This kind of workmanship will kill someone it hasn't already. My ongoing electrical issue caused by the 120v circuit to my microwave shorting out on the frame of the RV. As you can see in the first three images, both the 120v and 12v wiring is run on the metal framing members of the RV. This resulted in the metal frame rubbing a hole through two of the circuits to my slide power. It shorted out my inverter to the refrigerator, and I lost power to the microwave. During my examination, I was moving the wires around, and they arched off of the frame, but the breaker never tripped, another point of concern.
Don't count on anything the manufacturer tells you about our rig! I was told by the service tech that all the electrical is run in the roof of my Redwood and this is not the truth. On my 38GK the 12v is run down the driver's side, next to the frame and the 120v runs down the passenger side of the frame.
I am not certified in RV repair, and the solution below is based on my thirty years of construction and general maintenance experience and am not suggesting this is the same corrective action the manufacturer would take or recommend anyone reading this post take. To follow are the steps I took in making the repairs.
The final images show the completed repairs.
1. I split 3/4" flex conduit down one side.
2. Drilled two holes, centered in the conduit opposite of the split and threaded an 8" cable tie through the hole. This is to attach the conduit to the frame.
3. I drilled a hole on each side of the slit on both ends of the conduit and threaded an 8" wire tie through the hole, running it to the inside of the conduit.
4. Spread the split open and place the conduit around the factory wire bundle at the point where it touches the frame.
5. Attached the conduit to the frame using the center wire tie and then sinch down the ties at each end of the conduit around the wire bundle. The center tie keeps the conduit in place and the end ties keep the wire bundle secured in the conduit.
I did the same thing on the 12v side and don't believe I will ever have any issues with this again.
A Crossroad Rep did reach out to me and did offer to cover half the cost of my inverter, the labor and have a standing order for a free inspection the repairs I made to my rig. I refused the offer, feeling it was in a sense "hush money" and did nothing to inform others of what I see as a significant safety issue.
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I have little faith in Crossroads and believe this lifestyle requires a willingness to understand and repair the rig we call home. Thanks for or responding, it gets easier when we share what we learn. Safe Travels
I have little faith in Crossroads and believe this lifestyle requires a willingness to understand and repair the rig we call home. Thanks for or responding, it gets easier when we share what we learn. Safe Travels
Hi Chris,
I wish you the best in repairing your trailer. I have a question for you. Do you check the trailer for a hot skin after you plug into shore power and you wait for the surge protection do it's thing ? I am also on another web site for camping when that question came up. The person asking this question is a friend of mine. He has experienced a hot skin condition on his trailer.
I think the time might be right to start a new thread about the worth of the warranty on Redwood trailers.
I am glad you found the problem with no one getting hurt or killed. Wish you the best with your repair.
Al
I've never experienced any issue with hot skin with mine. I spent a lot of money on my surge protector so it takes about five minutes for it to evaluate both legs of the 50amp service before power turns on in my rig.
Being a full-timer, the only value I see in any kind of warranty is free replacement parts, but most claims require an evaluation by a certified tech before they will authorize the claim, depending on your coverage. And most service centers what to keep your rig for as long as they can and the quality of work they do is questionable.
I have accepted that owning an RV requires me to know how to work on it and with forums like this and all the helpful people out there, I think I can fix anything that might come up.
Safe travels...Al
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Thanks for the info...
Thanks for the info...
Hi Chris,
I agree with Gip. What if there was water on the ground when you touched the handle going into the trailer. The friend that taught me about hot skin has been camping for over 20 years. His trailer also has a good surge protection in it. The surge protection did not stop the hot skin. The tool that he likes to use is a dual range non contact voltage tester. The one that I have is a Klein Tools model # NCVT-2. Less than $20. Nice handy tool.
Stay safe out there,
Al
