2016 17' Casita Electrical Issue - Fiberglass RV
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Old 02-25-2019, 06:29 PM   #1
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Name: Becky & Dave
Trailer: U haul '82 CT13 & Casita 17' Deluxe
Oregon
Posts: 41
2016 17' Casita Electrical Issue

Hi,
I'm looking for advice and interested to know if anyone else has experienced as similar problem...

I recently purchased a used Casita trailer that I discovered (after the purchase ) what appears to be a major electrical issue-melted wiring insulation on at least 3 to 4 wires on right side of the converter's DC board (see attached pic). The converter is still making the expected humming noise but there is no AC or DC power.

I have yet to have any RV repair company troubleshoot the issue and I plan to call Casita tomorrow for their help. So for now, I'm just trying to figure out what happened to melt the wiring insulation and what possible damage may have occurred to the electrical system. I expect I'm really screwed and know how stupid it was not to discover this prior to the purchase. My hindsight is 20-20. Thanks for any help you can provide.
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Dave & Becky in Oregon
1985 U-haul 13'
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Old 02-25-2019, 07:16 PM   #2
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Name: Steve
Trailer: Escape 5.0 TA
Pennsylvania
Posts: 231
Casita Forum

Have you posted this issue on the Casita Forum? There are some knowledgeable and helpful folks there. Or maybe you prefer an “RV repair company” to do your repairs for you? Some folks just don’t do it themselves.
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Old 02-25-2019, 07:58 PM   #3
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Name: Jack L
Trailer: Sold the Bigfoot 17-Looking for a new one
Washington
Posts: 1,561
Your 2016 trailer could have a converter that was built a year or 2 before the trailer, so your unit could actually be 5 or 6 years old. Most likely, a 2016 trailer does have the original converter, but you never know what the former owner or owners have changed or added. If you can post the make and Model of the converter, it could help. I would also call the converter manufacturer. Best of luck
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Old 02-25-2019, 08:31 PM   #4
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Name: Eric
Trailer: 1987 Casita 16
Illinois
Posts: 503
It may have been a simple thing that it was not properly tightened, or came loose after a trip or two. That would cause the heating of the wire and the burning of the insulation. It you still have it trying to connect, it may in fact not have any real damage. Clean the insulation and make sure you have a good tight connection and see it that takes care of it.
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Old 02-25-2019, 08:48 PM   #5
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Name: Gordon
Trailer: 2015 Scamp (16 Std Layout 4) with '15 Toyota Sienna LE Tug
North Carolina
Posts: 5,155
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricAllyn View Post
It may have been a simple thing that it was not properly tightened, or came loose after a trip or two. That would cause the heating of the wire and the burning of the insulation. It you still have it trying to connect, it may in fact not have any real damage. Clean the insulation and make sure you have a good tight connection and see it that takes care of it.
Except that it does not appear to be at a connection. It appears to be in the white wire itself near the entry point with the bushing. Or perhaps there is a wire under the white wire that burned up, also burning the outside of the white wire. I can't tell.

Based on the limited info one would need to be familiar with the same model to know what the photo is showing. There is a small sub-set of the total user-base here that fit that description. Meanwhile there are many others here that can offer some help, but need to know more. What is the apparently thicker white wire with burned insulation? What other wires are burned and what do they connect to? Are the other damaged wires burned from the inside or the outside. Any fuses blown?

One thing to consider is that just because the insulation is burned in one visible spot, that does not mean that the rest of the same wire is OK. Further, this should never happen. All wires should have fuse or breaker protection to prevent just this from happening. So why did that protection fail? Maybe a PO just put a 30 amp fuse where a 5 amp should have been AND there was a short. Maybe some other mod was done improperly. This will take much more investigation that a single photo.
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Old 02-26-2019, 10:08 AM   #6
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
The Mountains of North Carolina
Posts: 4,137
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+10 to the above comments, further investigation is warranted.

As far as blaming yourself, I can’t imagine inspecting on purchase to the detail needed to spot this problem.

If I had to guess, someone put too large of a fuse to “solve” an electrical problem. Finding the problemwill take time, fixing shouldn’t take that much.
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Old 02-26-2019, 10:41 AM   #7
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Name: Dick
Trailer: '15 17' LD Casita and '17 Tahoe LT
Texas
Posts: 321
I am guessing that the PO had the battery out and when it was reinstalled, he crossed the white, green and black wires that go to the battery terminals. Will be interested to hear what you find... dm
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Old 02-26-2019, 11:11 AM   #8
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Name: Stephen
Trailer: Casita
Tennessee
Posts: 220
Exclamation Electrical problem

You should appreciate that nearly all built-to-a-price trailers like the Casita have marginal electrical components. It is correct that overheated wiring should never happen. The generic explanation is that a circuit got overloaded and the protection for that circuit failed to trip. The specifics can only be determined by careful inspection by a qualified electrician. Once wiring is melted like that THE ENTIRE piece needs to be replaced and possibly the terminal block it was attached to. A bandaid repair may be possible but it will not be safe or reliable long term.
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Old 02-26-2019, 11:48 AM   #9
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Name: Steve
Trailer: 2018, 21ft escape— 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie
NW Wisconsin
Posts: 4,500
It looks like damage from a bad connection to me
Many just stick the wire in the lug ,tighten the screw and walk away
This leads to a loose connection from vibration
If you put the wire in the lug , tighten the set screw , wiggle the wire in the lug and then retighten ( usually a 1/4 to 1/2 a turn ) you eliminate a lot of the problems
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Old 02-27-2019, 12:29 PM   #10
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Name: BKay
Trailer: Casita Spirit Deluxe
Georgia
Posts: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
It looks like damage from a bad connection to me
Many just stick the wire in the lug ,tighten the screw and walk away
This leads to a loose connection from vibration
If you put the wire in the lug , tighten the set screw , wiggle the wire in the lug and then retighten ( usually a 1/4 to 1/2 a turn ) you eliminate a lot of the problems
I had a similar situation last fall. 2007 17 spirit deluxe. Had to replace the entire system even though parts of it were working. I didn't feel comfortable with that unit directly under my sleeping quarters.
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Old 02-27-2019, 01:26 PM   #11
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Name: Steve
Trailer: 2018, 21ft escape— 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie
NW Wisconsin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkay View Post
I had a similar situation last fall. 2007 17 spirit deluxe. Had to replace the entire system even though parts of it were working. I didn't feel comfortable with that unit directly under my sleeping quarters.
I have no doubt that the converter was damaged by the heating of the connection . I agree replacing the converter would be the prudent thing to do
I spent 40 years as an electrician and have learned what not to do .
Most amateurs terminate wires in correctly
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Old 03-05-2019, 06:02 PM   #12
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Name: Fredrick
Trailer: Escape 21C
Tennessee
Posts: 322
Smile short?

We have a 2018 Casita and just last summer "blew" our WH while boondocking 3 weeks up in northern VT...A sharp rep guy I know found that the heavy 30 amp cable had [while being pushed back into the trailer] knocked loose the igniter wire where it jams into the little socket...from the top of the WH, under the driver side bunk. I sure could not have found it, but HE sad he had seen similar problams b4. I wd take it to a RV shop w a good repair guy....google or face book it to find one in your area, and check their reviews. My good guy works at Wallace Trailers on Long Lane in Franklin TN if you are ever near there
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Old 03-05-2019, 09:19 PM   #13
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Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
The Mountains of North Carolina
Posts: 4,137
Registry
It’s one thing I really like about a detachable power cord. Stuffing the cord into a cabinet it’s so easy to snag something. I modified myTrillium to have a detachable cord and it was an option on the Escape.
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Old 03-07-2019, 07:42 PM   #14
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Name: Ray
Trailer: scamp
Indiana
Posts: 823
a guess

OK I have a 16 foot scamp, but work with electrical a lot so I am going to give some guesses.

First to me it is pretty plain what the original problem was. The wire starting across the top and going down across the wire coming out of the top terminal rubbed together. I am going to guess the first wire is a ground. Anyway that produced a short.

Now how much other damage there is, is a good question. Probably not a lot. It looks isolated, but I would check the rest of the wiring especially the terminal ends of that top wire.

Most power converters have a fuse built into them either accessible or not. May need some advice from the manufacturer of your power converter. But that is probably why you don't have power to anything.

First step is to fix the wiring Then figure out what fusing has been blown. The good news is that likely the converter is OK.
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