I had our 2955 in front of the house from last weekends trip and was intending to put it back into storage yesterday. I was working on the tow vehicle and had unplugged it from shore power to use that cord for a soldering iron. When I was done I plugged it back into shore power and went in to make lunch.
Just as we're sitting down to lunch someone came running to our door saying that there's smoke coming out of our trailer. Sheer good luck that one of my neighbors noticed it!
I shut off the shore power and opened the bay door to switch off the batteries. The front compartment was on fire near the batteries but since I was off shore power I decided to put it out with water. Once the flames were (mostly) out I threw the switch to disconnect the batteries. I watched it for 4 hours and there was no more smoke.
The 12V wiring harness from the pinbox back is melted into slag. as are the battery cables. The hydraulic lines are melted. and I suspect the damage will go all the way to the converter, maybe further.
Today I put a meter on the 7 pin connector and every pin reads as a dead short to ground.
I've had little problems with other RV's, but NEVER anything of this magnitude.
I'm waiting for the experts to look at it and decide where the problem began but my #1 suspicion is that it began with the electric brakes. They failed the moment we drove it off the lot in 2005.
I keep an eye on the amperage they draw and it rarely goes over 7-8 amps, which is pretty normal for 2 axles. But it's possible that over time the brake circuit melted enough insulation to short out other circuits.
I'll be letting you know how good or bad Good Sam RV extended warranty insurance is. Reading the policy it seems that they exclude ALL electrical wiring.
I'm not worried yet, if it's not covered by Good Sam it's covered by AAA.
Edited 01/20/09
It fell off the tow truck because the driver missed one of the safty pins. Then he managed to drop it twice more trying to pick it up.
The frame is tweaked, the front sub-frame is very tweaked. one of the landing legs came up through the floor and destroyed most of the cabinets in the bedroom. The damage from the electrical fire has not been added up yet.
So far it looks like the charge wire from the converter to the batteries shorted to 'something'.
Todays Estimate : $15,000
Edited 02/21/2009
Aparently AAA does not cover electrical meltdowns unless there are actual FLAMES involved (we had plenty flames). Good Sam also excludes coverage for electrical wiring in their exended warranty coverage. My advice : take apart whetever you need to to make sure Keystone did not run your battery and/or charge wires between the frame & the floor or any other bad places. If you can seperate them from ALL other wiring.
We still do not have a difinative answer about where the short started.
Todays Estimate : $18,000
Edited 01/27/2008
Todays extimate remains at $18,000.
The 12v system was so badly charred that they can't even make a guess about where it started.
The estimate is expected to be complete in two weeks, but they HAVE started work.
Edited 02/02/2009:
AAA decided that it was a short somewhere in the wiring harness that started the fire. I have to pay for the electrical repairs out of pocket. This despite the experts assertion that there was no way they could pinpoint where it started. Has anybody been able to get any help from Montana in cases like this? I may be a heretic for saying this, but a $45,000 5'th wheel should not nuke itself after only 3 years and less than 7,000 road miles.
Edited 02/07/2009:
Our repairs are almost done and we should be able to bring our Monty home next week. The general slowdown in the RV market and the season meant that they could put the whole shop on it, and the parts came quickly.
Edited 02/10/2009:
Picked out Monty up today. The final tally, just a bit over $20,000.
So far I've noticed that the front end no longer creaks & shifts when the weight transfers from the landing legs to the hitch like it used to. Almaden RV told me they saw some evidance that there was excessive flexing in this area and added a bunch of gusseting to stiffen it up. The also added breakers at both ends of the 12v system so that if there is another short we won't catch fire again. All the 12v wiring from the converter all the way forward to the 7 pin connector was totally replaced.
Perhaps we should have taken it to them when it was new?