Overhead Light Delay Problem

dbunn · 10-31-2011, 09:10 AM

Need a little help. My wife is back stateside with the fifth whell while I am deployed here in Afghanistan. If I were home I would troubleshoot this myself. My wife tells me that the overhead lights in the kitchen/dining area do not come on right away when she uses the switch. She said the when it first started there would be a dellay of a 10 seconds or so then come on. Now she says that she can flip the swith and it may come on 30 minutes later. Apparently the bedroom overhead lights are starting to do the same thing. Slow to come on and not immediate like you would expect. These lights are the lights that are dual powered (12V and 120V). I am thinking two possibilities. 1. The switches are junk and already ggoing bad. 2. The power inverter/converter has an issue of some sort. Either way I am not there to troubleshoot and she is not savvy enough to mess with it. We will likely have to have a technician come out. The RV is still less tahn a yeyar old an under manufacturer warranty, but we will have to payy for the service call since she cant pull it to the shop. I just wanted to see if anyone out there has seen this aand had any input. By the way - RV is a 2011 Montana 3750FL Thanks, Dan.

hankaye · 10-31-2011, 11:25 AM

dbunn, Howdy;

First off, THANK YOU for your Service!

Second, does your unit have an Omsbudsman (sp?)? Someone that the dependants can call on (used to be in the Wives Club), for help and assistance while ya'll are doin' what ya do.?
Sometimes they can find someone that either has RV experience or at least can tow it to the Dealer to get the job done. Then haul it home for ya.

Only a suggestion...

hankaye

dbunn · 10-31-2011, 06:49 PM

Hankaye,

Thanks for the reply. There is not a person like that available; however, there are friends in the RV park where she is at that could move it for her.Issue is that since her and my daughter are full timing while I am gone, the RV is their house. So taking it in for warranty work whhere it can be parked in a lot or garage for a few days is not much of an option. Was just trying to see if there were any known issues with th elight switches or the inverter panel that others had run into.

hankaye · 10-31-2011, 08:27 PM

dbunn, Howdy;

Understand, I fulltime in mine as well. Some RV shops have hook-ups and will pull the trailer in for working on and pull it back ut for the night. May only take one day to figure it out and fix it tow it home the next day. Worth a few phone calls...

I had to do that last Aug. Rascal (see below), didn't like it but there was a empty lot next door where he could lodge his protests.

Thanks again, and pass it on to the rest of your unit too.

hankaye

**hankpage** · 11-01-2011, 04:25 AM

Dan, I don't understand what you mean by 12v/120v lights. Most RVs use 12v DC lighting only. These get power from the battery which in turn is charged by the converter/charger when on shore power. If the lights in question are on separate switches I would doubt they would fail at the same time. They may be on the same fuse though ... if it is loose that could be the problem. If the battery or converter was failing she would also be having problems with the fridge which is controlled with 12v DC.
I hope this helps and I wish there was more that I could do. You and your family sacrifice so much for our country. Thank you, Hank

Keep us informed of the outcome.

Ron · 11-01-2011, 06:43 AM

Dan:

THANK YOU

and your family for your commintment. After reading your post and thinkng about it for a while, I think it may be possible that your battery or batterys may be low on water making the converter working against itself trying to keep up with the batteries that are trying to charge but discharging and the power draw trying to bypass the batterys and go directly to the fixture, or maybe also a weak or failing converter due to being overworked trying to do it all. I'm no electrician but it make sense to me. My 2 cent worth. Thanks Again and GOD BLESS AMERICA

..................Ron

dbunn · 11-01-2011, 08:28 AM

All,

Yes these are the same lights that would work if only on battery power. I am assuming that the converter powers them through the panel when plugged into shore power. The fridge operates on gas or A/C so not sure that would show any issues. What would be a way my wife could troubleshoot the converter? I see what you huys are saying about the converter going bad or the battery causing an excessive draw on the converter. I know the power station comes with a trickle charge capability, but I do not know if she has checked the battery or its water levels. If the battery was disconnected from the unit or the battery cutoff actuated, then check to see if the lights work - that may confirm or deny power draw? Outside of that what other ways could someone troubleshoot the converter?

**hankpage** · 11-01-2011, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbunn

All,

Yes these are the same lights that would work if only on battery power. I am assuming that the converter powers them through the panel when plugged into shore power. The fridge operates on gas or A/C so not sure that would show any issues. What would be a way my wife could troubleshoot the converter? I see what you huys are saying about the converter going bad or the battery causing an excessive draw on the converter. I know the power station comes with a trickle charge capability, but I do not know if she has checked the battery or its water levels. If the battery was disconnected from the unit or the battery cutoff actuated, then check to see if the lights work - that may confirm or deny power draw? Outside of that what other ways could someone troubleshoot the converter?

Regardless if set to gas or electric the fridge control board and light require 12v DC to operate. If the fridge and CO and gas detectors are working you have 12v DC, but checking the electrolyte level in the battery/batteries can't hurt. Your converter should go to a higher charge rate (start humming) when lights are turned on. I think Ron may be close to the problem here. If the battery is disconnected and the converter is malfunctioning the lights and fridge will not work. (and other 12v DC components )

DJ85 · 11-01-2011, 10:09 AM

Sounds to me like it's the battery more then anything. The lights are powered of the battery and the inverter then charges the battery. Now it could be the battery is bad or the inverter is not keep the battery charged. I agree the best test is shut down everything and disconnet the shore line. Then turn the lights on and see what happens if the camper is completely dead it's the battery. I would think the servicing dealer would fix this without charging you anything.

I think your call for duty and what you do would be payment enough. If nothing else let us know where she is at and I sure someone close can help you out. But before I would get carry away with alot of trouble shooting lets start with the simple stuff first. remember the phase KISS (keep it simple stupid) Sometime I have to back up and repeat this to myself.

**hankpage** · 11-01-2011, 10:29 AM

KISS Why didn't I think of that ...... step back ...... YUP! Unplug shore power.

dbunn · 11-03-2011, 09:29 AM

Ok - so, somewhat of an update. Ran through the shore power only, battery power only, shore power with battery disconnected drill. No joy. BUT, I found out that the lights DO work but only when the door opens. The automatic door lighting still works. So, I know that the light fixtures, bulbs, etc actually work. I am thinking that it iseither the manual switch is bad or there is no pwer to the switch. I am not sure how the automatic lights are wired since I am not there. If they are wired in a series through the door jam switch then maybe the manual switch isnt getting power rfrom that jjam switch. If they are wired and powered seperately then it could be the switch itself.

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