12 volt light problem

NWTFHunter

Past Missouri Chapter Leaders
Here is a problem my friend is having in his Bighorn. They have 3 light switches that operate 3 different light areas, living room, kitchen. aisle. They are one the same circuit and the fuse is good. The living room and aisle lights work find. The kitchen lights do not. We replaced the switch for the kitchen lights but that did not correct the problem. If one bulb is bad would it cause the others not to work? The wiring connection at the switch was good, have not climbed up to check each light. Any thoughts?
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
Mike, I would take a 12v test light and see where you have 12v power and where you don't
./
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
I would start by making sure that there is 12 volts at the switch. You will want to check both sides of the switch to neutral. There is no neutral wire on the switch.
You will want to check for 12 volts at the light fixture as well. But I might not trust the neutral at that point. You might have lost a neutral connection somewhere along the line.
If all three switches are wired from the same source that would lead me to think that there is an open neutral, another bad switch or burned out bulbs.
Michael, let us know what you find.

Peace
Dave
 

danemayer

Well-known member
If these are fluorescent fixtures, if one bulb dies in a fixture, the other bulb won't light. If both kitchen lights stopped working at the same time, it could be bulbs, but seems low odds.

If this is a 2011 model, some of the fluorescent fixtures had problems with the ballast. The typical symptom was that the lights would work for a while, then go dark. After cooling, they would work again for a few minutes. I suppose it's possible that the ballast circuit could have failed completely. Again, low odds that both fixtures would die at exactly the same time.

So if both fixtures failed at the same time, it would be high odds that there's a wiring problem.
 

NWTFHunter

Past Missouri Chapter Leaders
More info regarding the kitchen lights. There are 4 lights. Each is a small round fixture that is recessed into the ceiling with a glass lens that is flush with the ceiling. The small bulbs have two wires that fit into the light fixture. Not sure if we can get the fixture out of the ceiling to have access to any wires. Have power at the switch. I have the same lights in my Bighorn and I removed one bulb and the others on that switch continued to work. So we are stuck till we figure out how to get to the wiring for each light to check for power there.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Those canisters just pull out.
Pull straight down. You will see two spring clips that look a little bit like a mouse trap.
Be careful because they will snap your fingers like a mouse trap as well.
Once you get them down you will see the wires.
They are wired in series, so I would check the one closest to the switch first.

Peace
Dave

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
...They are wired in series, so I would check the one closest to the switch first...

Just to put a finer point on what Dave has mentioned... One light is wired from the previous, to the next - though electrically, they are wired in parallel.
 
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