120 AC/fuse panel heating up, smoking, lights go out

[robertmarchiony]

We own a scamp 16 foot fiberglass trailer. We've enjoyed a couple of carefree years with our scamp. Recently our fuse panel started smoking. We immediately shut it off. No damage seemed to be done last year. This year all the power went off. The panel got unusually warm and smelled hot but we had no smoke coming from it. Again we immediately shut the power off. We have a surge protector on the power coming into our camper that gives us an indication if something is wrong. Nothing has ever indicated a problem with the electrical power coming in. Not being an electrician I have no idea what the problem could be that's causing the fuse panel to heat up. If anybody has any ideas at all on this I certainly would appreciate a heads up on it.

[Daniel A.]

Not having a Scamp the best advice I can give would be that there is a serious short something you need to be very concerned about.

Do not put shore power on it and disconnect the battery.
You need to find out what is causing this before having power back on.

[wdsollars]

We had the same problem last year. I found that the wires going to the main breaker were loose. I ordered a new fuse panel from Scamp and replaced the whole thing.

[robertmarchiony]

Originally Posted by Daniel A.

Not having a Scamp the best advice I can give would be that there is a serious short something you need to be very concerned about.

Do not put shore power on it and disconnect the battery.
You need to find out what is causing this before having power back on.

Thanks Daniel. Just so happens that we're out at a state park presently in need of our electricity. The breaker panel is presently cool and not overheating. Thank you for your quick response. I will keep a close eye on it while we have our power on.

[gordon2]

Probably a loose conection is overheating. You might get away with shutting off power, disconnecting all sources of power and then opening it up and retightening all the connections. You might get away with doing that... You might not. I would not use it as is, that's for sure. Much too risky. This is the kind of thing that starts fires all the time.

[Paul O.]

My 2004 vintage Scamp converter takes AC in and there are six breakers for the various AC outlets and the fluorescent light. The first breaker feeds the converter proper, which charges your battery and feeds the 12 VDC stuff via fused circuits. If it is the converter circuits that failed (a component burning up and smelling), then you can throw the first breaker and still have your 110 VAC. Your battery will not be recharging, however. It will be later recharged from your TV when you travel.

[stevebaz]

Nothing electrical in your trailer should ever get hot, except for a designated heater. Best get someone in there that knows what they are doing before you have some form of life changing event. You have used up your warning from your trailer, there may not be another one.

[Casita Greg]

I totally agree with Steve. If you're not comfortable doing, or troubleshooting, electrical problems it is probably a good idea to have a professional check it. It could be something simple, or it could be something that can burn up your trailer.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Yes please have a professional check it out. There's questions and thoughts that most people would never think of that electrical professionals can ask.
The fires that comes to mind is "Same campground as last year?".

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

.. It could be something simple, or it could be something that can burn up your trailer.

Or it could be something simple that can burn up your trailer

Just as an example of a simple problem that can cause a fire.. I had a failure in an outlet at home where the wire was just pushed into the push-in quick connect (instead of on the screw terminal). When I finally found it, the connection had heated up so much that insulation was literally burned off the wire. And when I was camping a few weeks ago, I didn't know that the connection at the power meter at my site had been damaged when a tree branch had fallen on overhead lines the week before. This damage was not discovered until I started using power at the campsite, when shortly after midnight flames over a foot high made it look like daybreak in my camper.

The story here:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ire-79837.html

And in a travel trailer, there is a lot of vibration and shaking of all those electrical connections. A loose connection is a simple fix once you find it. A simple problem that can become a major problem very fast.

[robertmarchiony]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Or it could be something simple that can burn up your trailer



Just as an example of a simple problem that can cause a fire.. I had a failure in an outlet at home where the wire was just pushed into the push-in quick connect (instead of on the screw terminal). When I finally found it, the connection had heated up so much that insulation was literally burned off the wire. And when I was camping a few weeks ago, I didn't know that the connection at the power meter at my site had been damaged when a tree branch had fallen on overhead lines the week before. This damage was not discovered until I started using power at the campsite, when shortly after midnight flames over a foot high made it look like daybreak in my camper.



The story here:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ire-79837.html



And in a travel trailer, there is a lot of vibration and shaking of all those electrical connections. A loose connection is a simple fix once you find it. A simple problem that can become a major problem very fast.

Thanks Gordon for the dire warnings. Had the same thing happen in my house with a loose wire in an outlet and that taught me a valuable lesson. Will get it checked out.