ac power stopped working

[Johnston1107]

Went camping this week and after 5 hours entertainment center lost power gfi circuit also burnt smell and smoke in trailer. Seems to be coming from behind fuse panel no breakers tripped. What could have burnt out. There are 2 power boxes back there. DC power is working fine. Any suggestions

 

[danemayer]

Hi Johnston1107,

What year/model/floorplan is your trailer?

Have you reset the GFCI outlet?

Have you pulled the fusebox and/or breaker box to investigate the smell?

 

[Johnston1107]

2006 bighorn 3200rl I haven't pulled the panel cover yet but I did look through basement panel and the smell seems stronger.i am going to pull the breaker panel cover today still camping using an extension cord for entertainment center

 

[TedS]

Probably a loose wire connection overheated.

 

[Johnston1107]

Probably a loose wire connection overheated.

if I find a loose connection do you think I can tighten it and plug back in to shore power?

 

[carl.swoyer]

if I find a loose connection do you think I can tighten it and plug back in to shore power?

Disconnect shore and then turn off your DC disconnect. ( batteries) Remove the panel and visiting each lug with a screwdriver tighten them up.
If you have a transfer switch open it and see what you find there.
Surprisingly when I did mine I found alot of loose ends.

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[Johnston1107]

Disconnect shore and then turn off your DC disconnect. ( batteries) Remove the panel and visiting each lug with a screwdriver tighten them up.
If you have a transfer switch open it and see what you find there.
Surprisingly when I did mine I found alot of loose ends.

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I just checked all connections at breaker panel all is tight and right.i guess I will access through basement and check those boxes looks like one of the boxes connects via convenience plug with pig tail ? Any ideas

 

[danemayer]

Let me echo that if you have a transfer switch (part of generator prep), the burnt smell could be coming from inside that box. Disconnect shore power before opening.

 

[Johnston1107]

Let me echo that if you have a transfer switch (part of generator prep), the burnt smell could be coming from inside that box. Disconnect shore power before opening.

I opened up the power genarator line switch and found the Burnt wire connection. Will replacing the switch be the fix or is something else causing the melt down. Thank you all for chiming in this is the first time I have asked anything been lurking for years. Again thanks

 

[danemayer]

I opened up the power genarator line switch and found the Burnt wire connection. Will replacing the switch be the fix or is something else causing the melt down. Thank you all for chiming in this is the first time I have asked anything been lurking for years. Again thanks

If "power generator line switch" = Transfer Switch, the cause is likely to have been loose wire connections causing high resistance and heat. You need to evaluate whether the Transfer Switch looks damaged, and replace if it looks damaged. If the wires are discolored, you need to cut back the wires to get rid of the damaged area. Hopefully you've got enough slack to do so. If not, perhaps you can relocate the transfer switch and replace the wires going to the main breaker panel.

 

[CDN]

If able you can connect shore power wires to the panel feed wires inside the transfer switch case using some WT 54 Ideal wire nuts or equivalent. These will take several Number 6 wires.

I carry a set of these in case my transfer switch breaks. As others have mentioned make sure you cut back burnt or discoloured wire to clean copper.

Depending on what is wrong with the switch you might just need new lugs if they can be replaced. Possibly a whole new contactor.

Make sure you unplug the trailer and generator if equipped is disabled with starting cable disconnected and turn the breaker off too

https://idealind.com/content/dam/electrical/support/wire-connector-catalog.pdf Page 8


Brian

 

[Johnston1107]

If able you can connect shore power wires to the panel feed wires inside the transfer switch case using some WT 54 Ideal wire nuts or equivalent. These will take several Number 6 wires.

I carry a set of these in case my transfer switch breaks. As others have mentioned make sure you cut back burnt or discoloured wire to clean copper.

Depending on what is wrong with the switch you might just need new lugs if they can be replaced. Possibly a whole new contactor.

Make sure you unplug the trailer and generator if equipped is disabled with starting cable disconnected and turn the breaker off too

https://idealind.com/content/dam/electrical/support/wire-connector-catalog.pdf Page 8


Brian

that is a great idea . My transfer switch has melted one wire connection. I will be replacing the transfer switch box when I get home

 

[david-steph2018]

Replaced the transfer switch in our Road Warrior on Tuesday. Sometime you could hear the switch "chatter" but no other issues with it. I had opened it a couple of times to check to make sure everything was good and tight on the connections. I did not have any burnt wires, loose connections. So Sunday I did my monthly genset exercise and the genset gave a problem. The genset flashed a rapid signal indicating engine operation only, no AC output. Plus one of the breakers on the genset would not close.
Then when I went back to shore power the transfer switch did "chatter" for about 10 seconds. So Monday replaced the transfer switch and all of the above issues cleared up.
The cost of the transfer switch was $260. It took around 30 minutes to replace it.

 

[danemayer]

Replaced the transfer switch in our Road Warrior on Tuesday. Sometime you could hear the switch "chatter" but no other issues with it. I had opened it a couple of times to check to make sure everything was good and tight on the connections. I did not have any burnt wires, loose connections. So Sunday I did my monthly genset exercise and the genset gave a problem. The genset flashed a rapid signal indicating engine operation only, no AC output. Plus one of the breakers on the genset would not close.
Then when I went back to shore power the transfer switch did "chatter" for about 10 seconds. So Monday replaced the transfer switch and all of the above issues cleared up.
The cost of the transfer switch was $260. It took around 30 minutes to replace it.

You must have gotten the transfer switch with built in surge protection. The standard PD52 sells for quite a bit less.

 

[david-steph2018]

You must have gotten the transfer switch with built in surge protection. The standard PD52 sells for quite a bit less.

This is the one installed:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.campingworld.com/50-amp-surge-protected-transfer-switch-102401.html

But did not get it from Camping World. We are at Thousand Trails at Lake Medina in Lakehills, Texas. Bought it from a mobile RV repair. The 2 rv shops close by did not have it, but could get it next week sometime. The RV shops in San Antonio are at least 50 miles, one way.
We were in that special place, rock and hard place location.[/FONT]

 

[carl.swoyer]

I just checked all connections at breaker panel all is tight and right.i guess I will access through basement and check those boxes looks like one of the boxes connects via convenience plug with pig tail ? Any ideas

you could hear the switch "chatter" but no other issues with it. I had opened it a couple of times to check


Just curious about the damages to the transfer switch?
Could you post a picture.

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[Oldelevatorman]

AC relays chattering is inherent. On our Landmark, we couldn’t stand the hum from our transfer switch. We cleaned it, sprayed it with contact cleaner and nothing helped. I finally replaced it and keep the old one as a spare.


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[david-steph2018]

you could hear the switch "chatter" but no other issues with it. I had opened it a couple of times to check


Just curious about the damages to the transfer switch?
Could you post a picture.

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Carl there wasn't any damage in the box. Nothing was burnt or discolor I think something went bad in the control board. Just like when my board went bad on the water heater or the transfer switch went out on the residential fridge.
I don't think you can get a replacement board for transfer switches but I am going to dig into it to see if it is possible.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Carl there wasn't any damage in the box. Nothing was burnt or discolor I think something went bad in the control board. Just like when my board went bad on the water heater or the transfer switch went out on the residential fridge.
I don't think you can get a replacement board for transfer switches but I am going to dig into it to see if it is possible.

Possibly calling the manufacturer directly.
When I rebuilt my norcold refrigerator model 1210 I was able to obtain everything from Amazon

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[Johnston1107]

you could hear the switch "chatter" but no other issues with it. I had opened it a couple of times to check


Just curious about the damages to the transfer switch?
Could you post a picture.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

Carl I will when I figure out howto. One set of wires white from the transfer switch to the fuse box melted the plastic connector and the wire completely.