Awning & Door Steps LEDs Not Working Quandary

[LonestarGuy]

Well, I spent 45 mins trying to articulate this problem and lost it all when I tried to Review the post so I'm going to cut to the chase. I have a pretty good technical background but... this is an RV...

Awning and door steps LED strips stopped lighting after 2 years.
No fuses blown... originally. (more on this later)
Switch is proven to be good. Same switch operates both sets and only those two sets of LEDs.
12vdc potential across terminals of switch in OFF position, goes to 0 when turned on... seeming like the circuit is being made... right? But no lights.
The measurement at the connection in the awning brace for the awning LEDs is Ov when turned on or off. I haven't tried to measure at the LEDs under the steps.

I've taken some other measurements which is too much to try to articulate here, but have only succeeded in confusing myself (LOL), which may in part be because the switch feeds both sets of LEDs or because I don't know enough about how RVs are wired.

I tried running a wire externally from the switch to the awning LED strip, bypassing what I thought was maybe a bad wire, but it didn't help. Only then did I discover/realize that the wire I removed and bypassed is the one with 12v on it! Although, it's the same ORG/WHT looking wire that is at the awning brace connection. I'll stop there.

Now, after all the troubleshooting and putting the wires back in original configuration (I promise), when the switch is turned on, the inverter kicks on and it blows the fuse for that circuit! As if there is a short somewhere... I'm not sure what I could have done and see no visible damage

Anyway... maybe is someone has seen this same type of issue on their rig and can offer some insight.

Can I just connect the awning LED strip directly to the battery to try to eliminate it as an issue? It appears to have voltage regulation built in.

Thanks in advance!

[larry2c]

So the short answer to your question is yes - but I'd use a fuse on the hot side just as a safety precaution. Where will you be connecting the "jumper wires" to - the leads to the awning light?

Here's something you might find interesting and maybe a bit discouraging. I had the opposite problem - one day my awning light strip and the step light came on by themselves. Could not find a fuse that shut them off! Here's a link to my post on the issue

Edit - forgot to say howdy and welcome to the forum, a great place to get answers to your questions and share info!

BTW, people will ask you to tell them what make\model of RV you are trying to fix

[LonestarGuy]

Originally Posted by larry2c

So the short answer to your question is yes - but I'd use a fuse on the hot side just as a safety precaution. Where will you be connecting the "jumper wires" to - the leads to the awning light?

Here's something you might find interesting and maybe a bit discouraging. I had the opposite problem - one day my awning light strip and the step light came on by themselves. Could not find a fuse that shut them off! Here's a link to my post on the issue

Edit - forgot to say howdy and welcome to the forum, a great place to get answers to your questions and share info!

BTW, people will ask you to tell them what make\model of RV you are trying to fix

Thanks... well, I put my make and model in my profile but failed to put it in the post so I will edit the post. How does one get it to show up by the screen name/moniker icon for the post?

I'll check out the link!

[LonestarGuy]

Originally Posted by LonestarGuy

Thanks... well, I put my make and model in my profile but failed to put it in the post so I will edit the post. How does one get it to show up by the screen name/moniker icon for the post?

I'll check out the link!

My bad, not by the moniker and icon but in the tag line...

[larry2c]

It's in your profile under Edit Signature

[LonestarGuy]

This is a Coachmen Freedom Express Ultra Lite 246RKS

[LonestarGuy]

Thought I would circle back and report on this issue, which I just finally resolved properly yesterday!

As it turns out, rodents had chewed through the wire pair that goes from the switch inside, down adjacent to the steps, at which point, it fed the steps LEDs and another wire pair that goes over to the awing LEDs.

That wire pair had no continuity between the switch and the steps connection, indication a break in the line. Both were chewed though, but for added pleasure, the 12v wire was shorting to ground, blowing a fuse when I tried to turn the LEDs on.

I was ready to install a new separate switch as I wasn't able to pull new wiring through the wall, when I decided to open up the underbelly protection, which turned out to be easier than I expected. That's when I found the chewed-upon wires. From that point it's and easy fix.

In

The biggest problem is was not knowing where the wires were routed and replacing the old with new in via same routing was not possible (into a hole in the wall and up or down or wherever it went).

One good thing to come of this, besides a proper restoration to original configuration, is that I discovered a 12v RF controlled relay that I am probably going install inline, in the cabinet hollow where the switch is mounted, so I can control the lights with a fob next to the bed (if I think I hear something outside at night) or from outside the trailer, without having to get up and go inside to flip the switch.

[larry2c]

Thanks for coming back and updating the thread with your results (damn rodents!) and glad things are working now!