Electrical problems - especially with brake/tail lights! Help if you know about this.

[Tom Caldwell]

My wife & I refurbished a 1977 Coachman RV - it needed a new ceiling, new flooring, new walls in the bathroom (moldy), starter, brakes, windshield wiper motor, new toilet, etc.  Did some cosmetic things like new drapes and blinds for the windows also but my wife sews so she made the drapes to cover the entire front window.  Had the furniture professionally cleaned and it's in good shape.  

 

I've encountered some other problems though - last year when we took her out (Labor Day weekend) all systems were working, but this year, 1st time out, the brake/tail lights don't work.  Well, they did work but since my wife drove behind me, she said the brake lights worked on alternate sides, not both sides at the same time!!   I've bought a new lighting assembly and checked fuses but still can't get it to work right.  Did anyone encounter any problems with your electrical such as this?

[Frankie]

I have experienced intermittant problems with brake/tail lights before. You mentioned it was the first time out. Not sure how you store yours, but the couple times it happened to me it seemed to be moisture in the plug. I just cleaned the connector that plugs into the tow vehicle and cleaned the connection on the tow vehicle and fortunatley it solved it. I have used my air compressor and blew air in and also used an electrical contact cleaner. May not solve your problem, but it doesn't cost anything to give that a shot.

[Tom Caldwell]

We have an RV - not a 5th wheel or pull behind so we must have brake/tail lights.  It worked fine last time out last fall (she sits in a car port built for her during the winter) but 1st time out this year, the brake/tail lights didn't work.  Thanks for the response - I'll keep trying.

[Frankie]

Oh, you have a motor home, no hook-ups to a tow vehicle. Sorry, didn't catch that.

[Tom Caldwell]

no problem!  Thanks for trying though.

[Doug and Judy Dombrowski]

Hey, I'm an auto mechanic by trade 30+ years now. The most common cause I've seen for this is a bad ground wire or chassis ground, it will cause the intermittant problem you're having. You said this started after storage, I'd check the wiring for rat or squirrel damage. For some reason they seem to love wire insulation for bedding. I come across this almost on a weekly basis being we live in a rural area with alot of vehicles only used on a seasonal basis.

[Tom Caldwell]

Thanks for the info - we found it this afternoon and it was a busted ground wire!  We do have a lot of trees on our property (and we feed the squirrels) so thought it could have been a rodent problem.  But it's fixed now and we're headed to the lake this weekend!  Yay

[Tom Caldwell]

Hi - I'm Tom's wife, my name is Mary Ann.  We bought replace light bars for our RV (it's one your drive) from a dealer in Kansas City called KC Home and RV.  My husband wired them (had to take out the bench seat in the back but not too complicated and they work well.  The new lights were not as wide as the old ones so he had a sheet metal guy cut some metal to fit behind the lights and we painted the metal black (all the windows on the RV are trimmed in black)!  They work well and look good (I'd load pics but my granddaughter broke my camera last camping trip - she crashed and burned on a little scooter and there went her knee and the camera!)  There's also a camper/RV catalog (I think it's called Harper land) and they have all kinds of stuff for campers/RVs.  Hope this helps you solve your problem!

[Tom Caldwell]

We had to redo the floor last year - tore out the carpet (which I hated anyway because we always take grandkids to the lake and they track in dirt!) and lay down tile.  It looks good and is much easier to keep clean.  I've seen pictures on this blog where folks have put down wood flooring and that looks great.

[Doug and Judy Dombrowski]

We totally agree on the carpet, it's absolutely nasty! Our interior project started with just removing the carpet and old vinyl, and we ended up all but gutting our motorhome. I have to say though, laminate floring is the way to go. It's real easy to install, looks great, and is tough as concrete. We love the way it looks and is so easy to clean and maintain. I'll post some before and after pics as soon as I can find them.