Bad Chassis Grounds

[Spanks79]

Took the 2017 31FS out for a quick weekend trip, about 900 miles round trip. Noticed that the fresh water pump wasn't turning on. When I flipped the switch on the control panel the water tank heater switch would light up and the leveler system would start beeping and indicate "ignition on" even with the ignition clearly off. My electrical experience tells me something was back feeding voltage most likely due to a faulty ground. Started crawling around under the rig and sure enough, found a bundle of ground wires dangling free from the chassis. It appears the bolt broke.
Any recommendations for weather proofing these connections? I see at least 3 bundles of ground and they all seem way too exposed to road dirt, water and salt spray. Once I fix this I'd like to coat all the connections to seal them from the elements.

[ALJO]

Well that is real bad for a 2017. All the grounds are poorly installed on RV's.
Clean the metal and use die-electric or copper grease and re-install them.
And yes this is a mod for all who have an RV, because you can start a fire or ruin your equipment. I have done many during my RV life.

[Abe padgett]

[QUOTE=Spanks79;611074]Took the 2017 31FS out for a quick weekend trip, about 900 miles round trip. Noticed that the fresh water pump wasn't turning on. When I flipped the switch on the control panel the water tank heater switch would light up and the leveler system would start beeping and indicate "ignition on" even with the ignition clearly off. My electrical experience tells me something was back feeding voltage most likely due to a faulty ground. Started crawling around under the rig and sure enough, found a bundle of ground wires dangling free from the chassis. It appears the bolt broke.
Any recommendations for weather proofing these connections? I see at least 3 bundles of ground and they all seem way too exposed to road dirt, water and salt spray. Once I fix this I'd like to coat all the connections to seal them from the elements.

As a electrician for around 100 years I would recommend making a new connections with all new lugs . Clean your connection place where attached to the frame. I would use the spray battery connection spray to coat the connection.

[rosedan]

No-Ox is probably the best grease for battery ground connections. These do have bad grounds- installed the bargman led upgrade tail lights and noticed the ground back there , they used one of the 6 light mounting screws for the ground by flattening the ground wire and running one of the screws thru the middle of the wire - I couldn't believe it. I cut the wire and put eyelets on the ends and secured to the sheet-metal with a screw.

[Vicr]

As a electrician for around 100 years I would recommend making a new connections with all new lugs . Clean your connection place where attached to the frame. I would use the spray battery connection spray to coat the connection.[/QUOTE]

X2, although I've only been an electrician for 99 1/2 years.
You also are going to have to shorten up those ground wires until you find bright and shiny copper as you don't want to have any corrosion on your new connections. And as someone mentioned use some "De-Ox" or "Noalox" on the conductor before inserting it into the lug, this will inhibit corrosion and spry on the battery terminal protector.

[Spanks79]

Thanks guys, I got it fixed. It seems ridiculous to have to do this on a unit that's only 9 months old. I think the self tapping bolt used to hold this to the frame was simply over tightened and broke form vibration. I cleaned up the surfaces, drilled out the old bolt and reinstalled with a thru bolt and nut. I coated all the grounds with battery terminal spray. Fingers crossed it holds up.

[Jagiven]

When my htt was new, I crawled underneath and coated all the exposed connections with liquid electrical tape, to keep the crude out. So far, I have never had a grounding issue.

On my antique cars, and other difficult grounding points, I use star washers between the frame and the wire connection. Which bits into both materials, and makes a good connection.

[Mustang65]

One of the issues when using the screw-tightened lugs is that they tend to vibrate loose over time and they oxidize. They may look tight visually but they need to retightened. The swing in temperatures also affects the wire's diameter causing them to expand and contract which also tends to affect the connection.

I replaced all my screw type lugs (frame mount) with hydraulic crimped fittings, wire shrink wrap and the suggested coatings. I welded a steel bolt to the frame to replace the self tapping metal screw that came with the TT. My frame screw was loose when I got the TT from the dealer. The hydraulic 10K pounds of pressure ensures a perfect crimp.

If you use the screw-tightened lugs it should be added to your maintenance list to be checked at least once a year for tightness and oxidation.

I do not recommend using screw-tightened lugs on inverter connections due to the high amperage which causes heat expansion/contraction of the wires while in use.

The hydraulic crimping tool below is well worth the money and will save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Don
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