Welcome Back Light and Magic

[Wharton]

We have had our BH for 2 years and never had this problem before. Our Welcome Back light, with the interior switch off, keeps going on and off. It slowly turns on and then turns off as soon as it reaches maximum wattage, has been repeating this sequence for the last 45 minutes.

We did travel in rain all day but we have done that before.

Any ideas as to what is going on? I assume a switch is bad but not sure which one.

 

[GOTTOYS]

If the switch inside the coach is off, there should be no power to the light. I would start with replacing the inside switch..Don

 

[Wharton]

The light goes on and off with that switch off, as it should, but not magically. In normal operation when the door is open the Welcome Light comes on for 10-15 seconds with that switch being off. If the door is closed and the switch is off the light should be off but it keeps coming on and going off.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Then you got me. I don't understand how it can work unless it has 3 wires going to it. I installed a Smart Light on mine over the door. It has a motion sensor. Only 2 wires. I turn my interior light switch on and the light goes on. I turn my inside switch on then off then on again and it works off the motion detector. If my inside switch is off there is no power to the light and it will not work. I'm curious as to how yours works and is wired...Don

 

[Wharton]

If we ever figure this out I'll try to let you know. All the BH and Landmarks have this welcome light, just not magical like ours has become.

 

[2psnapod2]

Are your door contacts maybe wet from the rain?

 

[SouthernNights]

If we ever figure this out I'll try to let you know. All the BH and Landmarks have this welcome light, just not magical like ours has become.

The Welcome Home Light is powered by an electronic timed relay (also known as a pulse timer in some cases). The timer activates the relay which turns on and off your light. The door switch is actually completing a ground circuit which activates the relay turning the light on. There is a diode in line somewhere between your light and the manual switch to keep power from going back to the manual switch when the light is activated by the relay.

Because the light is coming on and off by itself it could only be one of two things. The door switch as Michael suggested is wet OR the timer is finding a ground prior to the door switch. Either one will activate the timer and it will work as designed-turning the light on until the timer is "timed out" and turns the light off. Once it goes out, it starts all over again.

The second thing is the timer relay could be bad but chances are if that was the case the light just wouldn't work.

The fact that this started after pulling in the rain may indicate that water has intruded past the contacts of the door switch and into the switch itself allowing the ground to be completed. A hair dryer blowing on the door contact switch may solve the problem.

There is an off chance that the door switch is not completing the ground but in fact acts as a break on the positive side and when activated allows the power to flow from through the switch and then to the timer. Still, if that is case, water will do the same thing. I have not been behind the basement wall on our trailer to know how HL has the light wired but have installed several pulse timers in trailers. Simple circuit but water can make low voltage electricity do some really strange things.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wharton]

Thank you for the great explanation. We were unable to work on it yesterday and probably won't until we get to our destination. Last night we just took the light out. I knew the forum would come through.........

 

[Wharton]

We did a quick look at the door today as the light is doing it again(did not do it yesterday, we were stationary). The only contacts we could find were for the door lock, 2 on the bottom of the hinge side. Do you know where the contacts are for the light? We did not drive in rain today.

 

[Wharton]

Just found a write-up on thee Welcome Back light. There is a magnetic contact, now does anyone know where that is? Look like we will need to take off the entire door. We just ran a magnet around the entire door and door jam to see if we can find the location.

 

[Wharton]

Does anyone know who makes the circuit for the Welcome Back Light? I checked manuals and the only reference is from Heartland.

 

[boatto5er]

If you take the fire extinguisher bracket off (six screws?) you should be able to see the relay circuitry. It may have a name or identifcation information on it. I had to move it out of the way when I installed my Progressive EMS in the same area.

 

[Willym]

Just found a write-up on thee Welcome Back light. There is a magnetic contact, now does anyone know where that is? Look like we will need to take off the entire door. We just ran a magnet around the entire door and door jam to see if we can find the location.

My magnet is in a black plastic block screwed to the bottom of the door. Thus I suspect that the switch is underneath the door threshold, but I've never taken it off to look.

 

[DougS]

Wharton,
You might want to check the ground to the cicuit before doing anything else, loose grounds can cause strange things. I like to look for simple things first. Today I worked on my welcome back light, stopped working. I used some bulbs from another fixture and it worked. I like simple.

 

[Wharton]

Simple would be wonderful, magic makes it more difficult. We are on the road currently but will be home in a few days and tackle it then.

 

[2psnapod2]

If it continues to go on and off, if you remove the bulb until you get it fixed would stop the inconvenience.

 

[Wharton]

We have been doing that overnight. We just put it back in to make sure it is still happening. The strange part is that it will be fine and start doing it.