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Old 04-27-2019, 11:11 AM   #1
Jenham4
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Sprinter 353FWDEN Lights Flickering

Hi All! We recently purchased a 2017 Sprinter 353FWDEN fifth wheel trailer after losing our SABRE fifth wheel in the flooding in IA/NE. We have gone out to camp the last two weekends and we noticed last weekend that our lights were flickering when we turned the furnace on the first night, but it didn't do it again after the first night and we had no other issues.

We went out last night and the lights were started flickering again when we turned on the furnace. We went to bed so the lights didn't matter, but when we woke up this morning and turned on the lights it is happening again with the lights flickering and it doesn't matter if the furnace is on or off. We also noticed that the our refrigerator (residential) stopped running also.

Has anyone experienced this? We are wondering if our battery and/or the converter is bad as this was purchased from a private seller and the camper was not used much in the last year.

Thanks in advance!
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Old 04-27-2019, 11:29 AM   #2
Canonman
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We had the same problem (lights flickering) with the Cougar. I'm pretty sure your lights are LED. Do you notice the flickering when plugged into shore power, battery power or both??
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Old 04-27-2019, 11:43 AM   #3
Jenham4
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We do have LED lights. We were hooked to shore power. Our old camper we did not have to have the battery on when connected to power. We have tried to have the battery on and off and still having the issue.
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Old 04-27-2019, 11:48 AM   #4
KeithInUpstateNY
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LED lights will flicker if they are not receiving the correct voltage. Some bulbs are fussier than others, i.e. they have a narrower voltage range in which they work properly.
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Old 04-27-2019, 11:53 AM   #5
sourdough
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Have you checked the battery(s)? That would be the first thing I would do. Had the same issue and turned out to be a toasted battery (one of two). Did the previous owner do regular maintenance of them? Did you check them when you bought it; water levels?

The fridge works from an inverter which would also be dependent on the DC voltage provided to it so I'm thinking batteries.
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Old 04-27-2019, 12:20 PM   #6
Jenham4
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Thanks. We are thinking it is the battery also. Had LED lights in our old camper and never had the problem!
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Old 04-27-2019, 12:22 PM   #7
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Since the problem is affecting more than just one system, I would make sure the battery ground cable is tight to the frame, as that would cause flickering. While checking that, I would also suggest making sure everything is as tight as possible, not only where the batteries are located, but also in the electric panel of the rig, both 12 volts DC as well as the 120 volts AC side. This should be an occasional maintenance thing also, as these connections can loosen over time, not just from vibration during travel, but also from heat and cooling from electrical loading causing the wires to slightly expand and shrink under the connection screws.
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Old 04-27-2019, 02:24 PM   #8
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Our experience was a little different. If the problem is only when running on shore power then it isn't likely the battery. We only experienced the problem when plugged into shore power. The converter only runs on shore power, so we thought it was the converter. What we found, was that since the converter is putting out multiple voltages depending on the charge state of the batteries, the 12v transformers in the LED fixtures must be able to tolerate these voltage changes. Many are not. We had to change our LED fixtures to solve the flickering. It's easy and Keystone provided replacements under the warranty.
The engineers at WFCO turned us on to this issue and they were right on the money.
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Old 04-27-2019, 05:30 PM   #9
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In our experience being on or off shore power doesn't eliminate the battery(s). In the situation I mentioned it was all on shore power. Defective batteries will have an effect on the DC power coming into the trailer from what we have seen. I've also used the wrong LEDs for 12V only and had issues until I replaced with 12-28vdc, but the defective battery played havoc with the way the 12v system worked even on shore power.
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Old 04-27-2019, 05:38 PM   #10
KeithInUpstateNY
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I have been pleased with these 12-28V bulbs: Grv T10 921 194 24-3528 SMD LED Bulb lamp Super Bright Warm White AC/DC 12V -28V Pack of 10 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EDFM5QU..._unqXCbAQP71ES

Two five month seasons of boondocking and no flickering and no loss of brightness.
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Old 04-27-2019, 08:42 PM   #11
John&Genny
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Not sure if it’s related but you might check out this post of light strobing we had with our 2017 Avalanche:

http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums...ghlight=lights

Hope you can track down the problem!
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