Blinking lights!!!!!

[StingrayL82]

HELP!!!!!!!! Brooke and I were packing up the Sovereign this evening, in preparation for the trip tomorrow. We had both Fantastic fans on, as well as the three hall lights and the bathroom light. All of a sudden the interior lights started blinking, not fast though. They would go dim for about five seconds, then get bright for about one second and then dim again. The trailer was plugged into the truck, so I started the truck up and the blinking got a little quicker.

The battery is a new AGM, and the charger is a new IOTA. I have had electrical problems, since I've gotten it back from the shop, and the last time I took it to them, they recharged the AGM and put a cutoff switch, which I've been using, when it's in storage.

When I disconnected the trailer from the truck, the lights stopped blinking, but they are kind of dim. They did have to rewire the harness to match the Ram, and the running lights and brakes do work. When it's plugged in, the IOTA's smart charger is blinking.

What the heck is going on here?????? Any theories? Short of getting a spare battery tomorrow, I don't know what to do.

Frederic

[StingrayL82]

No one?

[ticki2]

Not sure if this will help or not , it seems to fit some of your situation but not all . When you first start a Dodge diesel there is an intake heat grid that will cycle on and off for the first few minutes . When it does this the lights will dim on and off because it draws a lot of current . Why it would do this with the engine not running is a mistery . Unless the key was in the run position and the engine wasn't running.

[Ultradog]

I'm not an electrical guru either but...
Were you used to it being plugged in to shore power?
I have a good battery in my trailer but the lights will grow noticeably dimmer when I unplug it from the power pole. Utilizing another electrical item will also cause the lights to dim.
Dunno...

[StingrayL82]

ticki2, yeah I thought about the heater grid too, but that's not it. The truck wasn't on at all, when the lights started to blink dim.

ultradog, I'm used to shore power and boondocking. It's not that the lights were just dimmer, they were actually blinking dim, then bright, then dim, etc...

I'm still stumped.


Frederic

[john hd]

frederic

you may want to recheck your hitch connections, it sounds like the dimming you describe is a thermal breaker cycling in the trailer.

pay particular attention to the charge line and ground positions on the plug.

good luck and i hope it doesn't delay your trip much!

john

[overlander63]

Our coach does that when I have too many things on at once. There are two self-resetting circuit breakers that will cycle on and off as you describe. Check with the shop that did the electrical upgrades, and see if they installed circuit breakers.