Your RV may consist of plenty of electrical appliances that are quite susceptible to electrical problems. Hence, you might encounter these sometimes. For instance, if you have noticed your RV fridge blowing fuses, then there might be quite a few reasons behind it.
An RV fridge may be blowing fuses due to an overloaded circuit, a sudden power surge, a weak or defective fuse, or a faulty appliance.
When your RV fridge keeps blowing fuses it could be because of the overload of the circuit, power surges, or even weak fuses. If you want to know about why it happens and how you can solve the issue, then continue reading.
What Would Cause a Fuse to Keep Blowing?
There certainly isn’t just one reason why a fuse blows. You might have to consider all the possibilities discussed below, and troubleshoot to check which one is causing problems for your RV fridge.
1. Overloaded Circuit
You might already know about what exactly is an overloaded circuit. If not, let us help you out.
Circuit overloading takes place when you have plenty of appliances that are plugged into the same power source. Due to this, there are chances that in order to prevent the risk of overheating or even fire, the fuse’s internal safety system might break any internal wire.
Hence, this can also cause the fuse to blow up in most cases.
2. Sudden Power Surge
If your RV consists of a fridge that’s quite old, then a power surge might be the actual cause of your problem. In a power surge, the fridge might pull more amount of power than it can handle. This is particularly more common during the summer months.
So, when the power increases, the current passing through the circuitry, might increase too and go beyond the set value. Thus, this increased amount of current can cause the fuse to blow up if the fuse is unable to handle it.
The outcome simply depends on how your fridge is and whether its fuse can withstand high electricity or not.
3. Weak or Defective Fuse
There are always chances that the issue is not with anything but the fuse itself. As you may know, over time, the fuse tends to become weaker.
It is because as time passes by, the fuse connection might get oxidized and thus, get weakened. This can lead the fuse to blow up prematurely and cause issues. It is also likely if there’s a defect in the fuse.
Hence, ensure that if no other reason seems to make sense, there might be an issue with the fuse itself.
4. Faulty Appliance
Sometimes, it might be a fault appliance that is causing the fuse to blow up. So, if your RV fridge keeps blowing fuses, then you might want to consider that there’s some problem with the fridge itself.
In this case, you can try calling a refrigerator technician that can help you figure out the issue, instead of calling an electrician for the fuse.
If you’re in the market for a replacement refrigerator for your RV, then we recommend this 2-way refrigerator by NORCOLD. It has a sleek, modern look and has great storage capacity.
How Do You Prevent a Fuse From Blowing?
Here are a few tips to help you troubleshoot the problem and prevent the fuse from blowing.
1. Unplug Your Fridge
A smell of something burning coming from your refrigerator is definitely a serious cause of concern. The first step you should take if this ever happens is to turn it off and unplug it before anything happens.
It could be a problem with the wires and the power socket and not the refrigerator itself. So, take a look at them and see if they have any damages. If you found any, you can visit the nearest electrician and they’ll fix it for you. They can replace the damaged power socket or cords.
2. Relocate the Fridge
Another possible solution would be to relocate the fridge to another circuit. The power drawn by the fridge could be more than what the circuit could handle, which will make the fridge start blowing fuses.
An electrician will help you measure the maximum load that the circuit can handle and if your fridge exceeds that load.
If you decide to relocate the fridge, make sure that you leave it unplugged for a while before you plug it in again. This is an essential safety measure to ensure that the fridge would not burn or cause any problem.
3. Unplug Other Appliances
You could have a lot of appliances connected to the same power circuit. All of these appliances combined could be drawing more power than the maximum load of the circuit.
That’s why you should not turn on many devices at the same time while they are connected to the same circuit. Also, try to not plug in a lot of extension cord expanders in the same circuit as well.
Also, ask your electrician to measure the maximum capacity of the circuit so you can get an idea of the maximum load that you can plugin at a time.
4. Repair Internal Wiring
The internal wiring in your RV could be damaged. So, how do you detect it if you cannot see it?
Here are a few tips to help you detect damaged internal wiring:
- Feel the outlets and see if they are vibrating
- Check if the outlets are warmer than they should be
- Listen carefully for any buzzing sounds
- Examine for any breaker trips
- Search for any frayed or chewed-looking wires
- Search for any smoke, discoloration, or scorching
- Check for any burning or odd smell
- Check for any flickering or dimming lights
All of these are major signs of an internal wiring problem. If you find any of these signs, then you need to contact a professional as soon as possible. Never try to fix the internal wiring yourself, it is dangerous and it can cause an electric fire if you did it wrong.
The first thing you should do is to turn off the RV completely and contact a professional to come and fix it.
Final Thoughts
There are quite a few reasons a fridge may be blowing fuses. A defective fuse, an overloaded circuit, a faulty appliance, or a power surge are the main factors to look into if your fridge is constantly blowing fuses.
If you found your fridge blowing fuses then do not panic. Start by unplugging the fridge immediately and try to understand the potential causes of this problem.
Contacting a professional would be ideal in such situations.
