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rwiegand's avatar
rwiegand
Explorer
Oct 22, 2015

light won't go off

On my new-to-me Lance 851 there's a single light on the right side (facing the back door) that is on much of the time, randomly. It runs the battery down.

Oddly, it is on at about half power, there is a lighted rocker switch inside that is also on at half brightness when in the off position. Turning that switch on brings both the switch light and the light on the back to full brightness. Turning it off drops them to half. I need to hit the battery cutoff and unplug from shore power to get it to go off fully. Sometimes though it is off all by itself. I haven't had a chance to look at the switch behavior when it starts from an off position.

I've never seen that behavior in a light before-- not even sure how you would get to halfway on. Any thoughts?

17 Replies

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  • rwiegand's avatar
    rwiegand
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    Not new, and no warranty so it's my problem. I will take it apart and see if I can isolate the problem. Not used to partial shorts with electrical stuff, seems like something that could be heating something up somewhere, so I'll keep it powered down until I can either figure it out or disconnect it upstream. Probably going to take me a while to get to it, as the camper's going to the shop this afternoon for some surgery to allow it to work with my trailer hitch.
  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    It could be a short if negative is switched. Short positive to the switch and ya gotta blown fuse. Short positive after the switch ya gotta blown fuse when the switch is turned on and dark when the switch is turned off.

    JOB ONE

    Take switch loose and see how many wires connect to the terminals on the back and report back.

    "Take it back to the dealer for warranty" sometimes costs fifty dollars in fuel and blows a whole day. You and a hundred others line up for Saturday warranty work. If not on salary, missing a day of work can get a little pricey. Especially if the boss has scales and 3 inch incisors.
  • jimh406's avatar
    jimh406
    Explorer III
    Oct 22, 2015
    It may be obvious, but pull the bulb if you can't figure it out. I agree it's probably a short.
  • Super_Dave's avatar
    Super_Dave
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    There is a short in the circuit that is letting partial current bleed. For instance, a slight short might be allowing say, 1/2 or 2/3's of the 12v through.

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