Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: ErinS on April 13, 2018, 09:50:50 pm
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When I got home with my new PC I noticed when I turn the truck engine off the thin LED coach lights come on. Is this normal? I have been going around and turning them off before leaving the cab. Is this necessary, will they go out on there own?
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The thin LED strips on my rig come on when battery power has been turned off for some reason. Such as the
isolator battery shut off switch.
They will not go out on their own, and I nearly drained the batteries on my coach once by not checking when I locked up.
But in my case it was because the isolator battery shut off switch was off and I turned it on. I'm not sure why turning the truck engine off would make the lights come on. That does not seem right. Hopefully someone more electrically inclined can explain.
Are the lights turning on when you stop the truck engine or when you start it? I wonder if they are coming on when you start the engine but you did not notice until later?
Do you have 12volt power in the rig when the engine is off?
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When I got home with my new PC I noticed when I turn the truck engine off the thin LED coach lights come on.
Are you saying the outside lights turn on when you open either front door? They go out after a minute. Does in for all Ford RV's.
My rig is older, no inside LED lights.
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Are you saying the outside lights turn on when you open either front door?
I think she is talking about the LED strips in the house. The ones being used since 2016-7 use a capacitance touch switch to turn them off / on. When power is removed and restored the capacitance switch gets an inrush and is fooled into thinking someone touched the switch. I have 4 of these in my coach and when you turn off the battery disconnect switch and then back on all 4 lights will turn on.
The first night at Elkhart we slept with them all on because we could not figure out how to turn them off. Earl missed telling us that when we did the walkthrough. :):)
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This is kind-of related.....
Our older 2007 PC with running board pavement lights, I have to pay close attention to those lights. If the interior cab lights are on via the pull-out headlight switch turned left, but turned off at the spot-lights/dome-lights above the windshield, those outside pavement lights remain on.
Because we tow, somehow our tow vehicle battery supplies a back-voltage into the PC which leaves our back-up camera and running board pavement lights on. When parked over-night, I have to disconnect the tow's umbilical cord to turn them of. There is a diode to prevent back-voltage, but it still finds it's way from the tow vehicle to the PC. I really should replace that diode. It might have been faulty from the start.
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I really should replace that diode.
Most likely. Or never installed? I've heard of folks getting their tow wiring done at a shop and they neglected to install the diodes. Or did you do the work?
Hopefully Erin will post back, I am curious as to what is going on there. It is similar to what I see on my rig, but not exactly the same. I am puzzled about why she would see the same results I do but only when she shuts OFF the truck. Something does not add up, I hope she does not have anything wired wrong.
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I really should replace that diode.
Most likely. Or never installed? I've heard of folks getting their tow wiring done at a shop and they neglected to install the diodes. Or did you do the work?
I did all tow vehicle wiring myself including mounting that diode under the hood in a semi-protected place. I know it's there because I see it all the time. If the diode was wired backwards, nothing would work. So it must have been a bad diode from the beginning or failed soon thereafter. Maybe I need a bigger diode.
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The interior light strips in our 2552 will turn on when I power up the 12 volt system like others have said. I just turn them off, actually kind of nice to have an automatic light. I always shut off the house batteries in storage. I do not remember them turning on when the Ford engine is shut down though. Will have to check that.
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I plan to go out to my storage garage this week to see if I can recreate the light situation. Right now my coach is plugged in. I will unplug it, make sure all lights are shut off, let the engine run a bit and turn it off to see what happens. I had hoped to go camping this weekend to test all systems again, but unsure if the Iowa weather will cooperate. We are having an extra-long winter.
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I do wonder if a motion sensor in any RV application will turn on the light all the time while driving. Applied to the bathroom....a towel swinging on a towel bar or draped over the shower door might keep the light on.