Gday all

The other day we were blissfully laying on the bed for a mid afternoon nap, when all power went off. Tried a reset and zip. Blew the RCD (not the breaker) in the house as well.

Long story short..

I have disconnected everything including the electric hob on the stove. I measure ZERO ohms insulation resistance (with a 500V megger) between active, neutral and earth on all GPOs.. Have disconnected the active and neutral at the box (inside the van) and tried a reset (it worked so the fault is in the wiring or the GPOs)

Now, this is where the electrical brains trust is needed.

Other than isolating each GPO and testing OR (even worse) trying to isolate the circuit at Jayco's xmas tree of power feeds, has anyone got another idea?

My first thoughts are that there is a slow water ingress into a GPO  and the rot has shorted the terminals. I am currently investigating that one. Recently I have had the top part of the off side of the van replaced, I figure its only likely water has found its way inside and made a mess of the terminations.

Any help, ideas, etc would be thankfully received..

Cheers

Hi Phil c;

            The Jayco 240 Volt power system is not all that bad to work on, unshure of your van's wiring,but if it follows tipical Jayco power points etc non of the wiring is wired along the same way as a standard double pole power point. All there power connections are plug and play and look very simular to the 3 pin kettle cord and plug. Most power points have a input and also a output socket. The flexable wiring is fitted with the same type of plug that fits the socket. So very east to isolate a particular power point. Even the power input socket uses the same set up .

The only downer is that you have to go to you local Jayco dealer for spair parts !!! Electrical holesalers i would dout would have these specialised plugs and sockets.even the wiring between power points to power point is pre-made up. One would think that it was desighned that way so as the boffins at the Jayco factory can fit off and not have to worry about wiring up and geting it wrong.

Good luck with it.

To answer you "Topic" question mate.......Too much of that liquid from the shed maybe 

Hi Phil, I have a feeling Valiant81 is referring to something like this

https://www.clipsal.com/Trade/Products/Cable-Management/Soft-Wiring/Soft-Wiring#.VbV9H_k3cxA

It is a system used to wire up workstations and can be connected and disconnected by non trades.

I was not aware Jayco were using this as a cabling solution.

frank

I FOUND IT!!!!

Seems there has been a slow water ingress to one of the main electrical junctions on the near side (door side) under the kitchen.

After digging in all the wrong places this was the second last place, and one that was well hidden under the oven.

I will doing a partial rewire as the connectors (despite being disconnected) are still showing around 5M ohms insulation resistance, unacceptable by any standard.

Thanks for your help and encouragement guys, this has been a pig of a job.

Do you want crackle with that pig sir  

Sorry Phil, couldn't help myself mate .  Ooops, that's not being serious is it  

Good that you have sorted it out though. 

Hey Phil, looks like the MDF panel has sucked up a bit of water too.  While your in there hit the edge with a hairdryer just lightly to dry it out a bit and then coat the edge with some PVA wood glue allowing it to soak in, that will help seal it and also will hep it stop swelling any further.

Still amazes me why some connections don't have a small breather/drain hole in them, looks like water has been sitting there for a while.

Regards Steve.

KFT wrote:

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Hi Phil, I have a feeling Valiant81 is referring to something like this

https://www.clipsal.com/Trade/Products/Cable-Management/Soft-Wiring/Soft-Wiring#.VbV9H_k3cxA

It is a system used to wire up workstations and can be connected and disconnected by non trades.

I was not aware Jayco were using this as a cabling solution.

frank

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HI Frank

Jayco changed to that quite some time ago[around 2years]

Plug & play, no electricians needed !!

Results !!!

a

KFT wrote:

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Good one Phil

Ants in the back of a switch or outlet or even the inlet can cause this symptom as well.

I think the only way you will isolate this one is to chase it down the feeds from outlet to outlet.

good luck mate hope you didn't have anything else planned for the next 12 hours or so.

hope you are well.

frank

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 Spider web will do the same but your ant nest sounds like a starter

Phil C wrote:

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Hi again,

In looking at these plugs they are IP rated at IP4X from memory that's splash proof and couldn't give a hang about dust. PeterQ may be able to correct me here but I thought all electrical stuff needed at least IP6?????

Take care

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Hi Phil

The rating required depends on the actual situation they are being used in 

Ipx4 is generally OK for van inlets sockets & exposed outlet sockets 

BUT the do have to be physically installed correctly

That means sealed from water entering  at the rear mounting face[gasket ]

oldtrack123 wrote:

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Phil C wrote:

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Hi again,

In looking at these plugs they are IP rated at IP4X from memory that's splash proof and couldn't give a hang about dust. PeterQ may be able to correct me here but I thought all electrical stuff needed at least IP6?????

Take care

---

 

Hi Phil

The rating required depends on the actual situation they are being used in 

Ipx4 is generally OK for van inlets sockets & exposed outlet sockets 

BUT the do have to be physically installed correctly

That means sealed from water entering  at the rear mounting face[gasket ]

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 Cheers Peter, obviously Jayco are more interested in dust rather than water thus IP4X written on the connector. I am guessing that these connectors got wet from the cooktop boil overs just above the connector bunch. Not sure I agree with the design, however I have been liberal with the silastic on the outside of the connectors.

Frank, thanks for the offer of IP chart, I still have it in both my old texts (Jennerson and HAMPSON) Its amazing how fast those facts, we used to rely on, depart the grey cells after you no longer care or need to use them. Cheers mate

Hope you are well PeterQ

Have been investigating this problem some more (fun being retired isnt it?)

Clearly, I have water ingress until it shorted active to earth (burn and track marks)

This is just FYI and maybe a heads up to other Jayco owners to get these connections checked BY AN ELECTRICIAN!!!!!!. I spent 10 hours tracking this one down and repairing it. At $120 per hour inc tax, thats a lot of bux you may save by a thin application of silastic. Whatever you do dont disconnect them, the males will bite you!!!!

Cheers

Why do electricians get the biggest electrical problems?????

I  think it was only to test your skills Phil

and you pass with flying colors

Cheers John

Cruising Cruze wrote:

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Why do electricians get the biggest electrical problems?????

 

I  think it was only to test your skills Phil

and you pass with flying colors

 

Cheers John

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 Thank you so much for that John and troopy, I must admit there were a few moments of doubt. Chasing a shadow like that can be daunting, I am so please its not a 2 story office block..

Cheers