Washing machine dead after power issue?

[Sheilag1848]

We've been here since mid Oct and have discovered power issues in this campground. Yesterday, discovered my Splendide Washer is dead. Unplugged cord to be certain it wasn't the outlet. Nope dead as a doornail.
Any chance anyone here has had same/similar issues?

FYI, Kissimmee South RV MH in Davenport FL - cheap rent if that's ur issue but lacking in many other aspects.

[ThomB]

We have a Splendid washer/dryer combo and did have an issue with the cuircuit board going bad. It wasn't cheap to replace (I think around $250) but it did the job. I first tested to be sure that the issue wasn't with the motor by touching the leads to power to be sure that it spun in either direction. The replacement of the board isn't too hard as it's in the back corner (at least mine was) of the unit so you just have to get it out of its home and remove the back panel.

Are you using any sort of surge guard on the rv? This could be an expensive lesson if you're not and it's more than just the circuit board.

[Sheilag1848]

Absolutely guarded. But surge was so bad the unit behind us - also surged had all incoming coax lines burned. No one smiled as we saw the blackened damage.

[ThomB]

Originally Posted by Sheilag1848

Absolutely guarded. But surge was so bad the unit behind us - also surged had all incoming coax lines burned. No one smiled as we saw the blackened damage.

Ouch, sorry to hear that.

[Morich]

Any explanation of how power of that level got on the coax? I would have expected lots of other things to get hot before a coax. I would have guessed a power meter to be flying around first!

[Sheilag1848]

I only know that his cable and power cords for his tv were burned. Saw with my own eyes. We overheard the local electrician that everything in our group of electric posts are all wired incorrectly. He install some new temp wires just to prevent further "issues" but added that a major rebuild of this area needs to happen. Today I learned that 1 bid has been received and they are waiting for a 2nd. This is all ready 2.5 weeks ago and they dilly dally around.

[Morich]

Okay, easy to see the coax melting down if it's hot enough to melt the power cords on TVs, as they are likely to get bundled together and pass through some small opening at some point. What does seem odd is that the first RV to hook to that group should have lit up and nobody else got in on the fun.
Must have been a really, really bad wiring job. Maybe something are bad as the neutral/ ground wired as the second leg of hot so that it was feeding 20 instead of 110? Even that sounds almost impossible to believe that more than one RV got hooked up before anybody noticed trouble. Seems like the first one would have melted down and blown some fuses. They'll likely never tell you what really happened, though.

[Raxel7851]

It sounds like a neutral/ground return issue. I retired as a Troubleman for our local utility. I can’t tell you how many times I would be sent to calls like that. Once the neutral goes bad, the return current has to go somewhere. The path of least resistance. That little tin foil jacket in the CATV wire will melt in a heartbeat. Also the voltage on a 240v system will not be balanced, i.e. 120/240. Depending on load, it could reach 150v or more on one phase. I’ve seen close too 200 volts. You can check it with a volt meter at the campground pedestal, but we used a machine that introduced load similar to a large hairdryer. Checking with no load may give you a normal reading. Not too be an alarmist, but it can easily start a fire. Bad neutrals are MEGA BAD NEWS!!!

[NeilV]

Its hard to imagine a working Surge Guard which is intended to prevent you from being able to hook up to power systems in this state, allowing you to have power inside the coach without engaging the over-ride switch.

In Davenport Florida though being one of the Severe Lightning Strike Capitals of the World it is highly likely that a ground strike came in through a cable tv line juicing the system especially if the lightning arresters were not properly set up and this could have been mostly the fault of the person at ground zero if they didn't have the ground cable hooked up to their air gap on their coax.


After a bad strike it may take a bit of time to find all the damaged wiring and may take time and money to dig it all up and repair to completion. If there was a major strike it also may be difficult to find electrical contractors available for even giving an estimate.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Sheilag1848

I only know that his cable and power cords for his tv were burned. Saw with my own eyes. We overheard the local electrician that everything in our group of electric posts are all wired incorrectly. He install some new temp wires just to prevent further "issues" but added that a major rebuild of this area needs to happen. Today I learned that 1 bid has been received and they are waiting for a 2nd. This is all ready 2.5 weeks ago and they dilly dally around.

That means the campground insurance should be paying for all damage. Document everything including a timeline.

If they balk when you mention this, report it to the local government's Building Department. They have jurisdiction over all electrical work.

[Beabop]

Definitely get the local govt involved if their insurance won't pay for it. This is the dry season long time since we have had rain let alone an electrical storm . unless it was a pop up, we are 3 miles from you. It took a big surge to get thru your surge protector. We were at Lake Louisa state park 1 time a surge hit only person who had all their boards fried was the camp host who had no surge guard. Good luck.

[AbdRahim]

Yikes! I am very sorry to hear of this trouble.Where are you? I am sure many would want to avoid that place until it is permanently fixed.