What is this Switch

[Gene H]

I have a 40 ft 2001 Alpine Coach I bought used. There is a switch by the bed on the passenger side of the coach. I thought at first it may be a dimmer switch for the bedroom lights but it isn't. I can't find anything in the documentation about what this switch does. This switch slides up and down, it is not like a on/off switch.

[Gene H]

I have a 40 ft 2001 Alpine Coach I bought used. There is a switch by the bed on the passenger side of the coach. I thought at first it may be a dimmer switch for the bedroom lights but it isn't. I can't find anything in the documentation about what this switch does. This switch slides up and down, it is not like a on/off switch.

[gjstacy]

Hi Gene and Nancy,

This should be a dimmer switch for the lights that are over the head of the bed. If you turn one of those "reading" lights on and then adjust the switch it should change the intensity. Try that and let us know if that works.

[Gene H]

Thanks Gail and John,

I tried what you said to try but the lights don't work. It makes sense what you said and I may be just having a problem with those lights. The elements in the lights look okay but they don't come on.

[Jim A]

On our '04 coach, the dimmer switch and reading lights at the head of the bed don't work off of the inverter. You either need to be plugged in to shore power or have the generator running.

If you are not sure if the bulbs are good, you can always lick your finger and stick it into the socket. There are a few side effects to consider however....

[gjstacy]

Gene,

Jim is right...I remember that from our 2001, that those lights don't work off of the Inverter. I also checked with a friend who has a 2001 40ft, and he confirmed that the sliding switch is a dimmer for the reading lights. So if being on shore power still doesn't help you, there must be some other problem. I don't know that I would recommend Jim's method of checking it out, though!!

Good luck!!

[Gene H]

I am on shore power and it doesn't work. The lights have worked before but were very dim. Now the lights aren't working at all. I checked the bulbs with a meter and they are okay. I didn't have the guts to try Jim's method though! LOL

Thanks guys, I guess I have some more work to do to find the problem with the lights.

Gene

[G'ville]

Try taking the switch apart. The outer visible slide hooks over an inner slide that moves up and down varying the amount of voltage that reaches the lights.

I was able to fix mine this way.

/Fred

[Gene H]

G'villle,

Thanks, the problem was in the switch. I replaced it and everything is working fine now. Thanks to all who helped me with this problem.

Happy RVing,
Gene

[gjstacy]

Yea! It's great when a solution can be found for a problem! Just takes the right person to read the positng, as Fred did.