SunMan
King Taco
This is a bit long so please bear with me here.
We were heading home yesterday from the Racetrack via Lippincott after 4 epic days in Death Valley, approaching Lee Flat on Saline Valley Road (heading downhill) I tap the brakes to slow down and the pedal hits the floor, I pump it several times as we are picking up speed and quickly go for the E brake and stop the rig uneventfully as I see blue smoke pouring from under my hood. WTF?
I get out and pop the hood and watch the hotwire that goes from my battery to the isolator and back to the blue top house battery in my camper literally melting down. I run back to the camper and let my poor dog out of the now smoke filled camper, pull up the couch and detach the hotwire from the house battery as it is melting down. I continue to see smoke coming out from the front of the camper so I unload the better part of my fire extinguisher on it, let the smoke clear and try to assess the situation.
While following the burnt wire going into the bed of my truck and camper I noticed a burnt spot that looked almost arc welded as if perhaps the insulation of the wire rubbed through and caused a short. This is my theory as to what caused this event.
Ultimately after cutting all of the connections my truck started fine and my brakes functioned properly and we drove home uneventfully.
Some questions I have for you electrical gurus:
- Does my above theory make sense? Was this just a simple short?
- Would an event such as this have fried my isolator or would the current have just passed through without harming it? How can I test the isolator to be certain? I have a fluke multimeter and know just enough to be dangerous with it.
- Is there anything else I should be checking? Electrical components in the camper?
- Why the hell would my brakes have gone out and now be functioning fine?
If my theory is correct I'm hoping I can just replace all of the wires and be good to go but I'd hate to wire it all up only to fry it again. Comments, opinions and theories welcomed and if I need to take it to a professional I will.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my story and see if I can't learn a little something as well. Ultimately I'm just glad we made it home safely and that this didn't happen 40 minutes sooner on Lippencott, I shudder to think what could have happened.
We were heading home yesterday from the Racetrack via Lippincott after 4 epic days in Death Valley, approaching Lee Flat on Saline Valley Road (heading downhill) I tap the brakes to slow down and the pedal hits the floor, I pump it several times as we are picking up speed and quickly go for the E brake and stop the rig uneventfully as I see blue smoke pouring from under my hood. WTF?
I get out and pop the hood and watch the hotwire that goes from my battery to the isolator and back to the blue top house battery in my camper literally melting down. I run back to the camper and let my poor dog out of the now smoke filled camper, pull up the couch and detach the hotwire from the house battery as it is melting down. I continue to see smoke coming out from the front of the camper so I unload the better part of my fire extinguisher on it, let the smoke clear and try to assess the situation.
While following the burnt wire going into the bed of my truck and camper I noticed a burnt spot that looked almost arc welded as if perhaps the insulation of the wire rubbed through and caused a short. This is my theory as to what caused this event.
Ultimately after cutting all of the connections my truck started fine and my brakes functioned properly and we drove home uneventfully.
Some questions I have for you electrical gurus:
- Does my above theory make sense? Was this just a simple short?
- Would an event such as this have fried my isolator or would the current have just passed through without harming it? How can I test the isolator to be certain? I have a fluke multimeter and know just enough to be dangerous with it.
- Is there anything else I should be checking? Electrical components in the camper?
- Why the hell would my brakes have gone out and now be functioning fine?
If my theory is correct I'm hoping I can just replace all of the wires and be good to go but I'd hate to wire it all up only to fry it again. Comments, opinions and theories welcomed and if I need to take it to a professional I will.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my story and see if I can't learn a little something as well. Ultimately I'm just glad we made it home safely and that this didn't happen 40 minutes sooner on Lippencott, I shudder to think what could have happened.