Bad design with electrical wiring on rockwood freedom 2318g

[luisperez5518]

My wife and I love our new 2023 Rockwood Freedom 2318G! but I wonder why the electrical wiring was design in such form where ALL THE LIGHTS are controlled with the ONE SWITCH by the door.
This totally defeats the purpose of the portable lights and fans that come with it to install on each bed and on top of the dining table!

The other thing that makes no sense is that the Extractor fan does not work either unless the one light switch is on!

In summary, none of the lights works on its own unless ALL THE LIGHTS are on. So if you are in bed and want to read while the main lights are on and you only need your little bed light on none can do!!!
I wonder if it would be too difficult to fix this... I am an electrical engineer so from the point of view of the electrical wiring I know exactly what i need to do but the cable management and taking the right panels out and putting them back as factory installed is what is stopping me...

[cboss]

Try using some 12 vdc wireless switches. I've installed quite a few in our camper. All I've had to do was pull the light fixtures down and install the receivers there. You can put the switch (or dimmer) wherever it is convenient.
Lots to choose from on Amazon or other sites.

[Aussieguy]

ON my trailer...... the master switch is good to turn on/off all lights.
Not every light is controlled by it... only the living area




but you can turn on the master then press on each light dome... to turn on/off individual lights



my bedroom lights are not controlled by the master


BTY try tapping quickly on the center of the master ... it acts as a dimmer too

[bikendan]

Moved thread from the General Community Discussion section to the Tent Camper and Popup section since the OP's questions are specific only to popups and not general questions.

[Briorick]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

ON my trailer...... the master switch is good to turn on/off all lights.
Not every light is controlled by it... only the living area




but you can turn on the master then press on each light dome... to turn on/off individual lights



my bedroom lights are not controlled by the master


BTY try tapping quickly on the center of the master ... it acts as a dimmer too

This is exactly how my 2023 is as well. Turn on the wall switch and then control ( push center button on puck lite ) each of the ceiling lights individually. OR, use the wall switch to turn them ALL off at one time.

[luisperez5518]

which trailer do you have?

[luisperez5518]

well i did not know that, I will give it a try!!

[caheaton]

As others have indicated, there is a button in the center of each light (except for the shower, it's on the side of the light) that allows one to turn the light on and off by itself. Personally, I find the switch by the door handy. In the evening I'll turn on one light (usually the kitchen light) and then turn off the door switch. That way we can keep the camper dark in the evening when we're outside by the fire and only turn on the light when we enter and leave the camper.

[luisperez5518]

well thank you very much to all the ones that shed a light on this situation! OL, I feel a bit dumb now LOL!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by luisperez5518

which trailer do you have?

You need to quote the person you are asking.

[jimmoore13]

You have a point. The short answer is that you use the switch on each light fixture to turn it OFF and leave ON only those that are essential on entry using the master switch.

The MASTER SWITCH concept is mostly there to enable you to turn OFF all the lights at once from one location...especially when folding the camper for travel.

As for the ceiling fan also being switched by the master switch, one assumes the camper is occupied and setup when running that fan. Don't want ANY lights but want the fan? Turn off all lights individually.

Here's the thing about folding campers. All come with a plunger-style master switch that should disconnect (mostly) all 12 volt loads (there are exceptions). This main disconnect is often sandwiched between sections of a flip-over sink or between the frame of the roof and the tub. It should turn off ALL 12 volt power when the roof is closed for travel so that a ceiling light in the main cabin doesn't cook your luxury Duvet while the bed ends are tucked away. The problem is that these switches are failure prone, and users often bypass them (I did) when they fail. THIS LEAVES IT TO THE CABIN LIGHTS MASTER SWITCH to turn off 12 volt power to (more or less) everything...for safety.

With that in mind, you WANT the lighting master switch to turn off the ceiling fan if you forget that you left it on when you closed the camper for travel. Otherwise, without free airflow, the ceiling fan motor would stall, overheat and catch fire.

Note that, in "hard side" campers, there is FAR more flexibility in wiring to lighting, ceiling fans, and other 12 volt loads, because the rigs don't fold in on themselves exposing fabrics to excess heat from lights and threatening to stall the fan motors.

That's it in a rather large nutshell. That's how it's supposed to be for safety in a folding camper.