Electrical help fried main

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Gretchen
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:33 pm

Electrical help fried main

Post by Gretchen »

Hi,
Well we thought we'd fixed everything when we got generator back up and running with new carb, spark plugs, filters. It started right up, we went for a drive about 15 min in a back fire shot out of generator exhaust, didn't think much of it since it had been year, about 5 min later we smelled burning inside but then it stopped immediately. It ran fine we got home turned it off, went back out next day and plugged into shore power after turning off main house power dial on drivers chair. Turned on ac and left. I came home later and watchdog surge suppressor was tripped. I unplugged it and turned off rv AC. Replaced watchdog at power and the rv AC turned back on. The next day I turned main power dial back on and tried generator and all was on and great. Turned generator off. I put back on shorepower turned on RV AC and left. I came back and the rv was dead. So I thought I'd try generator, after realizing main breaker in panel under sink was flipped and flipped on again, all worked so i turned it off. But shorepower would not work still so we took off breaker panel and everything attached to neutral buss panel was fried. How anything worked I'm not sure and breakers hadn't tripped but the 30/20 was very hard to remove. Main white wire coming from the black box (one with x in pic) broke right off when touched. We bought all new matching breakers today and my husband was planning on pulling wires through to get to good wires as the damage appears local to buss, but I wanted to ask here first as this group has been super informative. I was worried about the WHY it happened, is there a relay or switch we need to check? No black wires were effected so based on another post it may have been just a broke breaker or loose wire connection gone horribly wrong?? Oh and all fuses looked good. Thanks ahead of time and yes if it not a simple exchange for new breakers and wires look good we are taking in to rv place.
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I circled what looked to be culprit as it's worst one
I circled what looked to be culprit as it's worst one
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whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Re: Electrical help fried main

Post by whemme »

Is that black wire marked with an X broken off from the bottom of the split 30/20 amp circuit breaker? If so your problem was most likely caused by that defective/overheating 30/20 amp breaker. It needs to be replaced pronto!
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
Gretchen
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:33 pm

Re: Electrical help fried main

Post by Gretchen »

Hi It ran from the black box direct to the negative buss attached to the left wall, it fried and separated about 1in from the torquescrew, it's hanging more downward in the photo that where it starred. My husband is just hoping there's enough excess wire behind to pull as we have lost about 4in
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cmeadows
Posts: 156
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:54 pm

Re: Electrical help fried main

Post by cmeadows »

Just a couple observations...

It appears that the ground wires in the top of the photo have a green copper patina coating on them. While copper oxide (CuO) works great to protect the Statue of Liberty, it is an insulator and not a conductor of electric current. All of these connections need to be refreshed.

The heat required to cause the damage on the neutral block indicates a point of high resistance. This is likely due to a bad connection or connections. While this is likely a local connection on the bar, it could also be caused by a wire with a bad connection on the other end.

I would recommend refreshing all of the ground and neutral connections. If a stranded wire is found to be green or rust colored, cut it back until you see fresh, bright copper wire before making a connection. Add an extension if necessary. You might also check and refresh the grounding points on the generator, Marinco plug and transfer switch. Use a bright flashlight and a mirror to look behind the cabinets.

It's probable that the breaker failure was just a casualty of poor connections on the neutral and ground circuits.
Chuck & Laura Meadows
'99 24RB PSD
Gretchen
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:33 pm

Re: Electrical help fried main

Post by Gretchen »

Wow yes this is very helpful to know I have passed it along to Jim, he's on the way to RV place for assistance too.
Gretchen
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:33 pm

Re: Electrical help fried main

Post by Gretchen »

Cleaned everything, ordered and installed new breakers, new insulated terminal buss, pulled new wires for fresh ends, opened checked transfer switch house and charger/converter as best we could, cleaned and tightened each screw (EVERYTHING WAS LOOSE) and now it works beautifully and is not running hot, thanks for all the comments.
Gretchen wrote: Sun Aug 28, 2022 8:34 pm Hi,
Well we thought we'd fixed everything when we got generator back up and running with new carb, spark plugs, filters. It started right up, we went for a drive about 15 min in a back fire shot out of generator exhaust, didn't think much of it since it had been year, about 5 min later we smelled burning inside but then it stopped immediately. It ran fine we got home turned it off, went back out next day and plugged into shore power after turning off main house power dial on drivers chair. Turned on ac and left. I came home later and watchdog surge suppressor was tripped. I unplugged it and turned off rv AC. Replaced watchdog at power and the rv AC turned back on. The next day I turned main power dial back on and tried generator and all was on and great. Turned generator off. I put back on shorepower turned on RV AC and left. I came back and the rv was dead. So I thought I'd try generator, after realizing main breaker in panel under sink was flipped and flipped on again, all worked so i turned it off. But shorepower would not work still so we took off breaker panel and everything attached to neutral buss panel was fried. How anything worked I'm not sure and breakers hadn't tripped but the 30/20 was very hard to remove. Main white wire coming from the black box (one with x in pic) broke right off when touched. We bought all new matching breakers today and my husband was planning on pulling wires through to get to good wires as the damage appears local to buss, but I wanted to ask here first as this group has been super informative. I was worried about the WHY it happened, is there a relay or switch we need to check? No black wires were effected so based on another post it may have been just a broke breaker or loose wire connection gone horribly wrong?? Oh and all fuses looked good. Thanks ahead of time and yes if it not a simple exchange for new breakers and wires look good we are taking in to rv place.
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