Galley and forward cabin ceiling lights don't work

[nitedriver57]

Sent: 3/19/2005

All my interior lights, 12 and 120v all work with the exception of the galley and the forward most ceiling light. Without tearing out the ceiling I have not found where these 2 light s get their power. The schematic is no help either. I have continuity between the 2 as far as power and ground wires, but above the stove they disappear. Can someone tell me where I might find where these get power fed from?

[denisondc]

Sent: 3/19/2005

There's a plastic item that covered the 12volt wires coming up the wall that ran to the ceiling light. It was inside one of the overhead cabinets. Mine has one of those plastic items but I have never looked in it. It could be a bad connection in there.

[70winnie]

Sent: 3/19/2005

Before I remodelled, there was a switch in mine near the door, beside the switch for the outside light, that controlled some of the interior lights.  Check there, maybe the switch or the wiring behind it is bad.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Sent: 3/19/2005

Given the differences between rigs, not sure if this will help but, here goes for my 78 26' Chieftain:
Power from the converter (under driver side bunk bed) is routed up in behind my reefer compartment (centre of my rig on drivers side) where several plugs are located that distribute the 12VDC through the ceiling.  My lights basically form 2 circuits. One for the passenger side, one for the drivers side.  The passenger side is routed, via the roof, from the reefer compartment plugs over to the stove vent fan area.  I believe there is 3 legs from from that point.  One drops to the vent fan/light and continues on to the light over the sink.  Another goes aft for the bedroom and bathroom.  The last leg goes fwd in the roof and then drops down through the wall to a light switch mounted on the end of the kitchen cabinet by the entry door.  That switch controls the front overhead light and exterior porch light.

Hope this helps - Dave

[The_Handier_Man1]

Sent: 3/19/2005

I am having the same problem with my '73 D22 ceiling lights not working over the galley and the table. I checked out the ceiling lights before replacing the roof and found I didn't have power to the porch/ceiling light switch next to the door. I did find a bad fuse block in the back/trunk area above the water tanks. You might take a volt meter or test light and check for power at the fuse block. Good luck,  Les

[Boise_Chief]

Sent: 3/19/2005

Pull the light over the galley.  it should have multiple wires that it connects into.  those may be the problem.  even if it looks like the wires are all connected take each wire nut apart and re twist them and put the wire nut back on firmly.  I had that problem in my lights in the back half.  I had power to half and not to the others.  sith my ohm meter I started down the line and found power to one light but it didn't work and the bathroom light and fan didn't work after I inspected and re-connected that wire nut everything worked.  Kinda odd it looked fine but it wasn't.

Also check the wires into and out of the switch by the door check for power that switch runs the front light and maybe controls the galley light.
Sean

[HeavyHaulTrucker]

Sent: 3/20/2005

Dave, I had the same problem when I first bought my Winnie.  I believe that you will find that it is a loose pin in the left-hand plug on the bottom of the 12 volt fuse panel.  That is where your 12 volt power originates, and if someone plugged that connector in cock-eyed, it can knock that pin out of the plastic socket.

Remove the 4 screws holding the 12 volt fuse panel to the power distribution panel; be careful when removing it, since the trace side of the charge sentinal board can contact the frame when you remove the panel.  On the bottom of the chassis that holds the shore power relay, you will find two nylon multi-pin sockets that go through the chassis; if I remember right, the top left corner pin and the one directly below it are the problem pins.  Check to see that they are still anchored in the nylon plug body; if they come out easily, you will have to straighten out the pins so that they lock when you push the pin back into the body.

If they are anchored, then you can remove the plug from the socket and try to clean any corrosion.

John

[nitedriver57]

Sent: 3/25/2005

Thank you all for all the suggestions. At least I now have something else I can do today!!
With all the replies I did however note a few things. I know there are many variations in the layout of the Winnebago. I have at least 4 varying wiring diagrams, including one from Winnebago directly and no two are alike. Mine has things I cant find at all. And common things on all diagrams don't exist on mine.
For example mine has no trace of a porch lite, bath fan, no switch of any sort in kitchen or door area and no stove fan.
I have checked continuity from the wires I found above sink in cabinet to each of the 2 bad lights and all is well. The feeder for these 2 lights seems to come from the fridge area in ceiling, but I have yet to find them. And the only other light is a 120v in the stove hood. My inverter is on drivers side rear under bunk and then all the wires go forward in the wall. Between bathroom and bunk is the sink and counter area. I found a false back under the sink and found all the wires seemed to go there separate ways from here. I was hoping not to have to get into the ceiling.

When I re-parked the beast after putting some miles on it, then after re-filling both fuel tanks I just pulled in my spot and didn't back in as it has been for months. I live in N Calif and as luck would have it we have had a lot of rain lately and where I had no leaks before, I now have them, even though it sits as level as before. So it looks like I might be ripping into the ceiling after all.

I got rid of my motorcycles a few years ago because I was always having to work on them, good thing these rigs aren't anything like that !!! LOL.
Thanks again and will definitely post when I finally figure it out.

Dave

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Sent: 3/25/2005

120VAC in the stove hood?  These rigs used 12VDC lamps in the stove hoods.  I believe they also had a 12VDC stove vent fan as standard.   If yours is 120VAC with no vent fan, then it's been modified.  I would hazard a guess a PO has changed things such that you ended up with more problems.

Dave

[nitedriver57]

Sent: 3/25/2005

You are probably correct. I pulled almost 20' of wire from under the dash that went no where or was excess. Also, there is a microwave installed above the stove hood.

[OldEdBrady]

Sent: 3/25/2005

The Whiny Beggar, '77 Brave, 20-foot, has 120V stove light and exhaust fan.  Don't know how common (nor unusual) this may be.  There's a 12V light over the sink, which is next to the stove.

[HeavyHaulTrucker]

Sent: 3/26/2005

On a "box stock" Winnie, EVERYTHING is operated on 12 volt current from the converter, except the following:

Air Conditioner
Refrigerator
120 volt Electrical Outlets

The range hood is 12 volt; the bulb should be a 40 - 50 watt 12 volt "trouble light" style screw-in bulb.  The fan motor in the range hood is also 12 volt.

The 12 volt light fixtures used in the Winnie are still available at any RV store, or by special order from Winnebago Industries.  The bulbs used in these should be common 1141 automotive bulbs -- single contact with a bayonet base.

If anyone has any different wiring, then it was done by a prior owner and is non-standard; it also DOES NOT conform to RVIA standards, and could be a fire hazard.

John

[nitedriver57]

Sent: 4/6/2005

Ok, found the problem. It was the light blue wire coming out of the inverter. As was suggested earlier one of the pins in the Molex plug had pushed out, not making contact with source.
FYI, I still have not found any evidence of switch located at or near sink, or any type of external doorway light whatsoever.
So, for safety sake I am installing 1 amber LED side-marker light just underneath and above the step, which lights up the entire area nicely, as well as a small LED replacement set-up for a license plates on Great dane trailers (same style as UPS trailers have). These can be found at any truck stop. Also I strategically placed 5 amber super bright LED's near floor area, which provides great indirect lighting that uses virtually no current (approx 125mA) Eventually, as they burn out, I will convert the upper marker lights and most others to LED's thus reducing overall load on alternator.

[OldEdBrady]

Sent: 4/7/2005

I've been following this thread avidly, since, when it appeared, the same problem cropped up in the Whiny Beggar.  (Can I blame Daveasg2 for "hexing" her?)

When the solution came through yesterday, I kept that in mind.  Today, I went out and started checking.  Everything seemed OK.  Pulled the converter/inverter apart.  Nothing.  Put it all back together and it works.   

Maybe the contacts were dirty, or maybe just that one was a little off.  But, without the information, I'd never have tried it.

Thanks!!

[The_Handier_Man1]

Sent: 4/8/2005

OK I found my problem with the galley & forward lights not working in my '73 D22 Indian.  I had a bad connection inside the wall.  I had power to the stove fan/light but nothing forward of that.  There is a large blue wire from the 12v fuse block that runs forward and is split for the stove fan/light then split for the power to the light switch by the door then goes to the galley & other ceiling lights before the plug in connector to the ceiling