50 Amp Surge Guard problem

[Basspunky]

After plugging in today, all went fine on board surge Guard 34560 TRC worked fine then started buzzing loudly. upon looking at it I found the white wire on the load side was burnt black for about 6 inches. Any ideas what is going on? Will add pics if I can figure out how.

[wecker1]

If you haven't already please proceed cautiously and turn the breaker off and unplug from whatever power source you're connected to. Then, provide more details regarding what you're plugged into, etc., so folks more tech savvy then I can answer your question.

[Basspunky]

After unplugging trailer and plugging it in again, the Surge Guard 34560 worked as usual but has a loud buzzing again. Is the surge guard bad or something else going on? I tried to post pics but they haven't appeared yet. Thanks for any help.

[Basspunky]

We are plugged into a 50 amp outlet at a PA State Park

[wecker1]

That buzzing is probably an alarm alerting you to a problem. The burnt wire is evidence of that. Before you do further damage or worse I would turn the breaker off, unplug, and remain unplugged.

[Basspunky]

We are plugged into a 50 amp outlet at a PA State Park. I'm quite sure the electric is fine coming into the trailer as the Surge guard did it pretest and allowed it to connect. "(GREEN LED's are on w/No error codes)

[Basspunky]

OK Thanks much!

[Basspunky]

Pictures finally posted. Notice the "white" wire on the load side. Any ideas? The buzzing was not an alarm sound, but was abnormal.

[Hunts900]

My Surgeguard made the same buzzing sound, and stopped working. Discovered water had gotten inside the enclosure. Switched to a progressive. Surgeguard would not replace under warranty.

[Basspunky]

Originally Posted by Hunts900

My Surgeguard made the same buzzing sound, and stopped working. Discovered water had gotten inside the enclosure. Switched to a progressive. Surgeguard would not replace under warranty.

It would seem there is a reason behind the common wire (white) getting hot. The loads (red and Black) did not. I'm wondering if it was a ground issue. i am sure it never got water damaged. I do think I'll have to replace it but I don't want to miss the initial cause.

[mhs4771]

Normally a wire like that is because of heat due to excessive current.
Were all the lugs, especially the white wire good and tight and clamped onto the wire and not the insulation? A loose connection would cause poor contact resulting in increased current and heat.

[Basspunky]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Normally a wire like that is because of heat due to excessive current.
Were all the lugs, especially the white wire good and tight and clamped onto the wire and not the insulation? A loose connection would cause poor contact resulting in increased current and heat.

That's what we were thinking, but everything was definitely very tight with no insulation in the way. Guess I'm going to have to chase the white wire down and check the other end...

[Ahdmeyer]

had the same thing on my motorhome about 1 year ago. I am betting that the lugs were a little loose and that they heated up and then start burning. if possible now cut power off and loosen the lugs and see if the surface is pitted and burned. hopefully with clean up the surface with a small file and then put back and tighten, get some electrical compound something like we used at my work call "no ox id" or similar for the contact point. good luck
al meyer
3931 fb

[TN road dog]

The problem seems to be within the surge protector. Sounds like due to the buzzing sound, the contacts simply are not fully closing, or in other words the contacts closing mechanism is hanging up. This in some trades called contact chatter. Therefore the contacts don’t fully close or doesn’t stay fully closed which creates heat as the voltage jumps or arcs from one side of the contact to the other.
Mine has chattered or buzzed very briefly due to a bad connection at the campground electrical post. I opened the campground electrical box, found loose connections on the load side of the breaker. Because it’s on the load side, I could (with breaker off) tighten the connection and all was well. I don’t recommend you do such unless you have experience working with electricity. From the pics there may be some internal damage to your surge protector. Hopefully it can be repaired. The burnt portion of the white wire will definitely need to be removed.

[GAinaMontana]

Southwire will warrenty some Surge Guard units sold prior to their purchase of Surge Guard. Give them a call.

[Basspunky]

Originally Posted by TN road dog

The problem seems to be within the surge protector. Sounds like due to the buzzing sound, the contacts simply are not fully closing, or in other words the contacts closing mechanism is hanging up. This in some trades called contact chatter. Therefore the contacts don’t fully close or doesn’t stay fully closed which creates heat as the voltage jumps or arcs from one side of the contact to the other.
Mine has chattered or buzzed very briefly due to a bad connection at the campground electrical post. I opened the campground electrical box, found loose connections on the load side of the breaker. Because it’s on the load side, I could (with breaker off) tighten the connection and all was well. I don’t recommend you do such unless you have experience working with electricity. From the pics there may be some internal damage to your surge protector. Hopefully it can be repaired. The burnt portion of the white wire will definitely need to be removed.

Yes you are right on. Looks like the damage is done, although we've found no contacts, set screws that were loose. Thanks

[Basspunky]

Originally Posted by Basspunky

Yes you are right on. Looks like the damage is done, although we've found no contacts, set screws that were loose. Thanks

Seems the fault was internal and no fault of the installation from the factory. Warranty is out, guess I'll just replace with new one. Any recommendations? I have always had Surge Guard in all three Montana 5th wheels. No real issues til this time.

[Our3231CK]

If you have a multi-meter i would begin using that to do some testing, I always start at the source before I even plug in to make sure the legs on 50A are balanced and wired right. Far to often I discover the pedestal ground broken, report it and ask they fix it or move me.

[PNW Fireguy]

hard to tell from your photo but looks as if your stripped portion of the connections are marred. I would make sure all your connections are tight and that your wire stripping has not damaged the strands or worse yet broken them. These will all generate heat and cause the kind of damage your photos exhibit. On another note be sure to de-energize the AC connections before performing any of these checks including measuring resistance.

[Basspunky]

Thanks for the advice. The supply power was tested and is fine. the problem is definitely on the trailer side.