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Old 06-16-2008, 05:17 AM   #1
Ruff
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Flickering Lights

On our 2005 3400RL the lights will flicker after dark once we are set up. I think my 12 volt battery needs replacing but don't want to spend the money if I don't have to.
Has anyone experienced this and have an answer to the flickering lights?
 
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Old 06-16-2008, 05:28 AM   #2
mobrownies
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Does the flicker coincide with something, like the water pump or converter kicking on? Usually the flicker is associated with a sudden change in voltage caused by something else kicking on and dropping the voltage. Have you looked at your battery indicator to see how the voltage is doing?

There are a lot of places that will test your battery at no cost if you think you have a bad battery.
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Old 06-16-2008, 05:46 AM   #3
dsprik
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Are you hooked up to the park's 30/50 amp service? Or just running on batt? Could be a loose wire behind your fixture(s). Are all 12v lights flickering? Could also be a bad GFI outlet. Well, that's enough for now.

*On Edit~ The REAL electricians should be by shortly...

Also, the campground electric could be bad. We had this happen to us. Took the CG mgr a long time to fix it. Monty, you should have a digital or analog meter that can plug into your wall outlet that measures volts that you can monitor easily all the time. Ours, a Kill-A-Watt digital has been invaluable - especially while running our 3400RL on 30 amp power supplies.

Others should be by with some ideas to check out also...
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Old 06-16-2008, 05:49 AM   #4
stiles watson
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From the get go, we have had occasional flicker in the 12 volt system. It is not consistent nor can we associate it with events or cycling of other equipment. It just happens. My battery is good and fully charged. It seems to have only occurred once since my converter was replaced. The phenomenon seems inexplicable.
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Old 06-16-2008, 07:36 AM   #5
Ruff
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Thanks for all the info.
Generally nothing is on,(except the lights), or is turned on when the lights start to flicker. I can turn a few of them off and then turn them back on later and all seems to be fine until the next night.
My GFI has tripped a couple of times,it may be the culprit. I'll check it out with a meter.
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Old 06-16-2008, 09:31 AM   #6
HamRad
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There often are loose ground wires. I checked all of mine when I had this problem. Found a number of them loose. Tightened them all down. Only problem I have now is if I'm running my fireplace and or the hot water heater comes on. I will sometimes get a little flicker. This is usually only when the CG power is marginal. I did change out one of my GFIs. Didn't seem to make any difference.

Good luck.

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Old 06-16-2008, 09:41 AM   #7
dsprik
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Monty, if your GFI is tripping frequently, I believe that would indicate a short inside your Montana somewhere (as Dennis described above). There are experts here that can help out in this area better than I, but my GFI has rarely tripped - and only when I did something I shouldn't have. Even bad CG power supply will not trip your GFI - I don't think.

One thing that many of us MOCers have done is to pull the main breaker panel - after disconnecting all CG power and after disconnecting your battery power - and tighten every connection back there. Many of us have found multiple loose wiring problems back there.
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Old 06-16-2008, 01:19 PM   #8
Trailer Trash 2
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My flickering lights (AC) turned out to be the receptial that the trailer plug plugs into it was arking and soon melted the plug.





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Old 06-16-2008, 01:55 PM   #9
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Don,

Wow! Good pictures. Nice to see the evidence. Was something actually shorting out or was there just a loose connection? Was it just a sloppy fitting blade?

Thanks,

Dennis
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Old 06-16-2008, 11:21 PM   #10
H. John Kohl
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The trailer has both 12VDC and 120VAC lights which ones are flickering?
Good luck. Nice photo Don.
Cheers,
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Old 06-17-2008, 04:21 AM   #11
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by HamRad

Don,

Wow! Good pictures. Nice to see the evidence. Was something actually shorting out or was there just a loose connection? Was it just a sloppy fitting blade?

Thanks,

Dennis
Hi Dennis,

If you look at picture #3 you will see that the wire in the supply box is where the truble started there were loose wires in there at the reciptcal, and then the arking started. this is my oppion on what caused it...... I believe that at one time a camper was using more current probably more than the plug was rated for, or low voltage in the park, causing the internal wires to get hot expand then when the demand stoped the wires cooled down causing a loose connection and the results are seen. or the park maintenance person didnt tighten the screws very good when box was serviced last.

Don
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Old 06-17-2008, 05:26 AM   #12
HamRad
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Don,

Thanks. I did see the toasted wire on the inside! Didn't know if that was where it started or simply a result. I hope you were on hand when this thing lit up so you could see all the smoke escaping! Sure is hard to get all that smoke back in there isn't it?!

Later,

Dennis
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Old 06-17-2008, 05:54 AM   #13
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Ruff, did you ever get your lights figured out as to what was causing the flickering?
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Old 06-17-2008, 05:57 AM   #14
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For sure Dennis on the smoke.
As for being there when it happened, I just lucked out on discovering it, I was working around the driver side slide and I smelled ellectrical smoke, it's a different smell from other smoke, I followed it right to the power tower and saw my plug starting to smoke. now this has happened to Georgia and I two times now at the same park different spots though, so now when we see the lights flickering the first thing I check is the plug I make sure it's slamed in good after I inspect the plug blades.
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Old 06-17-2008, 07:14 AM   #15
Ruff
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John,
The 12V lights are the ones that flicker.
I've checked ground on the battery and it was OK. I'll start a process of elimination for loose wires.My GFI tripped when my wife had a supplemental heater plugged in and turn on the coffe maker at the same time. She soon found out you can't have the supplemental appliances running at the same time.

Nice photos of the plug.
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Old 06-17-2008, 11:47 AM   #16
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Monty,
Now to start isolating. Is it all the 12 VDC lights at the same time. Suggest you actually turn them all on and let them run for a while. As long as you are 120 VAC and the converter is working you will have 12 VDC. If it is a selected few then start pulling fuses one at a time and document which lights are on which fuse. That is a smart thing for all of us to do "especially me". If it is only one string off one fuse then I suggest pulling the fuse panel and tighten all screws. (OH - Safety - Do this with the negative led to the battery disconnected and the 120 VDC turned off.)
Good luck and let us know what you find.
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