Odd electrical problem out of the blue...

[OutlawPilot]

Here's a weird issue that just developed out of nowhere... When the bathroom exhaust fan is on, the bathroom lights turn on VERY dimly. Turn the fan off, the lights brighten back up to normal.

Worked fine up until yesterday. <Scratching head>

Anthony

[BB_TX]

Fan and lights are 12 vdc?

[OutlawPilot]

Yes. But we're plugged into 50A when the issue presented itself.

[BB_TX]

If the lights and the fan are fed from the same fuse it could be a loose/bad connection on that circuit causing a voltage drop when the current increases. When ours was new I checked all the wire connections in both the 120 vac distribution panel and the 12 vdc panel and found a number of wire terminations with loose or barely tight screws on the hots, neutrals, grounds, and 12 vdc positives and grounds.

[OutlawPilot]

It seems the fan/light issue exists when the fan is at speed 3. 1 and 2 are fine as is (oddly) 4.

[Theunz]

I would first check to see if your battery cut off switch is on. If it is on than I would check the condition of the battery or batteries. Sometimes 12 volt accessories won't work if the battery is severely discharged even when plugged into shore power.

[jimcol]

Not sure how the speeds are controlled on your fan. It's either a separate winding for each speed, a reastat in the circuit, or a solid state control. Call the fan manufacture and explain the condition. They can point you in the right direction.

[mtlakejim]

That’s one of those could be a dozen different things kind of issues but I would lean toward a short developed in the fan switch. Run the fan on speed 3 for a minute and see if the switch gets hot

[mlh]

You have a voltage drop somewhere, loose connection, bad switch or something of that nature.
Lynwood

[OutlawPilot]

Thanks all. Keeping it set to 1 or 2 until a scheduled RV tech visit in a few weeks. You've been a big help!

[jcurtis934]

If they stuck a bathroom vent system in that has the tiny fan blades instead of a quality fan like the fantasic vent...then it may well be that it is the cause of the issue. The current draw of the bathroom lights and even the fan pulling higher current is still a small drain on the battery or even the converter. Loose wiring at fuse would be my number one thought as mentioned.

[rohrmann]

I would be pulling out the light switch to check connections. It's probably where they tapped the 12 volt connection for the fan, and when you increase the electrical load on the fan, the additional load causes the lights to dim. We had the same problem with the 12 volt TV in the bedroom, with the TV on, turn on the light and the TV would turn off, and this was due to low voltage to the TV. Pulled the light switch and found a very poorly made connection behind the switch. Repaired the connection and have never had an issue since.

[dfb]

Check for voltage at the fan with it off. Turn the light on and off to see if you have a change on the meter. If so go to the convertor. Problem is either the convertor, or between the convertor and the fan.. pull fuse for fan at the. Convertor. Check for change on reading while somone turns light on and off. If a change hapoens its the wiring going to the fan and light. If no change happens its a convertor issue,. Check for solid grounds.. tight connections first..

[richfaa]

I do not see any improvement in quality over our 06 3400 in this 13 3402 or the new Montana's we have looked at. There have been technological improvements but quality of workmanship has not improved and that applies to the RV industry overall.

The improvement that stands out over our 06 3400 was the improvement of the slide seals our 06 3400 leaked like a sieve and we could see outside at all the corners. The insulation has also improved. We are happy that this is our last Rv of any brand.

We use our Montana's hard being long timers and full timers use then even harder. We have had many failures on both Montana's since 2006 many of then on the same issue, holding tanks for example, Fridge cooling units. Suspension.(Morryde IS solved that problem)

Still we have done over 100K miles combined on these two Montana's all over the country on our fine TPK and Interstate systems and all in all they have served us well.

We are replacing our G614's we have worn them out on this 13 3402.The the tread depth is 3/33 worn tire being 2/33.Don't know how many miles we have traveled with this 13 3402 but it has been a bunch. With the Mor Ryde IS and air bags for a level ride the tread wear is even. We wore out two sets of tires on our 06 3400 and destroyed one set because of a suspension failure on our 06 3400 before we purchased the Mor Ryde IS. We used that girl hard.

[dfb]

Originally Posted by richfaa

I do not see any improvement in quality over our 06 3400 in this 13 3402 or the new Montana's we have looked at. There have been technological improvements but quality of workmanship has not improved and that applies to the RV industry overall.

The improvement that stands out over our 06 3400 was the improvement of the slide seals our 06 3400 leaked like a sieve and we could see outside at all the corners. The insulation has also improved. We are happy that this is our last Rv of any brand.

We use our Montana's hard being long timers and full timers use then even harder. We have had many failures on both Montana's since 2006 many of then on the same issue, holding tanks for example, Fridge cooling units. Suspension.(Morryde IS solved that problem)

Still we have done over 100K miles combined on these two Montana's all over the country on our fine TPK and Interstate systems and all in all they have served us well.

We are replacing our G614's we have worn them out on this 13 3402.The the tread depth is 3/33 worn tire being 2/33.Don't know how many miles we have traveled with this 13 3402 but it has been a bunch. With the Mor Ryde IS and air bags for a level ride the tread wear is even. We wore out two sets of tires on our 06 3400 and destroyed one set because of a suspension failure on our 06 3400 before we purchased the Mor Ryde IS. We used that girl hard.

Overall!? Yes on THOR products!.. the ones left are way better..

[BB_TX]

Richfaa - did you reply to the wrong thread?

[garyka]

I had the same problem years ago,it turned out to be the inverter