Practice What You Preach

[rickeieio]

This morning we had the privilege of traversing Houston on I-10.  I was so thrilled I could barely stand it.  While doing my light check, I saw the turn signals worked on the rv, but if they were on the same time as the running lights and/or brakes, the back up lights were on instead of the red lights.  Well, time was running short, we won't be using multiple lights, mostly just turn signals.  Beat the heavy traffic......

We made it to the new c/g, got situated, and dove into the light issue.  I always check for bad grounds first, as it's most likely the problem.  In the cheesy little junction box under the nose of the trailer, I found 6 ground wires, joined by three wire nuts, two parasite clips (Scotch Locs), and one grounding screw.  Grrr.....  I cleaned it all up and joined the wires to two grounding screws, plus the ground wire from the truck,  No change in malfunctions.  Started checking any wiring I'd altered/touched in past months, and all was fine.  Unplugged wire from back up lights, both at the trailer and in Jackalopee.  No change.  Classic signs of bad ground, but where?

I decided to roll under the rear of the trailer and find the wiring harness supplying the back up lights and check for abrasions or breaks.  While tugging and cussing, I commented that a particular loom had 5 wires in it.  DW, doing her part to cheer me on, asked what the two wires were going to a bolt in the frame.......Duh.  What color are those wires?  White she replies.  I asked where she saw them, reached around a frame member to find them and they weren't attached.  Both were broken, and the ground lug was thick with rust.

Stripped back to clean copper, scraped the frame to get clean metal, new bolt and all is well.  Only 3 1/2 hours of Houston heat and humidity, and 1/2 gallon of sweat.

It's nearly always the ground.

[lenp]

Yep, them darn grounds!

[runaway parents]

9 hours ago, rickeieio said:

This morning we had the privilege of traversing Houston on I-10.  I was so thrilled I could barely stand it.  While doing my light check, I saw the turn signals worked on the rv, but if they were on the same time as the running lights and/or brakes, the back up lights were on instead of the red lights.  Well, time was running short, we won't be using multiple lights, mostly just turn signals.  Beat the heavy traffic......

We made it to the new c/g, got situated, and dove into the light issue.  I always check for bad grounds first, as it's most likely the problem.  In the cheesy little junction box under the nose of the trailer, I found 6 ground wires, joined by three wire nuts, two parasite clips (Scotch Locs), and one grounding screw.  Grrr.....  I cleaned it all up and joined the wires to two grounding screws, plus the ground wire from the truck,  No change in malfunctions.  Started checking any wiring I'd altered/touched in past months, and all was fine.  Unplugged wire from back up lights, both at the trailer and in Jackalopee.  No change.  Classic signs of bad ground, but where?

I decided to roll under the rear of the trailer and find the wiring harness supplying the back up lights and check for abrasions or breaks.  While tugging and cussing, I commented that a particular loom had 5 wires in it.  DW, doing her part to cheer me on, asked what the two wires were going to a bolt in the frame.......Duh.  What color are those wires?  White she replies.  I asked where she saw them, reached around a frame member to find them and they weren't attached.  Both were broken, and the ground lug was thick with rust.

Stripped back to clean copper, scraped the frame to get clean metal, new bolt and all is well.  Only 3 1/2 hours of Houston heat and humidity, and 1/2 gallon of sweat.

It's nearly always the ground.

 Yup I feel your pain. That was my headlight issue . Bad  ground.

[SuiteSuccess]

I wish I’d had my lawn chair and a Dr. Pepper to cheer you on. 😊. 

[lappir]

Congrats on the fix. It's called "Sweat Equity" for a reason.  Plus what Suite said!!

Rod

Edited March 10, 2023 by lappir
comment

[rickeieio]

49 minutes ago, SuiteSuccess said:

I wish I’d had my lawn chair and a Dr. Pepper to cheer you on. 😊. 

How appropriate.  Our favorite Dr. Pepper guzzler, big5er, stopped by just after we'd finished.  

[GeorgiaHybrid]

It must be something about Houston. We had an issue with our left turn signal on the trailer not working there a couple of weeks ago. Got out the meter and went to work but that one didn't take too long. We had a bad relay in the Jackalopee so a quick trip to the parts store for a replacement and a few spares, we were back on the road. Sooo, It's almost always the ground except when it isn't.

[SuiteSuccess]

Just curious, David. How did you find a faulty relay?  I learn so much from you guys. 

[rickeieio]

If the diodes in the Jackalopee aren't glowing/flashing, it's, likely a bad relay. I have ours mounted where I can see the diodes from the back of the truck.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Carl, I checked the plug voltage at the rear of the truck. No power there so that isolated the problem to the truck. Took a look at the tell tale LED's inside the Jackalopee and the one for the left blinker wasn't lit. Checked and verified the voltage going into the Jackalopee so that left it to something wrong in the box. The easy way to check a relay is to swap with another relay and they started working.

Always start at the back of the truck. You can eliminate 1/2 of the system that way. If the problem is towards the trailer, check your pigtail at the trailer. That will eliminate the trailer or the pigtail as being the problem.

Always eliminate as big a chunk of the electrical system as you can. Another BIG help is to have a Power Probe handy to be able to apply 12v+ or ground to a component to check it. My power probe will stretch out to 20 feet and makes checking grounds easy.

[trimster]

Ditto to what you all have said.

I'm struggling with an electrical problem on the road right now. RV waterpump started to be intermittent. Then it quit.

Ground checked out. 13.5v at the pump and at the switch. Hmmmm.

Ordered a new pump and it would fire up for a few seconds and then quit. Way before gaining line pressure so the cutoff switch could shut it down.

Got a new switch, thinking the contacts had given up.

Pulled a dedicated 12v line from the battery as a test. Everything is back to normal. Head scratcher here is that in the master control panel where the pump switch resides, the B+ is pulled off a main line, run from the fuse box, that powers several other things. All other connected 'things' work great. It's like there's voltage but the current is lacking on the pump wire. It's going to be less than fun, but I'm thinking of pulling a new wire from the switch to the pump when we get to Tucson in a week or so, landing for 2 weeks.

Electrical problems are not high on the fun meter... and RVs are not wired like aircraft...but should be.

[SuiteSuccess]

7 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Carl, I checked the plug voltage at the rear of the truck. No power there so that isolated the problem to the truck. Took a look at the tell tale LED's inside the Jackalopee and the one for the left blinker wasn't lit. Checked and verified the voltage going into the Jackalopee so that left it to something wrong in the box. The easy way to check a relay is to swap with another relay and they started working.

Always start at the back of the truck. You can eliminate 1/2 of the system that way. If the problem is towards the trailer, check your pigtail at the trailer. That will eliminate the trailer or the pigtail as being the problem.

Always eliminate as big a chunk of the electrical system as you can. Another BIG help is to have a Power Probe handy to be able to apply 12v+ or ground to a component to check it. My power probe will stretch out to 20 feet and makes checking grounds easy.

Thanks David.  Great explanation.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Trimster, get yourself a DC/AC amp clamp to help troubleshoot electrical issues. It will allow you to see the amps your load is pulling and also the voltage drop in a circuit.

Three things I always keep as far as electrical testers go. A GOOD DVOM, a decent DC/AC amp clamp and for DC circuits, a Power Probe 3 or 4 to check and apply grounds and battery voltage in a circuit. For those not really familar with electrical work, look into taking a class or two at your local technical school.

[Lou Schneider]

3 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Trimster, get yourself a DC/AC amp clamp to help troubleshoot electrical issues. It will allow you to see the amps your load is pulling and also the voltage drop in a circuit.

Three things I always keep as far as electrical testers go. A GOOD DVOM, a decent DC/AC amp clamp and for DC circuits, a Power Probe 3 or 4 to check and apply grounds and battery voltage in a circuit. For those not really familar with electrical work, look into taking a class or two at your local technical school.

Be careful when comparing clamp on ammeters.  Not all can measure DC current flowing through the clamp.   It's common to find an inexpensive meter that measures AC and DC voltage via it's test leads but will only measure AC current flowing through the clamp.

I have and like this one.  Note that it specifically says it measures both AC and DC current.  Reasonably priced and has a lot of neat features like true RMS AC voltage and current measurements and a built-in NCV (Non-Contact Voltage detector) to help you avoid or trace energized AC circuits.  Watch the short videos in the listing to see how these features work.

https://www.amazon.com/KAIWEETS-Multimeter-Auto-ranging-Temperature-Capacitance/dp/B07Z398YWF

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Lou Schneider

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Another good, mid range clamp meter would be this Klein model: https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-CL390-Electronic-Resistance/dp/B08DTDCG7T/ref=asc_df_B08DTDCG7T?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814222102121&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413749879313&psc=1

I prefer Fluke meters for most of my testers but this one was recommended to me by Chet and so far, it has been flawless.

[ddm502001]

Klein makes and sells a premium lineup.  Used both in Garage and in the Power Station.