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Check your Power Slide Switch before it melts and catches fire
Hello -
Just wanted to pass some Important Safety Info to what happened to me last week ,while camping and going home .
I own a 2014 Forest River "Tracer Ultra Light Model TRT230FBS" Travel Trailer. We bought this Trailer brand new and have enjoyed our travel with it.
After getting the trailer prepared to travel home ,and waiting to catch a Ferry home in the parking Lot I heard a "clicking" sound coming from the trailer . I opened the door to the trailer to try and find where the noise was coming from , but could not find it . Everything appeared normal inside , but after shutting off the Main Battery switch, it was still present . So I proceeded to disconnect the trailer Battery Positive connection ( 2 -6 volt wired in series for 12 volts total) and disconnected the trailer plug to vehicle . The clicking noise stopped.
I left the Trailer Batteries disconnected and when I arrived home reconnected the Batteries and plugged the Main 30 amp 120 volt AC cable into the Receptacle .I tried to open the slide and it would not open or power up. I did smell a slight odor of electrical burning , and again disconnected the Batteries and pulled the plug on the 30 AMP 120V shore power .
I proceeded to pull the slide switch out of its position mounted in the cabinet, and found the back of the Slide Switch and the part of the wiring harness wires insulation melted together.(see attached pics) ,there was a abundance of soot all over the inside of the cabinet where the awning and slide switches are located .
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Upon further investigation noticed the slide switch stuck in the "Closed" position. The spring return Rocker switch did not return to the "Off" position.
Knowing the properties of 12 Volt DC, anytime you open a DC Load the current will try to maintain the circuit until there is enough of a arc gap to extinguish the current going thru the switch . This causes heat to build up in the contacts of the switch which probably resulted in melting and "welding" of the contacts together and the failure of the switch.
The clicking noise I was hearing was the Automatic Resettable 30 amp Breaker underside the belly pan of the trailer tripping and resetting, once the thermal trip inside cooled down to allow the breaker to reset and again apply power (Current) to the Slide Motor which was already in its closed position, and not moving the slide room in any further obviously.
The scary part of this was it could have caught the trailer on fire had I not disconnected the Batteries .This could have happened while on board the Ferry Sailing.
What is disappointing is that in all the info I received when we bought the trailer , there is nothing to indicate the area where these Automatic resettable breakers are located ,let alone a proper wiring schematic which there should be included in the trailer info.
There are 2 Breakers--a Main 50 Amp witch feeds the Battery from the Convertor and also feed the 30 Amp Breaker which powers the slide . the 30 Amp Breaker is connected ahead of the Coach Main Battery Shut-Off Switch ,which still allows power to the Slide Motor even if the switch is in the "Off" Position.
Being a Retired Service Electrician , I have just finished replacing both the Slide Switch and Wiring Harness ,as well as both Breakers in the belly pan, underside of the trailer .The Electric motor was tested and looks to be ok with the slide room moving freely
I am in the process of installing a Main Battery Disconnect switch right beside the Batter Box to allow for Quick Disconnection if this were to ever happen again.
So to sum up my incident, I would like to mention to check your slide and awning switches(Probably replace them every couple of years) they are basically the same type of switch, rocker style to make sure they return to the " Off or Neutral " Position and find out where the protection breakers are located on your rig. .Mine was underneath the trailer above the polycarbonate sheet that protects the underside of the trailer at the forward end behind the A frame hitch area .
Safe travels and camping to All
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