Today I replaced all five 120V wall sconces in our coach. I'll post some pictures when I have a chance, but the purpose of this post is to let people know what I found when I took the light fixtures off the walls. The house wiring coming through the wall was connected to the fixtures' wires using wire-nuts and electrical tape and, at first glance, looks totally proper. However, when I went to remove the wire-nuts I realized that they had literally been slipped over the wires and weren't tightened down as they're supposed to be. To say it differently, the wire-nut wasn't being used as a compression fitting and the junction was being kept together primarily by the electrical tape.
The issue was most evident with connections that involved 2 12-gauge wires plus the one from the fixture. In those cases the two 12-gauge conductors were parallel to each other and were not "twisted" together as they are supposed to be. The fixture's wire was laid in with the other two and the wire nut was slipped over the three and then taped. Once the tape was removed the wire-nut could be removed without turning.
Of course, I don't know who at Beaver wired my coach but five of the six fixtures were wired identically. It's a safe assumption that whoever did mine probably built other people's coaches as well. Now I know why one of my fixtures would flicker occasionally.
BTW, if you haven't yet tried the Home Depot Cree line of LED bulbs you are missing something really good. The Cree 60W-equivalent bulb is almost exactly the same size as a 60W incandescent and comes in both warm white and daylight versions. They are rated at 800 lumens which is close to the output of the incandescent. They are dimmable, which many low cost LED's are not. Cost of either color is $12.95. The Cree also comes in a 40W version.
