Smoking GFCI outlet

[RognBon]

With the engine running I turned on the inverter (Xantrax 2000 watt Freedom 20) and one of the GFCI outlets inside the coach began buzzing and smoking. Turned the inverter off and the smoking stopped. With the generator running and the inverter off, the issue stopped. All 12 volt (lights, etc) are working and all 120 volt outlets are functioning when on generator power. All lights on the inverter panel show normal charging, amps, voltage, etc. Any input as to what the cause may be and what I should look for to correct?

1997 Monaco Dynasty
Cummins 8.3

[wa8yxm]

Ok that looks like the ground that fried.. Very good chance somebody screwed up the install of the inverter.. Also that inverter (I re-read the Original Post) is hard to connect to it is easy so mess up the 120 volt connections. I now. I broke 2 of the six connectors and had to make alternative connections.

[RognBon]

I pulled the outlet and all of the wires on the back and in the box are fine. The outlet itself is burned inside. I replaced it and all seems to be working. Tested all of the circuits and everything is ok. I did see a spider behind the outlet in the box. Is it possible there was a spider in the outlet and it shorted out when it was energized? Guess this is one of those mysteries that will remain that way.

[joebedford]

my bad post

[ppine]

GFIs are very sensitive to vairations in amperage. When anything unusual happens they trip. Sometimes they trip for no reason at all. If one is buzzing and not tripping, replace it. Test the rest of the circuit.

[RognBon]

Thanks for the advice. I will go by the storage lot tomorrow with a new outlet and see what I find. Hopefully this will solve the issue. I'll report back with the results.

[whjco]

Was the connection to the receptacle tight? Regardless, this outlet is toast (no pun intended 🙂 ) and should be replaced. Any wire that shows signs of heat and insulation damage should be cut away and good wire spliced between the clean copper and the new receptacle. Any wire splice or junction should be inside of the electrical box holding the receptacle.

[whjco]

Was the connection to the receptacle tight? Regardless, this outlet is toast (no pun intended 🙂 ) and should be replaced.

[cougar28]

Glad you found that and thank your lucky stars! My grandson dad died in a camper fire because of a faulty outlet 14 years ago.

[rockhillmanor]

Flute Man wrote:
If I were you, I would

remove the outlet and inspect The back of it.

Depending on what you find you may just want to replace the GFI entirely. Get an electrical person to help you if need be.
Jerry Parr

Like x10!

This is was what I found behind that pesky GFI plate in my MH.

I was probably about an hour away from a fire. 😞




AND it was still working and light on I didn't even suspect the GFI. I just kept smelling a fairly faint odor of a burn smell when the windows were all closed spent hours trying to find out where it was coming from.

[Flute_Man]

If I were you, I would remove the outlet and inspect The back of it. Depending on what you find you may just want to replace the GFI entirely. Get an electrical person to help you if need be.
Jerry Parr

[wa8yxm]

IS your inverter MSW or TSW.. If it's TSW (also called PSW or True/Pure sine wave) you should not have any issues with anything (Cost me a coffee pot though)

With MSW (Modified sine or square wage) you paid your money you takes your chances as they say... YOu SHOULD! not have any problems but you might.

Replace the GFCI.

[profdant139]

Electricians call that "magic smoke." As in, "Oh, no, this device won't work any more because I accidentally released the magic smoke when I plugged it in."

Brief article on magic smoke

I wish I had a better answer for you.