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Old 01-12-2025, 10:31 PM   #1
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Burned wire

Hello, had an issue with our 2000 Monaco Dynasty. The circuit breaker burned the wires that lead to the alternator when the unit was on. It also makes a tripping sound whenever it is on.

It does have an AC Delco alternator, so not sure if this is aftermarket or what brand the OEM is.

Anyone ever experience this?
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Old 01-12-2025, 11:23 PM   #2
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First, are you Lithium or Lead batteries? If lithium, do you have a Lithium charger and charge controller to prevent alternator damage? Most of the time, when 12vdc or 120vac breaker smokes, it was either loose wire, or pitted arcing contacts/ old age... bad history of trips...
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Old 01-13-2025, 08:12 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THenne1713 View Post
First, are you Lithium or Lead batteries? If lithium, do you have a Lithium charger and charge controller to prevent alternator damage? Most of the time, when 12vdc or 120vac breaker smokes, it was either loose wire, or pitted arcing contacts/ old age... bad history of trips...
If you do have Lithium this is not OEM






OEM alternator of your vintage coach would have been a Leece Neville which is a DUVAC type system. Your couch probably had a large idolator type charging system.



A AC Delco alternator can by used provided the DUVAC side of it is wired correctly. Most people choose to rebuild their alternators.



Pictures would help.
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Old 01-13-2025, 09:46 AM   #4
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Not enough info, everything is going to be a guess. Are you certain it's a circuit breaker not a relay? Do you know what gauge wire is burned? If it's a circuit breaker and keeps making a tripping sound it's self resetting and those aren't real common from the factory. When you say turn it on do you mean turn the key to ignition or when the engine is running?

Do you know if the batteries are Lithium? If not posting a picture of the breaker with burned wire and another of the batteries will narrow down the choices of possible problems.
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Old 01-13-2025, 11:44 AM   #5
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All guesses at this point.



Sounds to me like a squarish circuit breaker is tripping, on a burned wire to the alternator. Since I've never seen a circuit breaker in any alternator wiring, I'll assume the wire is coming FROM the alternator to feed the chassis or house loads, and something has shorted or overloaded on that circuit, causing the overheating. Typically the large wires would come from the starter terminal, but they could have been run to the alternator.



It's possible that it was merely a bad connection that led to the heat, and weakening of the circuit breaker, and not a downstream failure. Temporarily rewiring with a fuse of the same amperage as the circuit breaker would show that.
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Old 01-13-2025, 06:48 PM   #6
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Welcome to the forum.

Shoot some pictures. I know it can be a bit difficult to post them here but the effort will pay off.

Some clicking could be a self resetting breaker for example.
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Old 01-13-2025, 08:52 PM   #7
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burned wire means a short somewhere

self resetting thermal breakers are rather common on motorhomes. My Winne on a Spartan chassis has a 20 A breaker between the ignition switch and the alternator INPUT. Technically there is also a large, ignition switched, relay feeding a bussbar that the 20 A breaker is on.

When a self resetting thermal breaker is presented with a load in excess of its rating, it does trips off, then resets, then trips off again, etc, and will make a sound similar to the old school turn indicator flashers, though at a rate somewhat proportional to the load. The breaker is SUPPOSED to be small enough to protect the wire connected to it - the wire shouldn't be burning. I'm not sure that my alternator signal wire would really be OK with 20A for a long time either. Chances are that either your alternator is shorted internally on the INPUT side, or your wire has lost insulation through chafing or burning on a hot pipe. First step would be to remove the wire from the alternator, assuming is burning at the alternator end, and see if still trips the breaker. If the wire has not been burnt near the alternator, chances are that the short to ground is somewhere between the breaker and the alternator.


Once you've found and repaired the short, you may want to replace the breaker to make sure the wire is safe. I'd be tempted to find the real requirements for the alternator input and size the breaker down to that value.



BTW, I replaced my alternator with a 'one wire' alternator and capped the signal wire with heat shrink and secured it. I just mention this in case yours has similarly been changed and not well secured.


Good luck with it.
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Old 01-13-2025, 09:10 PM   #8
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burned wire means a short somewhere

self resetting thermal breakers are rather common on motorhomes. My Winne on a Spartan chassis has a 20 A breaker between the ignition switch and the alternator INPUT. Technically there is also a large, ignition switched, relay feeding a bussbar that the 20 A breaker is on.

When a self resetting thermal breaker is presented with a load in excess of its rating, it does trips off, then resets, then trips off again, etc, and will make a sound similar to the old school turn indicator flashers, though at a rate somewhat proportional to the load. The breaker is SUPPOSED to be small enough to protect the wire connected to it - the wire shouldn't be burning. I'm not sure that my alternator signal wire would really be OK with 20A for a long time either. Chances are that either your alternator is shorted internally on the INPUT side, or your wire has lost insulation through chafing or burning on a hot pipe. First step would be to remove the wire from the alternator, assuming is burning at the alternator end, and see if still trips the breaker. If the wire has not been burnt near the alternator, chances are that the short to ground is somewhere between the breaker and the alternator.


Once you've found and repaired the short, you may want to replace the breaker to make sure the wire is safe. I'd be tempted to find the real requirements for the alternator input and size the breaker down to that value.



BTW, I replaced my alternator with a 'one wire' alternator and capped the signal wire with heat shrink and secured it. I just mention this in case yours has similarly been changed and not well secured.


Good luck with it.
Gary
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Old 01-13-2025, 09:13 PM   #9
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wiring diagram

Here is how mine is wired
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Old 01-13-2025, 09:15 PM   #10
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Info attached

Batteries are lead.

I am attaching pictures of the wires that burned and circling the wires that burned in blue on the rear run plate and behind the alternator where the burned wire runs. They have already been replaced along with the original circuit breaker where wire connects to (picture attached). I am also attaching a picture of the alternator and some numbers I can see. When engine is running the circuit breaker keeps tripping I circled the one that trips on the diagram and reads "alternator fail".
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Old 01-13-2025, 10:10 PM   #11
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Picture 1 appears to be missing a nut where it is attached to the breaker???

Is that the breaker that seems to be tripping. That is, clicking.

Connectors that carry rather high current can lose their contact and create resistance which can result in catastrophic failure which can send power down wires not intended to have power on them.

Have you taken any voltage readings? I would see what voltage you show on that red wire that has been repaired/replaced, as well right on the alternator.

Could it be the alternator is now miswired?
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Old 01-13-2025, 11:08 PM   #12
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missing information and suggestions

Missing info:
1. do you hear the clicking with the ignition ON, but engine not yet started, or does the clicking start only after the engine is started. If the latter, something is really wonky in the voltage regulator
2. How many wires were burned? And not intending to count wires that with insulation melted by a neighboring wire.
3. was the wire burned the whole length from the voltage regulator circuit breaker to the input on the alternator (this is where the voltage regulator is)?


Suggestions:
1. read the voltage at the circuit breaker (CB) with the ignition ON, but engine not yet running. It should be a steady 12-ish volts. If it's not, turn off ignition and then disconnect that wire where it goes into the alternator and repeat the voltage test at the CB with the ignition on, but engine not yet started. If you get a steady 12V, then the problem is internal to the alternator.

2. If instead, you get a steady 12V on that CB terminal with the engine not running, then have someone start the engine and monitor the voltage at the the CB terminal. Measure both DC and AC voltage. If you find large DC, or much of any AC, the alternator is likely kaput.


What is the gauge of the wire attached to that 30 A breaker?
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Old 01-13-2025, 11:34 PM   #13
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Alt.fails

BTW, the spot that you identified on one of the pictures as "alternator fails" is a relay. Presumably it gets a signal back from the voltage regulator regarding alternator output and drives an idiot light on your dash. In that case clicking there would be a symptom, not a cause.
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Old 01-14-2025, 05:53 AM   #14
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I'm very interested in the results. Our 2002 HR Ambassador recently indicates "alternator fail". Tell me please where is the alternator located. The radiator is in the rear and I see nothing from there. How may I access the alternator?
I don't mean to hi-jack this thread.
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