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Topic: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire. (Read 971 times) previous topic - next topic
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Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Yahoo Message Number: 92457
I started smelling a burning smell, but could not figure out or find where it was coming from. Later in the day my wife had all the bathroom lights turned on for an extended time. I turned on the bathroom fan and with in a few minutes all the lights and fan went off. I figured I trip a breaker some how. I opened the inside a/c d/c panel door and could smell a strong burning smell. I check all of the a/c breakers and none were tripped. I turned then all off. I then pulled the d/c cover and feel for heat on the fuses. One of the thermal fuses burnt me. I had the DW turn off the house batteries and pulled the panel. I found fuse #4 had burnt insulation and was very hot. That fuse powers the bathroom lights and fan. I checked the fuse box for shorts and found none. I went though a series of removing bulbs to try and eliminate fixtures and the fan. I have a infared thermometer so I could monitor the heat on the wires and fuse. With everything off, no heat. As I turned on lights slowly and the fan the heat would increase as I turned on lights and fan. Thru my trouble shooting I noticed the vanity lights were bulb number C-921 which is a 1.4 amp bulb. The previous owners also had some C-908 bulbs that they had left with the coach drawers. They are a .7 amp bulb, so I thought I had found the problem, that the previous owners wanted brighter lights. After changing all of the bulbs, I still had a hot fuse and wiring(around 130 degrees). The wiring was heated only about 3 inches up, so the whole wire is not hot. I figured CC installed auto reset thermal fuses in cased the wrong bulbs were installed or the fan started to fail. I m posting this to see if anyone else has had issues like this. I am also asking for my fellow CC owners to open their DC fuse cover and feel for heat. Thank you very much.

Leon #51486

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92458
Hello Leon,

I have had the exact same issue, and the culprit is undoubtedly a heavy load on that circuit. I don't have access to the coach right now, but the only hot circuit was protected by the 20a thermal breaker. This only happened with all accessories (overhead and vanity lights/fan) activated. You got the "hot"? part right! (I have not experienced the burning odor however.)
The thermal breaker did its job - - the circuit shut down until it cooled off, and reenergized after a few minutes.
I converted the fluorescents in the bath area to led's and have pulled one halogen bulb from each fixture in both vanity areas. I have not had a recurrence since then.

Jay
51457

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92460
I had a similar problem with the connection in the fuse box between the wire termination And the fuse contact. Failures of the fuse box are not uncommon Bob 06 intrigue 12047

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92463
Thanks Bob. I was told that by another person in the group. I wish I had that special tool to just move the problem one to an empty fuse spot. Today I'm going to try to soldier the wires that has twist ties on them.

Leon.

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92488
Leon:

There is another solution to this problem. A little pricey at less then $300, plus installation, but I consider this a safety problem. My solution was to replace the fuse box with an updated heavy duty fuse box. Kevin Waite has a source. 541-953-6162
Gil B '05 Inspire 51322

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92489
Leon & Gil:

The upgraded Fuse Panel will eliminate the problem all together.

Kevin Waite
541-953-6162

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92491
Yesterday I verified that the problem was indeed the fuse panel. I changed the wire to an empty fuse slot and puff problem gone. I am still going to replace the panel because if one failed another failure is likely. Thanks to everyone with their input, and I encourage everyone to pull the cover off the DC panel and feel for heat on the fuses. You can switch off the house batteries witch will turn off the power to the fuse panel. The area where my wire was burnt was behind the fuse panel (enclosed and isolated from your smoke detector).

Leon
 

Re: Inside DC fuse box heating up on a 2005 inspire.

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 92492
Leon,

Would describe the location of the fuse panel. Is it the small fuse panel in the bottom right corner of the main circuit breaker panel compartment behind the water heater?


Jock Vargo

2005 Inspire
51428