Blowing fuse after LED fixture swap

[drossman76]

Hello,

I replaced all of the ceiling light fixtures in my 2004 Jazz with LED fixtures except for the two residential house style ceiling fixtures over the couch and dinette. Everything went just fine and functioned properly throughout the trailer except for the lights in the slide out.

The slide has a total of four overhead light fixtures in it and they were all working before the swap. I changed the two rectangular fixtures (the kind with the switch in the middle that you can turn one side on or both with off in the middle. I just changed the bulbs in the previously mentioned residential style lights to LED bulbs and didn't do anything to the fixtures. The two LED lights work just fine, but the second I try to turn on the other fixtures the fuse blows. I changed the bulbs back to the incandescent style and the same thing happens. I inspected the wires as much as I could see and don't see any breaks in the insulation jacket so I thought perhaps the new LED fixtures were bad so I replaced them again but the fuse still blows.

I'm at a loss here, could it be that I need to change the other two fixtures out to LED fixtures too? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Dave

[Judge]

LED's draw less current than incandescent's so it sounds more like a short circuit wire causing the fuse to blow.

I would start trying to narrow down where the problem is by removing the two new rectangular fixtures and seeing if the other two remaining fixtures will still blow the fuse. You could either reinstall the old fixtures or just tape wire nut the wiring for them while they are out. If the fuse still blows, you know the problem is related to the wiring / fixtures for that part of the circuit.

[lwmcguire]

Polarity the same for all the fixtures?

Try just one and proceed

[drossman76]

Thank you both for the suggestions, the polarity is correct on the fixtures. I’ll try removing the two new fixtures and complete the circuit with wire nuts and see what happens. Are wire runs in the ceiling usually stapled in place? I’m wondering if maybe I pulled the wires when I was stripping the wire end and cut through the insulation inadvertently.

If this is the case, I imagine it’s going to be quite the project to fix that.

Thank you again

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

Polarity the same for all the fixtures?
Try just one and proceed

double-check this: they're pretty easy to get backwards...
(I learned the hard way after mis-wiring the LED lighting on my last Spyder...)

[Judge]

Originally Posted by drossman76

Thank you both for the suggestions, the polarity is correct on the fixtures. I’ll try removing the two new fixtures and complete the circuit with wire nuts and see what happens. Are wire runs in the ceiling usually stapled in place? I’m wondering if maybe I pulled the wires when I was stripping the wire end and cut through the insulation inadvertently.

If this is the case, I imagine it’s going to be quite the project to fix that.

Thank you again

Wires could be stapled, which often can damage the insulation. But the wires could also be rubbing against a sharp corner and pulling on them exposed a wire that could now be shorting.

[drossman76]

I haven’t had a chance to trouble shoot the light situation just yet, I had to replace the water pump this morning. I’m all but certain I created a short in the run between one of the LED fixtures and the dome light above the couch. It was after installing that particular LED fixture that the problem began and the connection at that light is the junction to the dome light. Fortunately it’s only about a 3 foot run of wires through the slide ceiling. I’m hopeful that I will be able to fish two new wires through without having to take the panel down.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to work on it until Wednesday morning but I’ll update as soon as I can.

[Bob Denman]

Good luck: we'll be hoping for some good news!

[drossman76]

Well I was able to get out early this morning and take a quick look at the wiring. Unfortunately without pulling the slide ceiling panel I’m not going to be able to fish new wires from the junction to the dome light, I was hoping it would be a simple task but luck has not favored me. For now I just disconnected and called the push button switch on the dome lights so the fuse won’t keep blowing.

So I guess my next question is, how difficult is it to remove the slide ceiling panels? There’s a couple cabinets I’d have to take down. Are they glued in place?