This is what I learned about my Montana during the last week.
The ground wire comes in through the back of the unit and connects to the panel box, which is connected to the converter. The ground wire leave the panel box and is connected to the frame, just to the right of the entry door (in front of the wheels) You have to remove a section of curved panel trim work (don't know the exact name of this part) next to the steps, under the unit to find it. Takes a screwdriver.
If the ground connection is broke coming into the unit, the first component to go to the dark side will be the converter. This is why when the converter breaker was turned off I did not get the shock. It is also why when a temporary "jumper wire", from the nuetral to the ground, was placed in the panel box I did not get the shock. Once the converter starts going bad, due to the lack of ground, anything connected to DC power will go bad eventually.
This is why I have replaced the water pump, the monitor panel, and two battery's. It is also why I have had to replace the light bulbs in my DC lights more frequently than what would be considered normal.
If there has been any damage to the other devices operating on DC remains to be seen. I'm thinking the only thing left would be my DC connection in the fridge, the wall thermostat, CO detector, and my fantastic fan.
The other thing I've learned is that an RV Technician would not check for ground unless your unit started zapping you. Instead they would just replace parts. Unless...you had a brillant one that said, "Wait a minute, all these parts are working off the converter". Even then they just might replace the converter.
So having my unit zap me was it's way of finally telling me, "Hey! We're not grounded, stupid! Quit replacing parts until we're grounded".
It's been a somewhat frustrating, but interesting week. I certainly learned a lot about wiring and I just wanted to share what I learned.
Have a delicious Sunday!
2002 2880RL (Miss Montana) towed by 2001 Dodge diesel 3500 (LadyRam)
Linear Mode
