BB Flood-Could Have Been Much Worse-"FIRE"

[Leroy Eckert]

I know you live in a cold climate but I do not know if I can get comfortable
with heated wires. And yes, I am constantly replacing or upgrading older
equipment for good reason.

Leroy Eckert
1990 WB-40"Smoke N Mirrors"
Niceville, FL



----- Original Message -----
From: Terry Neal
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 7:47 PM
Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] BB Flood-Could Have Been Much Worse-"FIRE"


Leroy,

Thank god you found the problem like you did & not after it started a
fire. I had one of those old heat tapes short out & actually burn the
plug connector completely off a heat tape in my coach last winter.
Ernie Ekberg told me he had had the same type of experience too with his
PT40.

Good plan for everyone with one of these coaches is to check all of the
heat tapes on their coach & replace any that look marginal.

Myself, I am replacing all of mine. They are all original & after 25
years, they are bound to be just waiting to bite me.

Terry Neal
Bozeman, MT
82PT40 6V92TA
74FC34 6V53T

smquandt wrote:

> Leroy
>
> I have my drawings at home tonight; the only thing that is shown on
> mine is
> what pipes are heated. The manufacturer is listed as Easyheat, web site is
> http://www.easyheat.com/ <http://www.easyheat.com/> My guess is a bad
> thermostat on the tape. Glad no
> worse than it was. If you want I can scan the drawings at work
> tomorrow and
> send them to you.
>
> Steve Quandt
>
> 1993 PT 40
>
> Iron Mountain, MI
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
>
> [mailto:WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> ] On Behalf Of jwasnewski
> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 6:30 PM
> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
>
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] BB Flood-Could Have Been Much Worse-"FIRE"
>
> For some time now I have listened to G. O'Conner's Cause and Affect
> theories, have agreed with them because it is how I think. Every
> problem has a specific cause. Here is mine. I am a very happy
> camper today because it could have been much worse with the family in
> the bus.
>
> Pulling into Talladega Superspeedway staging center about 8PM
> Thursday evening I smelled a heavy rubber or plastic smell. I
> checked out all the systems and everything was normal. So I passed
> the smell off to the numerous campfires at the Superspeedway. Who
> could have known?
>
> I asked the wife to turn on the waterheater to get the grandkids a
> bath while waiting to get into the infield. Genset running everything
> A OK. I go outside to talk with people milling around while the kids
> take their shower. It is dark thirty and a cold beer will do after a
> 5 hour drive. Then I hear what sounds like rain. The guy next door
> says it's your a/c. I think it sounds like a flood. In fact water
> was running out of all the the bays onto the ground. I ran inside,
> shut off the water pump thinking that either a line broke at the pump
> or the water heater failed. When I walked on the bedroom carpet it
> was hot water. I looked at the water heater, an that ain't easy in
> the dark an nothing. Pulled up the mattress and the bottom was
> soaked about half way across. My hearing is not good so I asked the
> Grandson to come back and listen.. Turned on the water pump and found
> where the leak was, then took out the night stand, pulled the carpet
> and found the problem.
>
> Winter protection strips. I do not know what else these wires could
> be. Maybe there are other names, heat tape etc. but true to form in
> my Royale conversion these things are not on my drawings, didn't
> think I had any because of the Wabasto Hydronic heat but I do. Only
> from the water pump to the water heater(I hope) encased in the
> insulation that surrounds the Pex tubing. They are 1/4 in width,
> copper or brass mesh with two wires inside of that. They have a
> vulcanized grey tip(I cut one apart)where the two wires are
> connected. Inside of the two 16 gauge wires are a white fiber
> substance circular wrapped with hair sized copper wiring similar to
> what one would have seen in an early 50's toaster except smaller.
> One or more of these wired failed for reasons unknown and fried a two
> inch long portion of the Pex tubing with water in it. There was
> evidence this had occurred before because one of the strips was
> stuck to and had imprinted the Pex tubing all along where I
> inspected. As well another wire had been capped off and a patch had
> been installed in the Pex. I have cut the remaining wires in half so
> this cannot happen again. When I get time I will trace them to the
> source and see how they are hooked up.
>
> I wonder this? Why did the fuse system fail?
> Why did the system operate at 87 degrees F OAT?
>
> I know this is windy but had to be detailed. I am convinced this
> event could have been very serious, burning the bus down and/or loss
> of life if it occurred at a different time.
>
> There will never be another heat strip in my bus under any
> circumstance.
>
> I will post pictures of the damaged parts when I get them developed.
>
> Leroy Eckert
> 1990 WB-40"Smoke N Mirrors"
> Niceville, FL
> Got the water pipe hooked up with a little help from the good friends
> at Talladega. I'll repair it later.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

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