# Electric Step again, but this fault could have killed us



## Manx1952 (Sep 13, 2008)

Over the last year I have been having problems with the electric step on our Swift Sundance, It will extend and retract on the rocker switch but very slowly. If I start the engine the step retracts at it normal fast speed, so as it was working we finished our holiday in Dorset. 

On our return home I started to look for the problem, Switch, although starting to suffer from high resistance in the extend position it was not enough to cause the problems encountered. Started to chase the wiring through to the relays and fuses under the Fiat’s bonnet, but all ok, then we realised that the fridge was not cooling properly on the run home on 12 volt, so I started to look for a bad earth on the Fiats chassis and found the problem. The chassis earth was in contact with the chassis but the brass bolt used by Swift was sheared. This was only an inconvenience the real problem could have been the earth bonding from the water heater and the gas pipes hanging loose with the remains of the bolt. A lesson learnt. I will now check the condition of the earth bonding on a regular basis as part of the yearly chassis service. But how many of us motorhomers do check the earth bonding and more to the point how many service agents check the bonding, It could be a case of life or death. I bet that the larger agents such as John Cross (to name but one) will have some sort of quality control in place but I can think of many that will not, Check yourself or ask a qualified electrician to check for you, It could save your life.


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

Glad you got your problem identified and solved, but I would be glad if you would explain how it might have had fatal results.


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## Sprinta (Sep 15, 2010)

perhaps the clue lies with the poor earth bond in proximity to gas pipes and heater etc - sparks, gas, boom? OK a bit melodramatic but it gets the point across


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## RhinoInstalls (May 11, 2010)

Earth Bonding is always checked on a standard habitation service.

Phil


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