Wires are MELTING!!!!

[Jayco517]

We have 2010 Jayco 32BHDS Travel Trailer, bought it new from a dealer in the fall of 2009. No problems until last year. We returned to our campsite after a day at the local amusement park to find no power on our site. Our TT had tripped the breaker on the campground pedestal. We flipped the switch back on and it ran for about a minute before tripping again. It was late so we decided to just leave the electricity off and deal with it in the morning. Called a mobile tech out and he stated that it looked like a wire had come loose in travel in the main power supply and arched inside the metal junction box. He fixed up the wiring put on new wire nuts. We ran the electric water heater and A/C for about 6 hours and started to smell burning plastic. :E Turned off the water heater and a few minutes later the breaker tripped on the pedestal again and would not turn back on. Called the tech out again and he said the original issue caused a problem with the transducer in the A/C unit and it was pulling to much power. He replaced the A/C unit with a new one we purchased and picked up from CW, a put new wire nuts on AGAIN. All was well for the remainder of the trip, about 4 days. We used the TT for hunting season but did not use the A/C or Electric HW and of course had no issues.

Just used the TT for the first time this season over the weekend. Got to the CG and about 30 minutes after turning on the Electric water heater and A/C we smelled the burning plastic. :M Sure enough the twist nut was melting. Turned off both the water heater and A/C. Next day turned on just the fan and immediately smelled burning plastic. The wires were heating up using the microwave too. Urghhhh!! What is going on with the electrical system and why aren't we blowing a fuse or tripping breakers before the wires start melting and smoking?!?!?

[tworivers]

The same thing happened to my 92 Terry resort. In travel the wires came loose and I had to have the whole unit rewired and a new converter instaled.

[time2roll]

These wires should never melt unless poorly installed.
Everything is protected with a circuit breaker to prevent overload.

[B_O__Plenty]

I would have a real licensed Electrician look at it, not some flunkey parts changer....

B.O.

[enblethen]

There is too many variables without proper testing.
water heater element could draw around 10 amps
AC unit could draw as much as 13+ amps during start up.
Converter could draw different amperage depending on condition of battery.
All depends on voltage being supplied. Lower voltage higher amperage draw.

[Tequila]

It all comes down to ohms law. If you have low voltage, you will draw more amps. More likely however one of those components has a short or partial short in it. I would bet on the water heater element. Best way to find out, is to find out what the normal resistance of that heater coil is and test yours. i am betting you will find it is too low and you have a partial short. I would leave it off and see if the problem continues. If it does not, you have your answer, replace the heater element. You obviously have to high an ampage breaker on that circuit as well, it should be tripping before stuff starts melting.

Also cheek the connections at the panel. A wire that is not tightened properly into the lug will cause what you are describing. RV's have vibration. Even in my house I check the connections once every couple of years in the panel. I had a fire once in my house panel due to a loose wire. In an RV its even more likely.

resistance = heat.

[6_7_tow_rig]

mhardin wrote:

enblethen wrote:
120 volt water heater element, the AC plus the converter is too much load for a 30 amp rig.

I've been doing it for years with no problem.

Me too. It even says in our owners manual to do this for quicker recovery times. So not sure the "too much load" comment is accurate.

[mhardin]

enblethen wrote:
120 volt water heater element, the AC plus the converter is too much load for a 30 amp rig.

I've been doing it for years with no problem.

[enblethen]

120 volt water heater element, the AC plus the converter is too much load for a 30 amp rig.

[kodiakcanuck]

enblethen wrote:

You should not be operating the 120 volt water heater element and AC unit at the same time.

Not sure what you mean here, we operate the electric water heater with the A/C all the time with no issues...

To the OP, I suspect you have an issue with a loose wire or a breaker issue as others have noted. You will have to get a repair man (hopefully not the same one you have been dealing with) take a really long close look at all the wiring in your panel and on the frame.

Hope this works out.

[nomad297]

Did you ever get this worked out?

Bruce

[4x4Bob]

BillB800si wrote:
When we had our 2007 Jayco Eaqle 322FKS we had an electrical problem the 2nd year. I finally found it in the electrical panel. Seems that after a few thousands miles of travel some of the wires in the panel had loosened up and was arcing. This caused a build up of resistance on the connections. Plus I found some of the wire insulation has melted off the A.C. wiring. I then cleaned up the terminals- reconnected the clean wires and tightened everything down.

That was the fix....
Hope yours is that easy.
Happy trails,

The same thing happened to our 2007 Jayco Eagle 288RLS last month when we were 3 days from home.
We sustained smoked circuit breakers and melted wires also.
After returning home I replaced the Iota fuse panel/converter with a Progressive Dynamics fuse panel/converter with 4 stage battery charge.
The Iota in our our unit did not have the 4 stage.

Bob

[BillB800si]

When we had our 2007 Jayco Eaqle 322FKS we had an electrical problem the 2nd year. I finally found it in the electrical panel. Seems that after a few thousands miles of travel some of the wires in the panel had loosened up and was arcing. This caused a build up of resistance on the connections. Plus I found some of the wire insulation has melted off the A.C. wiring. I then cleaned up the terminals- reconnected the clean wires and tightened everything down.

That was the fix....
Hope yours is that easy.
Happy trails,

[Boband4]

It seems as though your issue is linked to the water heater. Are you sure it has water in it? A dry heater will cause the element to overheat and draw too much current.

[beemerphile1]

You need a repairman that knows how to do repairs correctly.

There is no way we can diagnose the issue over the internet when your repairman can't fix it while looking at it.

[powderman426]

While an EMS is nice, it isn't necessary and may possibly be damaged by whatever problem you currently have. I would

1 Disconnect the power cord from the pedestal and check the voltage. If somewhere between 108 and 124 then

2 with the cord disconnected, find the main panel and check all the connections to the breakers and ground.

3 If all ok turn off all the breakers and reconnect to the pedestal (note* You should always make sure the breaker at the pedestal is off when connecting or diconnecting.)

4 At this point you can turn on the breakers one at a time to determine which one is causing your problem.