Major electrical problem

[Suncruiser Ron]

Last evening I noticed that our fridge was running on propane. I tried to switch it to electric but it wouldn't switch. Upon further investigation I noted that there was no prower to the fridge plug. I turned off & reset the breaker that also feeds the converter. No luck so I ran an exterior extension to the fidge and it functioned normally. During the evening while watching TV we hear a bang from the converter (under kitchen cabinets), the 12 volt lighting went off (batteries isolated) and we had an electrical burn smell. I engaged the batteries and the lights returned. I checked the breaker (tripped). Upon resetting the breaker, we hear another bang this time under the fridge /cw another electrical burn smell. The converter remained on but outputting 14.2 volts. Afraid that I would cook the batteries I shut the circuit down for the night.

This morning I checked under the fridge. (On the 38T the fridge is behind the driver's seat in the steet side slide). I noticed what appears to be some type of connector plug on the AC line to the fridge that was obviously burnt. I must work through a drawer opening so it is difficult to access the connector. There are cable clamps to the floor on each side, but removing them doesn't free up the connector. I searched the wiring diagrams for this coach and haven't found any usefull info.

As for the 12 volts, I went & bought a good automatic battery charger and it is doing a good job keeping the 12 volt system going.

My initial questions are:

- Any ideas on what could have caused this to happen?
- With the converter( Parallax 7455T) outputting 14.2 volts, does this indicate a bad converter? If so what is a recommended replacement and a good source for same.
- Any info on the AC connector plug would be appreciated. Would they be screwed to the floor? Where would I find a part number?

I am in Hilton Head Island SC, and the only listed Winnebago Service Center is Camping World in Pooler GA. I would prefer not to have Camping World service my coach.

Any guidence and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim]

ron..i checked my converter brochure(magnatek) and it says the max output voltage is 14..the only experience i have with the converter occurred years ago when i noticed the converter cooling fan running more often and then almost continually..it turned out that one of the house batteries went bad and was drawing continuous current..the battery was boiling when i checked it..after unhooking the battery everything was ok..

[grtharris]

Ron, Wiring installation diagram show 2 connects under the fridge. One for the dinnette recept and one for the fridge recept. They are used to connect the sildeout SO cord to the coach romex cable. I would say the one going the fridge recept has failed from a loose connection over time. They are listed in the Winnebago parts book.

[stardalo]

Hi-- I had a very similar problem recently. I have a 03 Journey 36 dl and all of a sudden the breakers for my microwave and receptacles 2 kept tripping. With help from some members on this site, i traced it back to a bad quick connect connection which is the question I belive u r describing. In my case the connections were blackened and burnt. Not sure how it happened. Access was the same way you arer mentioning, but in my case it was the drawer under the washer dryer. I positioned a flashlight in the space and then stuck my head and arms in the area to reach the connections. I unscredwed the clamps holding them to the floor and once doing this, it gave me a little more play in the wire to move it around. I then cut out the quick connects and replaced them woth standard heavy duty wire nuts. I taped them up real good, secured them back and now all works perfect, thank goodness. I think in my case the quick connect had a short in it. My saga is on this forum under the title "tripping breakers".