Lighting problem

[David Parham]

I can't figure out why the lights under the cabinets on the street side of the coach have gone out. There are no fuses out and I have no idea how to access the wiring to check for problems. My coach is a 2000 Patriot. Any suggestions?

[Karl Welhart]

David,

The wires come in to the slideout behind the lower pantry cabinet under the stove top.  Access to the wire bundle is by removing the panel inside the pantry cabinet.  The movement of the LR slide can cut those wires going to the lights under the kitchen cabinets.

Good luck,

Karl

[Joel Weiss]

I, too, have lost the "reading lights" under the kitchen cabinets and over the sofa on the street side.  However, in both areas I installed LED lighting that is so much brighter than what we had had I never bothered to spend the time and money to find where the wiring problem is.

In the kitchen we bought three undercabinet lights from Lowes that resemble the old fluorescent under cabinet lights but are much thinner.  They are wired together and controlled from a single switch.  The power source is the 120V outlet I have in the in the cabinet bottom to the left of the sink (it's not there in all models).  Over the sofa I installed adhesive-backed flexible strip LEDs on the bottom of the overhead cabinet; these are powered from an outlet on the side of the cabinet near the sofa and controlled by a touch-sensitive switch next to the outlet.

Total investment in this LED lighting was <$200 and the result was far better than what we had had.

[Edward Buker]

It looks like this is a common problem so I would guess that BCS has seen it before and maybe they would share some info as to the cause. It is likely due to some weak point in the wiring, like what Karl mentioned, or a breaker or fuse that hides somewhere. All of the lights are in parallel wiring wise and you could pull one of them, gain exposure to the wire, and test whether you have lost the ground or the + side with a volt/ohmmeter. If it is the ground then you possibly might be able to pick up a ground somewhere and tie it in again to any one of the lights. If the plus is missing that might point to an unknown fuse or breaker or junction point. If the switch passes the plus then the open is between the switch and the first light in the chain, wherever that junction point is.
Good luck with this...

Later Ed

[Gerald Farris]

David,
If your ground circuit checks good, I would hook-up a tone generator to the 12V positive side and trace the circuit back to the open in the circuit if Ken Carpenter at BCS can not give you any insight into the problem.

Gerald