Don't try to run the generator to test anything. After you have the converter repaired by the OEM or qualified repair person, and you are sure it its putting out "clean" 13.6 volts DC charging power to the house battery, and 12+ volts to the interior lights and 12 volt devices, and that normal 110volt AC power is going into the 110 volt AC motorhome circuits, with no smoke or circuit breakers going off, then you can connect the converter to your house battery and test the various 12 volt DC and 110 volt operated appliances etc. Expect that some fuses will be burned and circuit breakers need to be reset or replaced. After applying 240 volts, I would want an electrician to reactivate and test the circuits and devices to avoid messing anything else up unnecessarily.
Bordercollie wrote: Don't try to run the generator to test anything. After you have the converter repaired by the OEM or qualified repair person, and you are sure it its putting out "clean" 13.6 volts DC charging power to the house battery, and 12+ volts to the interior lights and 12 volt devices, and that normal 110volt AC power is going into the 110 volt AC motorhome circuits, with no smoke or circuit breakers going off, then you can connect the converter to your house battery and test the various 12 volt DC and 110 volt operated appliances etc. Expect that some fuses will be burned and circuit breakers need to be reset or replaced. After applying 240 volts, I would want an electrician to reactivate and test the circuits and devices to avoid messing anything else up unnecessarily.
The key problem is we have no way of knowing HOW the 240v AC was applied.
Was it applied to ground?
Could there be melted wiring in the system?
Partially melted waiting for a bit of water, vibration to finish the job.
This is a mobile death trap.
If anyone else beside the OP is harmed because there was a fault that was not uncovered by a professional and qualified inspector before it is used, it is willful, deliberate, intentional, not just reckless disregard of the consequences.
A equivalent situation would be if there was a short to ground in a home (e.g. miswiring a hot wire to ground outside --- I have seen that happen --- the entire electrical system has to be inspected and repaired properly before electricity supply is turned back on by the utility.
Likewise, if there has been a fire in the home, the entire house system is condemned until it is re-certified.
* This post was
edited 05/05/12 08:47pm by NewsW *
I just finished reading the patents that cover the Progressive Dynamics converters. They have an entire section devoted to how they protect the converter against this type of overvoltage problem. It's very common. The patent even describes a secret fuse that blows, but doesn't protect anything in the converter. Its purpose is to act as a telltale so they will know when the converter has been exposed to overvoltage. That way during warranty claims and repairs they know if the failure was due to a runaway generator or connection to 240 versus a manufacturing defect.
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