Ceramic heater warning

[ericandalice]

One of the sweet couples Eric and I had dinner with during the hurricane Monday night lost their camper today. A ceramic heater had an issue while they were down the road trying to check in with family. They said it was sitting in the middle of the room. The inside is melted with extreme smoke damage. So sad that the rig made it through the hurricane only to lose it now. Makes me rethink leaving such things on when I'm not around.

 

[katkens-DW]

We never leave things like heaters or candles lit when we are not in the camper !! It is really scary and I am not one to take a chance!!

 

[kakampers]

Us either...we don't even leave them on when we sleep! We set the thermostat down to about 65 so it cycles thru the night, and throw extra blankets on the bed. Turn the heaters on when we get up, and turn them off if we leave the site for any reason..works for us..

 

[donr827]

Us either...we don't even leave them on when we sleep! We set the thermostat down to about 65 so it cycles thru the night, and throw extra blankets on the bed. Turn the heaters on when we get up, and turn them off if we leave the site for any reason..works for us..

X2
Don

 

[tmcran]

We turn everything off if leaving for awhile. Includes turning off water .

 

[Westwind]

We don't use any type of electric heater either, I set the furnace on 60 at night and shut everything else off. If we aren't in the trailer we leave everything off also. We have never been in it during freezing weather and had to leave it with the furnace on. I'd probably do that but not leave for an extended time.

 

[wdk450]

Frankly stated, the electrical power wiring in an RV isn't as good as home wiring, due to the fact that "insulation displacement connector" wiring is evidently allowed in RV AC power wiring. This type of connector is O.K. (but can be intermittent) in low current, voltage sensing computer and signaling connections, is used in 12 volt low power connections (ScotchLocks), but is really unreliable in high current AC power connections. Here is a illustration of an insulation displacement connection:




The electrical standard for AC power connections is the familiar stripped wire under a screw.

I have an electrical heater with a pilot light and learned about these poor connections in the trailer when I noticed the pilot light on the heater flickering when plugged into one certain outlet, and not when plugged into another outlet. A loose IDC connection in the bad outlet was the culprit.

(On edit - If you see 2 connectors in the thumbnail, ignore the one on the right)

 

[porthole]

I have yet to see a single scotch lok on either this RV or our previous. And I have to see in any type AC wiring using an insulation displacement type connector.

those blade type connectors should not even be used for 12 volt. They came about for the auto industries to allow aftermarket installers to take shortcuts.

They damage the wire. I would never use one.

 

[wdk450]

Porthole:
Next time I am in the trailer (I was working on it this morning), I will take a picture of the IDC outlet I am talking about. My Bighorn is 2008, so maybe they stopped using them. Very little metal-to-metal contact area. No contact screws visible. But very quick to wire up on the assembly line.
This outlet was on the outside of the J shaped center counter, near the fireplace/TV.

 

[Vtxkid]

Those blade type connectors are used in at least some of the RV style outlets. Granted they have 3 or 4 contact blades but are same style.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC