Community Forums

htg3 · 01-21-2006, 10:03 PM

Five hours on the road from Laguna Niguel, CA to Laughlin, NV - no problems. We pulled into the Riverside RV Park just as the office closed, got our spot and went out to start up and - NO START!
Turned the key on, dashboard came up normal, all self test O.K., went to start position - NOTHING.
Good voltage, able to start generator, lights did not dim, just NO START! I could hear the "click" in the engine compartment when my wife tried it.
5:45 PM, called Saddleback RV, got someone who called someone who called me back and gave me some suggestions. Called Cummins in Williams who gave me more suggestions. To make a short story longer, I went under the engine, followed the positive battery lead from the starter towards the battery and found the nut on the positive battery post (on the engine side) loose. I tightened same, started up and went on to find someone else in our assigned space - but that's another story.

htg3 · 01-21-2006, 10:03 PM

Five hours on the road from Laguna Niguel, CA to Laughlin, NV - no problems. We pulled into the Riverside RV Park just as the office closed, got our spot and went out to start up and - NO START!
Turned the key on, dashboard came up normal, all self test O.K., went to start position - NOTHING.
Good voltage, able to start generator, lights did not dim, just NO START! I could hear the "click" in the engine compartment when my wife tried it.
5:45 PM, called Saddleback RV, got someone who called someone who called me back and gave me some suggestions. Called Cummins in Williams who gave me more suggestions. To make a short story longer, I went under the engine, followed the positive battery lead from the starter towards the battery and found the nut on the positive battery post (on the engine side) loose. I tightened same, started up and went on to find someone else in our assigned space - but that's another story.

bigfish · 01-22-2006, 04:39 PM

Had found the same problem, although in less stressful situtation. While preforming an inspection underneath MH for other reasons (another bigfish story) with MH in barn, found gnd cable connection loose on starter, resecured connection with 3/4" socket.
BTF

htg3 · 01-24-2006, 07:51 PM

A question to those who are more enlightened about electrical connections: Should I put star washers between the spades on the positive (and negative) battery studs with a locking type nut (nylon insert)? It sounds like this might prevent a repeat of my recent problem unless there are unforseen electrical issues with it.
Thanks in advance.

EngineerMike · 01-25-2006, 08:33 AM

Star washer is a locking device & also provides a better "bite" for an electrical connection. Good solution. There are internal star washers that are easier on the connection, and stainless ones (try West Marine or any good yacht chandlery) for the perfectionist. I prefer stainless in battery connections due to the presence of corrosive agents.
Personally I'd shy away from nylon lock nuts as they take a lot of torque for the full length of nylon capture on the threads, making this type connection cumbersome; nylocs are designed for either extreme vibration situations, or where the nut will not be fully torqued down but will leave the connection free to rotate while the nylon keeps the nut in place.

Ted III · 01-25-2006, 12:45 PM

Engineer Mike, I reference to your elastic stop nuts I could not agree more. Solution to that is find an Industrial Supply house that carrie SPS Proucts. (Standard Pressed Steel) They make a lock nut called "Flex-Loc" which is all steel, no nylon. Should soleve the problem.
Ted Ulmer
2005 Alpine 34'FDDS
2006 PT cruiser GT

SteveS · 01-25-2006, 03:16 PM

Intuitively it seems like a star washer will provide better electrical contact (bite) with the surfaces in question, however, this is not really the case. The best electrical contact results from pressing two conforming surfaces together (usually flat). You can use a milli ohm meter to verify this. On many occasions we have had to remove vendor supplied star washers from electrical equipment in aircraft because the washers were causing in excess of 2.5 milliohm resistance between electrical contacting surfaces. We would go to flat washers or slit lock washers to bring continuity within specs. Star washers are best if they are used only to hold a screw, bolt, or nut in place with no movable objects underneith the head i.e. no wire that can move and cause the nut to turn with the wire lug.

rockcj · 01-25-2006, 07:21 PM

very typical. Mine did the same thing.
David
05

bigfish · 01-25-2006, 07:23 PM

Short answer: NO to sandwiching star washers between conductors. Doing so just lends itself to a high resistance connection over time.

For practical everyday termnation applications 1/4-20 or larger:
-insure conductor mating surfaces are clean & free of corrosion
-mate conductors
-install (1) flat washer
-install (1) lock washer
-install (1) nut or bolt
For optium performance use 316 SS fastners incuding Belleview (spring disc) washer in place of lock washer for some situations.

If ever using aluminum terminations, use of "electrical joint compound" is imperative.
BTF