Dead short in 12V circuit

[seb1899]

I am not sure if this the place for the problem I have,

We have a '10 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8285WS and I hva a blown fuse in the appliance circuit. I cannot replace the fuse as it blows each time a replacemnt is put in.

This circuit covers my hood exhaust fan some ceiling lights and the overhead lights that are on the slide ceiling.

I am not sure how to trouble shoot this other than looking for the wiring that would supply the slide.

Would there be a harness that goes in and out when the slide is extended?

I hate to go back to my dealer for this as their shop charge is about $90. per hour and I sure do not want to pay for them taking my trailer apart at this rate looking for something that should not have happened.

If I am unable to find the source of the problem would it be unreasonable to ask Forest River to supply some after warranty consideration in limiting my cost to a dollar amount of 2-3 hundred dollars?

I have never had a 12v wiring problem in the 3 other trailers I had before this one.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by seb1899

I am not sure if this the place for the problem I have,

We have a '10 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8285WS and I hva a blown fuse in the appliance circuit. I cannot replace the fuse as it blows each time a replacemnt is put in.

This circuit covers my hood exhaust fan some ceiling lights and the overhead lights that are on the slide ceiling.

I am not sure how to trouble shoot this other than looking for the wiring that would supply the slide.

Would there be a harness that goes in and out when the slide is extended?

I hate to go back to my dealer for this as their shop charge is about $90. per hour and I sure do not want to pay for them taking my trailer apart at this rate looking for something that should not have happened.

If I am unable to find the source of the problem would it be unreasonable to ask Forest River to supply some after warranty consideration in limiting my cost to a dollar amount of 2-3 hundred dollars?

I have never had a 12v wiring problem in the 3 other trailers I had before this one.

I think you have it right. Sounds like the umbilical to the slide is pinched somewhere. With the slide open try to trace the umbilical and look for rubs or cuts. It should be there.

If you want to eliminate a bad fixture you can try removing them and check the wire nuts for security.

These things are the hardest to track down and the most time consuming. If you are pretty handy you can do it yourself. If not, then it is going to hurt a bit.

[cmcct]

A while back I had an intersting dead short issue. Not saying this is the same as yours, but perhaps as easy. I had some stray staples left over from when the trailer was made that had found their way across the positive and negative terminals on the back of a 12V light. The light worked fine one day, we traveled to another destination and then the fridge wouldn't turn on. Yup, same circuit as the light that was shorted out.

[Iggy]

I had a 8285 and I would go outside and look at the wheel well on the drivers side of the full slide. You should find a plastic casing that powers the 12 volt lights in the slides ceiling lights. I would start there to see if you can find damage. You are looking for a DEAD short which means the positive 12 volt wire is hitting the frame or the neutral wire.
If you trace that plastic tubing back into the rig I feel confident that you will find the damaged wires.

You may have to remove the plastic underbody on that side of the trailer to see more.

Hope this helps

[sherdep]

If you had a tone generator or what we call a fox and hound - you might be able to find the wires that way and figure out where it is damaged.

Like stated above - sounds like a wire got pinched or rubbed against something and chaffed the wire casing to ground