Missing Running Lights
Working thru some issues on my new/old truck camper. What little I've driven it around, I've limited to day time driving because the running lights don't work. Signals and brakes all work fine. I...
Forum Discussion
Having the same problem with the old camper we just got. I found the problem so maybe same thing with yours.
The positive wire(s) in the camper clearance lights are connected to the tail light wires. The clearance lights get their negatives from the metal skin of the camper.
The lights all need the positives to have 12v and they are in a string so if one has a break in the positive it can stop the others from working. But each light has its own ground from the skin. So if one has no ground the others can still work ok
The ground is by a metal screw with the thread into the skin and the head touching a metal plate by the bulb. Scrape that plate so the screw head has good contact and use a new screw that is not corroded.
If the screw goes into a corroded hole in the skin, move the whole light over a bit so it gets new contact hole with the skin for ground.
On the positive wires, I found part of it would not work and no way to see why inside the skin up there, so I went outside with a new wire from a working light's positive to the positive wire of the string that didn't work and that got 12v to them. So all now work as one string.
OK, what if your skin is not the ground for all the clearance lights, but has individual ground wires? Then I suppose you can do the same thing if there is part that does not work. Run a new wire from a good ground to the neg side of any light that has no ground.
Any by-passing wires on the outside of the camper get covered with white Gorilla tape so it is not so ugly. :)
BTW--I blew the 15a fuse in the truck that is marked for "trailer park" a few times until I smartened up and turned the truck lights out while working on the camper lamps. Also the truck lamps turned off by themselves after a time, so I had to keep turning them back on. Lots of going up and down the ladder for your fitness work-out!
The positive wire(s) in the camper clearance lights are connected to the tail light wires. The clearance lights get their negatives from the metal skin of the camper.
The lights all need the positives to have 12v and they are in a string so if one has a break in the positive it can stop the others from working. But each light has its own ground from the skin. So if one has no ground the others can still work ok
The ground is by a metal screw with the thread into the skin and the head touching a metal plate by the bulb. Scrape that plate so the screw head has good contact and use a new screw that is not corroded.
If the screw goes into a corroded hole in the skin, move the whole light over a bit so it gets new contact hole with the skin for ground.
On the positive wires, I found part of it would not work and no way to see why inside the skin up there, so I went outside with a new wire from a working light's positive to the positive wire of the string that didn't work and that got 12v to them. So all now work as one string.
OK, what if your skin is not the ground for all the clearance lights, but has individual ground wires? Then I suppose you can do the same thing if there is part that does not work. Run a new wire from a good ground to the neg side of any light that has no ground.
Any by-passing wires on the outside of the camper get covered with white Gorilla tape so it is not so ugly. :)
BTW--I blew the 15a fuse in the truck that is marked for "trailer park" a few times until I smartened up and turned the truck lights out while working on the camper lamps. Also the truck lamps turned off by themselves after a time, so I had to keep turning them back on. Lots of going up and down the ladder for your fitness work-out!
