electrical problem far from home

[Edward Buker]

The defective thermal breaker or high current tripping it that Gerald brought up is a very good bet, especially if there is some frequency to the intermittent nature of this problem. That is if the circuit has not been used and the thermal breaker is very cool  it will take a bit longer to trip. Once tripped it will cool and then reset, begin a heat cycle and then open again and so on. If there is a repeatable nature to this timing but diminishes a bit in the on/off duration it is a pretty sure sign that a themal breaker is involved.

There is a difference between intermittent and random electrical events and a repetative electrical event that is predictable in nature. The repetative ones have few sources and are easier to diagnose. These thermal breakers can change characteristics with age, usually open with lower current flow, and the easiest way to diagnose them is to just replace the one in question unless you have a meter that can measure this relatively high level of DC current in the 20amp range.

The device you are looking for looks like this. The amp rating should be on it. Hope this helps.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-25-Amp-at-12-VDC-threaded-stud-mount-thermal-type-circuit-breaker-with-sealed-metal-base/_/N-26swZ1z141xg?itemIdentifier=413274_0_0_&target=shelf

Later Ed

[Stan Simpson]

Here is an update. Since we arrived home on September 16th, I have been patiently troubleshooting this problem. I'm not retired for 64 more days, and there is not much light left when I get home from work these days. So, far, I can turn on the lights, without the towing cord, and they stay on; at least they have for up to 1 hour, and coming home the were going off every few minutes. When I plug the towing power cord in to the coach only, they also stay on indefinitely. When I plug the cord in to the toad, the lights went off within a few minutes. I changed both connectors on the cord, and everything is the same as mentioned.

My next step is to totally trace the wires for the female connector on the toad from the grill to the auxiliary lights we installed in the light assembly in the rear. I will report what I find.

Stan

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Stan,

This,may not help but check the connectors on the cord.  Take the ends off and check to see if they have worked loose.  I had that happen to me.

[Stan Simpson]

Update. After lots of testing, finally found the problem. A $5 part. A self re-setting breaker in the electrical bay labeled "marker lights". Replaced it and all is good. Thanks all for the input and help.

Stan