Trying to find out what I blew in my 12 volt lighting system

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Rose S

New member
Joined
Sep 18, 2021
Posts
2
Location
Long Island, New York
I was changing my 12 volt lights to LEDs. One switch wasn’t working, so I started to check it out, and sparks flew. Now none of the lights work in the front of the coach, and I can’t find a blown fuse. Other lights work in the rest of the camper. Any ideas?
 
was changing my 12 volt lights to LEDs. One switch wasn’t working, so I started to check it out, and sparks flew. Now none of the lights work in the front of the coach, and I can’t find a blown fuse. Other lights work in the rest of the camper. Any ideas?
Whenever there is an issue to troubleshoot, you should first mention the type of rig, year model, and as much other info as reasonable. Not every RV is built the same.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
Rose, most likely you blew a fuse which are designed to protect your electrical system from heat and fire.

The fuse is some where and some times difficult to locate as there will be multiple 12 volt fuse boxes.

Look through your owners manual and begin a search to locate all your 12 volt fuse boxes. A clue to where the bad fuse may be would be what items in the RV have stopped working.

Good Luck.
 
As it was mentioned, information about your RV will be useful to help you.

What you described sounds like a blown fuse. Look for the 12V electrical panel. They are usually located right by the 120V panel, which pretty much looks exactly like a regular house electrical panel.

Be safe while working around that area. Unplug the shoreline cable and shut off the main in the 120V panel.
 
Without the benefit of make/model I wonder if these lights are part of the chassis supply. Some of the interior lights in the front of my RV are controlled from the dash and are fused from the chassis fuse panel under the dash.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
While I would agree that we need more information, I'll give it a shot to possibly help some. Since you mention that "one switch wasn't working" I am thinking that this was one of the interior light switches. The sparks would make me agree with the others here that it most likely blew a fuse somewhere. Most motorhomes will have fuses for the chassis supplied items either under the dash or mounted to the firewall of the engine space. With interior lights it is more likely that the fuse is located on a different fuse panel that is somewhere inside of the RV. If you know where the 120V circuit breakers are located, there is a good chance that they are on the same panel or near it. Some RV builders are better than others about adding in-line fuses that are not on the panel with the others.

Let us know some of the additional information so that we can be of more help.
 
In my motorhome, the breaker in the bathroom plug controls several other plugs in that side of the motorhome. Do you possibly have a GFCI breaker in your bathroom?
 
In my motorhome, the breaker in the bathroom plug controls several other plugs in that side of the motorhome. Do you possibly have a GFCI breaker in your bathroom?
I believe the OP has a problem with the 12 volt DC side of the rig not the 110 volt AC side.
 
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