Starcraft Nasty thetford oven/cooktop fault

Hi @jazzeddie1234,
is this a manufacturing fault or an installation problem?

If this is a 240V circuit breaker that is tripping then this is a very serious issue. I think you would be well advised, for insurance purposes, to not fix it yourself, but have it repaired by a qualified electrician.

Whether it is 12V or 240V wiring you should also report this to consumer affairs as this is possible grounds for a full or partial recall of the product. Anything causing sparks within a gas appliance is certainly dangerous.

cheers
Mike

not good

not good at all

We had smoke (insulation bunring smell) coming from underneath our cook top when trying to use the 12v hotplate. I turned it off straight away and tried again awhile later but no more smoke!? I tried it again the other day and again no smoke but seeing this makes me a bit skeptical about it now so ill be getting it checked out on its first service soon.

Not a nice feeling having something so simple yet avoidable on a new product that we spend good $$$ on. Besides that I love my van though

Laneway said:

We had smoke (insulation bunring smell) coming from underneath our cook top when trying to use the 12v hotplate. I turned it off straight away and tried again awhile later but no more smoke!? I tried it again the other day and again no smoke but seeing this makes me a bit skeptical about it now so ill be getting it checked out on its first service soon.

Not a nice feeling having something so simple yet avoidable on a new product that we spend good $$$ on. Besides that I love my van though

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Hi @Laneway,
I think you will find it is a 240V hotplate and not 12V. If the wiring insulation is being burnt, then it is possible that an active wire could burn through and connect to the metal of the stove. If that happens, the only things preventing someone from getting a shock and possibly killed is that the stove has been adequately earthed AND the earth leakage unit trips.
In other words, this is potentially extremely dangerous. And this is regardless of whether you are actually using the hotplate or not!

If it was me, I would be finding out where the 240V plug for the stove is plugged in and unplugging it immediately until someone has a look at it.

regards
Mike

@Laneway could be just burning crap off the plate but a check underneath always advised....

Those wires should be insulated up to the point of connection, not loose cables floating about, poor wiring and installation is not surprising and whether or not a tradesman did it doesn't mean much these days, the plate is obviously 240 I would just turn it off at the plug, gas works better anyway.......our stove in the house had a dead element, so I replaced it, still didn't work and when I lifted a couple of panels found the wiring had been jammed between panels from new and slowly broke, lucky Mrs D never got lit up, was going to replace with another harness but when I pulled some more panels off found other wires in similar condition, dropped it off at the tip and bought a new one, which I inspected before I powered it up.
Be best to replace the wiring as any crushed sections could cause resistance and a hot spot and melt.............thats the simple short non techo version.

as a "non" elektrikal type person

TURN THE POWER OFF
before you play with ANYTHING

electrical faults are a fare bugger to play with, unless you know what your doing

you cannot see it
you cannot smell it
but by geez you will feel it

12V will blow a fuse
240V will blow you away

if in doubt - get a licenced electrical contractor to have a look, as @mikerezny said, find the 240V plug, and unplug it until its sorted

@Drover @mikerezny
Spot on info lads. And yes it is 240v my mistake.
A job for next week ill be disconnecting the plate and taking the top off the stove and taking a bo peep underneath at the spaghetti on display me thinks.
We wont really be using that hotplate at all but its that peace of mind that it doesnt have the potential to ark or energise any other objects. Espescially with the little kiddos running riot in the van :nightmare:

Since we have never even turned our hot plate on youv'e got me thinking I better have a look see, ours has a grill underneath no oven and its been turned off all the time.....................just always use gas.

Laneway said:

We had smoke (insulation bunring smell) coming from underneath our cook top when trying to use the 12v hotplate. I turned it off straight away and tried again awhile later but no more smoke!? I tried it again the other day and again no smoke but seeing this makes me a bit skeptical about it now so ill be getting it checked out on its first service soon.

Not a nice feeling having something so simple yet avoidable on a new product that we spend good $$$ on. Besides that I love my van though

Click to expand...

I could be wrong but if I remember right my wife did tell me in the instructions it said it may smoke and smell the first time its used