Wires burned up - Montana Owners Club

Montana_2008 · 02-11-2006, 07:12 AM

Something new gone wrong. My 05 Monty has no power, it is out of warrenty so guess im stuck. There is no power in my 3400RL the wires from the back of the trailer plug to the panel in the bathroom are burned up. WELL ITS FIXED. WIRE WAS BURNED CLEAR IN TO, WE ARE LUCKY WE DIDNT BURN UP. CALLED GOOD SAM INSURANCE AND THEY SAY THEY WONT PAY BECAUSE IT WAS FACTORY FAULT. NOT THROUGH WITH GOOD SAY,WHY PAY FOR INSURANCE IF THEY JUST SAY FACTORY FAULT AND GET OUT OF IT. CALLED FACTORY AND THEY ARE GOING TO PAY EVEN IF THE TRAILER IS OUT OF WARRANTY. REALLY BURNS ME UP ABOUT GOOD SAM GOING TO DO A BUNCH OF LETTER WRITTING ALSO LOOKING AT NEW CEDAR CREEK. NOT SURE I CAN TRUST THIS UNIT NOW.

richfaa · 02-11-2006, 08:33 AM

More and more justification for a GOOD extended warranty..We will be purchasing one ,,check out www.warrantyexperts.com don't know if that is the company we will be buying from but they are one of the better ones.

5rvers · 02-11-2006, 08:53 AM

mtman,

Sorry to hear about your power problems. I have an 05 3400RL and I've not had any power issues (knock on wood). I hope it gets fixed soon and it doesn't cost you much.

Good Luck!

Trailer Trash 2 · 02-11-2006, 09:14 AM

I believe that the dealer will be able to tell you weather it was the fault of the installer or yours if it was a instalation problem. all you can do is ask if they will accept responsability for the electrical problem. you have nothing to loose only to gain.

TT2

richfaa · 02-11-2006, 09:20 AM

I would be VERY interested in knowing if Keystone would admit to a workmanship error causing a problem like that??

richfaa · 02-11-2006, 09:26 AM

Should not your regular camper insurance policy cover that???

lightningjack11 · 02-11-2006, 01:19 PM

MT,
Yes I had a problem.

My input power cable comes into a junction box in the rear cabinet area. The main wire coming out of the input junction box was rubbing on the wall where the wire went through on the way to the converter.

The wires start shorting at the wall(Ground to Common) and generated heat which the went to the input junction box and burnt up all the wires. I was still functional but I am betting I would have had a major fire on the next trip since the wood drawers to the cabinet was only inches away.

I urged everybody to check the input power cord for warmth near the plug in every once in a while. If a short stars it will get warm. Also check the places where cables go in and out of the living area for rubbing.

My fix was nickle/dime. I cleaned up and clipped the burnt wires and put some new twist locks on the connections in the junction box.

Before my next trip I will put some padding around the entry holes.

If it had caught fire while we were sleeping or touring around it would have been much worse.

I am very thankfull for checking my cord and finding a very low resistance between common and ground.

Garin1 · 02-11-2006, 05:27 PM

This is not the first time I have read about somone nearly losing their unit because of wiring rubbing through an un protected entry way.

I wonder howmany people have reported this directly to Keystone

dsprik · 02-11-2006, 05:57 PM

Prarriepoodle had a very bad fire from wires rubbing on entry holes.

Search "ALMOST LOST MY MONTANA". Could be very helpful.

HamRad · 02-11-2006, 08:52 PM

mtman1313,
Thank you for posting about your wiring problem. So glad no one got hurt and the damage appears to be not too serious. At least I hope it isn't. Certainly doesn't hurt to check connections from time to time. After dragging the trailer over some of the roads we've been on I'm surprised anything stays together. I'm going to re-check all my connections and possible rub areas.

Good luck with getting yours fixed.

HamRad

lightningjack11 · 02-12-2006, 01:21 AM

Garin,

No I did not report it to Keystone. My loacal dealer no longer sells Keystone products so I couldn't go to him.

My feeling is the best place to report it is in the problem area of this forum. Keystone does check this forum and it won't get lost in a file somewhere.

richfaa · 02-12-2006, 03:33 AM

We did pay particular attention to wires through holes, on our Factory in the fall and did note that the the holes were wires passed through in frame and underbelly WERE protected with insulation and padding.However..as we like to say, these things are made by people and people make mistakes so it is a good preventative measure to check everywhere..we surely will.

sreigle · 02-17-2006, 01:17 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I would be VERY interested in knowing if Keystone would admit to a workmanship error causing a problem like that??

I think we've already seen that. They took care of Prariepoodle.

stiles watson · 02-17-2006, 06:56 PM

All you sure have my attention. I have added wiring to my return-to-service check list for action when I return to the USA. You folks are sure adding to my work load.

sreigle · 02-18-2006, 03:21 PM

Stiles, you may already know this but the wires in question are in the front locker where they go through the rear vertical wall. Yours is the same year as ours and the rim of that hole on ours and Prariepoodle's is metal with no insulation. I put some of that foam tube pipe insulation on mine after seeing what Linda went through.

Les and Julie · 02-18-2006, 05:52 PM

This sounds serious. I would like to check this out to make sure we dont have a wiring problem. A warm plug would usually mean the plug itself was faulty, not point to problems further down the line. I assumed Keystone has run an unspliced 4 wire electical line directly from the rear plugin through the underbelly and up through the interior wall to the main breaker panel (in our washroom wall). Can you help me here with exactly where to look for this rubbing?

old turbo · 02-19-2006, 02:14 AM

Another place to check for wire protection. I did the one on my batt. conections. I never gave a thought about the power cord connections. I have to wait for better weather to put the slide out, so I can get to this area.I know my power cord gets shoved into a storage area where my water pump and frig. are. lots of wire in this spot. Time to get out the shrink wrap tape.

Wrenchtraveller · 02-19-2006, 02:30 AM

I had hoped the RV plug at the rear of the coach would have made the wiring less subject to wire rubbing. The hard wired RVs that had the extension cord tugged and all scrambled up agaist the back of the convertor always worried me . On some of the RVS I have owned you could push your extension cord in amongst other wires and I was hoping the new plug in cords on the Montana would be so much safer. I will keep an eye on this.

lightningjack11 · 02-19-2006, 06:45 AM

Les and Julia,

Sounds strange but what I reported happened to me. Now that the connection is repaired my plug connector is no longer warm. If fact it is cold.

Bottom line, If you feel warm to hot lines or plugs there is probably a problem pending. To explain the connector problem is easy. All connectors have some finite resistance due to usage and oxidation. When your running higher current than normal due to a short like I had connectors may get warm. The greater the resistance at the juction point, the greater the heat. The line may not be warm due to the lower resistance.

sreigle · 02-21-2006, 09:51 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Les and Julie

This sounds serious. I would like to check this out to make sure we dont have a wiring problem. A warm plug would usually mean the plug itself was faulty, not point to problems further down the line. I assumed Keystone has run an unspliced 4 wire electical line directly from the rear plugin through the underbelly and up through the interior wall to the main breaker panel (in our washroom wall). Can you help me here with exactly where to look for this rubbing?

On ours and Linda's it is in the front locker, rear wall, just behind the battery.

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