[renewell596]

        Cruising south from Hampton Beach, NH. on fathers day we suddenly lost power on I-495 and coasted to the shoulder. A quick check revealed a fire in the stainless steel box containing all the 12v wiring. I soon discovered my extinguisher, mounted in the engine bay, was useless due to the plastic handle becoming brittle from prolonged exposure to heat. It immediately broke in my hand. My wife gave me the one from inside and I extinguished it, only to flare up again. I cut off the kill switch (eng. compartment) to cut the source from the batteries. With my extinguisher exhausted a State Trooper saw the flames and stopped with a large ABC dry chemical unit and saved the day. Now for why it happened. We had dry camped at the state park over the weekend, using the front and rear A/C units alternately. Having all new Lifeline batteries, all was well. We proceeded to head south and I figured the batteries would re-charge from the engine alternator (320 amp Delco) but no one ever told me I should start the generator to "separate" the load. With all current blazing through the isolator, it melted down and went up in flames, taking all nearby wire insulation with it causing everything to short together. Had we not lost power we would never have known we had a fire in the rear.
Ended up replacing the entire rear board (2 sided) with all new components and a new (huge) isolator, so large (fins) that it needed to be mounted under the coach. Newell was super helpful in fabricating the new board and helping the electrician install the old harnesses. Incredibly enough, none of the coach wiring was affected outside of that box and the coach is running again, all systems go. I hope someone out there that does not know you need to run the generator after dry camping learns from this and is spared the grief. Side note, if any of you big guys ever need to be towed, make sure they send a tri axle wrecker. The huge 2 axle unit's front wheels came right off the ground when they lifted me. Cost thus far, approx. 15K.
Ray & Donna coach 596 triple slide 2001 bath and half. We love it.

[encantotom]

Ray, thanks for the note. so sorry you had to go through that.

my coach is just a few coaches newer than yours.

tom

[Chester Stone]

Ray, I am so very sorry for your misfortune. I have boondocked before, but without having any knowledge, started the generator in the morning to make coffee. I was not aware that the generator must be started after boondocking or risk an overload to the isolator. Did running the a/c units using the inverter have anything to do with this or is this a hard and fast rule that the generator must be started. If you do not mind, please explain a little more about this issue.

[rheavn]

Ray & Donna,
Talk about avoiding the big one! I'm sure this was big enough, but you were close to a complete meltdown. Glad to hear Newell was helpful in making your coach whole again.

I'm getting ready for a trip where we will be dry camping for two weeks, so your story causes some concern. I dry camp a lot and have never heard or read the need to start the genset prior to starting the engine, but I'll do whatever it takes to avoid a fire. Who provided you with this advice and were they specific as to how long to run the genset? Were the batteries charged or discharged prior to starting the engine? What were you running when the engine was started? Any additional info would be helpful.

Thanks in advance..............................

[prairieschooner]

Great "heads up" thanks for sharing! We should all take note.

[renewell596]

I was never instructed that the generator had to be started after boondocking. This was only mentioned as a theory after the fact. I still don't understand why safeguards were not put in place when initially designed to prevent this from occurring. Not a single fuse was blown through this whole ordeal.

[Ozarkguy]

Question? Were you able to determine the rating on the old isolator? Was a curcit breaker or fuse between the isolator and the coach batteries installed?

[Chester Stone]

Ray, in one respect you were lucky not to have lost your couch. None of my business, but I would be interested to know if you were treated fairly by your insurance company. Also, this issue is of serious interest to all of us and is it possible to pursue the theory with the person who came up with this explanation? Could it be that your isolator simply failed?

[renewell596]

Follow up to some questions, no I could not identify the rating on the isolator because it was destroyed. I can only assume it was original but don't know for certain. I can tell you Newell must have had a problem because the new isolator is so large it will not fit in the rear compartment and had to be mounted (at Newell's instruction) under the coach.
The electrician confirmed the source of the fire to be the isolator, which fits with the overload theory. I just can't figure why some type of safety is not built in. The battery cables hook directly to the isolator. I can't find a fuse anywhere except the large (littlefuse) fuse between the battery ground and the cable, which did no good at all.

[lbrachfe]

Newell installed a very large isolater for me 2 years ago when having new batteries installed and they said it was way to small.