Help! Another Problem with Those Back Lights

Well, today's another day. He did call late yesterday and say he would be here today. But, it's almost 3 and not here yet. Oy Veh. The painter did not drop the light fixtures. He had a steady hand and managed to paint around everything pretty good without making too many drips. but, the electrician does have all the light fixtures dropped and the panel box on the bottom of the bathroom wall pulled. And, what's this about cigarette lighters? I haven't seen anything like that - remember this is a 1998 model. None of our family smokes so I wouldn't even have thought about a cigarette lighter much less looked for one!

Originally Posted by 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
I think the first time we noticed it had blown the fuse was when the wall was up. But as to whether it blew it when the wall was down I don't know for sure. I think each time both my son-in-law and my husband tried to replace the fuse (and the wall would have been up both times) it immediately blew.
Sue

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by SuzieQ16

Well, today's another day. He did call late yesterday and say he would be here today. But, it's almost 3 and not here yet. Oy Veh. The painter did not drop the light fixtures. He had a steady hand and managed to paint around everything pretty good without making too many drips. but, the electrician does have all the light fixtures dropped and the panel box on the bottom of the bathroom wall pulled. And, what's this about cigarette lighters? I haven't seen anything like that - remember this is a 1998 model. None of our family smokes so I wouldn't even have thought about a cigarette lighter much less looked for one!

Sue,

The cigarette lighter sockets are often used to power a variety of 12V accessories, from coffee pots to lights to fans to air pumps etc.

Your '98 did not come with them but it is very common for owners to install them. I have 3 in my camper (also a '98). Having said all that, if you have any of those, they would probably be wired into the circuit for the lower box but you never know........ Someone could have just spliced into the first hot wire that they found. It may be a good idea to check them out, if you have them.

Wayne

[Bill]

If the electrician has pulled the light fixtures, looked inside them and at their connections, and they all look OK, then he can put them back. Same with the power distribution panel in the hall. No point in having these things hanging out and getting in the way, and subject to damage.

In HarveyRV's post (#12 in this thread), he emphasizes the wire bundle running up the outside lift arm. This seems to me to be the next place to check. The bundle is made up of a bunch of individual wires, wrapped in electrical tape to form a bundle. There are many wires in this bundle, not just battery 12 volts as the electrician apparently told you. Among those wires is one carrying power to the interior lights. Examine the bundle, especially in the areas where it flexes, looking for wear or damage. Even better, remove the tape so you can see the individual wires. This is easy - do it while you are waiting for him to show up. Again, look for wires that are broken or chafed or worn to the point where you can see the metal of the wire through the plastic insulation.

Pop Beavers mentions that there are some wires and connections behind the refrig. There can be a problem here, but these wires are much better protected than the wires on the lift arm, so it is less likely. And it might be beyond your self-described skill level to go probing around in there.

Sorry you're not getting far with your electrician. Sounds expensive.

Bill

As I was reading your last note, the doorbell rang (I was so excited that I set the alarm off opening the door) and he's finally here (explaining about all the problems he had been running into for the past 2 days on other people's trailers - including black tanks, etc. - yuk!). Anyway, I told him about the theory of the bundle of wires (I had already printed out all the other stuff to give him). That seems to be the theory my neighbor, Mike, came up with right off the bat when he walked over the other day because he said the bundle had some fresh looking electrical tape on it - like maybe there had been a problem there before. We'll see. Bill, from I guess the Clear Lake area here in Houston (not far from where we live in Meadowcreek,) had sent that thread saying if we couldn't find the problem maybe he could come take a look this weekend. That was so nice of him. I'll keep you all posted! Things are looking up!

Sue

Originally Posted by harveyrv

Sue,

The cigarette lighter sockets are often used to power a variety of 12V accessories, from coffee pots to lights to fans to air pumps etc.

Your '98 did not come with them but it is very common for owners to install them. I have 3 in my camper (also a '98). Having said all that, if you have any of those, they would probably be wired into the circuit for the lower box but you never know........ Someone could have just spliced into the first hot wire that they found. It may be a good idea to check them out, if you have them.

Wayne

Hhm, you learn something everyday! You all have to remember, this is the first time my husband and I have EVER owned an RV of any kind. When my folks were alive they had first a little Shasta (back in the '50's - but I was a teenager and never traveled in it) and then they bought a nice 31' Silver Streak but by then we were married and having those 4 babies of ours and only would camp once in a while when my Dad would get it all set up for us at a nearby campground! So, we have a lot to learn. Thanks again. We'll see what today brings - at least he is here working again!
Sue

Well, it's approx. 1:20 and he's been at it since about 8:30 and found 2 (grounds) as he calls the shorts. One was that the carbon dioxide detector thingee has a short in it and it was wired wrong I think he said to something else. So, he's got to get me a new one of those. Now he's tracing back to find the other ground (which he did find out in those bundles or at least leading up to those bundles.) He had to take the door off of cabinet outside the water heater and that's how he found the 1st one and he's also checked all the wires behind the refrig. (which seems to be working fine btw - even made ice!) So, we're getting there I hope. I will give a final report when he's found the other. The 110 plugs seem to be ok - he said he's checked all of those - but I still don't know why that breaker seems to trip when we have lowered the top and put it back up it. One thing at a time.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by SuzieQ16

Well, it's approx. 1:20 and he's been at it since about 8:30 and found 2 (grounds) as he calls the shorts. One was that the carbon dioxide detector thingee has a short in it and it was wired wrong I think he said to something else. So, he's got to get me a new one of those. Now he's tracing back to find the other ground (which he did find out in those bundles or at least leading up to those bundles.) He had to take the door off of cabinet outside the water heater and that's how he found the 1st one and he's also checked all the wires behind the refrig. (which seems to be working fine btw - even made ice!) So, we're getting there I hope. I will give a final report when he's found the other. The 110 plugs seem to be ok - he said he's checked all of those - but I still don't know why that breaker seems to trip when we have lowered the top and put it back up it. One thing at a time.

I almost hate to say this but something does not seem right here........

You mean to tell us that this guy has been working on your trailer for 8 hours (including the 2 hrs the other day) and has still not found that short?????

This just seems plain odd to me. I mean, I realize more than most that electrical shorts can be tricky to find. I used to be Service Manager of a large Chevy Dealership in Los Angeles. If I had a tech that could not find a short in less than a couple of hours, he'd be looking for another job and a car is a LOT more complicated than your TM. It just simply is not that hard to trace a short somewhere in a 15'-20' piece of wire.

Why on earth was he messing with the carbon dioxide detector???? it isn't even on the same circuit. The rear upper shell is on a separate circuit. It just occurs to me that he should be concentrating his efforts on the short from that one fuse.

I know that it's none of my business but I sure hope that you haven't agreed to pay this guy by the hour.

I am assuming by this you actually mean carbon monoxide detector, If that is the case unless it is a combo CO /LPG detector, I would replace it with a new one that is battery operated. Easy install anywhere and in expensive. CO detectors have about a 5 yrs life so not a bad idea any way.

Originally Posted by harveyrv

I almost hate to say this but something does not seem right here........

You mean to tell us that this guy has been working on your trailer for 8 hours (including the 2 hrs the other day) and has still not found that short?????

This just seems plain odd to me. I mean, I realize more than most that electrical shorts can be tricky to find. I used to be Service Manager of a large Chevy Dealership in Los Angeles. If I had a tech that could not find a short in less than a couple of hours, he'd be looking for another job and a car is a LOT more complicated than your TM. It just simply is not that hard to trace a short somewhere in a 15'-20' piece of wire.

Why on earth was he messing with the carbon dioxide detector???? it isn't even on the same circuit. The rear upper shell is on a separate circuit. It just occurs to me that he should be concentrating his efforts on the short from that one fuse.

I know that it's none of my business but I sure hope that you haven't agreed to pay this guy by the hour.

I know it's frustrating isn't it. He finally found it (the carbon detector) after taking the doors off of the sink cabinet but I guess was tracing all of the other wires from the back lights too. He also had unwrapped the bundle of wires and checked all of that (which turned out to be OK). Then he was crawling around under that same area and checking all of that, dropped the vent on outside of back of refrigerator. Then one time when I went out to check, he was finally checking all of the light fixtures and finally found the short in the florescent fixture in the bathroom (he said the ballast was bad). So, that was around 3, then he had to chase around S. Houston to 3 places to get the detector thingee, a new fixture for the bathroom and also some galvanized screws for another little project I had him do since he was already here working (installed a soap dispenser in the tub area). So, finally he drove out of my driveway at almost 5 o'clock and unfortunately the bill was $506 (which included the receipt he gave me for the the detector and fixture which came to $106) so makes his labor about $400. Yes, seemed high to me, but who am I to know. He seemed honest and trying to find the problems. Sure hope it wasn't one of those "well here's a woman and she won't know any better things." That makes my blood boil to even think that, but I just didn't get that impression. He did say, when he left, that he had learned a lot about the TMs since he had not seen one before. Maybe next time I should just take it in to the dealer? Of course he claimed they would have charged a lot more.

Oh well, live and learn. Now at least I feel like we can maybe take it down to the bay tomorrow and park it so we can use it and begin working on our lot and work on digging up those artifacts out of the sand we lost in the storm!

Thanks again to all of you for your help and suggestions

Sue