Cedar Creek Silverback 35 IK Puck Lights

[ARCHER]

Well, Have not posted for a long long time. Now have an issue I just cannot get to the bottom of. I have two puck lights above my kitchen table on a slide-out that is controlled by a switch. One light started blinking and then was ok for a couple days. Now when I flip the switch all I get are two very very dim puck lights. To make it even worse, I have two more puck lights on same slide-out above my two tv chairs. They are doing the same thing. the switch is a double switch, one for above table light and one for above tv chairs. I can only see them (dim) when it is night and other lights are off in trailer. All other puck lights are working just fine. Factory says it is prob the light(s) or maybe the switch or who knows. I don't understand why all four of the lights are doing the same thing??? If the switch was bad, I would think the lights would not even be dim. Factory told me the lights are daisy chained, whatever that means.
Anyhow, maybe some really smart rvér can help me figure this out. thought I was pretty smart about most of my rv issues, but this one has me stumped. Want to make sure I don't cause a fire. HELP

 

[Loretta]

Hey Archer. My brother is an electrician, so I asked him what he thought. He said it sounds like either there is bad contact (bulbs wearing out) or a grounding issue. Here are a couple of things to try.

First, check where the bulb and light socket meet. Are the connections clean? They should look shiny. If they look dark from carbon build up, a light scrub with steel wool will clean them up. Do this to the bulb and the socket (make sure your power is off of course). If this is the issue, cleaning them up should help, but you still may need to replace the bulbs soon. If you do, consider LED bulbs. They use less wattage.

If that doesn't solve it, check where the wires connect to the light and to the switch. There could be carbon build up there as well, or loose wire strands. Make sure all of the strands of the wires are wrapped around the screw and make sure the screw is tight.

If neither of those are the issue, perhaps the connection with the wiring in the slide. That would probably require a professional. Do you have this issue regardless of whether the slide is in or out?

 

[ARCHER]

Loretta, tks for the info. the lights are led puck lights. I have checked the wires to the switch and good contact. I have been in touch with Forest River and have ordered 4 new puck lights and switch also. Since they are wired daisy type, it just might be one of the lights is going bad and causing the other four to be dim also. For some reason, they are not as dim as they were but still not like they should be. I have two AC type outlets on the slide-out that are working just fine. I don't move the slide-out in and out. Once I get the new led puck lights and switch, I'll start with the one light that was flickering a little before this whole issue started and go from there. I'll post what I find out.

 

[ARCHER]

Well, update. Removed and replaced all four puck lights and the dual wall light switch. Checked the lights I removed via wiring directly to a 12 volts battery and they all 4 light brightly. I'll check to see if lights are still dim at night later today. I checked the output at the puck light connections and it is only 5.67 volts, so not enough power to make lights bright. At first I thought it might be the converter, however, all the other puck lights in the trailer , radio, storage area lights, roof vent fans, thermostat, all work just fine. I would think if it was the converter that these other things would be having an issue. I have asked Forest River to send me a wiring diagram for the system so I can trace back to the power source. I guess I need to look under the slide-out to see if there is a wiring an issue on those wires. I assume the wires that go to the slide-out comes from underneath the trailer and runs up inside the wall to the puck light switch and also the 110 volt wiring that goes to wall outlets (2). I do not move the slide....it stays out nearly all the time. ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS???????

 

[ARCHER]

Well, after several months of not even trying to fix the puck light issue, I finally decided to try again. I am embarassed to say that I was able to fix the problem in about 15 minutes. Crawled under the slide out, traced the wires back to where they were connected to the wires coming from inside trailer and guess what? One of the connections was corroded with green stuff and when I touched it the wire just fell of the connections. Cut the wires back a little, reconnected them using wire sleeve and I now how lights again inside. I should have done this months ago. Had new knee put in so did not want to do any crawling around. ANYHOW, CHECK YOUR CONNECTIONS FIRST!!