Surge Guard Did It's Job, Gave It's Life For My Coach :)

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

Had a hard wired 30amp SurgeGUard 34520 model put in last November 08. 3:30 this morning wife's CPAP machine quit. Went outside and the built in guard was smoking. Wires going into the surge guard plug fried and one end of the surge guard melted.

Everything seemed to be working inside off battery. Could not test the A/C since coach plug wires attached to surge guard were fried, but we'll get it checked. Was able to pull in both slides, jacks up and head home. Can't run the A/C off the generator since the plug wires attached to the surge guard are melted. Better that I guess than all the appliances. Had to either be a surge spike or brown out. Not sure since I'm not an electrician or a plumber, or a carpenter

I'll get it into get replaced/checked out this week. Hope to get a picture of it up today if I can. Out of town this week, but I'll try to get that up. If you don't have a surge guard, now is the time to buy one. I don't work for them, I don't own stock......................I just know they work from personal experience.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Sounds more like you suddenly got 240v where 120 was expected. A failed neutral in the campground power post could do that.

[wa8yxm]

Often hard wired surge guards are only in the shore power line to the transfer switch

(IF that is the case Generator will still run air conditioners)

However.... Mine is hooked up on the breaker box side

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

I believe mine is hooked up to a breaker side since the plug wires that goes into the MH itself and that were attached to one of the surge guard ends, melted. I have a pic to show what I think I'm talking about, but don't know how to post it. Believe I have to put the pic out there "somewhere" but I don't have a "somewhere" to put it.

Have an email into the service advisor at dealer we use so I'm sure once he replies I'll have a friend drive it in this week since I'm on travel to our nations capital for work related business all week, and the DW does not drive the MH (long story, but after 27 years I understand).

Talked to a camping world person yesterday in service dept and he stated it happened to him about a year ago and the cost was around $600 which included, a new surge guard, new plug wire and labor to do diagnostics on electrical applicances and A/C. I'll post what happens but I think all I need is a new plug, a new surge guard and have everything inside checked to be sure nothing was hurt.

Thanks for all the replies.

[RV Wizard]

One other possibility is loose connections. I would recommend once a year to check all of the terminal connections on the ac power system; from the mains down through the individual circuit breakers. Glad you had a surge guard. I won't plug in without one.

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

Well took the coach in yesterday. A good friend drove it too Lazy Days since I'm out of town this week. Can't ask for a better friend than that!

Cost to fix was $735 + tax. I'll pick it up on Friday once I get home. Lazy Days did a great job and this is the second time i've used them in two weeks, last week to repair level jacks under warranty. We didn't even buy the coach from them and they've been super nice about taking care of us. Shawn Paul our service advisor is great to talk with and works hard to get you in and out.

They stated looks like the wires were not tight so whoever installed it originally, didn't tighten down the screws and it could have possibly arced and caused the whole situation.

Check those screws and make sure they are tight. Can't complain on the cost since they did a inspection of all electrical inside and nothing was damaged...............surge guard did it's job.

Thanks for all the replies and advice, appreciate it.

[Bob&AnnaMari]

John,

It sounds like your surge guard was mounted in the basement similar to mine. I take it that it did not generate enough heat to pose a problem to the coach. Or does it? I thought these things were supposed to just cut out rather than self-destruct. I don't put anything near mine, but I want to know if having anything flammable near the surge protector could pose a problem.

Thanks in advance for your info,
Bob

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

Bob,

Ours was also hard wired in the coach bay. Don't think it would have caused a fire, then again I'm not an electrician. When it happened, I was outside quickly (within 30 seconds after it happened), and only saw the smoke when I opened the bay door, no flames at all.

[RVDude]

Actually, the surge guard itself did nothing - it wasn't a surge guard preventable issue. What you had was a loose screw securing one or more of the 120v lines either into or out of the surge guard. That looseness caused a high resistance to develop at that screw connection which then heated up and melted everything in the vicinity of that screw. Resistance as in toaster elements, oven elements, heaters, etc. Yes, this can and frequently does cause a fire (it was hot enough to melt lots of plastic - in time it would have ignited the melting plastic).

With luck, as you had, you caught it fast enough before the smoke turned to fire. Sometimes, with luck, the heating bad connection manages to fry itself apart and thus stop the current flow and the heat. Happens in houses, buildings, utility poles, and RVs somewhere, every day. RVs are especially prone due to the driving vibration. You caught it in 30 seconds - this stuff happens very fast. Are your smoke detectors (and CO2, and LPG) tested?

You were extremely lucky. Not to be dramatic, you just used a life. RvWizard has the right advice. I do it annually. Know what you are doing before playing with these connections though. The same thing happens at power pedestals, how many burnt up plugs have you seen. Same high resistance due to corroded plug contacts.

One last thought, remember that smell. Burning electrical insulation has a very distinctive odor - for a reason. If you ever smell it again, vacate immediately and then look for the odor source. It might be a very small burn inside a panel or something and you won't see smoke, but you will definitely smell it no matter how small the burn. And that distinctive smell only comes from one thing, burning electrical insulation.

Congrats on a very happy ending!!!!!!

[JOMARFL (FMCA 401058)]

RVWizard, RVDude, thank you both for the great information and teaching. I'm always the first to admit I don't know it all, but I will listen when the experts talk.

You can rest assured this will be an annual event at our household. May not be done by yours truly, but somebody will be crawling around looking at connections.

I hope that everyone takes the advice of these two seasoned experts and check those wires.

Thanks again, appreciate all the advice.

[Bob&AnnaMari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOMARFL (FMCA 401058) RVWizard, RVDude, thank you both for the great information and teaching. I'm always the first to admit I don't know it all, but I will listen when the experts talk. You can rest assured this will be an annual event at our household. May not be done by yours truly, but somebody will be crawling around looking at connections. I hope that everyone takes the advice of these two seasoned experts and check those wires. Thanks again, appreciate all the advice.

Ditto for me.
Bob

[Chickadee]

Ya know, reading this thread on the electrical meltdown due to poor connections to Surge Guard, could provide an argument AGAINST the practice of "hard wiring" such devices inside one of the compartments of your rig as apparently many folks do.

[Route 66]

IMHO, I think a better case could be made to insure all electrical devices and connections are installed properly.

The vast majority of folks do not have problems.

[doc]

I guess this is the reason I went with the Progressive 50 portable. In the event of a failure, I could hunt another site and then toss the protector and still have power. Or just add another unit and not have to rip the inside of the very tight electric bay apart to fix it. All I would have to do is unplug the old and plug the new - no installation cost.