Originally Posted by
Jon Wehrenberg
Don't believe the woodwacker. I made the mistake of having Carrier change out the AC compressor. It is seen in the picture. They not only left off the pressure unloaders, they argued with me that they were not required.
We got 400 miles when a trucker told us we were on fire.
As near as I can determine, based on where the fire was and what we encountered when we put it out with the fire extinguishers and the water on board it originated with the AC compressor. I surmise the internal system pressures built up due to the lack of unloaders, and the rear compressor seal behind the clutch failed. The oil and freon discharged under pressure from that location, and when the compressor locked up the drive belt continued to spin, heated up and caught fire, and that ignited the gas and compressor oil still blowing out the failed seal.
It was literally a blowtorch behind the clutch and the flame spread up and around the RH tailight stack and down across the 10 batteries. See if you can find ten batteries in that picture.
The fire got so hot the filter element of the air cleaner was on fire even though there is no metal to filter element contact.
The damage never went beyond what you see, so after towing it to Prevost JAX from Jasper County, SC we lived in it for 3 more days while emptying it. 100% of the house worked, we had water on board and the 12V pump worked via the converters, all electric from the Prevost power supply and through the converters, we had AC, TV, etc. Even the clothes in the closet were undamaged and there was no smell of smoke or fire.
The picture was taken right after the fire. The gray carpet on the walls was not sooted up as the picture may lead you to believe.