Electrical Issue

[jriggs10]

Hey there folks,

I have a '98 Caribou by Fleetwood camper on a '96 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. When I plug in the camper to the truck, it seems like the back tail lights on both the camper and truck are on all the time. This has happened a couple times, but after driving for a while (a few hours) it seems to be working normally. Any thoughts on what is going on with it? Seems really strange that it turns those lights on but then after a while they go off...The battery works normally for the camper lights and truck so the battery did not just drain. Thanks for any insight!

Jeff

[bigfootford]

jriggs10 wrote:
Oh, got it, so is that possibly in the connector or in the camper wiring itself?

Yes. Check both ends... It is a loss of the ground like others have said. Can cause some strange light problems!

Jim

[jriggs10]

Oh, got it, so is that possibly in the connector or in the camper wiring itself?

[cewillis]

'bad main earth' no substantial ground connection from camper to truck

[jriggs10]

Not sure what a 'bad main earth' is, maybe an auto-correct? Thanks!

[tony_lee]

This sort of fault can occur if there is a bad main earth on the camper. Charging current for the camper battery can't return via the main ground so goes back via the rear lights of the camper to the lights on the truck and then to ground. Once the camper battery gets to full charge, little current flows and so the lights aren't lit enough to notice.

maybe.