, that must be fixed first. Any ideas??

Posted By: Artum Snowbird on 06/27/09 08:14am

Pretty much the same thing. I bet it started with a loose connection and just got hotter and hotter and spread out from there. As the initial part got hot, it increased it's resistance, causing even more heat and more resistance and more damage.

Ont thought to think about is that the actual buss will likely be overheated now, and that changes the amount of torque you can put on a screw head without easily stripping the screw threads. The original copper bus is tempered carefully to permit threading and once overheated, the mettalurgical properties change. You may have to replace the entire panel, or the inside bus bars if that has happened.

Send us some pictures...

Mike
2012 Winnebago Impulse Silver 26QP
2005 16.6 Double Eagle
2018 Jeep Wrangler JK
previously Snowbird Campers,
Triple E Motorhome and Fifth Wheel

Posted By: cheeze1 on 06/27/09 08:30am

here are a couple of pix

http://s434.photobucket.com/albums/qq66/Cheeze1947/?albumview=slideshow

Posted By: burlmart on 06/27/09 09:26am

I see the blackened wires: clicky

Why didn't the breaker trip to stop this.

2005 Trail Lite 213 B-Plus w/ 6.0 Chevy

Posted By: cheeze1 on 06/27/09 10:26am

It did. I waited a bit and restarted, and lowered the draw. I just found a replacement for the bussbar in HD. Needs to be modified a bit, but not a problem. I also found the heaviest white wire which goes to another buss, was not very snug at the other end.

Posted By: My Roadtrek on 06/27/09 11:58am

That looks like a bad ground on the bus bar. Not uncommon, as the set screws can work loose over time. All those connections should be checked a couple times a year. A bad ground arcing can melt the bus bar, and all the wires on it, and trip/fry the breakers.

Posted By: cheeze1 on 06/27/09 01:37pm

SEEMS FIXED!
Good old HD! I bought an 'insulated neutral kit' that contained the buss bar, bakelite/plastic end caps and a fiber material base. The mounting screws are not in contact with the bar. I had to shorten it, but that's what Rotozips are for.
Cut off all the burnt ends of the wires and remounted all, tightened everything in sight.
No warmth anywhere with all the lights, fans, fridge and a/c on.
I WILL be checking it on a regular basis. [emoticon]

Posted By: Artum Snowbird on 06/27/09 02:28pm

Good stuff then! I am also assuming that the neutral bus has an extra heavy duty connection from the new buss bar to the ground in the panel box somewhere.

It is essential that the neutral is properly grounded.

Glad it worked out so well for you.

Mike

Posted By: burlmart on 06/27/09 04:03pm

Sounds like good news, Cheese.

Maybe after the well-earned celebration is done you (or anyone) can explain to me (electrical idiot) which screws in the pics need tightening. I guess the bus bars are the shinry long square tubes with all the holes?

Also, my shore power black plug has been separated from the big wire's black insulation by 1/4" for some time now (the fat wire is pulled away from the hole where it entered the plug, and I can see the individual colored wires in the 1/4" gap). I think prior to the gradual separation, I had noted that it seemed awfully hot from time to time at a few parks.

Does this mean I better cut the big black plug off and get a new one at HD or somewhere to replace it? Someone on a sister thread to your current problem was mentioning that the plug can get hot because the wires in it are no longer firmly attached to the three prongs.

* This post was edited 06/27/09 04:24pm by burlmart *

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