Cargo lights gave up

VinnieSmith · 01-04-2019, 08:37 AM

Why do the issues need to be electrical? It's like this coach knows my weaknesses...

Tonight, tried to turn on the cargo lights, and there was a tiny flicker in the entryway lights, but the cargo lights never came on. Control panel shows they're on, and other 12v lights work fine, just not the ones I needed. Flashlight prevails, and I'm clueless as to where to look for this fix. The flickering thing happened a few other times, so I know that something is getting a signal.

On a similar note, I have no idea where the 12v house fuses are. I found the 120v breaker box on accident, but the 12v fuses aren't beside it, like I've seen in similar coaches, so if that's the issue, I don't rightly know where to check it.

Beau388 · 01-04-2019, 01:23 PM

Thor Motorcoach tends to put the power center (120 volt circuit breakers, charger and 12 volt fuses) some where in the half bath or mid bath. It will not be on a slide, so that leaves the bathrooms on a Aria 4000.

wayneg51 · 01-04-2019, 02:18 PM

I don't know if you checked this, but on our Ace the power panel is on the base of the bed box at the foot area, hard to see without getting down near the floor.

Bob Denman · 01-04-2019, 02:25 PM

Since you got a "flicker": could this just be from a loose ground?

TurnerFam · 01-04-2019, 03:06 PM

could be a loose ground, yes, but more than likely it could simply be low House batteries... does everything else 12v work fine, such as interior lights and roof fans and the water pump? does the Inverter provide 120v output to the outlets, Fridge, and microwave, etc?

a loose FUSE could also be a culprit... I would imagine your House fuse panel is in your bath cabinet, or the hallway wall...maybe. : )

of course, though, if your cargo lights are driven by the Chassis batteries, the fuse would be found probably in the front driver bay.

Bob Denman · 01-04-2019, 03:25 PM

You're right: start by checking off the easiest possibilities first.

VinnieSmith · 01-05-2019, 02:23 PM

All the other 12v stuff (at least all of the lights and ceiling fans) seems to work fine, though I haven't even made an attempt to turn on the water pump in a few weeks. I'll try looking somewhere up in the driver bay for the 12v fuse block.

In the rear of the coach, there's the "G6 Control Center" which has a line of 6 or 7 pop-out breakers, but those are all intact, and if I'm reading the tiny print on that panel correctly, none of those are tied to lights at all. It looks mostly like the physical switch panel for the Bluetooth controls and touchscreen panel, and that piece of the puzzle seems to be functioning correctly.

I was afraid of the loose grounds, or since it's been raining so much, possibly a bit of water creating a short. Don't know how I'd track down those wires tho, as that circuit goes the length of the coach.

TurnerFam · 01-05-2019, 02:37 PM

One question to ask is about the type of lighting - are the cargo lights the typical covered 'bulb' lights, while the interior lights are mostly all LED style?
If so, what you may be experiencing is low House battery levels, which may be enough to drive the lower-wattage LED interior lights, but adding all of the cargo lights, at the same time, draws too much. The LEDs may continue to work, but not the cargo lights. Different types, different reaction to low battery levels.

I just went thru this on my coach, as the Inverter started to mysteriously just 'shut off', for no reason. LOW BATTERY cell levels in one of the four House batteries was the culprit. Adding 'one more' draw thru the inverter, with the low battery cells, was just 'too much' and the Inverter would sense 'low voltage', if even for a fraction of a second, and shut down.
Very aggravating, because 12v lights would work, though the 'flickering' when this happened led me to the ultimate problem - the batteries.

as for 'where' the fuse panel is:
my guess is that your 12v fuses ARE close to your 120v Electrical panel, though they may be hiding nearby, such as behind a panel, since the two are closely related.

I've delivered coaches like the Venetian, Aria, Palazzo, Berkshire, Pace Arrows, and others and see that these electrical panels can be in various and out-of-the-way hard to find places - at the end of bed platforms, within cabinets in the master bedroom(usually the lower cabinets), in a upper cabinet in the rear or mid bath, on the wall in the hallway, in an outside bay near the Inverter, etc.

My Palazzo's Main Electrical Panel and Fuse Panel are next to each other at the foot of the base of the bed... not the easiest place to get to as the door for the Main Panel rotates UP, rather than down, making it a 'get down on your knees with a flashlight' scenario, especially since no ceiling lights shine down on this area effectively.
Some have the fuses integrated within the same Main Electrical Panel box, but other motorhomes, like ours, with 'whole house' inverters, and no typical Converter, generally don't. They are in separate panels, and may be located away from each other, if for no other reason than engineering logistics, but are generally close to each other for wiring close proximity purposes.

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