Electrical Fire

[Grimreaper]

I recently read an artical in a magazine about some people that died or barely escaped death because of an overload on the wiring in there RV. I am not real pleased with the way they did this artical, they only talked about a recent cold spell in Florida in which someone had died and others barely escaped with there lives because they were using things like auxiliary electrical heaters and this puts too much load on the electrical system. They went on to say that you should not use electrical space heaters, toasters or electric frying pans. This is a scarey thought ! I will admit i'm not that smart when it comes to electrical. They said use of these appliances could overheat the wiring and cause a fire. I have 50amp service in my RV that I have yet to use. The only thing I have ever plugged my RV into is 30amp service and my 3KW honda generator. Does anyone know if it makes a difference if your RV is wired for 50amp or 30amp service. Does an RV wired for 50amp service have better wiring in it and do you have to be plugged into 50amp service to use appliances like heaters and toasters and be safe. Last fall we took one last trip in late october and we had a bit of snow and the temperature dropped down to minus 9 celsius so I plugged in a space heater that I had to add a bit more heat and take some load off the furnace. Well until I get some more info on this subject the space heater comes out of the RV. Not the toaster though, honestley how many people have a toaster in there RV. I think the magazine, an "RV Magazine no less" should do a more in depth artical on this subject instead of putting a scare in people like this.

[DriVer]

We use electrical space heaters to augment our LP furnace. Our electrical system is a 50A and we have not had a problem with the wiring of our coach. One of the easiest things to check for is by placing your hand on the cord cap that connects to the pedestal. If it gets hot, some will, you are pulling a lot of amps. Not a good situation!

If you have a 50A service in your RV, you can pull 50A per leg for a total of 100A so pulling a lot of power isn't as big of a problem as only being able to pull 30 Amps total through a single leg.

If you have a 50A service, keep the heaters you'll do just fine. Now about space heaters, just remember that they won't heat the spaces below the floor if the T-Stat on the wall doesn't call for heat.

[sip]

50 amp service is designed to service larger units in your coach like air. If you have two roofs air units usually both will work on 50 and only one on 30. I would guess the fires you read about were caused by what you might call Blue Light specials. Portable heaters their thin cheap cords and their coils draw a significant amount of amps.Take a look at the manufacturers plate and add up the total amps to see how many things youi can have on at one time.

[sip]

One more thought, check
www.bobhatch.com/electricstuffwhats_it_mean.htm

all about 50 amps

[John Hilley]

You don't have to worry about the RV wire, but the receptacles can be problematic. Most RV receptacles have insulation displacement connections. These can provide poor connection that heats up and could cause a fire. Some times there is a poor contact between the appliance plug and the receptacle contacts which can also heat up. Use you hand to feel if the receptacle plate is getting hot and look for discoloration caused by heat. If you find a poor receptacle replace it.

[wa8yxm]

There are a couple of issues.. First, Most folks do not know what goes where in an RV. .For example.. I've done a power survey and I know which breaker goes to which outlet in the motor home. THus I know what outlets are "Common" so I know if I plug an electric space heater into the living room baseboard outlet and a 2nd one in the bedroom baseboard. I'm in trouble cause that is one 14ga 15 amp circuit and I've just plugged in about 26 amps of heater.. Alas, My wife will never figure that out.

I added a second baseboard outlet in the bedroom. different color (Black) it is a 20 amp outlet, 12ga wires (perhaps 12-18 inches of 12ga) and a 20 amp dedicated breaker.. That one is for the heater.


Yet another issue in a 50 amp motor home is the campground

50 amps, is properly 120/240 volt.. You have 4 wires

L-1, N L-1 and safety ground

Now either L to N is 120 volts L1 to L2 is 240 volts

But some parks "Cheat" and feed just one leg to both sides of the 50 amp socket

If you are running electric heat you can now get 60-70-80-100 amps on your neutral.. Way over it's recommended limit..

Finally.. I'm not very impressed with the outlets or the way they are wired in modern homes..Be the house on wheels or a foundation.. Those press-in connections just do not instill confidence in me. This may be my problem though.. But that is how I feel.. I like good TIGHT screws holding the wires.

[Kvtaylor]

We did see a Class A diesel pusher catch on fire while we were in Florida this year. it caused some 80,000 dollars worth of damage I was told. The fire was in the ref electrical system and began smoldering. The owners were not around and by the time the vollunteer fire department got there, smoke was coming out of everywhere. The had to break in thru the glass window in the door and have one of their firemen go in with oxygan tanks to open the windows and clear the smoke. It was found that the source was the ref and it was sprayed with a retardent.

[Retired and Happy]

We use a couple of space heaters (one in the living area and one in the bath area) instead of the furnace, which hasn't worked in three years. We usually run them on the low heat setting, but that would depend on conditions where you are located. We also use a toaster, and coffee pot in addition to the installed appliances. We do not run the heater and toaster at the same time, but have not had a problem. Where we camp, we often do not need the heaters after early mornig chill is warmed, so we might not be very typical. I might also add we have a variety of medical equipment running and do occasionally trip a breaker, but that's what they are there for.

[adj]

A while back, I had electrical problems at the bath GFI. Discovered low voltage there. Traced the low voltage back to the outlet in the bedroom overhead cabinet. Pulled it out and discovered the pressed connections were loose. Pressed the wires back in firmly and secured the wire cover.