New member

[Andie]

Hi all
New owners of a 2012 funfinderX 24rrbs. We have been on 4 trips. Last being a month long.
We had several issue with the power tripping during our last trip.

During the last night of our trip we lost all power to the tt. 1130pm. We turned on battery power to keep refrig running and plugged a fan into 110 pole power to stay cool

Checked and no breakers tripped the main power breaker at the pole did not trip. When inspecting the power cable it appeared to be burnt on the pole end. And melted to plug into the side of the camper. Further inspection and the power cord connection into the tt was melted. We actually had to remove the socket and cut the wire to disconnect it from the trailer.

At this point the wires to the tt look ok and we replaced the socket on the camper and replaced the 30amp cord. The battery appears dead as it will not raise the tongue.
My question is how do i check AC,refrig,water heater etc to ensure we do not have damage inside the camper?

 

[code2e]

HI, Sorry to hear about meltdown. A poor / loose electrical connection creates resistance, which builds heat as you found. You should make very sure that the wiring to your new power inlet is clean and secure. The wire itself may have hardened from heat for several inches from the melted connection. Once all is tight, reset all circuit breakers to be sure not tripped, plug it in to 120 volt AC and test all the outlets with an outlet tester. Readily available at any hardware store. This will verify proper wiring, power, neutral and ground in the right places. Once confirmed, try each appliance one at a time. Hopefully, all is still well.

 

[code2e]

I should have mentioned. If you are home now and don't have a 30 amp receptacle, it is fine to use an adapter from your 20 amp cord. Just know the air conditioner will not have enough amperage to start and could be damaged trying. You need 30 amp service to test it.

 

[JimboFunFinder]

Sometimes wiring issues can be difficult to diagnose and solve. As previously stated a loose connection on just one of the incoming wires can cause tremendous heat build up. The reason is that the heat generated is equal to the square of the current times the resistance. The AC draws a little more that 20 Amps when the compressor is running and a lot more at startup. Using 20 Amps the power would be 20x20 times the resistance. Even 0.1 Ohms would result in 40 Watts of power which would heat up the connection and melt the insulation.
Since you report that the main and none of the branch breakers tripped, it seems to be that the 'short' or high current must be in the removeable power cord. In the connection at the TT or in the wiring leading to the main circuit breaker.
I would suggest that you turn OFF the main breaker and with the power cord removed measure the resistance between the Hot and Common AC connections coming into the trailer. Ideally you would have infinite Ohms but anything over 1 MegOhm should be good. I am guessing that you will read a whole lot less. The caveat is that there may be a voltage breakdown and that the DC resistance (measured at typically 1.5 or 9Vdc) will read high but when 120 VAC is applied there will be a short. The poor man's approach would be to first check the power cord connected to 120 VAC, then the power cord and trailer connector (alone) and finally the power cord, trailer connector and trailer wiring to arrive at the culprit.

I hope that you will report back on your findings.

 

[Andie]

Thanks for all the information. It appears that the issue was from the pole to the TT. We replaced the plug on the TT and have tested all receptacles, the refrig. and they are working fine. I cannot test the AC as not 30 AMP connection. I have a trip planned close to home the 1st week of Sept to test 30 amp service. Your information was both very helpful and informative. Thank you