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Topic: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture (Read 396 times) previous topic - next topic
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Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
The cabin light on the ceiling in kitchen will not work.  I thought it was the ballast, so I switched it to LED.  It worked for a day and now it doesn't work anymore. All other lights work so I don't think it is a fuse.  I redid another one to LED and it is working great so my wiring in the actual fixture is ok. I am thinking maybe the switch is bad, but how do I get the thing apart to examine it?  Is the damn thing glued to the ceiling or what?  Any advice is appreciated. 

Crystal 2001 IB
2001 30' IB
Re: Cabin Light won't work again
Reply #1 –
If you remove the snap-out light baffle under the tubes, you should see the attachment screws.

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit
Re: Cabin Light won't work again
Reply #2 –
Hi Crystal;  I'm not familiar with the 30' IB.  If it is a florescent two tube fixture, you would have to pull out (or disconnect) the old ballast to convert it to 12v.dc. LED. The old switches remain after the conversion, and can still cause problems. Right now I have a switch in a converted fixture that is mis-behaving, Sometimes I have to flip it on and off or wiggle it to get it to work. A '99 TK.    RonB
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Cabin Light Power intermittent
Reply #4 –
I got it all apart but now I find the power seems to be intermittent to the wire in this fixture.  It has lots of power when generator is running but little to none  otherwise except sometimes it comes on.  Strange.  No other fixture has problems.   Any ideas of where to look?   BTW - Since I got this RV, this fixture has been a problem - wondering if the wires were messed up somewhere when they added solar panels.  Or? 

I may just board it up but it's in the kitchen and I need light. 
2001 30' IB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #5 –
Is this the light on the cabinet bottom or the overhead light on the ceiling? The only  fluorescent in ours was the cabinet light the other was incandescent. Our overhead light is also switched from a switch by the door. When I traded it out for LED, there was a loose wire nut in the ceiling fortunately they left enough wire to repair it. If it is under the cabinet, there also are a bunch of wires under a red wire nut in the void in the cabinet bottom. One could be loose there.

Jon
1994 MB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #6 –
This is the overhead fixture.  I was hoping it was the ballast and redid the fixture to LED.  It worked for 5 minutes. I thought it was OK. But next day it didn't work again. 
2001 30' IB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #7 –
Our older MB has a ceiling light in the kitchen that is powered by a switch next to the entry door. This is the same light that had a bad connection in the ceiling. Yours sounds different than ours.

Jon
1994 MB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #8 –
Crystal, I recall one of our members, quite a while back, who had a similar problem.  He ultimately tracked it down to a screw he had driven for a project that went through the wire. 

You have identified that the power at the fixture is sporadic.  The next step is to see if the power into, and the power out of, the switch is steady or sporadic.  If you have steady power leaving the switch when in the ON position, I have bad news - your problem  would be with the wire running to the fixture.  If you have steady power into the switch but sporadic power leaving the switch, bless your lucky stars.  Replace the switch.  If you have sporadic power coming to the switch, and if the other lights are fine, it is the wiring coming to the switch.

Pray for a bad switch...

Ken F in NM
'08 MB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #9 –
If this is turned on with a wall switch, pull the switch out to access the wires. You need a voltmeter. If, when the light goes out, you measure voltage between the switch terminals, the switch is bad.

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #10 –
Well it seems to be the wiring that comes to the fixture.    I took it all apart and the power before the switch is sporadic if at all.  I suspect a screw when they mounted the solar panel but who knows.    Tracking it down will be hard if not impossible without tearing up the ceiling.   I put it all back together for now and will live with it.   The one hour it work was so nice!    :-\ 
2001 30' IB
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #11 –
"Well it seems to be the wiring that comes to the fixture."

I would cap off the old wire and run a new wire from a nearby 12v source. I've done that on vent fans more than once.   ;)  You may need to run two, black and red, or whatever is there now.
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Cabin Light Update - Power intermittent to fixture
Reply #12 –
The light will be on a circuit with other fixtures - probably other lights - on one of the fuses in the converter. With the light turned on, pull fuses until you find the one for that light, then note which others are also off. The wires in the circuit will be daisy-chained from one fixture to the next. Likely you will find that a wire is not making a good connection where it is wire-nutted to the previous fixture in the chain.

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit