Electric Problems, Near Miss??

[bill.sibu]

With all the conversation about the Bluebirds catching on fire recently, we got
our own wake up call yesterday. We are workamping and have not had our coach on
the road for 6 weeks but yesterday, we dropped the 110v line on the left side of
our coach. After checking power in, and the gfci in that circuit, we discovered
that breakers in the box WERE ok, but still no power at the ground fault. We did
a wire around and got the circuit back up, but obviously a broken wire some
place and we have not yet discovered where. After much head scratching, this is
where we are now. We are getting no voltage at the inverter control panel. We
discovered that the inverter was not putting out and our batteries were not
charging. We have had a problem with the transfer switch before but on checking
it, it looked ok. As a precaution to make sure, we disconnected the land line
and started the generator. That worked. Batteries got charged, upon shutting
down the generator, reconnecting the land line, everything looked good. The VIP
"smart box" agreed that everything looked good and allowed the power into the
coach. The transfer switch engaged and within seconds there was a smell of smoke
and crackling noise coming from the inverter/charger, lasting about 15 or 20
seconds. Inspection this morning revealed no visible wiring problems, but as we
opened the inverter box it appeared that something had leaked from a capacitor?
and that it seemed that at least 3 diodes were fried.
AND THAT IS WHERE WE ARE NOW. HELP!!

We realize there is better technology out there than our Freedom 25. Please give
us your thoughts on Inverter/Charger as opposed to Individual components. What
Brands and where to buy,or any other fixes or suggestions you could offer us.



Bill Helland
95BMC37
Currently workamping in Nevada, MO

[Don Bradner]

When I fried my inverter (ProSine 2.0) it was a symptom, not a cause. I had
loose/shorted wiring in the female plug on the shore cord, and that allowed 240v
to hit the inverter. It kept all of the critical appliances from being fried,
but the inverter itself was not salvageable.

Like yours, generator worked fine.

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
My location: http://www.bbirdmaps.com/user2.cfm?user=1

On 11/27/2009 at 9:08 PM bill.sibu wrote:

>With all the conversation about the Bluebirds catching on fire recently,
>we got our own wake up call yesterday. We are workamping and have not had
>our coach on the road for 6 weeks but yesterday, we dropped the 110v line
>on the left side of our coach. After checking power in, and the gfci in
>that circuit, we discovered that breakers in the box WERE ok, but still no
>power at the ground fault. We did a wire around and got the circuit back
>up, but obviously a broken wire some place and we have not yet discovered
>where. After much head scratching, this is where we are now. We are
>getting no voltage at the inverter control panel. We discovered that the
>inverter was not putting out and our batteries were not charging. We have
>had a problem with the transfer switch before but on checking it, it
>looked ok. As a precaution to make sure, we disconnected the land line and
>started the generator. That worked. Batteries got charged, upon shutting
>down the generator, reconnecting the land line, everything looked good.
>The VIP "smart box" agreed that everything looked good and allowed the
>power into the coach. The transfer switch engaged and within seconds there
>was a smell of smoke and crackling noise coming from the inverter/charger,
>lasting about 15 or 20 seconds. Inspection this morning revealed no
>visible wiring problems, but as we opened the inverter box it appeared
>that something had leaked from a capacitor? and that it seemed that at
>least 3 diodes were fried.
>AND THAT IS WHERE WE ARE NOW. HELP!!
>
>We realize there is better technology out there than our Freedom 25.
>Please give us your thoughts on Inverter/Charger as opposed to Individual
>components. What Brands and where to buy,or any other fixes or suggestions
>you could offer us.
>
>
>
>Bill Helland
>95BMC37
>Currently workamping in Nevada, MO
>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

[Bluebird Bob]

About a year ago, while volunteering in Texas, I smelled smoke at the rear of
the rig.
Looked out the pass. side window and noticed smoke coming from the battery door.
Went out to open it and the inverter was smoking. Pulled the power plug on it
and it stopped smoking.
Had an electrical person come out and found out the male side of the 50 amp plug
had shorted out.
I guess years of pulling it out and pushing it in caused the wires on one of the
hot side to break.
Put a new plug on and no problem since.
Did need a new inverter tho.

Bob Lawrence
84 PT36
Volunteering at Skidaway Island State Park, Georgia


> When I fried my inverter (ProSine 2.0) it was a symptom, not a cause. I had
loose/shorted wiring in the female plug on the shore cord, and that allowed 240v
to hit the inverter. It kept all of the critical appliances from being fried,
but the inverter itself was not salvageable.
>
> Like yours, generator worked fine.
>
> Don Bradner
> 90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
>

[GARY MINKER]

REMEMBER If you let the smoke out of something, it is a fatality unless it is the BBQ grill. Never make the mistake of trying to continue to use a device that has let even some of the smoke out. You could be the next fire tragedy. Gary 85 pt40 --- On Fri, 11/27/09, Bluebird Bob wrote: From: Bluebird Bob Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Electric Problems, Near Miss?? To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, November 27, 2009, 5:48 PM About a year ago, while volunteering in Texas, I smelled smoke at the rear of the rig. Looked out the pass. side window and noticed smoke coming from the battery door. Went out to open it and the inverter was smoking. Pulled the power plug on it and it stopped smoking. Had an electrical person come out and found out the male side of the 50 amp plug had shorted out. I guess years of pulling it out and pushing it in caused the wires on one of the hot side to break. Put a new plug on and no problem since. Did need a new inverter tho. Bob Lawrence 84 PT36 Volunteering at Skidaway Island State Park, Georgia > When I fried my inverter (ProSine 2.0) it was a symptom, not a cause. I had loose/shorted wiring in the female plug on the shore cord, and that allowed 240v to hit the inverter. It kept all of the critical appliances from being fried, but the inverter itself was not salvageable. > > Like yours, generator worked fine. > > Don Bradner > 90 PT40 "Blue Thunder" >