Automatic Transfer Switch

[mbulriss]

So our Christmas trip started off with a bust on the first night out. After catching a few hours shuteye at Chez Wally World, I got up and started the gen set to make some coffee. Power never switched on. Said pooey, or something to that effect, and took off sans coffee. After getting shore power at the park we were headed to all was well. The next day we popped open the cover on the ATS. There was good power coming in from the gen set.

Bluebird had thoughtfully installed the ATS right below the water distribution manifold (pic 1) because that would never leak, right? Well pic 2 shows the results of when leaks or condensation do develop on the manifold structure. The prior owner of my Bird had replaced the ATS about 6 months before we got it. I think I know why now. Since I didn’t enjoy not having coffee on my first day out, and since we do like dry camping, I do want the ATS to reliably pass gen set power into the coach when I need it. So after installing yet another new ATS, I chose to make a minor modification that Bluebird forgot, so any future water drips will hit the floor of the compartment rather than drip into the ATS. Look closely at pic 3 to see my addition. Several months later, l can tell you it works because a found a small puddle on the floor last week rather than having it disappear into the ATS. Now where it’s coming from remains a mystery yet to be solved.

I have always wondered why Bluebird seemed to place the power plug ins by the water plug ins! My 83 PT had them in the same small compartment!

Anyway, maybe this mod will help some other owner avoid having to replace the ATS for no good reason. In the meantime, my electronic techs in my service department rebuilt the failed unit, so I now have a spare that I hope never to use. Surprisingly, the best deal I found at that time was on the Camping World website. Of course I had to get the Camping World store to match their own website! I hated to buy there since that Lemonis guy is such a real peach but the low price won out.

It wasn’t that bad a job. I spent more time making and installing proper labels on each wire than I did actually reconnecting everything. But it looks so nice inside the box now!!

FWIW.