Lighting issue

[AtlHideout]

Originally Posted by gkainz

I had a similar failure but only the overhead lights in the slide. I found a bad splice in the wire bundle going to the slide. A few years of movement extending and retracting the slide caused it to fail.
But I would start troubleshooting with a volt meter and test for power at switches and lights and work your way back toward the fuse box. Where the wires run can be difficult to determine.

This is kinda what I'm thinking but with the weather here I haven't had the chance to really dig into it.

[LERD]

Originally Posted by AtlHideout

One of the 2 lights in the master bedroom has been out for a while now I always assumed it was a bad fixture. The ones in slide just happened after a brief camping trip. I keep the camper in the driveway and haven't seen any signs of rodents. I also checked all the fuses and where the wires attach and everything seems tight and connected.

If you can, start with the non-working light that is furthest away from the panel, and then use your meter to look back towards the fuse panel. You will know if it's the end of the line because there will only be one wire to the fixture. When you get to the next fixture in line, (closer to the panel) remove the wires in both directions and look for a short, in both directions. Hopefully you will only see that short circuit in one direction. Then keep working backwards until you can isolate the bad section. It can be tedious, but it's doable. Just hope the bad section isn't deep in an outside wall. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[AtlHideout]

Update: I've check all fuses, switches and traced the wires and there are no signs of damage or disconnect. Unfortunately I'm still not getting any power to the three fixtures. Any suggestions?

[LERD]

How did you check the fuses? Sometimes a fuse will pass a continuity test, but still be a failed fuse under load. So check those fuses you suspect, using a volt meter while the circuit is under load. (Turn on the switch). Use a good ground, and check for 12v on the out end of the fuse top.

[AtlHideout]

Thanks for responding. What I did was remove the fuses one by one and replaced them with new ones to make sure. Next I pulled the fixtures and checked the wiring and tested with a volt meter and got nothing. finally I swapped the fixturs around to make sure they worked so it definitely wasn't the fixtures themselves.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by AtlHideout

Update: I've check all fuses, switches and traced the wires and there are no signs of damage or disconnect. Unfortunately I'm still not getting any power to the three fixtures. Any suggestions?

How did you trace the wires? Buy a spool wire (#16, 50' will do) and two appropriately sized alligator clamps. Clamp one end to the DC ground in the distribution panel and the other end to the negative of your meter. Then check the positive of the light fixture with the positive of the voltmeter. If you have voltage then the ground circuit is open.

If no voltage then repeat the test with your jumper on 12 vdc positive, essentially reversing everything the setup.