wrong wire

[pirogue]

hello everyone, i was installing a 50 amp outlet from my house to the montana, i accidently put my neutral wire on the ground when i plugged it in. upon doing so i fried something in the converter but not sure what or how to tell whats wrong. everything still works and my battery has 13.77 volts which means it charging.

what else could be wrong or could i have damaged

thanks in advance.

[lightningjack11]

RESET all breakers including the groundfaults.

Next, check the converter outputs with a voltmeter.

Open the converter and find out if it smells burnt.

If your battery is charging then you must at least have 115 coming into the charger.

Poss damage or problem:
Wire burnt, look at the twist locks coming in
Bad Breaker
Bad wiring from the house(wired wrong)

[pirogue]

thanks for the reply, i know i must have done some damage cause when i opened the door smoke was coming out with a strong odor and something was hissing

is it possible nothing was hurt. i will put a meter on the connectors and see.

thanks again.

[lightningjack11]

Oh oh. Smoke implies damage so you might have to remove the converter and inspect it. Look for melted insulation.

Make sure your wiring from the house to trailer is correct.

Maybe the converter company can advise you.

[dyna_rider98]

Are you sure it was ground & neutral that got crossed? Crossing groud and neutral should not cause any problems as they are bonded at the source.

[richfaa]

Had a electrical contractor here today installing 50amp service for me as I figured there was a high probability that I would melt the entire Montana if I attempted it myself.They had it done in 2 hours..nothing melted..

[patodonn]

I had similar happening last summer at a relative's house..new power installation at his garage area.

Lots of smoke...I had "fried" a wire. Needed to pull the converter/CB panel out to inspect the area, and found it. Converter ended up OK, but I was very concerned about it at first.

Be sure the batteries are disconnected and all power is off the rig before trying to poke around all that wiring. Just follow your nose..you will find any burnt wiring pretty quickly. I had to drop a couple of belly panels to fix my problem.

Also suggest caling the converter mfg (listed in your Monty Owner's Manual) for trouble shooting assistance after any burnt wiring is fixed.

[pirogue]

thanks for the reply's, i checked the conections with the meter and it's all working so far maybe i got lucky!!

even the cooling fan kicked on!!!! i will continue to monitor it.

btw i didn't have the ground connected yet, that's where i went wrong.

[lightningjack11]

Craig,

Word of caution. If a wire or other connection is burnt it could set up a potential fire in the trailer if the bad connection is close to anything flamable. If you don't take the converter out to check it make sure you monitor it very,very closely for a while. Check for burning by smell(closeup). Also check the converter at night with all lights off and check for glows or small sparks.

Remember when a wire or connection goes bad it developes a resistance. Current through resistance generates heat and that is how electrical fires start.

I had a close call with mine and some members have had fires.

[mazeeff]

quote:Originally posted by dyna_rider98

Are you sure it was ground & neutral that got crossed? Crossing groud and neutral should not cause any problems as they are bonded at the source.

I'm with Fred on this one. Crossing the ground and neutral should not have created this type of problem, like you described. Hooking one of the two hot leads to neutral would have created 250 volts at the trailer, and that would have created some smoke! Also, keep in mind that a trailer is a subpanel, and therefore the ground and neutral wires are seperated in the trailer. They only tie back at the source. This is done as a safety feature to prevent shocks while touching the trailer surface.