Electrical Question

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:08 pm

I have 3 strings of LED Christmas lights on my KJ. These are each fused, each set that is. They are plugged into a 300 watt inverter and the inverter is plugged into the power outlet in the back cargo area. Tonight I smelled what I told the wife was somebody burning plastic! Then the LED's went out and I knew I was smelling the KJ!! :shock:

One other thing: the inverter is fused also and each string is 3 amps. So it was a total of 9 amps.

The power outlet no longer works. The inverter is still good as are the lights. Why did this happen?

Terry

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

kj is obviously a guy and does not want to be all prettied up

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you sure the inverter was only pulling 9 watts? was it getting good airflow?

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:27 pm

That's the only thing I can think of too.. that the inverter is pulling more than 9 amps.

renegadekj · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:25 pm

what size fuse is on the 12v outlet?? and maybe a better question what size is suspoe to be there? If someone had of thrown to big of a fuse in there you could have gotten some smell from ur KJ. Hard to tell without see it!

josh

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:58 pm

No way those lights are pulling 3 amps per pair. Thats 1035 watts.

A small ceramic heater pulls about the same.

A regular pair of Christmas lights is around 25watts for 50 bulbs. Thats regular lights too. That would be .6amps for 3 sets of 50.

Check the fuse and see if it popped. If it did, youve got something pulling way to much power.

Be very careful about having things like that in the Jeep. Having your jeep burn on the side of the road is not fun at all. Its a VERY good idea to keep a Fire Extinguisher with you at all times that can handle electrical fires if you have things like that in the Jeep.

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:51 am

I can only go by the information provided on the lights. Here is what it says: Rated Power: 120V, 60Hz, 0.02A with a 3 amp fuse. When I said 9amps I went with the max. As you can see it is less. I have a hunch that the inverter itself has something drawing way to much. What I don't understand is why the fuse didn't blow before the wires started melting. The power outlet has a 20amp. fuse, it was blown. The only thing that makes any sense is the inverter + the lights were drawing more than 20 amps.

But, the fuse SHOULD have blown before the wires started melting. I have to believe the draw for the lights is correct. LED's draw very little power. The inverter is about 6 years old and a cheap one. Has to be the inverter.

Terry

EDIT: The inverter is for up to 300 watts. It has a 30amp. fuse. ( I think if I use it again I'll lower the fuse amperage.) The fan in the inverter is rated 0.12amps.

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:56 am

The inverter is ost likely the blame.

Are the lights indoor/outdoor rated? How did the electrical penetrate the outside? could the short have been something that came incontact with the negative ground of the KJ. I have a 400 watt inverter that I use all the time in the rear power adapter. NEVER had any issues with over amperage in mine. My guess is the problem is in the most likely made in chia lights.

Make sure they are outdoor rated.

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:19 am

There is no short in the wiring. The lights are indoor lights but no rain so no problem there. I also think it's the inverter.

Terry

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:27 am

Fulltimer wrote:

There is no short in the wiring. The lights are indoor lights but no rain so no problem there. I also think it's the inverter.

Terry

OK first thing i would do is get outdoor lights.

Second thing is How cold is it there?

Outdoor lights are MADE for colder temps and the wireing is rated differently. When they are getting cold they might be causing a resistance problem and over heating the wires.

Get the correct items for what you want to do. I am not worried about rain, you may be causing the problem by getting the bulbs and wiring TOO cold.

Either way I would get outdoor lights.

Just saw you were from Fla. Sorry didn't notice before. Get 12 volt outdoor lights and forget the inverter all together.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:37 am

Forget the inverter, and the lights. You should be able to take a cigarette lighter and plug whatever you feel like into it. You should be able to put a straight short between the + and - pins and plug that in. It should AT WORST cause a short and pop the fuse for the outlet. Replacing the fuse should cause the outlet to function properly again.

Caveats:
- If the inverter is able to melt plastic *without* drawing 20A, it won't trip the fuse for the outlet. If it is able to heat up the cigarette lighter adapter and the wires leading up to it without drawing more than 20A, it won't trip the fuse. Both of those are signs of a poorly designed inverter. It should have a temperature sensor in it to shutdown if it overheats AND it should have a properly selected fuse to prevent wire melting.

If it was the wires between the fuse in the jeep and the outlet getting hot and melting, however, it sounds like we have a problem here. DC is supposed to be testing the wiring to make sure that the proper fuses are selected. If the wiring can't handle 19A indefinitely without melting, it should not have a 20A fuse.

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:39 pm

I haven't dug into it yet but I think what I smelled was the power port itself. Probably where the wires hook onto it. I'm not going to replace the fuse until I can see the damage. I checked all other wires and they are fine. The inverter IS a cheep one. Ya get what ya pay for! As far as the lights go, they are fine for what I'm doing. If I do this again next year I'll go with 12v lights. BTW: I hooked the lights up to another inverter and they worked. But, everything is on hold.

Terry

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:57 pm

Ahh, ok, they are only 0.02A. That would be 6.9watts which is not much at all for a 300watt inverter. I run my laptop on mine all the time and it does just fine. It pulls around 1.5amp which is 175.5watts.

Sounds like youve got a problem with the inverter or the plug in the Jeep.

WoodysKJ · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:59 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Ahh, ok, they are only 0.02A. That would be 6.9watts which is not much at all for a 300watt inverter. I run my laptop on mine all the time and it does just fine. It pulls around 1.5amp which is 175.5watts.

Sounds like youve got a problem with the inverter or the plug in the Jeep.

Is that .02 amps PER bulb or per String?

Little bit of a difference.

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:14 pm

Per string.

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