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Old 08-03-2019, 02:31 PM   #1
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WFCO fuse-out

My WFCO 15 amp fuse for ceiling lights keeps blowing out. No ceiling lights work. Have not been able to find the short causing this.
  • There are no loose wires anywhere inside the WFCO that I can find. The wire harness out looks normal.
  • All other electricals are working just fine. What am I missing?
  • I have tested and wasted 6 fuses so far. Nothing. Have disconnected shore power so that’s not it. Have also disconnected neg on battery and reconnected. That’s not it.
  • Do I really have to take apart all 9 ceiling light fixtures (including stove exhaust light and captains lights) searching for busted wires? Not good.

This seems to have happened right out of the blue. Only thing I did was remove the LED in the bath fixture but since have returned the original back in place. We had some big rainstorms recently but the trailer is kept under cover.
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Old 08-03-2019, 03:16 PM   #2
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Are all the light switches off. Do that and try again. That should rule out bulbs. If you were doing stuff with one fixture then that is always the best place to start. Did you move any wires? disconnect reconnect any wires? Pinch any wires? Put a screw thru any wires, what have you done other than the few items you listed.
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Old 08-03-2019, 03:19 PM   #3
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Who put in all the splice connectors?
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Old 08-03-2019, 04:31 PM   #4
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Appreciate the help, but... Yes, no, no, no, and no. (re: Sentence #2, my last paragraph.) What you see in picture number two is how it came out of the factory back in 2013. Guess I could get under there and eyeball each splice for a fault.
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Old 08-03-2019, 04:46 PM   #5
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I'm in agreement with post #2. I'm always suspicious of something that I worked on preceding a problem that didn't exist previously.

Those base wires and the sockets are pretty fragile compared to the light bases of older style bulbs. I'd pull the bath fixture, disconnect it behind to eliminate the bulb base and see if that cures the issue.

Good luck.

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Old 08-03-2019, 04:49 PM   #6
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Stuff happens over the years. My Maxxfan quit. ETI found a broken wire above the fridge. The fridge had been removed by another shop for repair, so that might be the source of the problem. Or maybe, just moving from one place to another over the years.
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Old 08-03-2019, 04:49 PM   #7
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Can you give more info on bulbs. Led? Why did you remove the bathroom one. Did the fuse start blowing before or after? Possible bad socked in that one. We need more details about the whole ordeal. I am a Technician so may be able to give you places to check but need the whole story please
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Old 08-03-2019, 04:51 PM   #8
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temporarily connect a 12V test lamp across the fuse contacts. Start wiggling things, and watch for the lamp to come on. That indicates a short. Best way I know to troubleshoot shorts in 12V systems.
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Old 08-03-2019, 05:01 PM   #9
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All I did was remove the factory LED from it. Hadn't been in the trailer or used any ceiling lights for weeks before that. Was only yesterday after putting the LED back that I happened to turn on a captain's light and that's when the problem first came to light. Ok I'm going out there right now to pull the bath fixture. I do hope fragile sockets is the problem.
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Old 08-03-2019, 05:42 PM   #10
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Ron and Greg.... I don't believe it!! We got lights! I removed and snipped off the bath fixture and here it is, next to that LED wafer. Then, got under the table and, at first the new 15 amp fuse sparked up, I pulled it and... it sparked up on insertion again, but, the third time the red bulb did not come on. Fuse did not blow. Got up quickly, turned on a ceiling light. Every one is now on, and Good To Go. You could-a knocked me over with a feather.

I looked inside the connector but it all looks normal in there to me. So? What can I say but, like Gbags says, stuff happens.
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Old 08-03-2019, 06:03 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by MyronL View Post
Ron and Greg.... I don't believe it!! We got lights! I removed and snipped off the bath fixture and here it is, next to that LED wafer. Then, got under the table and, at first the new 15 amp fuse sparked up, I pulled it and... it sparked up on insertion again, but, the third time the red bulb did not come on. Fuse did not blow. Got up quickly, turned on a ceiling light. Every one is now on, and Good To Go. You could-a knocked me over with a feather.

I looked inside the connector but it all looks normal in there to me. So? What can I say but, like Gbags says, stuff happens.
It could be that the socket is fine - maybe the new LED wafer is shorted.
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Old 08-03-2019, 06:39 PM   #12
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Myron, how far are you from Area 51??
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Old 08-03-2019, 07:00 PM   #13
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Some of the older Led bulbs were polarity sensitive but fit both ways.
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Old 08-03-2019, 07:02 PM   #14
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Ron and Greg.... I don't believe it!! We got lights! I removed and snipped off the bath fixture and here it is, next to that LED wafer. Then, got under the table and, at first the new 15 amp fuse sparked up, I pulled it and... it sparked up on insertion again, but, the third time the red bulb did not come on. Fuse did not blow. Got up quickly, turned on a ceiling light. Every one is now on, and Good To Go. You could-a knocked me over with a feather.

I looked inside the connector but it all looks normal in there to me. So? What can I say but, like Gbags says, stuff happens.

I am curious about the sparking. That means there is a draw there so unless your lights were all on or something else is in the CCR there should be no spark
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Old 08-03-2019, 07:29 PM   #15
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Actually, no lights were on. As for the very brief sparking, that was a surprise. Guessing that not unlike visitors kept hidden at Area 51 here in NM, some electrical components must possess a memory.
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Old 08-03-2019, 08:15 PM   #16
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temporarily connect a 12V test lamp across the fuse contacts. Start wiggling things, and watch for the lamp to come on. That indicates a short. Best way I know to troubleshoot shorts in 12V systems.
I carried a 12VDC and a 120 VAC fire alarm horn on my jobbing truck . As Jon says wiggle the wires and listen for the horn . Sometimes trying to wiggle the wires and watch the light is difficult , with a FA horn you can hear it even in a two story house .
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Old 08-03-2019, 09:12 PM   #17
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Actually, no lights were on. As for the very brief sparking, that was a surprise. Guessing that not unlike visitors kept hidden at Area 51 here in NM, some electrical components must possess a memory.


Or maybe the phantom load is something like the CO monitor or the display for the fluid levels. Their power has to come from somewhere.

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Old 08-04-2019, 08:34 AM   #18
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If you haven’t positively identified the fault yet, I’d be hesitant to count on it not returning. One question alluded to but not exactly answered yet is, what else is on that circuit? In our 19, one of our “Lights” fuses (we have two) also covers the MaxxFan and the electric awning.
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Old 08-04-2019, 09:18 AM   #19
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It seems clear to me that the fault lies with the bath fixture base, or, just with the LED in the bath fixture base. Nothing else was touched. Everything else works like it always did. Of course the possibility exists that the fault..... is in our stars.
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Old 08-04-2019, 09:44 AM   #20
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It seems clear to me that the fault lies with the bath fixture base, or, just with the LED in the bath fixture base. Nothing else was touched. Everything else works like it always did. Of course the possibility exists that the fault..... is in our stars.


Without evidence of a short, eg scorch marks somewhere, or a clearly loose connection, you may or may not have found your gremlin. That’s the problem with intermittent faults. Only time will tell. Glad it’s back up and running for you now though.
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