ceiling lights.led.

[Welsh girl]

We have 2 different circuits in the van the front has 4 led ceiling lights and the rear has 1 led ceiling light and 5 led reading spotlights.
All the rear ones work ok but the front ceiling lights have all gone dim.
Can anyone explain why and how to fix this problem please.
The one over the kitchen used to flicker a lot and more so when the bathroom light was switched on now they are dim permanently.
We had them changed from the florescent bulbs when we bought the van August 2013.
All the rear lights work fine

 

[pappajohn]

possibly.....the kitchen light has a voltage leak to earth...enough to 'starve' the others but not enough to blow a fuse.

Just stabbing in the dark, so to speak.

Try removing the kitchen lamp and see if the others recover.

 

[TheBig1]

if all the bulbs have gone dim at the same time, and none are lighter when on alone, i would say its a supply voltage issue on that circuit

 

[Welsh girl]

All the lights mysteriously came back on last night. Weird.
Thanks for the replies though.
We did take 2 off, one at a time to test your theory, nothing happened at the time, put them back together and around 5 hours later they mysteriously work again.

 

[Welsh girl]

Hello again. I'm bringing this thread up again because the same had happened to the lights. They are too dim to do anything and have to plug in a lamp to a 240 electric socket to see anything.
Anything more I can do to get them to work properly?
One minute they are bright the next second they are dim but never actually go out until they are switched off. Switching either the washroom light or the awning lights make them brighter or darker but doesn't make them work normally.

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[Don Quixote]

Sounds like a wiring problem, if your rear are working fine. If you can gain access to the wires closest to one of the LED lights and check voltage across cables. If your switching the washroom light or awning light on and off to make them brighter it's a wiring problem.

 

[Welsh girl]

if all the bulbs have gone dim at the same time, and none are lighter when on alone, i would say its a supply voltage issue on that circuit

How do I check this please?

 

[TheBig1]

How do I check this please?

With a multimeter across the pins in a bulb socket. one of the most common faults is a faulty earth wire or connection, and the circuit is using a common earth in the control panel or through another circuit

 

[TheBig1]

Hello again. I'm bringing this thread up again because the same had happened to the lights. They are too dim to do anything and have to plug in a lamp to a 240 electric socket to see anything.
Anything more I can do to get them to work properly?
One minute they are bright the next second they are dim but never actually go out until they are switched off. Switching either the washroom light or the awning lights make them brighter or darker but doesn't make them work normally.

that indicates that the faulty circuit is earthing through the washroom or awning light circuit. its a case of tracing the earth wire and checking connections or sometimes quicker running a new length of wire back to a good earth point

 

[tonyidle]

All the affected lights will share either a common earth or a common supply, or both. The fault will be on the common feed or the common earth connection. My experience with MH wiring suggests that the earth connection is most likely and is where I would start. If you can use a multimeter with any confidence you can narrow it down to one or the other very quickly.

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[mitzimad]

i would remove all the lights and remake the connections first

 

[maxi77]

It may be worth changing the circuit fuse with a known good one. I have had problems with partly blown fuses before. Mind you it does sound as id the problem is around the bathroom/kitchen lights, and as well as the dodgy earth the other possibility could be one lamp drawing too much current for some reason, enough to drop the circuit voltage but not enough to blow the fuse

 

[tonyidle]

It may be worth changing the circuit fuse with a known good one. I have had problems with partly blown fuses before. Mind you it does sound as id the problem is around the bathroom/kitchen lights, and as well as the dodgy earth the other possibility could be one lamp drawing too much current for some reason, enough to drop the circuit voltage but not enough to blow the fuse

If that was the case there would be a smell of burning - maybe even smoke.

Remaking lamp connections could sort the problem if the lamp feeds daisy chain from one to the next - quite possible - but the only lamp connection that could affect all of them would be the first in the chain.

The biggest problem sorting electrics in a motorhome is caused by not knowing how the wires run - basically the order of connection. As suggested by maxi77 take a good look at the fuse & holder and try a new fuse. Then if that doesn't help find out whether it is the battery feed or the earth connection that is at fault. To do so first read the leisure battery voltage (red meter lead to battery +ve and black to battery -ve) with the offending lights switched on and note the reading. Then switch them off and remove any one of the bulbs. Connect the black lead of your meter to a known good earth (the leisure battery earth terminal is best). Switch on the offending lights. Use the red meter connection to probe the exposed terminals in the light from which the bulb was removed. One terminal should indicate full battery voltage (within a few tenths of a volt). If it does not, and is more than 1 volt lower than the battery voltage, there is a fault on the supply to the lights. If this connection is OK connect the red meter lead to the other exposed terminal in the light unit. The meter should read a few tenths of a volt. If the reading is higher than 1 volt then there is a fault on the earth connection.

 

[dave newell]

90% 0f all 12 volt electrical problems are earth issues so I'd start there. What motorhome is it? If it has Sargent electrics then orange white is the colour for the earth wires and they all go back to the Sargent EC unit so I'd start with the multi plugs in the bottom/back of that (if its Sargent).

D.

 

[dave newell]

Help us to help you. Make and model of motorhome, and maker of electrical system/model No of distribution unit.

D.

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