Autoformer went South

[azstar]

Hi All,

Just got back from UPS. Had to ship my AF back to the factory.

While getting ready for our summer trip, we suddenly lost the 110V.

A quick check determined, that the SurgeGuard I have installed had shut the 110 down. It was seeing a super high Voltage.

I then checked the AF and could smell it cooking and could see a trail of smoke coming up from it.

Called Hughes and they said send it in. They said some of the internals have failed and it needs repair. $15 to ship and a $25 check to them to return ship.

It's only a year old and has only been used about 4 mos.

I'm thankful (a) That the SurgeGuard did its job of shutting down before the high voltage could damage a lot of stuff and (b) When I installed the AF, I installed an Electrical box with the pig tail set-up to make for easy removal and by-pass of the AF.

Concerns here are, will I be able to rest easy again thinking that this could happen again and possibly cause a fire? Maybe it's best to have the AF outside the Rig. I sure had a sweet install. It was in the rear lounge cabinet/table between the chairs. I even installed some very nice vents to the outside.

Thought everyone should hear this news, just in case you may want to re-think the place you select to use yours.

I'm still a fan of the AF but even a bigger fan of the TRCI SurgeGuard.

[H. John Kohl]

Was your surge guard between you Campsite power and AF or between your AF and Monty power panel?

[azstar]

S/G after AF. It has to be done that way although it leaves the AF on its own, but the AF does have a minimal surge protection. This is probably what happened. A spike took out the AF surge protection and then it took off at max boost thats when my S/G saw it and shut the power down. I don't know if I'll get any info from the factory. If I do I'll post what they find.

[CountryGuy]

Al has a whole house surge protector (not just a guard) on ours, it is before the A/F. He has a web page describing installation, find it via our home page noted below. I believe he has said to me (remember he is the electrican, and I am the one with the glazed eyes when he goes into the tech details on this ) that there is an argument for wiring the auto former in different ways. He is not here, or I would ask him again, and my eyes would glaze over again!