LED Puck Light wiring weirdness

[StagrLee]

Spent the afternoon trying to figure out why my bedroom bulkhead overhead puck lights aren't working and I need some help. First off, I hadn't seen any pictures of the lights disassembled. They way I pulled the light apart is by popping the lens out first (inner circle) and then hook behind the LED board mounting flange and pull hard. I couldn't pop it out otherwise. The springs are far to stout.

My trailer is a 2012 25' Eddie Bauer front bedroom. Figured out the issue. The purple wire with the red stripe from the bedroom left wall switch which snakes behind the shower and up and over to the corner above the right front speaker is measuring 15K ohms for some reason. Pretty weird.

How would I go about fishing a new wire from the front right of the trailer to the middle lower left?

[wanderingduo]

Just wondering... why you are checking for resistance and not voltage?

[Farmer Dan]

Some LEDs are polarity sensitive so maybe reversing the bulb or the wires would let them work.

Dan

[StagrLee]

Originally Posted by wanderingduo

Just wondering... why you are checking for resistance and not voltage?

I started by checking voltage! When I removed the lights I was getting 13.5 volts at the end of the wire with the switch on. So that meant the lights were bad... which is odd to have a double failure of LED lights. So to confirm I tested the lights on the battery and they lit fine. Then I tested the voltage with the lights installed and was getting 2 volts on the positive side of the light.

That meant there was a resistive load somewhere in the wiring, so I switched over to checking resistance and found the resistive wire between the switch and the right corner. Probably the wire got damaged somehow (like a furniture screw through it or a bend that cracked it so something).

[StagrLee]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

Some LEDs are polarity sensitive so maybe reversing the bulb or the wires would let them work.

Dan

I checked that, the polarity is correct, the wire is bad somehow. By jumping a new wire from the switch over the bed to the right corner around the bad wire, the circuit works.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

Some LEDs are polarity sensitive so maybe reversing the bulb or the wires would let them work.

For future reference, all diodes— including LEDs— are polarity-sensitive. They only allow current to flow in one direction.

[StagrLee]

Wow - if video this was in hi-definition, I would have my wire fishing route...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2yznf5kKaI

[StagrLee]

Found this post that talks about using steel lamp chain and magnets to fish wires... Interesting.

http://tincantardis.com/2013/10/28/a...n-is-not-easy/

[StagrLee]

Found the issue. The power before the switch is on the 12 volt bus underneath the floor. Of course the lights are on the harness in the roof. I assumed there was a direct wire from the switch to the light. Not the case. The wire from the switch runs backward underneath the floor to the "packard connector" under the bathroom sink. I had a terminal blade that was installed backwards and wasn't locked into the electrical connector properly. Fixed that and now all my lights work correctly.

Watch the video and it will make sense. I think all the wall switches run on the 12 volt bus under the floor so the lower to upper harness connector will always be a good place to check for problems. Dang that video is cool...

[Richrexw]

Does anyone know if the overhead LED puck lights in the salon of a 2010 27'FB flying cloud are run in series? If they are, where can I tap into the return wire? I'm trying to rig a dimmer and have easy access to the supply side. Just need to find that common return wire. Thanks.

[StagrLee]

Originally Posted by Richrexw

Does anyone know if the overhead LED puck lights in the salon of a 2010 27'FB flying cloud are run in series? If they are, where can I tap into the return wire? I'm trying to rig a dimmer and have easy access to the supply side. Just need to find that common return wire. Thanks.

The 2012 lights are 12 volts lights so they are wired in parallel.

[Dan@LED4RV]

Originally Posted by StagrLee

How would I go about fishing a new wire from the front right of the trailer to the middle lower left?

I had this problem one time and the place I needed to go was at the switch near the door. I drilled out the rivets for the door jam and shin and went down under the floor and around one of the tanks then back up on the other side.

I would also try to see if there was another power source near where it is needed. This may lead to installing a switch NOT in the normal place but if you look at some of the pictures of some of these gutted units the ribs are impossible to get thru without taking out the inside panel (s). This may be unattractive to you but putting back panels on a good day can be more unattractive. Stuff just does not go back like it was.

Another thing to think of, when going from point A to point B is access panel (s). Some access panel you create (under a bed, cabinet etc) can make it so much easier and not be seen.