# Power failure



## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Woke up this morning to the sound of very heavy, continuous rain. Lay in bed as long as possible, but RV's are quiet in heavy rain like the Rolling Stones are at Wembley stadium.

Marion took the dog out in a brief lull in the downpour, and plugged the kettle in on her way out. Big fat zero power. Great.

I checked the trips on the campsite distribution box; dried out the cable connectors, reset the van breakers - nada.

In view of the amount of rain (when it rains in the Sierra Nevada mountains, it RAINS), I had already sprayed WD40 into the external power sockets, these being one possible problem area.

In desperation, I started to unscrew the external socket to disconnect the internals. As the mounting screws undid, a small torrent of water flooded out from the underside of the socket face.

It turned out that socket seal had failed at the top, allowing water in to the socket box. But it was fine at the bottom, steadfastly refusing to allow any water out. So when the water level reached the wires on the bottom face of the internals, it promptly shorted out.

So I disconnected all the wiring, and taped it all up and out of the way.

Looking at the design of the external socket, it was very poor. It's not a proper waterproof unit, more just a slightly upgraded interior type with a token rubber gasket.

So in similar circumstances a careful check of outside sockets may prove worthwhile.

Bruce


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

I hope Marion had the foresight to put on the gas kettle for you matey :lol: :lol: :lol: 
A man should never be expected to work without his cuppa :lol: :lol: 
Hope it is all going well both of you, see you in August

Keith


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## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Of course she did!

Yes, all going well - still loving our lifestyle. Especially now we've got back online. Our laptop got its knickers in a twist, and went into a terminal sulk. So we wiped it all out - losing all our pirated programmes - and took it back to factory settings. And it worked! Hoorah!!

Yes, looking forward to seeing you in August. We'll start on the research nearer the time.

Regs to both

Bruce


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## 97993 (Mar 5, 2006)

Hi Bruce 
Now if this had been a certain European MH the roof would have leaked so much the water would not have been able to run down the outsides ,and this problem would not have ocured untill the water was at worktop level inside the van, by which time the bed would have been flooded and you would have been aware of the problem before the electrics tripped out,
Thats the trouble with these RVs :lol: 

Geo


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## kijana (May 1, 2005)

Good point, Geo. but you've only told half the story.

Cunningly, the floorpan of said Europeans is designed to rot through at the same rate as the roof rusts, thus maintaining equilibrium via giant jagged drainholes. . .

How's your cream leather and blue suede standing up to wild partying?

Cheers

Bruce


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## 97993 (Mar 5, 2006)

The red wine stains have now turned the blue suede a kinda purple colour and its all toning down nicley,
we feed the leather twice a day, tried leather food but it seems to prefer curry and chips,its also partial to the red wine also, next week we are having the roof done in that Click laminate flooring as a dance area, the plants have all died in the roof garden and we thought that may be a better alternative,the sound systems up and running,
Shanes doing the lighting :lol: 
see you soon 
Geo


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## 103625 (Mar 28, 2007)

HI guys

Do i sense some kinda biase here for trash can american rvs

Happy trails
Tont


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## 103625 (Mar 28, 2007)

HI guys

Do i sense some kinda biase here for trash can american rvs

Happy trails
Tony


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