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Old 12-17-2006, 01:33 PM   #1
richfaa
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Montana up in smoke

Pulled in to Park place C.G in Quartzsite. powered up, unhitched, let the slides out.. Lights began to flicker and smoke began to pour from the front compartment, where all the motors are.To make it short, Looking in the front compartment of the 3400..the far right fuse block (looking at it) the black wire was melting as was the fuse block.. We are dead in the water.. no power what so ever..I guess these things are not designed to be pulled and bounced down the road...I mean they are only RV's??? Lets see.. Fridge quit working on Gas, Apollo oven stopped working, now we are up in smoke..I am not a happy camper and that is not a good thing. We will be on the phone to Keystone in the AM..Right now, at this moment..they can haul it to the nearest junkyard...
 
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Old 12-17-2006, 01:49 PM   #2
Ozzie
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Oh no...how awful Rich...electricity is not my bag, but I'm sure they'll be sending someone out to get you sorted pronto.
I'm sure the worst is going through your heads right now.

How far is OZZ from you?
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Old 12-17-2006, 01:59 PM   #3
noneck
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Rich, That does sound bad... Did the slide motor switch stay active, could you hear the motor still running after releasing the switch? Any other clues to what was drawing DC current, like what was the wire that is smoked? I suspect you can do some circuit debug and try to repower portion of coach w/o the device that shorted. Keep us posted...
Chuck
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:00 PM   #4
LonnieB
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I'm really sorry to hear about your problems Rich. That is terrible, and I don't blame you for being ticked off. Hopefully all will be taken care of in short order.
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:03 PM   #5
richfaa
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The wire that smoked runs into a bunch of other wires and into the under belly..I will bet something rubbed through.. I am working on it.. I will get this thing powered up.. There are 2 Montana dealers nearby..One in parker ,Az one in Laughlin, NV both are listed as Paul Everts Rv..
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:14 PM   #6
noneck
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Hi Rich, Ok, sounds like the main feed to the converter... I was concerned about mine rubbing through on the opening where it passes into underbelly. I put wireloom to trim out the hole so it won't rub through insulation. You checked that point for wear? Pull the wire at the converter and test it for continuity to chassis...if tests is good then you know its not in under belly. Again, keep us posted.
Chuck
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:15 PM   #7
jrgwdenner
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Rich and Helen, we are so sorry that you've had so much trouble on your first big trip. We mentioned on the factory tour at the rally that some of those wires have the potential for wear and shorting out as they go through the unprotected holes in the frame, etc. Don't know if this is what caused your trouble, but it is surely something that needs to be addressed. Hope you get a quick fix so you can get on with the fun!
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:43 PM   #8
pud2
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Rich and Helen
OH MY Sorry to here about this especially so far from home. I'll bet it was a wire rubed and shorted to ground. If keystone knows about the running of wires through to holes in frame they should at least protect them. I'm going to check mine and maybe head off some bad luck. Hope all goes well and good luck.
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:55 PM   #9
Ozz
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Rich, call me, I'll come down tomorrow and we will see what the deal is. I'll e-mail you.
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Old 12-17-2006, 02:58 PM   #10
bob n pam
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Oh, Rich and Helen. I am so sorry to learn of this mishap. I hope you get it fixed very soon and are back on your way.
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Old 12-17-2006, 03:22 PM   #11
campbud
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Rich and Helen I hope you can get things fixed and enjoy your trip. Good Luck and so sorry that you have to go through this.
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Old 12-17-2006, 03:26 PM   #12
ols1932
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Rich, I'm sorry to hear of your problem. It seems that the quality of the wiring in our rigs is definitely not the best. There is no particular routing pattern for any of the wires. The wiring I added for my solar puts Keystone's wiring to shame. I've checked our rig several times for the possibility of wires rubbing through. So far I've found none.

Though it is definitely an inconvenience for you, you know that Keystone will somehow get you up and running, soon. Have a Merry Christmas, if you can.

We're in Quartzite right now too. Parked north on 95 close to Plomosa Rd, at the first 14-day BLM free parking. Will try and get over to meet you tomorrow, Dec 18 if I can free up the wife from her shopping.

Orv
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Old 12-17-2006, 03:42 PM   #13
richfaa
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Just had a phone conversation with Ozz who offered to drive down here(about 75 miles) to help out. Ozz is that kind of a guy.I had made some assumptions as to what that black wire was..and to be brief we are powered up..have AC slides will work as well as landing gear. Ozz offered some advise on things to try in the AM.. Our converter is off line but we are conserving battery power and should be Ok for a few days. Also found that we are leaking hydraulic fluid somewhere, can't tell where in the dark but the tray is not wet and under the bed is dry.I am still a very unhappy camper but at least we can sleep in a warm camper instead of under some newspapers on a bench somewhere. We are not impressed with Quartzsite..flea market ..shanty town atmosphere..we will not be back....ever...
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Old 12-17-2006, 03:52 PM   #14
Ozzie
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That's good news Rich. It's also great that you have some fellow MOC'ers near enough to come lend a hand. I'm sure things will work out just fine, I hope the damage isn't too bad.
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Old 12-17-2006, 03:57 PM   #15
jsrang
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Rich,
Sorry to hear about your electrical mishap. Cheer up, things will get better especially with all of the help coming in to assist from the forum. And I'm sure Keystone will step up to the plate and make things right. Things can often appear to be their bleakest during times of crisis, but hang in there and things will get better.

Jim
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Old 12-17-2006, 04:05 PM   #16
sreigle
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Well, that really sucks. Please let us know how this comes out. We have the same model, as you know, so will want to check ours. Ours does have some trim around the hole those wires go through. Yours doesn't?
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Old 12-17-2006, 04:22 PM   #17
Dave e Victoria
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Rich and Helen,
Hang in there guys -- this too will pass. Sounds like you are getting some knowledgeable help. Hopefully it will all boil down to a single wire.

I agree that the wiring in RV's is a real weak point - not just in Montanas - the whole industry needs to hire some decent engineering in this area. There is no excuse for running an unfused wire anywhere much less in an RV.
Dave
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Old 12-17-2006, 04:31 PM   #18
snfexpress
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Rich - I'm glad you've put a bandaid on. Looks live you've got some power. Before you hook up your tow vehicle, I would make sure the charging wire is UNfused (fuse removed) so as to not cause any more damage. Maybe it would be best to disconnect the batteries, too.
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Old 12-17-2006, 07:27 PM   #19
JH Sechelt
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Slides and landing gear feed right from the batteries. If it was the black wire coming from the bottom of the the trailer, it is probably the charge line from the Converter. The red line going down below must feed the converter/panel for all the other 12v stuff. The red wire has a circuit breaker to protect it, not too sure about the black one. Sorry to hear about your problem at the beginning of a long trip, hope you get it all fixed up soon. Sure would be nice to be able to get a wiring schematic for these units.

J&D
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Old 12-18-2006, 12:21 AM   #20
foggyb
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Hi Rich Will be very interested in what you find. Pushing over 40,000 miles on our 3400. Wouldn't want that prob to appear if it can be fixed before hand. Thax Dan
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