Help! Another Problem with Those Back Lights

The switch in the bath wall failed in mine. I verified this by opening the rear compartment, disconnecting the two wires from the switch and then connecting the two wires together. Do not do this permanently, but bypassing the switch is a way to determine if the switch is good or bad.

I lost power to the left rear turn signal. I found a loose connection behind the fridge. It is not in a junction box. It was just a bundle of crimp on connectors.

Otherwise, I have no experience with the electrical.

[Wavery]

Hi again Sue,

I am leaning heavily toward the wire bundles that go to the roof. I would carefully examine the elect tape and see if you can find a place where it is rubbing through. When you say, "blowing the fuses immediately when you try to replace", that indicates a dead short somewhere. That means that the hot wire coming from that fuse to the outside of the camper (wire bundle) then into the upper shell, has a spot that has rubbed through and is touching bare metal somewhere. Either that, or the connector that attaches the wire to one of the lamps has come apart and the wire is touching.

As Bill says, I doubt very much that a wire is touching anywhere inside one of the walls. Especially on a 10-year-old camper. That's something that would have shown up well before now. It is far more likely in an area where the wire has the ability to move and the insulation chafing through or a connector failing at one end of the wire.

Wayne

OK, I'll copy this for him also. By rear compartment, are you talking about that door up under the queen size bed? See, I haven't even looked in there yet, I guess because I'm tall and it's kind of difficult to bend my old body to crawl in there and check it out!

[mjlaupp]

Sue,
The 12 vdc wire route for the back shell is:
1) Fuse panel to bath wall switch.
2) Switch to under kitchen sink via channel in floor under bath tub. (This will be the worst place to repair.)
3) Kitchen sink to behind fridge and through floor.
4) Up the front support arm for the back shell.
5) Inside the trim cover cap for the front of the rear shell.
6) Inside the front to back inside center seam cover for the back shell.
7) There are holes poked into the foam to feed wires to each fixture.
8) Ground is through the aluminum shell.
Mike

p.s. You can't see the bath wall switch from the back compartment on 2003 or earlier models.

Wayne, Thanks! I sure wish this electrician would show back up so I can give him all this info. And, congrats. on your 10 grandkids - we have 9!

Mike, Thanks, also I'm printing it out right now! And, I was kinda suspecting that you couldn't see the back wall switch from the back compartment because ours is so old. Whew, that lets me off the hook crawling around in there looking for it!

Yippee, I just called the electrician and he's almost on his way! Thanks again to all of you, I'll give him what I've printed out and what I can deduce from all. I'll let you all know tomorrow if he has any luck because we have a U of H basketball game to go to tonight - Go Coogs!

The problem is most likely a short and not a switch problem. Did the painter remove the light fixtures to paint. If so I would check each one. The TM is very similar to a car in that one wire ( 12V) runs to lights etc. The return ( Gnd) path is via the aluminum skin. If in removing the lights for painting, the insulation on the power wire got cut or was cut via vibration and is now in contact with the skin it will blow the fuse. I would remove the light covers and examine each power wire where it goes through the skin. Be sure to check the cig lighter outlets as well.

The 110V problem is a different problem. Is the breaker that is tripping a GFI breaker or standard one.

[wbmiller3]

One quick troubleshooting step (you may have answered this already and I missed it) is whether the fuse blows when the bathroom wall button is pressed in or when it is out.

If out, it is a button or wire to the button problem. If in, then in the lighting circuits (including lighting side of the button).

[Bill]

On reflection, I agree with Rumbleweed. Although the switch itself could be at fault, it is more likely a problem in one of the fixtures. Or, as has been pointed out, in the bundle of wires that runs up the lift arm.

Bill