Lightning Strike, what now?

[EddieA]

Originally Posted by n2zon

The surge suppressor's job isn't to protect the RV from lightning. It's basically not possible for a surge suppressor to do this on its own. There is simply no good way to protect a plugged-in RV from a nearby lightning strike. The best thing you can do is disconnect any electrical connections in advance of the storm. Power, cable, phone, all of them.

John, thanks for suggesting UNPLUGGING everything before thunder (or at least when 1st hearing) --- I hadn't thought of the shore power & cable as being so obvious.

[itectom]

I'm sorry I have not been able to read all of the responses but as a utility worker dealing with lightning for 50 years, you can do some measures to reduce the damage but it is impossible to totally protect from a close or direct strike.
I had a strike at my home on a tree about a 100 ft away and although everything in the house was fine, the EMP (Electro Magnetc Pulse) took out the circut board on my hot tub.
I do not think your surge protector is at fault. The EMP goes through the air and does not travel through the power line which the surge protector is able to protect.
Insurance payment is your only help.

[JohnLoves2Sk]

Test absolutely everything in the rig, make a full list of what is failed, contact a dealer and ask for a quote. Then contact your insurance company and talk to them. There is a good chance it's worth the $3500 deductible. Since you were living in it, they should cover a hotel for a period while repairs are being performed, too. It never hurts to ask.

[F4Gary]

I think the OP is suffering from anecdotal and advice overload.
I think he needs to contact his insurance company....and lower his comprehensive deductable.
Good luck OP.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Ginni

This sounds like the GFI protector needs to be turned back on. Usually this surge protector is on the electrical outlet in the bathroom.

The GFI outlet in the bathroom is NOT a surge protector and never will be. It is a "Ground Fault interrupter and nothing more. It does not even provide "Overcurrent Protection" that is done by the breaker feeding it. Please do not confuse the thread anymore than it already is.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by F4Gary

I think the OP is suffering from anecdotal and advice overload.
I think he needs to contact his insurance company....and lower his comprehensive deductable.
Good luck OP.

I agree.
A lot of good suggestions and some, well I'm not so sure of. The first thing I would do would suggest the OP with his admitted limited knowledge contact someone familiar with RV's and their electric systems and appliances. and get their opinion of what to do with this RV. To me this isn't a "do it yourself project". Regardless of how through you think you were there may be hidden damage somewhere waiting to overheat and start a fire. Someone posted on here they worked as an RV tech and had done repairs like this and issues kept popping up after the initial repairs were completed. That being the case I'd hardly expect a novice to make all the necessary repairs the first, second or even the third time around.
Not all qualified electricians are qualified to work on RV's and not all RV techs are qualified electricians.
If this RV was put back into "working" order I'd consider it a time bomb. You'd never catch me sleeping in it. I couldn't fall asleep in it anyway.
If it was mine I'd drag it out to my woods, wire up a couple lights separately from the RV's wiring, buy a cooler and make a hunting cabin out of it. I would never plug the shore line in again.
In the meantime I'd disconnect the batteries and walk away before it does go up in flames. Even if the insurance company stepped up and covered some of the repairs I wouldn't feel comfortable in this unit. And, I for sure wouldn't sell it to anyone else either knowing this thing could erupt in flames at anytime possibly taking out a whole family.
If your insurance company totaled this RV they'd be doing you a huge favor even if you took a loss on it.
This commercial free advice comes to you at no charge.

[Joe J]

Hello,
First off, I am sorry for your damages due to the lightning strike. The surge protectors really are for variances, both high and low, in your electric feed. They are not lightning protectors. I am not really sure what we campers can do to protect us from them other than have insurance to cover this type damage. Like homeowners insurance, I think my RV coverage on my auto policy would cover this type damage under comprehensive damage.

[LeisurePursuits]

Originally Posted by swduns

for your refrigerator problem

you said your 12v dc batteries have a problem and your 12v dc lights

note that your refrigerator requires 12v dc to operate even if it is on gas

it sounds like the first step is to correct the problem with your 12vdc system. once that is back up properly the refrigerator may work properly.

my thought

YES. Very sage advice, unlike most of the other responses in this thread. Inverters, GFCIs, totaled RV, whaaat?!?!

If you put an external charger on your batteries for a while such that your lights are working normally, then does your refrigerator work on the propane or AC setting?

[thecityman]

I owe every single person on this thread a sincere apology. Here are all you people working hard to help me solve my problem and I'm MIA!!! Someone even suggested i may have information overload and threw in the towel! haha That's a very reasonable guess but not the case (not yet anyway). Actually, I just had to have surgery (nothing serious at all and will be 100% recovered in another week or 2). Also, I own a small fruit orchard and this is by far the businest time of the year. Combine my information overload, surgery, and trying to tell somehow what to do in my orchard since I can't, along with the fact that i'm so flustered with my camper problem and I've just stuck my head in the sand for the last week or so! haha

That is a long winded way of saying I'm sorry I haven't been working on my camper and reporting back and so on. Camper is still functional enough (sort of) to use on site and I'm not going anywhere now So please bear with me a another week or so and I have no doubt that I'll have lots of questions and try to respond to comments and so on.

Again, the fact that so many people I don't even know have taken time out of your lives to offer advice and encouragement really means a lot and is appreciated very much. Thanks go to every single one of you. Travel Trailer people are THE BEST folks in the world!!!

[thecityman]

Please forgive me for being so slow on this project. Please know that I work 2 jobs( 1 FT and 1 PT), I own a 200 tree fruit orchard and spring is the busiest time for that, my house burned down over a year ago and we're still finishing renovations on it, and I have a little hobby farm that also consumes a lot of time. I'm not saying I'm any busier than all of you are and I'm certainly not looking for sympathy- all these are in a good place right now. I just really want you to all understand that I didn't just ask for your help and then ignore it. I absolutely will be going through every one of your posts and using the information they contain and I'm sooooo grateful to everyone. I'm just asking that you please understand this will be a slow, ongoing project for me.

ANYWAY...onto a tiny update.... Aside from all the technical information and experience you all have provided, you also inspired me to actually TRY to do a few of the simply things myself. With my level 0 abilities I normally wouldn't have even tried because I knew I'd be overwhelmed and embrassed by my lack of repairs skills and knowledge. But today I tried the first step and I'm excited as heck....

So, taking some of your advice I did remove the vent/panel on the outside of my camper that is apparently to access the back of my fridge. Well, one thing I saw was a small plastic box that said something about fuses. It took me about 15 minutes just to figure out how to open the little plastic box (I TOLD YOU I HAVE NO MECHANICAL SKILLS!). The box is about 3 x 4 inches. It has a few wires with plug-in connections, and it has 2 (I think) actual fuses. They say 3 amp 120v and 5 amp,120v. THey are tiny little glass fuses. Anyway, guess what??? ONE OF THEM IS CLEARLY burned out! Its black and you can tell the wire inside the fuse is out!!!!! Needless to say, I am excited. Is there any chance to all that replacing that fuse will fix my fridge???4

I'll have to go town (I'm 20 minutes out in the country ) one day this week. I guess I'll replace the 3a and the 5a just to be sure. In a perfect world my fridge will kick back on and I'll come running here to tell ya'll the good news. In reality, though, I fear this is just the first of many things that are blown and need replacing. But its still one more thing I can tell the repair man (who I'll probably end up having to get) that I've already done. Thanks

[n2zon]

Originally Posted by thecityman

Please forgive me for being so slow on this project. Please know that I work 2 jobs( 1 FT and 1 PT), I own a 200 tree fruit orchard and spring is the busiest time for that, my house burned down over a year ago and we're still finishing renovations on it, and I have a little hobby farm that also consumes a lot of time. I'm not saying I'm any busier than all of you are and I'm certainly not looking for sympathy- all these are in a good place right now. I just really want you to all understand that I didn't just ask for your help and then ignore it. I absolutely will be going through every one of your posts and using the information they contain and I'm sooooo grateful to everyone. I'm just asking that you please understand this will be a slow, ongoing project for me.

ANYWAY...onto a tiny update.... Aside from all the technical information and experience you all have provided, you also inspired me to actually TRY to do a few of the simply things myself. With my level 0 abilities I normally wouldn't have even tried because I knew I'd be overwhelmed and embrassed by my lack of repairs skills and knowledge. But today I tried the first step and I'm excited as heck....

So, taking some of your advice I did remove the vent/panel on the outside of my camper that is apparently to access the back of my fridge. Well, one thing I saw was a small plastic box that said something about fuses. It took me about 15 minutes just to figure out how to open the little plastic box (I TOLD YOU I HAVE NO MECHANICAL SKILLS!). The box is about 3 x 4 inches. It has a few wires with plug-in connections, and it has 2 (I think) actual fuses. They say 3 amp 120v and 5 amp,120v. THey are tiny little glass fuses. Anyway, guess what??? ONE OF THEM IS CLEARLY burned out! Its black and you can tell the wire inside the fuse is out!!!!! Needless to say, I am excited. Is there any chance to all that replacing that fuse will fix my fridge???4

I'll have to go town (I'm 20 minutes out in the country ) one day this week. I guess I'll replace the 3a and the 5a just to be sure. In a perfect world my fridge will kick back on and I'll come running here to tell ya'll the good news. In reality, though, I fear this is just the first of many things that are blown and need replacing. But its still one more thing I can tell the repair man (who I'll probably end up having to get) that I've already done. Thanks

The good news: Fuses are usually very fast to blow (unless they are slo-blow fuses), and offer better protection than breakers. The bad news: Depending on how close the strike was, it might not matter.

That said, by all means replace the fuse that blew and see what happens! I'd give you better than even odds that it will fix that particular problem.

[Sundancer268]

Originally Posted by n2zon

The good news: Fuses are usually very fast to blow (unless they are slo-blow fuses), and offer better protection than breakers. The bad news: Depending on how close the strike was, it might not matter.

That said, by all means replace the fuse that blew and see what happens! I'd give you better than even odds that it will fix that particular problem.

If the fuse did not protect the circuit board, I would recommend replacing it with the Dinosaur brand circuit board. They have a great product and are easy to install. https://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/

[n2zon]

Originally Posted by Sundancer268

If the fuse did not protect the circuit board, I would recommend replacing it with the Dinosaur brand circuit board. They have a great product and are easy to install. https://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/

I have limited experience with this brand, but their furnace control board was *incredibly* less expensive at a Gander Outdoors going out of business sale and fixed the furnace in the Winnie. Also, their tech support was great when I called to make sure it would work with our furnace.

I'd buy from them again, were I to need a replacement they make. And at full price too, considering the "tech support" I have encountered from some of the OEMs.