Got me a little electrical issue

Hi,

Make sure you order the correct "base" for the led bulbs. Best source may be ebay.

Cheryl_B wrote:
Someone said that they will just use the same fixtures that are already in place. That's true, or no? Just checking before I head to the store on my errands later on.

Thanks so much, everyone. And the pics are great. I started from the bathroom, where the problem was first encountered and checked under the sink. I saw a myriad of colored wires in a bundle and I followed them until I saw that they lead all the way to the cab. It's been raining so I haven't gone under the hood to see if that's where they all end up but I will try and find it today.

Also, with that picture of the breaker box, that looks like I need to take off the cover and see if the fuses are just inside and out of sight. Thanks for your help. I appreciate every suggestion.

I'll post again when I solve the problem. Oh. And the flickering lights mentioned before were only due to poor connections of the bulb in their little receptacles. I've been monkeying with one or another of those since I bought her a year ago. Time to invest in the energy-saving bulbs.

Someone said that they will just use the same fixtures that are already in place. That's true, or no? Just checking before I head to the store on my errands later on.

You should be looking for a distribution center like this. The colored things on the right side are fuses and the breakers are on the left under the thumb. The fuses pull straight out of the holes and no you won't bet shocked doing so. Pull them one at a time and look through them from the side. If the two legs are not connected across the middle the fuse is blown.

To further confuse this. the flickering lights could have been caused by a loose connection at the fuse box and eventually burned itself off the connection.

Good luck, Cheryl - think of this as a fine opportunity to learn more about your camper and enjoy it! One more small tip, the plastic fuses are usually different colours depending on amperage and the number on the outside edge of the fuse is the number of amps.

I would like to know where to get fuses at 29 cents. The dollar stores here used to have ten for a dollar but no longer. Regular stores, even Walmart are up to a dollar per fuse and you must buy a pack of six. There are at least two physical sizes of fuses in our MH and a few different amperages for each. Cheryl will have to take the bad fuse with her to the store to get the right size.

travelnutz wrote:
Your RV of that age should have 1156 incandescent bulbs in the interior lights which is a single filament high current draw and the bulb really gets hot when on. The center of the bulb base should have a single fairly smooth bump lead contact and it's the positive current contact. The metal barrel shape of the bulb base that has the little pins sticking out the sides to keep the bulb in when turned in the socket is the negative current side contact. Do not use a bulb in your socket that has 2 bottom lead contacts (1157 bulb) as it has 2 filaments and is for tail lights. One for running lights and one for stop and turn signal lights.

Thank you for explaining all that. I am not at the point of checking how wires are connected but this paragraph I saved of your post was very helpful. I bought the wrong bulbs for the cabin! They have the two bumps on the base instead of the one. Now I have to go retrieve them all and put them away for their correct purposes.

I'm sure that is why it happened in the first place. :)

Hi,

You can get a shock--but you have try HARD. Such as licking two bare wires with your tongue. Wet hands are not recommended. Dry hands "break through voltage" is about 56 vdc.

travelnutz wrote:
Cheryl,
Believe me, it's not rocket science and then you will know also. You cannot get a shock from 12 volt DC.

Heck, your Bro-in-law can text you all the pics and info you'll ever need so get it done as it won't take even 5 minutes to find the problem.

Over and out!

Cheryl,

Ask a fellow camper to help you with your fuses issues. Most know something about fuses as simple as that is if they have been RV owners for a length of time. Believe me, it's not rocket science and then you will know also. You cannot get a shock from 12 volt DC.

Be sure to take the bulb out of the socket that gave you problems as it may be shorted out and will simply blow the new fuse too. Again, it's only 12 volts and it would never hurt you nor could you even feel and current if you were to touch bare wires so don't worry about getting a shock. Also will let you see if the bulb base or socket is black or discolored from having shorted out. If so, they are so easy to replace cheaply as there's only 4 to 6 screws holding it on and the wires have finger turn on plactic wire nuts.

I do not know how much you know or understand about DC circuit current flow so starting with the basics.

First, write down which color wires goes from the fixture and connects to which color, IE, black to black or red to black which is positive current as some differ in colors used in your RV era. White to white which is normally the ground (negative current). Yours should be blac to black and white to white and that will be the correct polarity. Because some of the old RV interior fixtures had red for positive and black for the ground in the past as the same fixture was used in boat/marine cabins lighting is why I mention this. With the old fixtures which have a red and a black wires. Red is + (positive) and black is - (negative or ground) as they were also used in boat etc cabins. Identify what yours are and you will have no problems with proper polarity connecting.

Your RV of that age should have 1156 incandescent bulbs in the interior lights which is a single filament high current draw and the bulb really gets hot when on. The center of the bulb base should have a single fairly smooth bump lead contact and it's the positive current contact. The metal barrel shape of the bulb base that has the little pins sticking out the sides to keep the bulb in when turned in the socket is the negative current side contact. Do not use a bulb in your socket that has 2 bottom lead contacts (1157 bulb) as it has 2 filaments and is for tail lights. One for running lights and one for stop and turn signal lights.

The positive wire colors can be confusing to some as in RV's etc, the coach wiring is usually black for the positive side and white for the negative side (the ground) like in home wiring AC circuits in which black is the hot wire and white is the ground. RV manufacturers usually with their coaches like homes as to wire colors for both DC and AC electrical circuits but you are only dealing with 12 volt DC wires. Most other DC (Direct Current) electronic/electrical circuits the positive is red and the negative is black such as in vehicles boats, batteries, etc. The confusion is because of mixing coaches that are lived in like homes is blended with the age old normal 12 volt DC side of life standards/specifications. That is why you must pay attention to how it's wired for colors presently especially if you want to replace the high amp draw incandescent bulbs with LED's which consume approx. 1/7th of the same current for the same lumens of light output. Many of the LEDs are polarity sensitive and won't work if current flow is backward.