I have an old 1967 camper trailer that I am remodeling. I've run into some issues with the wiring of a new light fixture. The old light had two light bulbs and switches and the new one only has one set. Even with that second light bulb, there still seems to be a few extra wires. I have tried several combinations of wiring and cannot get the light fixture to work. Can anyone help me decipher this? I've attached a picture of the wires below with the new fixture attached. Thanks!
Replacing old light fixture
- Thread starter anna01
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Gizmo100
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SLOweather
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Could the old fixture have had both a 120 AC bulb and a 12 VDC bulb? I have seen (and have one) 12 VDC light bulbs that look identical to a 120 V one..
Rene T
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I'm thinking the black wire belongs inside the yellow wire nut. The small white one belongs inside the red wire nut with the ground wires.
Gizmo100
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SLOweather said:
My parents had a 1970's Class C and it had 12 & 120 light throughout. One light fixture had a 12 volt & a 120 volt dual bulb/dual switch. And yes they make standard base 12 volt bulbs.
https://www.amazon.com/Bulbrite-110050-Standard-Voltage-Filament/dp/B008YY2AKC/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1548283147&sr=8-17&keywords=12+volt+light+bulbs+standard+base
Isaac-1
Well-known member
I would certainly be grabbing the multi meter for this one as you likely have both 120VAC and 12DC wiring going on there and it is anyones guess what color codes they used. Crossing the AC and DC systems, could potentially fry your DC power converter, or worse.
Gizmo100
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Isaac-1 said:
) )...What that guy said...Before someone gets hurt.It could be 12 DC and 120 AC volts or it could be either wired in serials with another fixture.
Rene T
Site Team
I stand corrected. Don't do what I said entirely. You could unscrew the yellow wire nut and see if there is a small piece of copper wire inside. If you do find a small piece, it may have come from the cut off black wire.
Bobtop46
Well-known member
From what I have seen 12v system wires are just 2 wires a + (positive) and - (negative). 120v systems have 3 wires a source (power) a neutral, and a ground. Based on that looking at the wires coming thru the holes are 2 sets of 120v wires and an extra wire. Did this light have 2 different switches? in which case the extra little wire is to make the light work when either of the switches is used.
Bobtop46
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I have a follow up question. Did you see the old light fixture work? if you did when you switched either switch did both bulbs come on or just one?
Isaac-1
Well-known member
Alternatively they may have just ran what they had on hand for the 12V bulb, guessing which wire is AC or DC based on the presence of a ground conductor is not a good idea, particularly on an RV of this vintage.
Bobtop46 said:
Ahh okay. Yes there were 2 light switches. I only saw the 120v bulb work. The other one didn't work, but I never tried replacing the bulb on it. It was a very old bulb, so I assume the owner before me only replaced the bigger light bulb. I'll post a picture of the old fixture.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
That smaller bulb and the switch that controlled it are almost certainly 12VDC
