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Old 06-19-2018, 05:11 PM   #21
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THOR #11713
Your comment about the problem of connecting Solliden stranded wires is a very helpful one here. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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Old 06-19-2018, 07:02 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ComputerChips View Post
Had the same thing happen on mine. I do electrical work and I can tell you that wire nuts are fine but one of the hardest splices to make is joining a solid conductor with a stranded conductor. The transfer switch comes with stranded wires to be more flexible and to not break the plastic mounts on the transfer switch when the wires get stuffed down into the box. It takes special care to screw the wire but on to both wires making sure it's not just pushing one wire out of the way as it screws down on just the other wire. When this happens you have loose connection. A loose connection will not carry the full load. It will heat up and scorch the insulation and can lead to a fire if nothing else fails first.
That new style switch with rigid connection terminals sounds good.
You are right CC. I had the exact meltdown in my TS. Wire nuts were melted to the wire threads; looking like a burning man skeleton. On close examination it looked as though the stranded wire had been cut thru via wire nut threads making a loose contact with the solid copper(Romex) and heating up.

Simple to fix was to remove the stranded wire and connect the Romex directly to the lugs on the switch. A little extra Romex in the TS box and strain reliefs will keep strain off the switch.

If it is necessary to connect stranded wire to solid copper, best to solder the end of stranded wire when using wire nuts making it more solid. And even better to solder the stranded wire to the copper and then use wire nuts.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:25 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by timbuchanan7 View Post
We have a 2015 ACE 30.1 that had the wires burned in the transfer switch at the wire nuts as well. They now have a replacement transfer switch that does not require the use of wire nuts. All of the wires are connected with screw down connections. I would definitely recommend replacing the wire nut transfer switch with the one with the screwdown connections. This is a much safer design.
Thanks, i belueve that is what i have now
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:35 AM   #24
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This is a great community. Thanks all for taking the time to respond. I have leaned a lot.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:45 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by Bhowiepa View Post
This is a great community. Thanks all for taking the time to respond. I have leaned a lot.
Thank you for posting, this has likely saved several people loss or damage. Wire nuts are a pretty common issue in rv's, I had a class C years ago that the Gen quit working suddenly, found it to be connection box that the wire nut had just came off and shorted out against what was a metal connection box.

Same thing with all your water connections, bouncing down the road the fittings will eventually loosen up and especially if they dont tighten them all the way which is not uncommon at all. I regularly check sink and water tank fittings and anyplace that has a screw on fitting.

I will be checking the wire nuts on mine today as I havent done a through check.
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Old 06-20-2018, 10:46 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by ComputerChips View Post
Had the same thing happen on mine. I do electrical work and I can tell you that wire nuts are fine but one of the hardest splices to make is joining a solid conductor with a stranded conductor. The transfer switch comes with stranded wires to be more flexible and to not break the plastic mounts on the transfer switch when the wires get stuffed down into the box. It takes special care to screw the wire but on to both wires making sure it's not just pushing one wire out of the way as it screws down on just the other wire. When this happens you have loose connection. A loose connection will not carry the full load. It will heat up and scorch the insulation and can lead to a fire if nothing else fails first.
That new style switch with rigid connection terminals sounds good.
Would it be a good idea to take wire nuts off if connecting solid to stranded and tin the ends of the stranded then reconnect?
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Old 06-20-2018, 11:22 AM   #27
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Had a similar issue with our water heater, we were watching tv one night and smelled something burning. Took quite a while to trace down the smell, it was coming from under the sink. I shut down the water heater then had to remove a plywood panel to get to it. The junction box, which is plastic, had a quarter sized hole burned in the side. Stranded and solid core wire not properly connected with the wire nut, caused arcing, and could have caused a fire.

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Old 06-23-2018, 07:34 PM   #28
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Transfer switch issue

Bhowiepa,

Look at this thread:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f87/ats-c...ed-392889.html

I had a similar problem and through these posts you can find some help. My ATS caught fire and fried. It melted the insulation, arced flame, and left that acrid odor for weeks. I finally placed 'fresh-cab' in the area to cover the smell.

Surge Guard has specific guidelines for tightening the electrical connections inside the ATS. But "do not over tighten". 25 in/lbs is the recommended torque.

Do not use locktite. Some plastics dissolve when in contact with locktite.

There are 4 pages of comments with some of them from the ATS manufacturer.

Good luck. This type of incident is unnerving.

machlin
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Old 06-23-2018, 08:05 PM   #29
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Wire Nuts??

I am not an electrician but I have used wire nuts in my home and shop to replace broken light switches. These are the same that were being used in my Thor FE29. If , as has been stated many times, the RV experiences anything from a 5.5 to an 8 on the Richter earthquake scale, I would say that wire nuts have no place in a RV. I would suspect that the constant movement would eventually cause looseness, taped or not. An electrician friend told me that soldering electrical is not the same as in electronics and should not be used. A terminal board with solid screw downs is more appropriate, in his opinion.
He has done this in my Thor FE29. He also added a 12 volt fan for this under the bed, because he said that adequate ventilation was not present for the fuse/circuit breaker panel, the inverter/converter and the transfer switch that is located there.
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Old 06-23-2018, 08:57 PM   #30
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I tackled this one today. This concerned me so into the wire jungle I went under the bed. I bought some of those wire terminal blocks with 2 screws to tighten down. I found in my transfer switch one of the wire nuts loose and one of the others the strand was wrapped around the insulation on the other wire probably 60-70% leaving very little connecting. I tinned the ends of the wires and then installed in the terminal blocks. After the switch box I went into the terminal box mounted on the floor under the bed, this was almost as scary, when I pulled the wires up to look at them 2 of the bare wire grounds came right out of the wire nut. HOLY CRAP!. I then found the chassis ground on the inverter the wire had been stuck through the ring terminal but never crimped tight AND the nut tightening it to the inverter was just about to fall off.

I proceeded to shorten whatever wires I could. In the end I got all the wire nuts replaced with terminal blocks and cut out 30' of assorted wire. IT isnt perfect but it is a dang site better than it was.
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Old 06-24-2018, 01:34 AM   #31
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Yes, this happened to me in the breaker box and what was wrong was all of the neutral wireswere never tightened down on the neutral bar. The fuse box location was under the bed, it was about to catch on fire, melted the fuse box and totally burnt all the neutral wires
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Old 06-24-2018, 01:51 AM   #32
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Scary news. We have a 2018 ACE 30.4 and after reading this I need to check all the connections. Is the transfer switch under the bed? When we bought this MH the awning lights did not work. We took it back to CW and the tech found that the factory did not hook up the ground wire. Can't imagine what else they forgot to do.
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Old 06-24-2018, 01:57 AM   #33
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Originally Posted by Live Oak1 View Post
Scary news. We have a 2018 ACE 30.4 and after reading this I need to check all the connections. Is the transfer switch under the bed? When we bought this MH the awning lights did not work. We took it back to CW and the tech found that the factory did not hook up the ground wire. Can't imagine what else they forgot to do.
It is under the bed on my 29.3 I would assume so on you 30.4 also.
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Old 06-24-2018, 02:58 AM   #34
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You may want to try the Generator switch one more time ...... I had the same issue until I realized that it is a switch not a circuit breaker toggle. The generator switch is an on off switch and is in the on position when it is pulled toward you not away from you.
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Old 06-24-2018, 03:30 AM   #35
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Transfer switch

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Originally Posted by safari View Post
should we all find our box & take the wire nuts off & solder the wire connections?
I'd like to check out my transfer switch (been having some issues) and wonder if any Gemini/Compass owners, who have already located theirs's, could help me find mine without a scavenger hunt? Nancy
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Old 06-24-2018, 06:07 AM   #36
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Found this today. Took off the stranded stock wires and went straight in with solid

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Old 06-24-2018, 01:42 PM   #37
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Originally Posted by nmcmilla View Post
I'd like to check out my transfer switch (been having some issues) and wonder if any Gemini/Compass owners, who have already located theirs's, could help me find mine without a scavenger hunt? Nancy

found mine under kitchen sink area had to pull drawer out to get to it.
hope that helps.
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Old 06-25-2018, 03:34 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by safari View Post
found mine under kitchen sink area had to pull drawer out to get to it.
hope that helps.
Thanks safari, I'll check that location out. I am on the road right now in it.
I am pretty sure my coach batteries (new) are not getting charged while on (30amp) shore power or while my generator is running (lost a light on the monitoring panel after 1 hr generator operation)...leaving just while traveling as their sole charging opportunity….
I was hoping for a easy "fuse box" to check but it could be loose wires...
I had just had 2 recall items fixed at the Ford dealership before departure (which must have entailed a chassis battery disconnect as my dashboard clock time needed resetting) so I'm worried that recall work might be contributing to my "electrical" problem. If it was too easy... everyone would be RVing, Nancy
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Old 06-27-2018, 04:50 PM   #39
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THOR #7479
Quote:
Originally Posted by timbuchanan7 View Post
We have a 2015 ACE 30.1 that had the wires burned in the transfer switch at the wire nuts as well. They now have a replacement transfer switch that does not require the use of wire nuts. All of the wires are connected with screw down connections. I would definitely recommend replacing the wire nut transfer switch with the one with the screwdown connections. This is a much safer design.
On your ACE, where is the transfer switch located?
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Old 07-15-2018, 04:01 AM   #40
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Model: 2017 Gemini 23TR
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THOR #5922
My problem charging problem resolved:
Turned out my intellitec battery disconnect solenoid had failed (18 months of operation) and needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, I had deep discharged my batteries several times before discovering that they were not taking a charge while on shore or generator. This is my first non-warranty item and it cost around $1,000 with the replacement batteries, the diagnostics and the eventual repair. The good news is that the dealership had me in and out in under a week in early July. Planning to test it all this coming week while off the grid camping….
Nancy
(I posted this message on 2 threads as I was looking for a solution to my problem on both;-)
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