# Almost lost it today - our Camper



## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Well it was a really close one. I was cleaning up, taking stuff out and as I have all winter had the little electric heater on. I thought I was done for the time being and took a bunch of stuff up stairs. Then remembered that I had left my wallet and cell phone in the camper. As I reached it I noticed a strange kind of plastic burning smell. Opened the door; it was full of smoke and the curtains that enclose the rear double bed were on fire. Grabbed the fire extinguisher and was able to put it out before any serious damage was done. A couple of minutes later and it would have been too late to save her.

Seems the converter plug that converts the German plug to the Italian version had shorted out. The curtain was right above it, and up in flames it was going. Way too close for comfort. And wow was I lucky.

Lessons learned: 1. Keep a fire extinguisher handy, had if for years and never thought I would ever need to use it. 2. Be careful with electrical adapters. I should have been suspicious as the heater was not on when I came in the first time and it started working after I plugged it into another outlet.


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## Johnt1 (Sep 5, 2009)

*Fire*

A dangerous thing you were so lucky you came back

Hope not too much damage

John


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## boringfrog (Sep 22, 2006)

*Scary*

My god, I dare not think what would have happened if you had not returned.


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

Well done for keeping your head, sounds like a close call. 
We had a bathroom heater go up in flames once, unbelievable how quickly it takes hold. 
Good point about the extinguisher, also worth replacing them regularly as they lose pressure. I changed ours in the 'van a couple of months ago after accidentally pulling the trigger whilst refixing to a new seat mounting - trouble was, nothing happened when the trigger was pulled 
I guess the extinguisher was the one fitted from new in 2002. Prompted me to check the three others we have around the house and garage, two have pressure test buttons which were borderline, the kitchen one was completely dead! 8O
All have now been replaced with new ones, better safe than sorry.


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## Morphology (Jul 23, 2010)

Far too close for comfort. It sounds to me as though the adapter you were using was unable to handle the load of the electric heater, or one of the connections was loose and arcing.

I bought a thermostatically-controlled switch in order to turn a small oil-filled radiator on if the temperature dropped below 5C. However, the current drawn by the radiator caused the connection inside the thermostatically-controlled switch to heat up, so it kept cutting out.

This shows just how much current something like an oil-filled radiator can draw. They seem so benign.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Yes it turns out the adapter was rated 1500w and the heater 1800w.


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## WEATHED (Jul 28, 2010)

*Your Fire*

High just to let you know that I have been told that you should be careful about some converter plugs as some of them can be reverse polarity and that would make the appliance LIVE.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Don't even think of using even a UK 13A four-way extension block for anything that takes more than a couple of amps (500W).

They are just not designed well enough for continuous use at that sort of current.

The cheap ones should be banned.

Incidentally - what sort of fire extinguisher did you use?

Powder? If so how much mess was there to clear up?


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## VenturerDave (Oct 2, 2009)

Roger Black

If it was a powder type of extinguisher you may find that the powder had solidified in the body. Over time the powder settles to the bottom of the extinguisher and gets compacted with vibration, bumps in road etc. A good idea is to take it off the bracket and give it a good shake now and again to loosen the powder up again.


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## Codfinger (Jan 11, 2008)

Blimey a close call bud I was going to say I expect the adapter was prob overloaded, makes me wonder about that oil filled rad out in my van thats switched on...............has anyone had any problems with them?
Chris


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## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

Well looking on the positive side, congratulations for finding it and dealing with it. Well done. I'm glad you and the van are okay.

ATB,

Andy


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## dandywarhol (Nov 14, 2010)

German and Italian collaborations have caused problems in the distant past - glad you caught it! :?


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

dandywarhol said:


> German and Italian collaborations have caused problems in the distant past - glad you caught it! :?


Well we all know about that. Thing is that these days half the appliances sold in Italy have German plugs. I'm not sure what the political ramifications of that are, but there must be some. You can use your imagination about the references to male and female parts.

I never paid much attention to the extinguisher. Foam came out so I guess it was a foam type. Seemed to work fine and was easy to clean up. I lost my curtain of course, the mattress cover on the bed, a small burned spot on the mattress (which can be turned around so it's not visible) and the corner of the closet was scorched. I've sanded down the scorched areas and am re staining them. It won't be perfect but at least it is in a fairly hidden area and not that big. Now tonight I'm just depressed about the whole episode. Mostly my own f-ing fault for not paying attention to the load rating of the adapter. At least it was only a single one. And I thought that since it was a pretty direct connection there was not much to worry about.

You know you always wonder if there is actually a fire will you remember and reach for the extinguisher mounted somewhere on a wall. So I'm happy that I was calm and did just that. Next purchase more extinguishers and a smoke detector. What if that had happened while sleeping somewhere in the camper. Don't tell my wife I'm having these thoughts. Sometimes it seems that having a camper is just a series of damaging events, backing into walls, scraping walls in narrow places, getting scratched by low hanging tree branches, getting the back frame stuck in the dirt trying to go over a hump, not to mention the two times people have backed into me breaking the bumper and the bike rack. At least the bumper deal got me a new one.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

You should be proud of yourself for reacting calmly and appropriately.

My mate told me y'day he had been working at a farm a few days ago, run by a full-time fireman.

Said fireman was starting his 4WD buggy thing and it caught fire in the barn.

My mate said he was running around like a head-less chicken looking for a fire extinguisher and when he found it went to the wrong barn!

I hope he is better at running the farm than he is at being a fireman!


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

pippin said:


> You should be proud of yourself for reacting calmly and appropriately.
> 
> My mate told me y'day he had been working at a farm a few days ago, run by a full-time fireman.
> 
> ...


 . . . Nah - We firemen can panic worse than a headless chicken . . or at least I did when my house went on fire . . I arrived to find all the firemen hanging out of my smoke filled bedroom window giggling . . I never did really live it down :roll:


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

jhelm said:


> You know you always wonder if there is actually a fire will you remember and reach for the extinguisher mounted somewhere on a wall. So I'm happy that I was calm and did just that.


Well done!

So where did you keep your extinguisher?


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## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

Goodness what a near miss!!! Glad you and the van are ok and hopefully the damage isn't too bad!


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## TickTok (Aug 27, 2010)

*Re: Your Fire*



WEATHED said:


> High just to let you know that I have been told that you should be careful about some converter plugs as some of them can be reverse polarity and that would make the appliance LIVE.


No.

The main safety problem with reversed polarity is that most protection (eg fuse)is on the live side so in a fault condition although the protection would work the appliance would still be live, or if there is a neutral earth fault there is no protection. Also an older single pole switched socket only switches the live not the neutral.


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## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

A narrow escape, glad you're ok and the damage to your van isn't too severe.

I always wonder if I would know how to operate the fire extinguisher in a hurry if the event arose :?


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Christine600 said:


> jhelm said:
> 
> 
> > You know you always wonder if there is actually a fire will you remember and reach for the extinguisher mounted somewhere on a wall. So I'm happy that I was calm and did just that.
> ...


I have it mounted on the column next to the passenger seat in front, which is also next to the entry door. I good spot it seems.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

*Re: Your Fire*



TickTok said:


> WEATHED said:
> 
> 
> > High just to let you know that I have been told that you should be careful about some converter plugs as some of them can be reverse polarity and that would make the appliance LIVE.
> ...


I don't think reverse polarity could be an issue in this case. These plugs can go in turned 180 degrees. There is no right or wrong way. The Italian and German plugs are all made this way.


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## dawnwynne (Nov 14, 2009)

wow, very close call. Well done for putting it out with minimal damage!


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## DJMotorhomer (Apr 15, 2010)

Glad you were ok and saved the MH

Dave & Jan


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Thank you all for the kind words.


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