Electrical burning odor June 05, 2018, 03:44:14 pm While camping in Anza Borrego over Memorial Day weekend we had our 2002, 26.5 MB LD hooked up and had been running the AC on medium most of the day. Towards evening as it got dark we turned on a bunch of lights and quicky noticed that distincive electrical burning odor. The odor went away when I turned off some lights. The extention cord between the LD and the service was not warm. Any thoughts or comments from any of you would be appreciated. Also, the electrical panel on the side of the sink cabinet has a fan that was NOT on.Much Thanks, Matt
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #1 – June 05, 2018, 07:42:46 pm Hi Matt. The A/C use shouldn't use enough power in the distribution box for it to need a fan. Only the breaker or it's connections would warm up. The fan keeps the power supply (rectifiers, transformers, transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.) providing 12 volts for the lights, from overheating. A few lights shouldn't stress it that much. Wiring going to the overhead, and connections in the A/C could be a problem. Could you localize the smell at all? You should tighten all of the connections in the distribution panel every year or so as a routine safety check. RonB
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #2 – June 05, 2018, 07:50:37 pm Localizing the smell per Ron - Shut everything off. Turn one thing on, wait a few minutes, then turn it off and try the next item. Keep that up until you go through everything you had on. No burning smell? Turn on item one, then add 2. Wait, then add three and so on until you have everything you had on, on except for the AC. At some point you are likely to smell that smell. When that happens, turn off 1, then 2, and so on until the smell fades. When it does, whatever you last turned on OR whatever you last turned off is likely to be the culprit.Ken F in WY (If I'm so smart, how come I am sitting at a service facility tonight? :-) ) 2 Likes
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #3 – June 05, 2018, 08:21:15 pm I honestly don’t know if the LD fluorescent lights use ballasts as most others do but if you have fluorescent lights your smell might be a ballast going bad.
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #4 – June 05, 2018, 08:29:21 pm "I honestly don't know if the LD fluorescent lights use ballasts as most others do but if you have fluorescent lights your smell might be a ballast going bad."Yes, it could be. The RV fluorescents contain a circuit board that converts 12 VDC to a high AC voltage needed to power a fluorescent tube. Some call it a ballast, although it's electrically different from the ballast found in a household fluorescent fixture. But yes, it can go bad, so it's a possible culprit for your nasty smell.In any case, Ron and Ken have the right idea: use a process of elimination to isolate the offending device. Needless to say, this needs to be found and fixed ASAP!(And regardless of what the cause turns out to be, you might want to consider replacing your fluorescents with LEDs.)
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #5 – June 06, 2018, 02:37:45 am Hey, Andy--Like the new avatar. Last time I saw them up close & personal was at Land's End on the Grand Mesa when my kids were little...good memories. Lynne
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #6 – June 06, 2018, 12:31:57 pm Thanks, Lynne. Avatars are tricky, because people sometimes read meaning into them. The old avatar was a rock improbably balanced on another rock in a stream, which I photographed at Zion Narrows. I thought it was both tranquil and intriguing. But a friend recently pointed out that such rearrangements of nature, like the rock cairns that park rangers loathe, are a sort of low-level vandalism--undo-able, yes, but they can spoil the experience for people who just want to enjoy the natural splendor of a place like Zion.Well, I still like the photo as a photo, but I don't want to be seen as supporting that kind of thing--I would never do it myself--so I changed my avatar to a picture I took a couple of years ago in Colorado. To me it's just a nice photo. But if people want to think of me as a chipmunk, well, fine. ;-)And since we're off-topic here, I'll add that this was a "grab shot" taken from a car window with my Panasonic FZ-200, which packs a 25mm-600mm equivalent Leica zoom lens into a medium-sized body. Great camera for that sort of thing; if I'd been using a DSLR, the little fellow would have been long gone by the time I mounted a 600mm tele lens, not to mention that seeing a two-foot lens barrel sticking out the car window would have scared off any critter.And now back to our regularly scheduled programming, as we wait to hear what caused Matt's electrical burning smell. Any news, Matt?
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #7 – June 06, 2018, 06:49:58 pm While you are investigating the electrical, check out the Power Center. If you have the electrical skills, do it yourself or have an RV tech or electrician do it.Disconnect the rig from shore power and open the Power Center up, to inspect the 120-VAC side.Check all the screws securing wires in the circuit breakers and the two bus bars for tightness.The bus bars and circuit breakers often burn up due to loose connections, they should be checked every year or two.The wires in the 12-volt side of the Power Center should also be periodically checked, after disconnecting all sources of electrical power, 12-VDC and 120-VAC.Larry 2 Likes
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #8 – June 07, 2018, 03:35:30 pm Thank's all for the great advice (although dialog wandered, a bit ) I will post the results of my investigation.
Re: Electrical burning odor Reply #9 – June 08, 2018, 06:44:38 am Matt,Our burning smell was a loose connection of a breaker in the electric panel. Two were lose and the Connextion was no longer toght - when we popped them out where the breaker met a metal “post” - it was black.A new breaker was a temp fix and got rid of the burning smell though there was still some wobble. ,A new distribution center (actually entire new power center) was the permenant fix. Breakers are now nicely snug.Jane 3 Likes
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