15 amp fuse blown

[tervio]

I have a 15 amp fuse blown which is labeled Range Hood (2nd position). While the blown fuse is removed the range hood still works. It must be mislabeled but within the last two seasons I have had 2 light fixtures stop working. One in the front under shelf over bed the other this past weekend rear of trailer under shelf also. I did replace fuse and it worked long enough to temp wire new light which worked until fuse blew again. Any Ideas??

Tervio

[Bama Rambler]

Help me understand.

Did you find what the fuse is powering?
Why were you temporarily hooking up a light? To test the fuse? For something else?

Which model RV do you have?

[tervio]

No, I do not know for sure what is powered by that fuse. It will not take a new fuse, it blows as soon as it touches. I bought the new light when the first light in bedroom stopped working, thinking the light fixture was bad. It never worked at that location, but it did for a moment in rear location.
I have the Solaire 297RLDS

Thank You
Tervio

[Bama Rambler]

Until you figure out what isn't working, it's going to be hard to figure out What's causing it to blow. Did it blow when you removed the light fixture?

Have you checked all the outside lights to make sure if they work?

[tervio]

I've tried turning things on in the trailer, water pump works, ceiling lights work (they have their own 20 amp fuse), range hood works, slides work, awning works, porch light works, led lights in awning roller work, exhaust fans work, I guess i'll have to spend more time investigating. Hard when the trailer is 200 miles away.

Thanks for your help

Tervio

[emm-dee]

In the aviation community there's a saying about fuses and circuit breakers: "If you don't know why it failed then don't reset it unless the fire that results is less serious than the problem it solves".

The fuse did its job...time to find out why.

[extxn]

Originally Posted by tervio

No, I do not know for sure what is powered by that fuse. It will not take a new fuse, it blows as soon as it touches. I bought the new light when the first light in bedroom stopped working, thinking the light fixture was bad. It never worked at that location, but it did for a moment in rear location.
I have the Solaire 297RLDS

Thank You
Tervio

If you've replaced a light which you thought wasn't working and now having continuous problems with the fuse blowing ~ my 1st guess is that the fuse had blown before (reason original light quit working) and you're just now becoming aware of it. My bet is that you have a bad wire behind the wall or whatever the light is mounted on and it's shorting out causing the blown fuses!

Pull the light back off and check the wiring, if need be ~ dig as deep as necessary before things get too hot!

Consider the fuse is mislabeled (as you already have), especially if everything but that light works. Turn everything on inside the TT, then shut off the breakers 1 at a time to see what stops working. Ensure that breaker is labeled correctly, turn it back on and then do another one. Repeat as necessary to verify everything and all circuits.

[pmsherman]

If the light at the bed that doesn't work is in a slide, I'd look for a problem where the wiring enters the slide, a common place for a pinched wire shorting to the frame.

A quick way to check for a short in this case is to temporarily replace the fuse with a 1.2k resistor. Use a voltmeter on the wires at the light fixture and if there's less than the battery voltage at the (disconnected) light, then there's a short in the wiring to the light fixture. The 1.2k resistor will limit a shorted wire to 10ma, safely within the wire's current carrying capacity.

Phil

[DustyRoads]

Underneath my slide wires were broken by me not paying attention while closing. I lost all the lights in my slide. Quick fix and power was restored.
I hope yours is as easy to repair.

[tervio]

At the trailer this weekend here is a couple of things I did.
1st test, disconnect all power, replace 15amp fuse, turn on battery shut off switch, okay proceeded to turn on 30 amp 110 breaker fuse blew.

2nd test, Thought let's make it repeat the failure, disconnect all power, replace 15amp fuse, turn on battery shut off switch, fuse immediately blew.

Thoughts?????
Thank you

[Brewhedd]

What's a 110 volt breaker fuse? Are you connected to shore power during these tests?

[tervio]

Sorry I meant when I switch the 110 breaker on, the 15 amp dc fuse blew. I have a power pedestal with breakers so I don't have to pull the plug out.

[tervio]

I was at the trailer this weekend and found a dead short on the circuit with the grey wire. This is circuit labeled Range Hood, which obviously is mislabeled because the Range Hood is still working. Palomino factory has no diagram as to how the wiring was done so it must be a hit or miss as to each trailer build. After many emails and conversations with factory I was told my grey wire is to the tank sensor, yet the tank panel works. I did a test and disconnected the grey wire and found NOTHING other than where the 2 lights would be (front bedroom & rear living) stopped working. What was interesting is the fuse labeled Stereo actually is STEREO, 3 O.H. LIGHTS IN LIVING ROOM SLIDE, RANGE HOOD (FAN & LIGHT), 1 OVER COUNTER LIGHT IN KITCHEN SLIDE. All other fuses are correct, and all 12 VDC items work with grey wire disconnected. Palomino is basically not very helpful at this point.
Tervio

[Bama Rambler]

So with the grey wire disconnected, the front bedroom and rear livingroom lights didn't work? If so, then I'd say the grey wire obviously feeds that circuit.

Did you actually find the short so you can fix it, or did you find it by the proxy of disconnecting the grey wire, so you still have to physically locate it?

[tervio]

I did not find the short, I had a electrician friend help me with my multi tester. Both of these lights were installed on the bottom of a cabinet. I see where the wires run up into the ceiling but from there I don't know. I think with nothing else being affected I may purchase a couple of desk style LED lamps for the bedroom and a desk lamp for the table between the rockers. Its unfortunate that Forest River Palomino does not have any type of wiring diagram that would help owners resolve these type of issues. As you can see from my previous post I was told the grey wire was to the tank sensor, (based on now its a grey & white wire going to the tank sensor????) I really believe they have no idea how these trailers are built. Look at what is on the fuse labeled Stereo!!!