Wires laying on heater ducting a safety issue?

[Mike & Rebecca]

I neglected to get a good picture but hoping this is a simple question - there is a mass of electrical wiring and cables underneath the kitchen sink and bathroom of the 260RD. Many of those wires are laying directly on top of the heater ducts

I didn't think much of that, assuming the trailer was constructed "safely." But I happened to touch one of the heater ducts while the heater was running and was surprised at how hot those ducts are.

Is that a safety hazard to have wires and cables touching the heater ducts? Do I need to wrap one of the two with some sort of insulating material? Or is the insulation on the wires and cables sufficient to protect them from the heat?

Thanks!

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Mike and Rebecca,

Should wires be laying on hot ductwork . . . no.
Are virtually all towable RVs built this way . . . yes.
Whenever I encounter this, I try to secure the wires so that they are not touching the ductwork . . . particularly any sharp edges.

Rob

[Country Campers]

I am with Rob on this.

The more you look around your RV the more things you will find that you may want to "tidy" up. Move the wires as best you can. I do not think that this is a huge hazard but one that I also did on ours. If the wires were laying right on the heater case itself then that would be an issue that would need prompt resolution.

Brian

[Mike & Rebecca]

Thanks again Cate&Rob and Country Campers ! Fortunately, it's all fairly accessible after you remove the right kitchen drawers and the rear wall of the passthrough. I'll try to "tidy up" and maybe find some sort of insulating material to place between the wires and the ductwork where I can't.

[TucsonJim]

Mike & Rebecca

When I purchased my Reflection 297RSTS in October of 2016, I found a propane line actually resting against the furnace. So I had to do some tidying up too.


Before


After

Jim

[Jlawles2]

TucsonJim Jim, good catch. Hopefully you sent that to GD. That to me is a safety concern as the gas line over time in a rolling earthquake (as someone said before) could potentially loosed under the weight of the rubber line which could lead to a gas leak in the "confined" space.

[Mike & Rebecca]

TucsonJim , the new trailer is at the dealership for its first round of warranty repairs. One of the issues is the propane line stretched very tightly against the hot water line. I was concerned about both friction damage and heat damage to the propane line. I was going to try to deal with it myself but there wasn't enough slack in the propane line to move it. That propane line is actually so tight against the copper tubing that it's difficult to move even a little. I highly recommend new owners pull out ALL of the drawers and remove the passthrough wall so they can inspect all of these critical items. I was glad I did.

[glowblue]

I learned very early on in RV ownership, neatness does NOT count. The wiring and plumbing typically looks like Mr. Smith's 8th grade shop class ran all the wiring and plumbing lines. Agree a good inspection of critical areas (Furnace, water heater, underneath wiring to exterior lights, etc.) is a good thing to do.