Has anyone else noticed that there is an increase in the number of bus fires this school year? We had one burn because of an electrical short about 15 minutes after the driver went home for the day. It was a Freightliner. The electrical system to the drivers console is suppose to disconnect by means of a solnoid from the batteries when the bus is shut down.
I am currious to find out if these bus fires are just isolatewd incidents or what. You can email me at stevenps9@itlnet.net if you have concerns
Are you sure the fire started in the wiring past the solonoid? It could have started in the ignition wiring, headlight wiring or other wiring that stays live even with the ignition switch is in the off position.
Are you sure the fire started in the wiring past the solonoid? It could have started in the ignition wiring, headlight wiring or other wiring that stays live even with the ignition switch is in the off position.
JC
Good point - the solinoid actually protects the wiring from the panel onward. If the wiring burned before this it may have been a cable rub or such.
Marshall
Wandering around the mountains in a 95 Thomas/Ford - Wishing for a C2 !!
You say the bus is a Freightliner but that has nothing to do with body wiring or console configuration. Was the solonoid in the console? If so the fire could have started in the live wiring ahead of the solonoid, or in case of a malfunction, in the wires past the console.
In answer to your questions the Bus is a THOMAS. The solenoid is connected in such a way as to supply power to the console and no the radio was installed by thomas as part of the bus standard package.
Your missing one two important points here - 1). the solonoid is located in the switch panel. 2). the line side of the solonoid is always live or 'hot', only the load side is controlled by the ignition.
Its quite possible that a wire coming from the chassis to the solonoid got damaged by rubbing against metal and shorted out once the insulation was no longer effective.
Bus Fires
Posted - 11/26/2004 : 08:27:35 AM
