Hello, I need help with the porch light on my 09 Winnebago Access 31J. Old light crumbling. Ordered replacement.(Kohree LED). Old light has only 1 black wire. New light has 1 red, 1 white. Can we make this work? Old light has switch inside door, not on light itself. New light does not have external switch.
Porch light wiring
- Thread starter dhblack
- Start date
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TXcmpr
Active member
It should work. Your old light must have the light case grounded to the metal shell of the RV. What you will need to do is take the red wire on the new light and connect to the black wire from the rv. The white wire will need to be grounded (connected) to the rv shell somehow. You will end up with two switches that control the light. Just keep the switch on the new light turned on and use the switch inside the door.
New light does not have external switch.
Also I have fiberglass rv shell. No metal except on "plate" under old light. I did not know if I could use that to ground to.
TXcmpr
Active member
You must have a ground for the light to work. So, if your old light only has a black wire, the ground has to be at the plate.
crawford 111
Well-known member
the old light is grounded that way
John Canfield
Site Team
Have a look at your wiring diagram - download from Winnebago. I cannot think of a single instance where Winnie uses the house frame for the negative side of 12V, it's always yellow (positive) and white (negative) wire colors.
Stray shots in the dark: Might want to check behind the light, inside the body, for another wire that might have pulled loose from the light when you removed it. Unlikely a ground wire would pull loose without you being aware, but possible. Also you've got fiberglass shell but there is a metal frame inside it. The (metal?) plate behind the light may be grounded to the frame and the light grounded to it.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Your original "external switch" shuts off power to the light, whether the old light or the new one. Just leave the switch on the new light in the ON position and the old external switch will continue to function as it did before.
New light does not have switch. The only switch is on wall inside motorhome. There is thin metal sheet glued to outside of motorhome. The old light was on this. Only 1 black wire visible. Another wrinkle new (as pictured has 1 red and 1 black wire) what I received has 1 red & 1 white wire.
John Canfield
Site Team
Use a multimeter to check voltage - turn on the porch light, put one meter lead on the black wire and one on the metal skin. Do you read 12V?
For a simple light without a switch it shouldn't matter which light from the wire is hot and which neutral -- the light will function equally either way. Further, 12v fused at 1.5 to 5 amps isn't dangerous to health. If the light had a switch you'd want the switch on the hot side. For anything with a circuit board, polarity can be critical. 120V is a whole different story. Polarity is always critical there and reversed polarity can be fatal.
John Canfield
Site Team
He needs to find out if the house metal skin is the negative side of 12V or if the negative wire got somehow buried in the sidewall.
Zackly.
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