Resolved 30amp 110 Fuse box overheating, wires burnt

[TXfreeze]

Talk about not seeing the forest through the trees!

Turn the phone on it's side, and give us a full picture of the wires! You give us burned wire, but no full picture. My eyes keep running off the picture while trying to trace the wires! I am afraid I will damage My eye's when they fall

From what I see, the white (neutral/Common) wire along the bottom has lost it's insulation. The worst of it is closer to the neutral buss bar. That is common when screws are loose.

I would get a new bar from home Depot that will fit in the box, and land the neutrals on the new bar.

Any fried wires that will not reach when shortened, simply wire nut a pigtail to it so it will.

Takes time,but it's not rocket science.

Yea sorry about that , here's a landscaped picture attached as you can see I've removed the main breaker and Air Con breaker and detaches the corresponding wires and detaches one of the damaged wires from the bar, this was before I saw you reply. We don't have Home Depot only Lowe's and Harbor Freight, so I'm going to see if I can get replace the 2 breakers get some 30amp rated copper wire and wire nut but I may not have to since there seems to be some slack in the wire harness I may just be able to strip and pull out good wire. Will keep you posted. Thanks

 

[TXfreeze]

Well I'll be continuing today, going to have to use heatshrink on the bare wire and probably the wire pigtails since I'm not having much success with the wire nuts, attached are some current progress photos, including what I have to work with from Lowe's. I just need a temporary fix, so I can focus on the higher priority repairing the break line once done with that i can put all myattention on the electric.

 

[TXfreeze]

Typo…. Wago connectors….

Thanks for the suggestion but due to the tight space and thickness of the wires I'm going with heat shrink tubing.

 

[Richpatty]

Btw, they make them in line now.

WAGO 221-2401 Lever Nuts Compact Splicing Inline Wire Connectors with Case | 20pc: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

WAGO 221-2401 Lever Nuts Compact Splicing Inline Wire Connectors with Case | 20pc: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[Cameodon]

Btw, they make them in line now.

WAGO 221-2401 Lever Nuts Compact Splicing Inline Wire Connectors with Case | 20pc: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

WAGO 221-2401 Lever Nuts Compact Splicing Inline Wire Connectors with Case | 20pc: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

Wow! 12 for 9.95! Think I’ll order some just to have on hand!

 

[TXfreeze]

There.....your second set of pics helps. I see a two-fold problem. It looks as if that box has been wet more than once, and the steel screws have rusted, initiating the overall problem. The rust starts the resistance and poor connection issue. As was stated, you're on the right path. New bus bars and wire pigtails should solve your electrical problem(s).

Roger

Yes good catch, now that you mention it the refrigerator is right above and water has on more than 1 occasion dripped into that area, that's what killed the stock LP detector.

Great call!!! Be good to check out that at the same time!

That box has plenty of room for some wire nuts!

Well got it all wired up for a temp fix till I have time to set up a whole new box with new buses, so as you can see I pig tailed 2 wires with wire nuts both go the the vertical bus, ground bar? I reinforced the ground on the bus with a big screw vs small bolt that was coming out. I also used heat shrink tubing on bare wires, tried to use the heat shrink to pigtail but couldn't get continuity, speaking of which I tested for continuity at the bus for both pig tailed wires and both read 0, so with all that in mind I restored 30 amp from the pole, but no power to the RV, I checked for voltage at the bus and the main breaker and it's around 122, so there is power but it's not being distributed, this would point to a bad breaker, but the breaker is brand new, as far as I know the thickest gauge wire in the box is the one that goes to the main breaker, would be the grey thick wire and I made quite certain it was well connected to the breaker in the metal part where the wire connects with screw Of course the wire to the breaker is connected right otherwise how would I be getting 120v at the main breaker screw? .
There is a ground fault interrupter reset switch in the bathroom but it's not lighting up. I'm considering switching back to the old breaker that was working to see if the new breaker may be bad, setting the breaker with that thick wire is a real hassle. I'm not sure how to proceed?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I can Walk you through this!

BUT! I see several problems with your work.

So a little lesson is in order.
1. Black= line 1. This wire is current carrying! The black wire is always considered the hot wire,and should always be the switched wire, therefore the wire that is fused!

2. White= common to make the explanation easy,it is the return path of the circuit. It is a current carrying wire. Some will say an insulated ground,but that is only technically correct. If fried like in your system, the entire circuit is hot! NEVER! Think that because the circuit appears off that you are working on a safe wire. If broken at the service,both black and white are hot!!!

3. Bare metal wire= ground. This wire is a path to ground,so it is less likely you will become that path. It is run to it's own bus and the green wire in your cord connected to the pedistal.

About wire nuts:

Strip wire 3/4 to 1inch. Not necessary but I twist the wires together with plyers,and then screw the nut on! I twist until I the insulated wire twists at least once. That is how I was trained in the trade!

I see (I think), you landed the white (neutral/common) wires to the ground bus. That is not acceptable!

Bare copper and green wires to one buss. White wires to the other buss. Any other way could get you,or someone you love or know, killed.

If you followed what I explained, and can now see your mistake,then you should be able to make it right! If however you are still confused! Hire a professional.

If you still diy! Post finished work before closing it up and I will look it over,so you have second set of eyes on the job!!!

I would use white heat shrink on white wires. It's hard to follow a color change!!!

 

[TXfreeze]

I can Walk you through this!

BUT! I see several problems with your work.

So a little lesson is in order.
1. Black= line 1. This wire is current carrying! The black wire is always considered the hot wire,and should always be the switched wire, therefore the wire that is fused!

2. White= common to make the explanation easy,it is the return path of the circuit. It is a current carrying wire. Some will say an insulated ground,but that is only technically correct. If fried like in your system, the entire circuit is hot! NEVER! Think that because the circuit appears off that you are working on a safe wire. If broken at the service,both black and white are hot!!!

3. Bare metal wire= ground. This wire is a path to ground,so it is less likely you will become that path. It is run to it's own bus and the green wire in your cord connected to the pedistal.

About wire nuts:

Strip wire 3/4 to 1inch. Not necessary but I twist the wires together with plyers,and then screw the nut on! I twist until I the insulated wire twists at least once. That is how I was trained in the trade!

I see (I think), you landed the white (neutral/common) wires to the ground bus. That is not acceptable!

Bare copper and green wires to one buss. White wires to the other buss. Any other way could get you,or someone you love or know, killed.

If you followed what I explained, and can now see your mistake,then you should be able to make it right! If however you are still confused! Hire a professional.

If you still diy! Post finished work before closing it up and I will look it over,so you have second set of eyes on the job!!!

I would use white heat shrink on white wires. It's hard to follow a color change!!!

While I appreciate what you are saying and your expertise, I must point out a few things. To the best of my knowledge and recollection I landed all wires as they were originally landed, I know this because I consulted the before photos. and triple checked as I am OCD about this type of stuff.

2. I was not able to twist the wires together it proved impossible with my pliers. I never touch wires unless the power source is disconnected and if it is on I use insulated gloves if I have to touch a wire but generally I only probe with the meter.

3. You did not address the possibility of a bad breaker, as power clearly is being supplied to the breaker and the breaker did not trip when turned on.

4. The interrupt switch is not on which means no power getting to that switch either, it would seem Ochams Razor would point to the breaker, please correct me if I'm wrong.

5. Bear in mind I'm just trying to temporarily fix the issue, so we can have our basic needs met, not swelter in the Texas summer heat and have our roof vent working to bring in cold air, till I have the opportunity to redo the whole thing although we expect to be upgrading to a newer class A in less than 6 mos. This our 3rd Class A, only had less than 4 years and it''s taken up way too much of my time. Than again we had no choice as we lost our home and last class A to a wildfire. Thanks

 

[Kevin D Pem]

While I appreciate what you are saying and your expertise, I must point out a few things. To the best of my knowledge and recollection I landed all wires as they were originally landed, I know this because I consulted the before photos. and triple checked as I am OCD about this type of stuff. 2. I never touch wires unless the power source is disconnected and if it is on I use insulated gloves if I have to touch a wire but generally I only probe with the meter. 3. You did not address the possibility of a bad breaker, as power clearly is being supplied to the breaker and the breaker did not trip when turned on. 4. The interrupt switch is not on which means no power getting to that switch either, it would seem Ochams Razor would point to the breaker, please correct me if I'm wrong. 5. Bear in mind I'm just trying to temporarily fix the issue, so we can have our basic needs met, not swelter in the Texas summer heat and have our roof vent working to bring in cold air, till I have the opportunity to redo the whole thing although we expect to be upgrading to a newer classvA in less than 6 mos. Thanks

Let's be clear!!! I like helping people! It gives me a reason in Life! That benefit would be lost if I made too many assumptions and harm came to you, or your family, due to my negligence!

So sit back and chill! After All you are the one that said you didn't know where to go from here!

 

[TXfreeze]

Let's be clear!!! I like helping people! It gives me a reason in Life! That benefit would be lost if I made too many assumptions and harm came to you, or your family, due to my negligence!

So sit back and chill! After All you are the one that said you didn't know where to go from here!

Well that's obvious you like helping people and I appreciate that but at the moment it's kinda hard to sit back up and chill when you are dead in the water and expect a 100 temps with. a 12 year old special needs child.

 

[TXfreeze]

Ok let's try it this way let's forget that I rewired and let's just look at the symptoms, power is supplied from source, power is present as verified by multi tester. No power whatsoever in any outlets with breaker on, no trips or reset. What's wrong with this picture? Wouldnt most electricians suspect a bad breaker first?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Look with your meter at the voltage at the breaker output terminal. No power,bad breaker!

 

[redbaron]

Try putting your multimeter on the lug or screw of breaker and other end on neutral bus bar. That will tell you if breaker is good.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

What is this white wire second screw from the left. Original photo showed that bar as the ground buss.

 

[TXfreeze]

Look with your meter at the voltage at the breaker output terminal. No power,bad breaker!

I looked up breaker output terminal and couldn't come up anything definitive, so in the case of this breaker box, where is the breaker output terminal located? I forgot to mention when I try he fan switch on the AC I can hear click from the blower I guess, no idea if that may be an indicator of something? It's late I will resume tomorrow and check it, Goodnight