Saw this wiring when checking waterlines, should I fix?

[PDuB-IA2MI]

That is an awful lot of kindling and sawdust under that wire end. Anyone know what this is? Looks like some kind of cable connection under/near the converter.

[PDuB-IA2MI]

And sorry, this was supposed to be under "Electrical" not "Electronics".

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by PDuB-IA2MI

And sorry, this was supposed to be under "Electrical" not "Electronics".

Moved to Electrical

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by PDuB-IA2MI

That is an awful lot of kindling and sawdust under that wire end. Anyone know what this is? Looks like some kind of cable connection under/near the converter.Attachment 251112

It looks like the negative line from the DC fuse panel to the common negative bus bar. It doesn't look great but if no wires are broken and the screw is tight, it's intact.

Insulation is not required. If it were, the entire bus bar would be at risk. Cleaning up the sawdust isn't a safety requirement but will make working in that space less aggravating..

I would see if there's a way to reroute that wire in a way that reduces stress. Turn off the converter and disconnect the battery (use the kill switch) before you do.

[PDuB-IA2MI]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

It looks like the negative line from the DC fuse panel to the common negative bus bar. It doesn't look great but if no wires are broken and the screw is tight, it's intact.

Insulation is not required. If it were, the entire bus bar would be at risk. Cleaning up the sawdust isn't a safety requirement but will make working in that space less aggravating..

I would see if there's a way to reroute that wire in a way that reduces stress. Turn off the converter and disconnect the battery (use the kill switch) before you do.

So, I shouldn't worry about sparks flying off of the exposed wire and catching all they sawdust ablaze? [emoji91][emoji602][emoji67]*[emoji602][emoji68]*[emoji602][emoji3462]

[Reverse_snowbird]

You could just vacuum up the sawdust and put some electrical tape around the exposed wires.

[chriscowles]

Vacuuming is helpful in cleaning up. Insulation is unnecessary. It's the negative bus bar, which is grounded to the chassis. If it's necessary to insulate the ends of the wire, it's also necessary to somehow insulate every bit of exposed metal on the trailer.

[Oldboy]

If one of those wires came loose and had enough current going through it, it could cause arcing and possibly ignite the sawdust. Vacuum is a good idea. That way you would just loose the circuit and not the trailer...

[5picker]

No question there is the 'potential' for sparks to ignite sawdust but this is one of those 'what if situations where if all the stars and moon and sun aligned then maybe but probably not.

These are 12v ground circuits on the buss bar.

Clean up the sawdust, make sure the connections are tight, reinsert the heavy cable in the buss bar if you have qualms about the exposed wire to insulation and call it a day. There is nothing 'wrong' with where the wires are located, it's the way they do it in R/V world. There's probably as much bare wire sticking out the other side of the buss bar depending on how much insulation they skinned off and how far they inserted it into the buss bar before tightening the screw.

Anything can happen but this is much ado over nothing. You can make a case for lots of things coming loose and causing issues... what if your lug nuts came loose... what if your hitch came loose... what if one of your propane connections came loose... what if a water line connection came loose and on and on.

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

It looks like the negative line from the DC fuse panel to the common negative bus bar. It doesn't look great but if no wires are broken and the screw is tight, it's intact.

Insulation is not required. If it were, the entire bus bar would be at risk. Cleaning up the sawdust isn't a safety requirement but will make working in that space less aggravating..

I would see if there's a way to reroute that wire in a way that reduces stress. Turn off the converter and disconnect the battery (use the kill switch) before you do.

I agree with Chris, but as I blew up the photo, it looks like the cut end of a 110AC wire sitting near the negative buss bar which could be a problem.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by PhilFromMaine

I agree with Chris, but as I blew up the photo, it looks like the cut end of a 110AC wire sitting near the negative buss bar which could be a problem.

There is no NM-B in the photo. What looks like it might be NM-B with exposed end is a heavy-gauge (8 AWG) single conductor. It is almost certainly the negative wire from the fuse block. All other dual conductor wires in the photo are DC pairs from various circuits around the RV, such as the lights, vent fans, water pump, etc. They connect to the same bus bar, completing their circuit back to the fuse block.

Other than the usual unsightly (but safe) mess left behind by factory workers, the only issue I see is that negative wire is bent at an acute angle at the connection. If it makes you uncomfortable, disconnect it and put it in the bus bar from the opposite side to reduce tension. Make sure it and all other connections are tight.

Edit: if you read the print on the wire I'm referring to, it actually says it's 8 (or 6?) AWG.

[PDuB-IA2MI]

Thanks for all the feedback.

This is nice and deep under the fridge and converter. I think I'll have the kiddos reach in with a shop vac when the battery and power is fully disconnected.

Thanks all!

[Comanchecreek]

I agree it looks like the negative buss bar. Sparks should not be an issue, but probably wouldn't hurt to clean up the connections and check everything out. Forest River disposes of a few pounds of sawdust with every rig.
You will find it inside and under every cover. It's just the nature of the beast. 5 years later I'm still finding sawdust in my Crusader. Last time I pulled out my fireplace to install a subwoofer it looked like somebody had thrown a shovel full inside before installing the fireplace. No problem, 5 minutes with the vacuum and it was gone.

[MasterElectrican787]

It appears to be a grounding bar (the green colored screws) or possibly a (-) chassis ground. So YES it's safe how it's installed open as it is. Taking a closer look at it the white #6 wire it appears that some of the strands are cut off. This would reduce the actual AWG (size) of that conductor and is not a proper installation. Some installers may remove strands to fit the conductor into the terminal. If this is the case I recommend to remove/restrip/reinstall that or any wire(s) making sure that none of the strands are cut or missing. A better way to do this if the conductor is larger than the terminal is to split the strands in half into a Y configuration and insert half in one terminal and the other half into an adjacent terminal. NOTE: This is only applies for this sort of connection not intended for HOT ,(+), or neutral terminations...

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by MasterElectrican787

… A better way to do this if the conductor is larger than the terminal is to split the strands in half into a Y configuration and insert half in one terminal and the other half into an adjacent terminal. …

I learned something today.

[pitzhauler]

If you are getting sparks, you have bigger problems going on.