MADAY! My Auto Power Transfer Switched fried

[JIM KELLER]

My two cents. In the vicinity of the breaker panel you are close to the Inverter/Chargers. If one of them is working hard you could hear a hum inside the Bus. After sitting without power they would want to charge the house batteries. Is it possible even though the remote switch plates say the chargers are off one is actually on and trying to charge because the remote switch is in the wrong position at the Inverters ?

Barney, you're doing a good job on this issue. Tell your wife it will not always be this stressful. It just takes a while to work your way through the " New Ownership Issues ."

[Barney]

Once again info from fellow POG guys saved the day. I learn so much from each of you , thanks.
To recap and hopefully help someone else some day:
What I initially thought was going to be an expensive disaster I was able to fix myself with help from these guys for about $15 in parts.
I'll attach photos below of my plight. From my earlier comment on the mystery amp draw, I'm convinced now that in fact one of my chargers
was actually on when I thought it was off and drawing the current when I first powered up for a test.
I believe that a loose connection or a few broken strands of wire at a crimp caused high resistance and eventually meltdown of one of the
10 gage wires used in the relays. Like the guys said above, a man needs to tighten all his electrical connections on a regular basis ( annual would be good)
I think my 13 year old coach ( I've owned for 2 months) never had this done and worked loose over time and miles.
Even though these wires got redhot and melted down no break ever tripped or fuse ever blew. So lucky the thing didn't catch on fire and the damage
was contained in the switch box. Knocking on wood, all's been well for a few days of normal operation.

[dale farley]

Barney, Glad you got it repaired. Thanks for the pictures.

[gmcbuffalo]

Barney nice work. I would not put the cover on this project and wait another year. Until you feel comfortable I would keep checking it for sign of heat. Who know it may not have been a loose connection.

[Gil_J]

Barney,

Based on the pictures, it appears there was a failure at the crimp or a loose connection. If you have an IR heat gun, and you should, I'd recommend you put a high current load on the coach, at least 40A on each leg, and keep the load for at least 15 minutes. You can set the air conditioners at their lowest setting so they don't cycle and turn on the hot water so the hot water heater will stay on. After 15 minutes of high load check each connection (screw and crimp) as well as the relay contacts. You will be looking for any reading that's higher than another on L1 and L2 connections and relay contacts. There will be no current going through the generator relay and near zero through the neutral, so expect these to be much cooler.

I'm glad it was just some wire. It could have been so much worse.

While you're at it pop the circuit breaker covers in the bedroom and next to the transfer switch and make sure all connections are tight, especially the mains.

[JIM KELLER]

Barney, Glad we could help.