Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Thor Forums > Thor Tech Forums > Maintenance and Repair
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-06-2022, 04:35 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Arizona
Posts: 27
THOR #26716
This is Crazy! Is it related?

So, for the past month I have had the 2016 Four Winds 28Z parked and plugged into an outside home outlet. The home outlet is on a 20 amp breaker. The electric plug in from the coach is not long enough to reach the outlet, so I added a 10' foot extension cord. All has been good with no real issues.

I have been outside doing something with the coach almost everyday (new vinyl floor, new wall covering, replacing jacknife sofa, cleaning, getting toilet to work, etc.)

The only time there has been a problem, is when I had the AC running, a 110v pedestal fan going, the fridge running, and then firing up the shop vac to clean up. Then it would trip the house breaker. Shutting off the AC while I vacuumed woulld keep it from tripping.

So yesterday, I shut off the fridge (nothing was in it) and I had the AC and fan running. About 15 minutes goes by and both stop working. I check the house breaker and all is good. I check the coach breaker and all is good. I check the electrical connections and find this!



It melted right at the adapter plug. I have not had any issues with this being plugged in prior to this for a month, and had been checking. I plugged and unplugged the cord at least 3 times in the last two weeks as I went to empty the tanks, refill with borax and such and drive a short distance to get it to slosh around.

I then started the generator to check to see if everything would work okay. It seemed to take slightly longer to fire up, and then the hour meter flashed once (it went blank momentarily then came back on). The weird thing was that the hour meter, added a digit! Last check was 217. 3 hours on the generator. Now it indicated 2171.3.

I let it run and finally the AC came on and ran perfectly fine. All other electrical components seem fine also.

Any ideas as to what caused the meltdown? How about the meter? Can it be reset correctly?

Thanks for any responses.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20220605_075705.jpg
Views:	702
Size:	82.8 KB
ID:	37942  

__________________
roaddawg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 04:46 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Elite Washington's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Washington
Posts: 1,112
THOR #6433
Those pigtails can get really hot. Add in the extension cord with the length you are running and it’s not low enough gauge . What I would do is get the normal 30amp extension cord and run that all the way until you had to use the pig tail for the outlet.
__________________
2017 Freedom Elite 30fe 2013 Wrangler Unlimited toad.
Elite Washington is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 04:49 PM   #3
Site Team
 
16ACE27's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,129
THOR #7035
No clue about your meter but now you know the problem with puck adapters - they overheat when pulling close to 20 amps for a long time.

Get yourself a quality dogbone adapter



Since you're in the "mod mode" get yourself at least an AC voltage/current monitor:

Click image for larger version

Name:	AC Monitor.jpg
Views:	70
Size:	61.0 KB
ID:	37943

And a DC monitor wouldn't hurt either:

Click image for larger version

Name:	DC Monitor.png
Views:	51
Size:	399.8 KB
ID:	37944
__________________
Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
16ACE27 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 04:53 PM   #4
Site Team
 
16ACE27's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,129
THOR #7035
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elite Washington View Post
Those pigtails can get really hot. Add in the extension cord with the length you are running and it’s not low enough gauge . What I would do is get the normal 30amp extension cord and run that all the way until you had to use the pig tail for the outlet.
I agree that 16 gauge extension cord probably dropped the available voltage to the MH and ramped up the AC draw from the A/C which led to the meltdown.
__________________
Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
16ACE27 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 04:55 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
ducksface's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2018 24.1 AXISSIXxSIX
State: Arizona
Posts: 6,762
THOR #13932
I'll be Frank:
A limited knowledge base caused this.
Read, buy, prevent...regarding every aspect of rv use.


Newbs.
30 amp extension cords are not expensive.

(I use that silly little puck adapter. It runs the converter to run the fridge and 2 amp tap the batteries. It plugs directly into the wall, attached to a 30amp cord to the RV. Adapters have a firm and viable use with firm and definitive limits)

Punchline:
If not adept, do not adapt.
__________________
Below is a link to most of my modifications either accomplished or pending.
https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f2...n-18996-3.html

Click on my pictures then click the pop-up for a full screen zoomable picture.
ducksface is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 05:25 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Elite Washington's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Washington
Posts: 1,112
THOR #6433
Quote:
Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
No clue about your meter but now you know the problem with puck adapters - they overheat when pulling close to 20 amps for a long time.

Get yourself a quality dogbone adapter



Since you're in the "mod mode" get yourself at least an AC voltage/current monitor:

Attachment 37943

And a DC monitor wouldn't hurt either:

Attachment 37944

Forgot those pucks are terrible as well! And the pigtail you pictured is what they need to be using.
__________________
Elite Washington is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 06:30 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
The Gritz Carlton's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: THOR Chateua 35SF
State: Florida
Posts: 5,850
THOR #11130
The extension cord is the weak link...doesn't matter what adapters you use...that little extension cord (probably 16GA) toasted.
__________________
Now an SOB
Traded Thor for Melbourne Prestige 24NP
2018 THOR Chateau 35SF
Two Labs, Bugsie & Blondie
Blondie passed in 2020 at 5 to Leukemia
The Gritz Carlton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 06:48 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: Texas
Posts: 2,672
THOR #11781
That's the problem with just grabbing any old extension coard. Only extension coards rated for the load should be used.
__________________
Lt Keefer
2018 Hurricane 29M
CHF, Saf-T-Plus, SumoSprings
Lt Keefer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 06:58 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
ducksface's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2018 24.1 AXISSIXxSIX
State: Arizona
Posts: 6,762
THOR #13932
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Extensi...a-906250004053

10g lives at my house.
It's a
Buy it once and keep it for life
type purchase.
One lives in the RV just in case.

The first one I bought years ago had females on both ends. Seemed to be a thing, but I don't remember what for. I was more than a bit angry.
The second I bought was the wonky 20 amp cross tang male.
Neither were from the above vendor. One was true value store the other I don't remember.
All others have been no problem.
Easy fixes.

The lighted ends are nice
It let's you know if the wall has power.
__________________
Below is a link to most of my modifications either accomplished or pending.
https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f2...n-18996-3.html

Click on my pictures then click the pop-up for a full screen zoomable picture.
ducksface is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 10:29 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
TripleGGG's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Palazzo 36.1
State: Tennessee
Posts: 440
THOR #11607
Definitely extension cord was too small to carry that much load. As stated I only use 10 gauge extension cords and even then no more than 50 feet in total length.

Hopefully the cord melted before any long term damage was done to the air conditioner.
__________________
Greg, Gina & Ginger the rescue dog
2014 Palazzo 36.1, Cummins ISB 6.7 300hp, Allison 2500
TOAD 2008 Jeep Rubicon 4x4, Blue Ox Avail tow bar, RVibrake 3
TripleGGG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-06-2022, 10:56 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
dkoldman's Avatar
 
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Sunstar 29VE Winnebago
State: Texas
Posts: 5,584
THOR #13058
Quote:
Originally Posted by roaddawg View Post



I then started the generator to check to see if everything would work okay. It seemed to take slightly longer to fire up, and then the hour meter flashed once (it went blank momentarily then came back on). The weird thing was that the hour meter, added a digit! Last check was 217. 3 hours on the generator. Now it indicated 2171.3.

I let it run and finally the AC came on and ran perfectly fine. All other electrical components seem fine also.

Any ideas as to what caused the meltdown? How about the meter? Can it be reset correctly?

Thanks for any responses.
The hidden lesson learned here is to trust your system, meaning breakers or GFCI. A lot people just assume they trip for no reasons, or just some defective part

Had you posted the breaker tripping problem before the damage, you would have got the same advice to avoid the damage.

If your question about what caused the meltdown was intended to ask why did it burn when it did when you had run the AC before?, then I would ask about how hot or how humid it was the day it almost caught on fire? That unit needing to run more and the added heat outside was the difference in capacity you did not have but should have had.

On the generator meter. I have two in my coach, the OEM meter I cannot change, the one with my Onan AGS I can set to whatever I want. If you are 100% sure it is not accurate, I would just replace. Hard to believe a 2016 only has 217 hrs, but then again, the biggest mystery I have come to learn since owning an RV is why do people go all out of their way to NOT use their generators
__________________
2019 Sunstar 29ve; Toad Lincoln Navigator; RVi Brake 3 & Command Center; Roadmaster Nighthawk Tow bar & Baseplate; Sumo Springs; Safe T Plus; Onan EC-30 AGS; Vmax 250ah AGM; T-Mobile Internet; H/W Heater / Chassis Disconnect Switches; Southwire Surge Guard 44270 & 34951 w/Monitor 40301; Jet Flo Macerator; Alpine SPE500 Speakers; Visio M21D-H8R
dkoldman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2022, 06:19 PM   #12
Junior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Windsport 35M
State: Massachusetts
Posts: 26
THOR #13212
Bottom line is never use anything less than a 12 gauge extension cord. If you have an cord less than 12 gauge on a 20 amp circuit, it's going to fry the cord or your devices when you get close to pulling the 20 amps. It's basic electrical standards.
__________________
BobPetit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2022, 08:55 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Fourwinds 24F
State: North Carolina
Posts: 766
THOR #9511
Every lump in the line from the outlet to the coach is an invitation for heat…and IMHO is a fire waiting to happen. My humble advice: 1) replace the wall receptacle you were plugged into and check the wires for discoloration. I would not trust the integrity of that outlet since it had excessive current running through it. 2) wire a proper 30a RV outlet at home.
__________________
JimOIB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2022, 09:39 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 24F
State: Ohio
Posts: 4,089
THOR #16721
You hit your thumb with the hammer, and it hurt... pain is analogous to the breaker tripping, saying DON'T DO THAT!

When you persisted, the wires melted to teach you what happens when you ignore warnings! I have learned many lessons from the school of hard knocks!!
__________________
Chateau_Nomad is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thor Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.




All times are GMT. The time now is 08:16 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2