We left home (Atherton Tablelands on Monday morning ,For what was going to be a 5-6 week trip down south to visit relos in Newcastle &Canberra .All was good on the way to fletchers creek freecamp north of Charters Towers, stayed on first nite there ,next day travelled to Clermont and overnited there .On the next day we got to Carnavon Gorge we had 2 nites there (very good ) then on the next day in the morning ,hitched the toyota up for us to move on .As soon as i conected the anderson plug up to the car ,smoke came pouring out of the front boot compartment ,I immediately pulled the anderson plug out of the car but the damage had been done .the wiring had blown ,and both anderson connectors had melted .There was no alternative but to drive on to our next destination Roma ,We called in to a auto electrician there ,it was 3.30 in the arvo ,he had a look ,and the van is booked in for monday .The fellow says it may take a couple of days to sort out ,and maybe $2-3 thousand .Have contacted insurance ,But in the back of my mind i dont want the work started if the electrician only does a patch job ,as i will only get one go with insurance ,and it plys up again further down the road ,they wont pay for a second claim.It has even crossed my mind that the van may have to be written off ,if the wiring is burnt out in the walls of the van.Has this happened to any others out there.
Bagmaker said
10:30 AM Oct 30, 2016
But............ why? What went wrong for that to happen???
cruisaderhilton said
10:35 AM Oct 30, 2016
It has got me stummped, We travelled down from nth Queensland ,no trouble everything worked fine . Hopefully the auto electrician can sort the problem ,and give a reason why it happened .If he can not tell what caused it to happened ,then there is no point for him to work on it .otherwise it may happen again.
-- Edited by cruisaderhilton on Sunday 30th of October 2016 10:40:01 AM
Roving-Dutchy said
10:50 AM Oct 30, 2016
You need to contact the insurance company before work starts to get their OK, for the repair to go ahead. Once the work is done and the problem reoccurs the insurance should cover any additional work that is needed to make things right. All insurance work carries a warranty if the insurance company is a reliable company.
Cheers
David
Peter_n_Margaret said
10:56 AM Oct 30, 2016
Are there fuses at each battery on that line?
Cheers,
Peter
cruisaderhilton said
11:11 AM Oct 30, 2016
No fuses on each individual battery but they both go into a fuse box inside the van, The fuse box does not appear to be damaged on close inspection.
Fringe Dweller said
11:26 AM Oct 30, 2016
I'd be Making sure the assessor notes/agrees that the damaged area is all that is damaged & will NOT cause further problems.
Or wiring loom Has to be replaced (you get the idea)
macka17 said
12:20 PM Oct 30, 2016
I'd check on size if fuses/links.
I carry 100/110ah batt's but run 60a fuses/links
so they'll blow before anything (hopefully) can cook.
I'd rather they do that than wait till the 100a is shorting somewhere myself.
Battery will have fuse. Dual controller will be protected. wiring should go to fuse?
whatever as it enters van. b4 battery's in there.
then van protected at fuse/link panel b4 going through van.
Try to see where damage started. and go back from there toward front.
That's probably a good indicator where blockage in line is...
or at least the weak spot (which could be anywhere, there or further up line.Maybe???
but at least a start.
SPARKY....
Here's my wallet...
I always wired my yachts, internally.
with a ring main with fuse at each connection.
Nice and simple.Just follow the line round cabin top
Not fancy but very safe.
Vans should be the same.
One ring. at top or bottom of van
then takeoffs to suit, each with a simple fuse or trip and a 60a at start.
They all getting too complex nowadays.
Look at a van being built. Wires EVERYWHERE. with very few exceptions.
They asking for problems what with the permanent movement and vibrations.
and wires flopping round. unrestrained inside all the walls.
The latest MAY be different. but there's a lot of 10 yrs and older vans out there.
They aren't..
I've just wired new lights in this Coromal.
LED's only on existing. 12v only lighting, in and out.
Mains on a 5 point ring. Single line as far as I can see
One wire into one trip.
Ron-D said
07:55 PM Oct 30, 2016
Sounds like a short circuit and all cuircuits should be protected by a fuse , to protect your wiring from overheating and burning. it all seems to stem from your Anderson plug wires .wiring can not catch fire if there fused properly in the fist place stands to reason in my book..
Cupie said
11:10 PM Oct 30, 2016
A bit early to worry about the van wiring I think, but to imagine the worst is a normal reaction.
In my case the Anderson plug wires directly to the van battery. The lead from the van battery to the power supply should have an in line fuse. All of the van wiring is 'downstream' of the power supply.
I assume that your van battery (& perhaps your power supply) is in the boot and that is where you said the smoke came from.
My first guess would be that the battery is the cause. Perhaps the cabling from the Anderson to the van batt has come adrift & shorted to earth. Can't see how anything downstream of the van battery (like your van wiring) would be damaged. I'd have a good look in the boot to see what exactly is cooked. In my long experience, many faults are found just by observing, looking & listening, before getting out the circuits
If the fault were there then I would have thought that your van battery or output from your power supply, again assuming that you were on 240v overnight, would have caused an over current situation before you plugged in the Anderson plug.
I would very much like to know the outcome & as others have said be sure to have your insurance mob approve any action by the Auto Elec.
I'm a bit worried about an Auto Elect who didn't immediately rule out what I have outlined above. But then I don't have all the details of the event.
Good luck.
EDIT .... BTW have you reconnected to 240v to see what happens. Maybe before hand disconnect your van battery from the power supply .. remove the in line fuse.
If OK then my diagnosis is more likely to be correct. If not you won't do any more damage other than perhaps trip the cct breaker.
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of October 2016 11:33:28 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of October 2016 11:42:41 PM
Bruce and Bev said
01:08 PM Oct 31, 2016
The auto-sparkie only had a look and gave you a price based on that. If he is any good, he will test out all the electrical circuits in your van to isolate the faulty parts for replacement.
You need to feel confident that he knows what hes doing - I had a regular sparkie look at a 240v power problem in my van (couldn't get an auto one to visit me). He was recommended by a mutual friend and been in the trade for about 30-40 years. But he didn't have a clue what he was looking for which was a dead short. He ended up making 3 visits (fortunately only charging me $120 and a beer) and finally tagged my power supply out.
I then set to work and found out there was nothing wrong with the 240v or 12v supplies - in fact it was a fault with the hot water heater and now waiting for that to be replaced.
If you don't feel confident with your sparkie, then move on to the next large town or find your nearest caravan repairer as they know auto sparkies competent with RV's
cruisaderhilton said
09:03 PM Oct 31, 2016
I am more confident today ,the auto elec took fotos of wiring ,sent to insurer.And insurer gave permision to go ahead with repairs .From what the sparkie was saying ,he seems to fink that when the anderson plug was installed on the tow vehicle they did not earth it 100% there must have been a bit of flaky paint or corosion stopping it from making proper contact ,over time the resistace built up until it finally gave in trying to find proper contact,built up heat and it caused it to overheat .Today monday all new wiring installed ,and also 2 new circuit breakers in line ,so that it never happens again.
-- Edited by cruisaderhilton on Sunday 30th of October 2016 10:40:01 AM
Cheers
David
Cheers,
Peter
No fuses on each individual battery but they both go into a fuse box inside the van, The fuse box does not appear to be damaged on close inspection.
I'd be Making sure the assessor notes/agrees that the damaged area is all that is damaged & will NOT cause further problems.
Or wiring loom Has to be replaced (you get the idea)
I carry 100/110ah batt's but run 60a fuses/links
so they'll blow before anything (hopefully) can cook.
I'd rather they do that than wait till the 100a is shorting somewhere myself.
Battery will have fuse. Dual controller will be protected. wiring should go to fuse?
whatever as it enters van. b4 battery's in there.
then van protected at fuse/link panel b4 going through van.
Try to see where damage started. and go back from there toward front.
That's probably a good indicator where blockage in line is...
or at least the weak spot (which could be anywhere, there or further up line.Maybe???
but at least a start.
SPARKY....
Here's my wallet...
I always wired my yachts, internally.
with a ring main with fuse at each connection.
Nice and simple.Just follow the line round cabin top
Not fancy but very safe.
Vans should be the same.
One ring. at top or bottom of van
then takeoffs to suit, each with a simple fuse or trip and a 60a at start.
They all getting too complex nowadays.
Look at a van being built. Wires EVERYWHERE. with very few exceptions.
They asking for problems what with the permanent movement and vibrations.
and wires flopping round. unrestrained inside all the walls.
The latest MAY be different. but there's a lot of 10 yrs and older vans out there.
They aren't..
I've just wired new lights in this Coromal.
LED's only on existing. 12v only lighting, in and out.
Mains on a 5 point ring. Single line as far as I can see
One wire into one trip.
Sounds like a short circuit and all cuircuits should be protected by a fuse , to protect your wiring from overheating and burning. it all seems to stem from your Anderson plug wires .wiring can not catch fire if there fused properly in the fist place stands to reason in my book..
A bit early to worry about the van wiring I think, but to imagine the worst is a normal reaction.
In my case the Anderson plug wires directly to the van battery. The lead from the van battery to the power supply should have an in line fuse. All of the van wiring is 'downstream' of the power supply.
I assume that your van battery (& perhaps your power supply) is in the boot and that is where you said the smoke came from.
My first guess would be that the battery is the cause. Perhaps the cabling from the Anderson to the van batt has come adrift & shorted to earth. Can't see how anything downstream of the van battery (like your van wiring) would be damaged. I'd have a good look in the boot to see what exactly is cooked. In my long experience, many faults are found just by observing, looking & listening, before getting out the circuits
If the fault were there then I would have thought that your van battery or output from your power supply, again assuming that you were on 240v overnight, would have caused an over current situation before you plugged in the Anderson plug.
I would very much like to know the outcome & as others have said be sure to have your insurance mob approve any action by the Auto Elec.
I'm a bit worried about an Auto Elect who didn't immediately rule out what I have outlined above. But then I don't have all the details of the event.
Good luck.
EDIT .... BTW have you reconnected to 240v to see what happens. Maybe before hand disconnect your van battery from the power supply .. remove the in line fuse.
If OK then my diagnosis is more likely to be correct. If not you won't do any more damage other than perhaps trip the cct breaker.
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of October 2016 11:33:28 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of October 2016 11:42:41 PM
You need to feel confident that he knows what hes doing - I had a regular sparkie look at a 240v power problem in my van (couldn't get an auto one to visit me). He was recommended by a mutual friend and been in the trade for about 30-40 years. But he didn't have a clue what he was looking for which was a dead short. He ended up making 3 visits (fortunately only charging me $120 and a beer) and finally tagged my power supply out.
I then set to work and found out there was nothing wrong with the 240v or 12v supplies - in fact it was a fault with the hot water heater and now waiting for that to be replaced.
If you don't feel confident with your sparkie, then move on to the next large town or find your nearest caravan repairer as they know auto sparkies competent with RV's
Thanks for the feedback.
Great result.