Expensive, this motorhoming lark ..... (3 Viewers)

[PeteH]

If that had been me doing the repairI would have soldered a couple of wires on the fuse holderand run them to a remote fuse holder somewhere more accessible !

Not such a wild idea, until Trauma come up with an answer I think It ever happens I will be tempted to do likewise, You still have the protection if necessary, but in a more acessible place!.

However IF it was something that was hapening on a regular basis, it DEFINITELY needs investigating. I know fuses can "Age" and fail when fully loaded over a time scale, but any regularly blowing fuse is a WARNING that something is NOT RIGHT. Probably high resistance rather than a short circuit.

In my case on the last M-H. Both the Elements failed. That WAS a costly repair and required taking virtually ALL the Kitchen apart.

 

[G-RMPS]

My PCB is still away for repair/replacement. While investigating, I had a look at the fuse for the 240v circuit. I couldn’t get the lower access cover right off but managed to get my hand behind the cover to get to the fuse once I had removed all but one connector to the PCB. Took me half an hour to locate the fuse by feel. Took me nearer two hours to replace it by feel. Hands cut to ribbons with the solder off the back of the PCB. Is there a technique for removing that lower access cover?

 

[Tykatem]

The fuse wasn't expensive still only cost 10p.

The only place I've seen to buy these particular fuses (10A slow blow I believe) has been on ebay and they want £11.20 for 5. Have you an alternative source?

Pete

 

[buttons]

Fuses only blow if they are under rated or you have a fault or the fuse is past its best, why are they blowing.

 

[Lenny HB]

The only place I've seen to buy these particular fuses (10A slow blow I believe) has been on ebay and they want £11.20 for 5. Have you an alternative source?

Pete

Was just meant as a funny but 20p at CPC.

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[Flook]

ConFUSEd.com should sort it out.

Fuses are there as protection devices, the same as your house fuses are. If a fuse is failing on a regular basis there must be a reason for it. If it is on your heating, then there may be an issue with the heater itself! It really needs to be looked at more closely if the fuse continually fails.

However, as I read it hear, these fuse boxes are a real pain to get to, this sounds to me like a design fault, and if so should be rectified by who ever the installer was ie: manufacturer of the vehicle, as fuses should be easily accessible as should the MCD.

 

[PeteH]

On the subject of Fuses. As a young marine engineer, one of my jobs was to double up as Electrician. This was on an old "steamer" 110volt Direct current system. One particular lighting fuse of the old "wired" type kept persistently blowing in the Crew accommodation. So I got the Chief officer to accompany me and we accessed all the cabins with his passkey. One we went into had a radio, fan, a reel to reel tape recorder and a Convection heater, ALL plugged into a cascaded series of Light fitting adaptors and fed from the cabin light fitting!. It was drawing "n" amps from the wiring which was too hot to handle!. Needless to say the C-O confiscated the bulk of it for the duration of the voyage!.

 

[Flook]

Pete, that won't help any situation, 110v DC, MH 12v DC, similar issues can cause fuse failure. Also what can cause fuse failure is MH fittings (furniture) screws nipping into the protective cable sleeve or two. this can create a short of sorts, depending on which circuit has been nipped to another and what power is being used in the MH. Unfortunately the wiring harness would have to be thoroughly checked, I say unfortunately, this would be a time consuming exercise, and if being carried out by an electrician; well, say no more except deep pockets may be req.

 

[nicholsong]

Bit late in the day, but has anyone checked what rating that fuse should be for that circuit? A MH is not like a house ring main.

Has somebody added a modification, tapped into that circuit, to the original design which is overloading its fuse protection?

And/or that and a partial short as has been suggested above.

 

[Tykatem]

Fuses only blow if they are under rated or you have a fault or the fuse is past its best, why are they blowing.

Could the reason be the varying voltage fluctuations which you sometimes come across on sites, blowing the 240v fuse to protect the PCB itself?

Pete

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[Diggerdi]

Some very interesting comments here. Apparently, according to the engineer we used, who is a qualified Truma engineer, these fuses have been blowing for fun recently. He has replaced quite a few. He is down at Truma this week for something and is going to mention it. They must have changed something within the last two or three years. Of course the problem with the difficult/impossible access is down to the manufacturer of the motorhomes. He said he has had some really awkward ones, but our Pilote was the worst.

 

[two]

Some very interesting comments here. Apparently, according to the engineer we used, who is a qualified Truma engineer, these fuses have been blowing for fun recently. He has replaced quite a few. He is down at Truma this week for something and is going to mention it. They must have changed something within the last two or three years. Of course the problem with the difficult/impossible access is down to the manufacturer of the motorhomes. He said he has had some really awkward ones, but our Pilote was the worst.

-- so is this targeted?
-- maybe time to leave the forum?

 

[stcyr]

Wow. The foregoing has firmly confirmed my vow to never swap our old van for anything 'modern'! The only 'unexpected' expense in 9 years was a rectifier which expired, on the alternator and which cost €39 and was replaced in 14 minutes :/

 

[tonyidle]

Ohhh bit extreme but if it works for you

Not really. Modern locker framework can be sourced and the door 'panel' is the bit you cut out to make the hole. A decent installer should take no more than an hour. If you have installed, or have seen someone else install, a Thetford access door, then you would know just how easy and neat it is to do.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

We had the 12 volt fuse on the Truma blow in our last van when in Barcelona. Couldn't buy a replacement slow blow anywhere it was New Year but found Truma main agent in Valencia so called in on our way down. Fitter quickly found that the fan motor had failed but couldn't get acces to replace it said it needed a specialist Motorhome dealer to remove fridge etc. For him to do it. No way, I did it for him in the road removing the fridge and cabinet below so he could access the fan motor. Fitted the new one in five minutes then said, "we have a problem, the failing motor has taken the main board out at the same time as the fuse.
My blown fuse ended up costing €950 for new fan motor and main board. Then I had to drive to Leroy Merlin with the wife sitting in the back holding the fridge to buy wood and stuff to replace what I had to cut away to access the heater. Started it all at 08:30 outside Truma place finished putting it all back together at 21:00 as I had limited tools with me so had to improvise quite a bit! So an even more expensive fuse. But it all worked great after and didn't sound like Concord starting up which the previous one had. The Truma fitter said that noise was the sign that the motor needed changing. A bit late mate!
Steve

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[SpeedyDux]

Wow. My questions would be - are all the affected Trumas the "e" variant with the electric heater elements?

Are the gas/diesel-only Trumas also affected by the fuse blowing for no reason?

Just wondering what they have in common.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Wow. My questions would be - are all the affected Trumas the "e" variant with the electric heater elements?

Are the gas/diesel-only Trumas also affected by the fuse blowing for no reason?

Just wondering what they have in common.

No mine on the last van was quite old and the gas only 12volt version. What I took away from what the fitter said was; if you start hearing the fan then check the motor. The fan motor was about €80 the board was the rest. Oh he also recommended a new version of the temp sensor over the door which was about €15 as he said it was quicker at responding.
Steve