I almost had an epic disaster. all of the interior lights get hells fire hot one of my children left the one on in the basement area and the plastic exterior mat was too close the result was the light lens and the mat melted and were moments from catching fire. I have already spoken to the dealership about this. Is this standard on all heartlands. Very poor choice in my opinion for lights the possibility of fire is huge.
ATF: Cyclone - Interior Lights
- Thread starter B-N-Kusar
- Start date
porthole
Retired
On the way to Goshen for the 2011 rally we nearly had a fire in our front cap from one of the light fixtures.
Wasn't the fault of the light, wasn't the fault of the trailer.
"Someone" had stuffed bedding stuff in a little too tight. The light got turned on and by the time we found it it had already started to melt and char the linens.
That was fixed with a "discussion" and a new LED fixture motion on fixture.
In my career I have been to dozens of fires that were caused by light fixtures.
Only the halogen pole lamp type of light ever had corrective action. Believe it or not, halogen pole lamps and Nerf balls caused quite the commotion with the feds. The result was lower wattage bulbs and guards over the bulbs.
Wasn't the fault of the light, wasn't the fault of the trailer.
"Someone" had stuffed bedding stuff in a little too tight. The light got turned on and by the time we found it it had already started to melt and char the linens.
That was fixed with a "discussion" and a new LED fixture motion on fixture.
In my career I have been to dozens of fires that were caused by light fixtures.
Only the halogen pole lamp type of light ever had corrective action. Believe it or not, halogen pole lamps and Nerf balls caused quite the commotion with the feds. The result was lower wattage bulbs and guards over the bulbs.
porthole
Retired
Installed incorrectly how?
The breaker box has metal "fingers" that are supposed to press in between the contacts in the breaker. The breaker on the left still has it's contacts. The finger slides between these. The finger for the seriously torched breaker was bent up and instead of being pressed between the contacts it was laying on top of the contacts. Good enough for an electrical connection, but obviously not a good connection. This last trip was down in Florida, and it was hot, so the camper had two A/Cs going, some fans, etc etc. A/Cs ran pretty much non-stop for a week.
Bad connection, high draw, excess heat, melted breaker. Surprising thing was it was actually functioning right up till I shut it all down at the post. I can't believe it never popped. When I pulled it out it was hot as a firecracker, and the contacts dumped out into the palm of my hand. My first thought was "chinese piece of junk", but turns out it was a Cutler/Hammer breaker and last I knew they were quality pieces.
I bought a new breaker, bent the finger back where it should be, popped that sucker in, and it ran cool as can be for the rest of the trip. Another week of 24/7 A/C and fans, etc and it never got beyond room temperature.
oscar
Well-known member
Not really surprising. The current never exceeded what is needed to pop it. The problem was that in this configuration the current was enough to generate the excess heat. (Limited contact surface). I'm filing this one in a special place......And, once in a while put my hand on the breakers when both AC's are running.
remoandiris
Well-known member
How much did the conversion cost and where did you get them?
I bought 20 LED lights off of eBay for $68.00. I'll probably order at least 10 more in the future.
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