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boundernewbi · 05-22-2012, 06:41 PM

Bathroom Lights and hall light in 2000 bounder shorting out. does anyone know what the problem may be? These are all on the same circuit, 20 amp fuse.

RickO · 05-22-2012, 06:46 PM

Hi and welcome to the forum.

When you say the lights are "shorting out"... do you mean they just go off for no reason, they don't work at all or you somehow know there's a short? Does the breaker trip?

Rick

Spikester · 05-22-2012, 07:11 PM

If you are blowing a fuse and have replaced it once and blows again you will have to systematically go through the circuit to check for shorts or a bad fixture. Work your way from the power source to the end of the line/cirucit checking each component. Shorts in MH wiring can be time consuming to find, so if you can troubleshoot on your own it could save you some $$ in the end. Fuses do fail over time, so it could just be a worn out fuse.

If your are blowing the fuse whenever it is replaced I would suspect that a wire (Posistive/Hot) has become chaffed by some object in the wire run over the years and is coming in contact with the motorhome gorund, or you have a bad fixture. I would drop each fixture to check as much of the wiring as I could see to make sure the wire insulation is sound. Disconnect each fixture and power up the circuit, if the fuse continues to blow that would tell me it is somewhere in the wire run, if it doesn't blow a fixture is shorted somewhere internally. Hook up each fixture until you find the bad one. If each fixture has it own switch be aware the switch could be the culprit, that's why the only real way to be sure is break the electrical connections prior to the fixture.

Hope this helps

Spike

wa8yxm · 05-23-2012, 04:36 PM

Without knowing the kind of lamp in the socket. This may mean nothing.

A common lamp is the 1156.. This is a "Bayonet" type lamp. single contact.

The socket has a non-conductive washer with a metal contact in the center hole, Behind that is a spring.

Over time, and with heat from the lamp. this washer fails, it may melt or break. and then a short happens.

They do make "Repair kits" which contain a replacement washer, spring and lead with contact. Finding one can be a bit of a problem (Check the HELP display at auto parts stores) I found mine at a Pilot store.