Bought our trailer, now come the questions!
We feel we did a good deal of research and are pretty happy with our trailer overall. I have a few questions about QOL (Quality of Life) with it, minor things. First, the light switch gets very wa...
Forum Discussion
MT BOB wrote:
#1 That looks like an RV Designer switch. Their switches are rated for 10 amps. You could run 1 to 2 headlights off of it. However, lots of their switches use flat spade push on connectors,commonly called quick disconnect connectors.They can corrode, they can become loose where they slide on the switch.Can also corrode at the wire crimp.Pull out the switch,look for these.Also,look at back of switch,for signs of melting.
Yes, typically many of those "designer" switches will be capable of 10A at 12V, that would be 120W of power.
The bulbs in question should not be more than 20W each so 40W draw on a switch rated at 120W leaves plenty of leftover capacity.
But, you are also correct, the back of the switches will be wired with flat QD connections. Not the most robust or reliable method since they often corrode in high moisture environments which leads to a poor connection with high resistance that creates heat. I also have seen those QD terminations loosen over time which also can create a poor connection with high resistance.
OP may want to pull the switches and verfy that the terminals and QDs are not loose fitting and/or corroded. Corroded terminations will need the QD connector cut off and replaced with a new QD. Loose QDs can sometimes be tightened by using a pair of pliers and gently bending the sides of the QD slightly closer together.
Changing over to LEDs can also be very effective since they draw less than 1/8 of the wattage for the same light output. 3W LED light output is almost the same as 20W of incadescent in Lumens. Two 3W LED bulbs is 6W draw instead of 40W incadescent draw but yields the same light output as the 40W incadescent..
