RV Electric - I am obviously a novice

The time spent on this issue would have allowed a user with a manual in-out switch to open and close the slide-out 4,000 times.

Good advice, thanks! I ran a new positive wire to the bed motor circuit board and everything works great. Project complete and the bed is back in business with a little labor and materials I had on-hand. Better than the prospect of buying either a new motor ($440) or a new circuit board ($41).

You need to use a test lamp.. This is a device that looks a bit like an old fashion ice pick with a clear or colored plastic handle.. light bulb inside the handle and a wire with a clip on the end.

I had a problem here (twice) where a 12 volt circuit went dead.. Meter showed GOOD power when I unplugged everything.. Light showed.. not a thing (Completly dark) So I set about tribble shooting.

First time: Found a spot on the wire that was bad.. this is rare but it does happend.. A quick surgical removal of the bad part followed by a well soldered and sealed splice (not just insulated but sealed against moisture intrusion) and it was back to 100% Bright light.

Second time it was the crimp on lug at the end of the wire.. New lug and back in business.... Same wire both times.

Thanks Westend!

Your original 12V (+) phase will not handle any current. It may measure over 12V but it won't supply the current. My guess is that you have an issue in the control board, the connections to the board, or a faulty power supply to the board.

For anyone keeping score, here is the latest - which indicates my prior assessment is incorrect. I used the positive wire from my alternative 12v source and attached it to the circuit board for the bed lift. I kept the original ground wire (from Forest River) attached to the circuit board - IT WORKS. Am I correct in assuming then that the ground is NOT the problem? Further testing was this: Ground wire from alternative source attached to the circuit board for the bed lift and positive wire from the original source (from Forest River) attached = meter reads 15.3, but bed will not move. I do hear an usual beep/screech/crackling noise from the circuit board during this testing.

My original guess about the ground wire "failing" was this: With original wiring (from Forest River) in place I kept the meter on the positive and negative wires while wife ran the switch. The meter drops to zero each time she activates the switch.

Any new insights??? I am on the verge of running new 12v power to the bed because its an easy fix and I am TIRED of trying to figure this out. Thanks much.

Hmmm. Not sure. But good thought. I will double check because I am guessing it does.

Just another thought. The light you originally tapped into didn't happen to have a switch in the ground lead, did it?

yes sir. That is my plan!

ThomasFour wrote:
Tenbear, yes I did employ your suggestion. The ground wire fails when I apply appropriate power to lift the bed. So, somewhere there is a problem with the ground wire. No idea how to identify where. I could just bypass the ground wire near the bed lift and that would probably result in problem solved.

Not sure what "ground wire fails" means. Does the voltage on the ground wire go to the +12v voltage? That would indicate a high resistance in the ground, probably a poor connection. If you can find another good ground wire you could tap into that, or run a new wire from a convenient chassis location.