2017 Classic 30 Bathroom Light Issues

[Hoagie]

The bathroom lights in our 2017 Classic 30 are acting up intermittently. This started about 2 years ago (while the trailer was still under warranty) with the lights dimming and flickering for no apparent reason. Took it to the dealer (Spokane Airstream) but they said they could not duplicate the issue. "Bring it back if it does it again." That's a 2+ hour round trip, and the next few times out the lights did not flicker.

Just returned from a short trip and found that now the lights only come on intermittently. When you press the "Bathroom Light" soft button on the wall panel it turns blue to indicate "ON" but the two lights do not come on. Repeatedly pressing the button has no affect. Quite by accident we found that if you left the button "ON" and showing blue, the lights would come on sometime in the next few minutes. We haven't timed the delay, but it seems to be about 3-5 minutes.

When they are on the lights still flicker.....sometimes. Also, they turn off okay either by pressing the dedicated soft button in the bath or by pressing any of the Master Off buttons. Of course now the trailer is out of warranty.

So, any ideas where to start looking? It seems to act like a loose connection somewhere. I expect it is not a loose wire in the lights themselves as both fail to turn on, unless they are daisy-chained together and the short is in the first fixture. Or maybe there is a loose terminal in the control system. Where is that located and does anyone have a schematic of the control system wiring and a routing diagram of where the wires are located?

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions on how to tackle this. Needless to say, the DW is not happy about having no light in the bathroom when she is getting ready in the morning!!

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok, first up would be the wire nuts that connect the wires together. You can get to many of them simply by dropping out the light fixture(s). Next would be the wire nuts that connect upstream from the lights. Those may not be quite as easy to track down.

After that there's your friend the Firefly system. There are connectors that tie it to "stuff". One of those connectors may have come loose. Starting point would be under the wardrobe / behind the panel to the right.

If all the lights go out together, that probably covers it.

Bob

[Hoagie]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Ok, first up would be the wire nuts that connect the wires together. You can get to many of them simply by dropping out the light fixture(s). Next would be the wire nuts that connect upstream from the lights. Those may not be quite as easy to track down.

After that there's your friend the Firefly system. There are connectors that tie it to "stuff". One of those connectors may have come loose. Starting point would be under the wardrobe / behind the panel to the right.

If all the lights go out together, that probably covers it.

Bob

Thanks for the quick response, Bob. I figured this was caused by a loose connection somewhere. Just wasn't sure where to start looking. As you have the same trailer, your insight is much appreciated. For example, I did not know where the Firefly system was located.

One question: Any advice on "dropping out the light fixtures" in the bathroom? Do they twist and drop or are they held in by spring clips? I don't want to damage one trying to get it out of the ceiling.

Thanks again.

Hoagie

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Hoagie

Thanks for the quick response, Bob. I figured this was caused by a loose connection somewhere. Just wasn't sure where to start looking. As you have the same trailer, your insight is much appreciated. For example, I did not know where the Firefly system was located.

One question: Any advice on "dropping out the light fixtures" in the bathroom? Do they twist and drop or are they held in by spring clips? I don't want to damage one trying to get it out of the ceiling.

Thanks again.

Hoagie

Hi

I've had them all out a couple of times. As I recall the "dome" twists off and that gets you at the mounting screws.

Bob

[Hoagie]

Took me a few days to get back out there. It is HOT here and I had to pick a day I could cool the AS down a bit with the AC before working in there.

Anyway, once I got the SS trim rings off and had access to the mounting screws I dropped the light fixtures out of the ceiling. No wire nuts. JC used crimp connectors. Both are crimped tight and 'shaking' the connections with the lights on had not impact.

BTW, parked here at home the lights are functioning flawlessly.

Next step, I pulled out the Firefly panel. When the bathroom lights are on the small blue indicator LED on the panel illuminates as it should and extinguishes when the lights are turned off. I checked wires going into the many plugs on the back of this panel and all seem to be snug in the connectors.

So I'm still at a loss as to what is causing the intermittent issues with the bathroom lights. Anyone have any other ideas on what to check?

[Hoagie]

Shortly after my last post we headed out for a multi-week, multi-stop trip. First night out and the bathroom lights started acting up again. First not coming on at all. Then they'd come on several minutes after pressing the switch. Dimming and then brightening again for no apparent reason.

I pulled out the Firefly panel again and narrowed down which of the 4-pin connectors was for the bathroom lights. Only one of the 4 pins is used in the connector in question and I found the wire going into that pin was bent past 90 degrees at the connector and appeared to be under a lot of strain. So I asked my DW to watch the lights and as I wiggled that wire the lights flickered.

I was not able to do much with it on our trip and we ended up rigging a plug-in light in the bathroom so we could see our way around at night. Not convenient at all.

I suspect the pin on the wire to the bathroom lights was not crimped correctly and possibly some of the conductors are broken leading to a low voltage situation. At this point the lights will not come back to full brightness no matter what we try. Anybody have info on the part number for this connector, the pins, and how to remove the current pin from the back of the connector? Thanks for any help.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I'd give Firefly a call for info on the connector. There are quite literally thousands of very similar connectors out there. Some are pretty common others are a bit hard to find.

Normally the pin comes out of the connector by depressing a tiny little tab in a slot parallel to the pin. It backs out in the direction the wire enters from. Putting a new one on typically requires a crimp tool designed for that specific pin. Depending on just what you have this could be a pretty pricey tool.

Bob

[Hoagie]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

I'd give Firefly a call for info on the connector. There are quite literally thousands of very similar connectors out there. Some are pretty common others are a bit hard to find.

Normally the pin comes out of the connector by depressing a tiny little tab in a slot parallel to the pin. It backs out in the direction the wire enters from. Putting a new one on typically requires a crimp tool designed for that specific pin. Depending on just what you have this could be a pretty pricey tool.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Yep, that was going to be a call to make Monday morning. I did send a request into to Airstream Customer Service. No reply yet, but that has pretty much been par for the course every time I've reached out to them. Our local dealer has not been much help either. In the past I've had to contact Zip Dee directly as well as other vendors. Its a shame the dealers aren't given more info to support the ancillary systems.