Lights won't work on 12Volt

Over the weekend I washed the camper clean inside and out, took it back to storage getting ready to go out this weekend. Today I noticed that my lights were not working. The battery is good and the camper can raise and lower but no lights. I check the fuse box and replaced it, when I did I noticed that my 15amp fuse began to glow red! I am trying to think if I did anything during my cleaning but I checked the wires and I did not see anything. Unless someone has a recommendation I have to take it to the dealer and pay the $100 hourly fee. I have a 1994 Hilo 195L, any suggestions?

A red glowing fuse indicates a serious electrical draw through that circuit. I assume this happens when the 3-position master switch is in the "up" position?

If so, you need to trip ALL circuit breakers on the circuit breaker panel, then, move the master switch to "up" again. Hopefully, the fuse will no longer be hot.

If this is the case, reset the circuit breakers one at a time while you check the fuse after turning each circuit breaker on. If you're lucky, you'll find that resetting one of them causes the high load through the fuse. That is the circuit that is faulty.

Since this happened after washing, I'd suspect a wire or bulb holder that has worn insulation or that has absorbed water which is shorting that circuit to ground. Find and repair the culprit.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but this is exactly the way I'd look for this problem if it occurred in my trailer.

- Jack

Jack,
Aren't the 12 volt circuits protected by fuses rather than breakers. The breakers are for 110 volt circuits. I would unplug the fuses and try one at a time to see what works and what doesn't.

You are probably right Rich. Somehow, I thought in my trailer that the lights and so on were controlled by circuit breakers. In fact, I have relatively few fuses (I think). I should probably do a thorough look-see in case I ever have to do some "field repairs".

However, no matter how the circuits are protected, the process is the same. Disable them all and then re-fuse or re-breaker them one at a time while checking for the problem.

And, in thinking more about this, I'd bet a light socket is wet (or holding water) that is causing the problem. A "dead short" would blow a fuse or pop a breaker. I suspect a "partial short", like what you get with water or weakened insulation.

- Jack

kayaker said:

I check the fuse box and replaced it, when I did I noticed that my 15amp fuse began to glow red!

Click to expand...

There are fuses available nowadays with an indicator light that glows when the fuse blows: 15 Amp ATC / ATO Fuse With Indicator Light. Make sure that this isn't what you are seeing.

If the fuse does not have an indicator light a red glow means that the load in the circuit is too high, but not high enough to blow the fuse. This can be a dangerous situation leading to wire insulation melting, fire, etc.

kayaker said:

I check the fuse box and replaced it, when I did I noticed that my 15amp fuse began to glow red!

Click to expand...

Kayaker, you said you checked the fuse box and replaced it, then noticed the 15amp fuse glowing red. Its not clear, but did you already replace a blown fuse is that what your saying?

If so, that should point you in the right direction to help in identifying which portion of the 12v circuit is causing the problem. Most likely it is something that got wet and needs to be dried out. I would do the same method that Jack explained also to help in finding the problem. One other area to possibly check would be the connections on the outside terminal block which is located up near the tongue of the trailer. Here is a picture to help locate.

JackandJanet said:

You are probably right Rich. Somehow, I thought in my trailer that the lights and so on were controlled by circuit breakers. In fact, I have relatively few fuses (I think). I should probably do a thorough look-see in case I ever have to do some "field repairs".

However, no matter how the circuits are protected, the process is the same. Disable them all and then re-fuse or re-breaker them one at a time while checking for the problem.

And, in thinking more about this, I'd bet a light socket is wet (or holding water) that is causing the problem. A "dead short" would blow a fuse or pop a breaker. I suspect a "partial short", like what you get with water or weakened insulation.

- Jack

Click to expand...

Just sitting for a couple of days could allow some drying out to make the problem go away. But I think I would want to find the weak spot and try to eliminate it. Going down the road in the rain is not a time to have to deal with a problem. We just need to get the Kayaker back on here so we can get some more specific info on the problem.

Norton Rider said:

There are fuses available nowadays with an indicator light that glows when the fuse blows: 15 Amp ATC / ATO Fuse With Indicator Light. Make sure that this isn't what you are seeing.

If the fuse does not have an indicator light a red glow means that the load in the circuit is too high, but not high enough to blow the fuse. This can be a dangerous situation leading to wire insulation melting, fire, etc.

Click to expand...

Good point, Raul! *big thumbs up*. An indicating fuse would explain everything. Of course, you still have to track down the cause of the fuse failure. And yes, a "glowing" but not blowing fuse is a real cause for concern.

- Jack