Inside ceiling lights not working - do I have a short?

[funperro]

I bought my first popup camper back in late January (2005 Coleman Utah). I checked EVERYTHING out before purchasing and all was well. Before bringing it on its first trip, I popped it up in the driveway for a few sleepovers for the kids. One of these sleepovers, I noticed that the lights, when turned on, suddenly stopped working. While I walked to the other side of the camper to check what was going on, the lights fired back up. I'm thinking.... hmmm... is there some sort of electrical short that is occurring when I'm walking? So I jumped up and down and noticed that the lights went on and off while I jumped. Anyway, I left it alone, the lights decided to stay on, and all was good for the next few sleepovers and camping trips............ until this last weekend. The two ceiling lights would not turn on when we got to our camp site, and no amount of walking and jumping up and down in the camper would make them turn on. All other electrical items function correctly (outside light works, water pump works, battery status light works, storage box light works, etc)... which again points to some sort of electrical short. I checked the fuses, and all are intact, and also replaced the bulbs; still, they are not working. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could start searching for a common failure point? It seems it would be a bit difficult to locate, no? Just curious if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[funperro]

4x4van wrote:

funperro wrote:
...the lights, when turned on, suddenly stopped working. ...the lights fired back up. ...I jumped up and down and noticed that the lights went on and off while I jumped. ...I left it alone, the lights decided to stay on, and all was good ...until this last weekend. ...no amount of walking and jumping up and down in the camper would make them turn on.

And yet, amazingly, they didn't fix themselves. :S

Yeah weird I know. Why can't everything be as easy as just jumping up and down a few tines.... Ha! In all honesty, I knew it would bite me in the ass (not fixing it just then) but the reality of the level of busyness that comes with being a dad to 4 young kids just made me decide to ignore it to focus on the thousand other things always going on in the house! Lol

[4x4van]

funperro wrote:
...the lights, when turned on, suddenly stopped working. ...the lights fired back up. ...I jumped up and down and noticed that the lights went on and off while I jumped. ...I left it alone, the lights decided to stay on, and all was good ...until this last weekend. ...no amount of walking and jumping up and down in the camper would make them turn on.

And yet, amazingly, they didn't fix themselves. :S

[funperro]

wnjj wrote:

funperro wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

funperro wrote:
I'll update everyone on whether the switch fixed the problem. Oh, which reminds me, where can I find one of these switches to purchase?

It's just a momentary on rocker switch but since Coleman / Fleetwood Folding Trailers / FTCA has been out of business since 2011 original parts for these trailers can be difficult to find. 😞 In this case though here's ***Link Removed*** you want.

Excellent find, thanks for digging that up! I had just found the part number myself, then you sent that link.... made my job even easier!

Thanks. I posted it in the 3rd reply on the first page, along with my thoughts that your issue could be that switch. 😉

Before you order a switch, simply jump between the 2 wires connected to it (temporarily only!j to verify it’s open.

Well, dang, I didn't even notice the link you provided. Thanks to you and all the others for the help. I like your idea about jumping the 2 wires, I'll try it out before ordering. My money is on the switch being broken... we will see!

[wnjj]

funperro wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

funperro wrote:
I'll update everyone on whether the switch fixed the problem. Oh, which reminds me, where can I find one of these switches to purchase?

It's just a momentary on rocker switch but since Coleman / Fleetwood Folding Trailers / FTCA has been out of business since 2011 original parts for these trailers can be difficult to find. 😞 In this case though here's ***Link Removed*** you want.

Excellent find, thanks for digging that up! I had just found the part number myself, then you sent that link.... made my job even easier!

Thanks. I posted it in the 3rd reply on the first page, along with my thoughts that your issue could be that switch. 😉

Before you order a switch, simply jump between the 2 wires connected to it (temporarily only!j to verify it’s open.

[RoyB]

My 2008 STARCRAFT 14RT has the momentary push button switch that gets depressed when the sink cabinet is folded over. This completes the 12VDC circuit for the ceiling lights in my trailer...

It looks something like this...


Google image

The purpose of this switch is to disable the !2VDC going to the ceiling light fixtures when lowering the roof to make for travel or storage mode. My original ceiling lights had the standard 921 incandescent automotive bulbs installed and they got extremely hot when turned on. This could start easily a fire on the top of the tent bed mattress when pushed in for lower the top. My ceiling light fixture actually touch my mattress when the top is lowered.

I replaced my ceiling light fixtures with LED VERSION lights and this is what my ceiling underneath the original light fixture looked like... Both of my ceiling lights looked just like this photo... Those scorch burn marks are from the very hot automotive type bulbs being used...


Google image

I have three LED ceiling lights now in my OFF-ROAD trailer. Two on each end of the ceiling and one directly above the kitchen sink area. Mine use the cheap LED boards that you find on-line for $4.95 each. Mine do 'NOT' have the 12VDC DC VOLTAGE REGULATOR chip components on the board. Those type regulators caused RADIO and TV INterference for me so went with a non-regulator board that was spec'd to operate between 9-14VDC operating voltages. Bought extra boards but all has been working just fine since 2009 when I installed them. I used double sided tape to hold the board up inside the light fixture.


Google image

Roy Ken

[SoundGuy]

funperro wrote:
Excellent find, thanks for digging that up! I had just found the part number myself, then you sent that link.... made my job even easier!

When FCTA closed the factory doors in Somerset in 2011 the owner's of the Aliner brand of hard wall folding trailers which is located nearby purchased the engineering rights and much of the tooling used to produce the former Coleman / FFT folding trailers. AFAIK Aliner continues to produce limited numbers of these trailers which they call Somerset Camping Trailers and many former FFT dealers are now Somerset dealers so are therefore authorized to source parts for these trailers from the current manufacturer. I doubt that Somerset Camping Trailers would sell parts direct but you could always ask, otherwise ask for the name of a local dealer that can sell you parts, for future reference.

Somerset Camping Trailers

[funperro]

SoundGuy wrote:

funperro wrote:
I'll update everyone on whether the switch fixed the problem. Oh, which reminds me, where can I find one of these switches to purchase?

It's just a momentary on rocker switch but since Coleman / Fleetwood Folding Trailers / FTCA has been out of business since 2011 original parts for these trailers can be difficult to find. 😞 In this case though here's ***Link Removed*** you want.

Excellent find, thanks for digging that up! I had just found the part number myself, then you sent that link.... made my job even easier!

[SoundGuy]

funperro wrote:
I'll update everyone on whether the switch fixed the problem. Oh, which reminds me, where can I find one of these switches to purchase?

It's just a momentary on rocker switch but since Coleman / Fleetwood Folding Trailers / FCTA has been out of business since 2011 original parts for these trailers can be difficult to find. 😞 In this case though here's the exact part you want. OTOH if it proves to be the connector near the roof you likely won't find an exact replacement but can instead use any other 2-conductor connector set.

[tomman58]

I go with the first guy check the obvious first if they are all going off and on. Then I would see if I could reduce the lights in involved by going to one and opening the circuit then jump again to see if the others were affected if not then it is in the other one do a process of elimination. Good luck

[6_2Superduty]

Sound guy,not soundly
Darn spell check.

[6_2Superduty]

The connector that soundly mentioned is most likely your problem. It is common in Coleman popups.

[funperro]

First of all, I'm extremely impressed by the activity on this forum. Several helpful posts were posted to my question not long after I put it up so I really want to thank you all for the helpful replies.

On to the meat of my message: I'm 95pct sure y'all solved the problem. I believe it is the pressure switch located under the galley that some of you mentioned. I noticed this switch seemed a bit loose the weekend before the trip. I honestly wasn't even sure what the switch was for. I had thought it was some sort of trip switch for all the electrical on the camper. At the time, I tried the water pump and the ceiling lights... Both worked, so I didn't put another thought toward it. Fast forward to me driving to last weekend's camping trip (lake Wellington outside of Bailey, CO).... And wow that was a rough ride. About 7 miles of some of the worst washboard dirt road I've ever had the pleasure to drive down. I imagine all that banging around took the last breath of life out of that switch. I'm going to order a switch and check the theory this weekend.

Finally, apologies to the electrical gurus regarding my misuse of terminology (short vs broken circuit). I use the "short" term quite loosely, and incorrectly, quite often... Ha. Although believe it or not, I do understand the difference.

I'll update everyone on whether the switch fixed the problem. Oh, which reminds me, where can I find one of these switches to purchase?

[SoundGuy]

funperro wrote:
I bought my first popup camper back in late January (2005 Coleman Utah).

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could start searching for a common failure point?

Wires for the overhead lights in your Utah run up one of the street side lift posts, the rear IIRC. Up near the roof and tucked just underneath you'll find a white plastic connector and that's most likely where the break in the connection has occurred. It's been quite a few years since we owned our Santa Fe so my memory is a bit foggy but IIRC the pressure switch that feeds power to this circuit is actually mounted on the swing level galley so when the galley is lowered into the travel position power to the lights is cut to prevent inadvertent burning of the tenting. This switch is easily replaceable if it proves faulty.

[p220sigman]

Agreed that it is most likely the safety switch or the ground wire. Check the ground first and then the switch. We had to replace our switch when it exhibited similar symptoms to what you described. When you find the switch, you can test it by bypassing the switch with a jumper wire. Ours ultimately failed on a camping trip so I had to bypass it while we camped. Just be sure you remove the jumper wire before lowering the roof as the lights, if left on, will burn a hole in the tenting material and could cause a fire.

Depending on your layout, the switch could be located one of the corners or if you have a swing-over galley, on the counter where the galley rests when popped up. That is where ours is located.

If you have a loose wire somewhere, you can usually narrow it down by just jiggling the wiring while someone watches the lights. Jiggle a wire and the lights flash tells you that you are on the right track.