Dome Light Wiring Shorted Internally |
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Aris
Newbie Joined: 19 Oct 2010 Location: Baltimore, MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Topic: Dome Light Wiring Shorted Internally Posted: 20 Oct 2010 at 10:34am |
Hello,
New member to the forum, and a very happy owner of a 172T as of September of 2010.
Eventhough I am very pleased with it overall, i have noticed a number of things that lead me to believe that these units are put together with very obviously poor workmanship. There are the crooked screws on fixtures, overtightened screws on receptacle plates, big pieces of wire trimmings left over in the breaker box area, multiple screw holes on the roof for the dome lights, the list goes on...
But the one that turned into a failure that bothered me the most was the apparently shorted wires leading up to the two dome lights in the rear of the pod. After having blown a fuse or two, i decited to check the wiring leading up to those two lights. Sure enough, i can detect (with a meter) a short in the wiring somewhere (with the fuse removed of course).
I spoke to the serice folks over at Jeff Couch's and they told me that they have seen this issue twice. Both times, paneling screws were driven through the wires shorting it to ground.
To complicate matters, my local r-pod dealer is apparently mad at me for not buying from him (eventhough i tried to work with him, and was even willing to pay $1,000 more to buy locally), and he is now refusing warrnaty work on my pod.
Any suggestions?
Thank you.
Aris.
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Aris, Baltimore, MD
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Outbound
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 19 Nov 2009 Location: Oshawa, Ontario Online Status: Offline Posts: 767 |
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 at 11:03am |
A dealer refusing to do work on a trailer not purchased from his/her dealership can be an issue. In their 2010 r-pod brochure (page 7), "Forest River, Inc. strongly encourages our retail customers to purchase from their local dealership whenever possible..." You should probably contact Forest River directly and ask them for assistance in finding a local dealer willing to work on your trailer. Here is the contact for service/warranty issues: Susan Thornberg Phone: 574-642-3119 x 205 E-mail: sthornberg@forestriverinc.com |
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Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150
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HuronSailor
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 10 Jun 2009 Location: Owosso MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 704 |
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 at 11:07am |
It sounds like you may have made the right decision in not doing business with your local dealer in the first place. I might contact FR and see which other nearby dealers actually want to stay in business. I'm sure you'll find a dealer willing to take on the job.
Worst case scenario, it might be easier to take a different route than the original wiring, disconnecting, then bypassing the shorted section of wire completely. Less disassembly might be needed.
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.: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :.
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Guests
Guest Group |
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 at 1:16pm |
Welcome to the group, Aris! Sorry to learn of your difficulties. I have nothing to add to the above posts - they offer sound advise.
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 20 Oct 2010 at 5:21pm |
Welcome, Aris. You sound like the person I met at Codorus this past weekend (172T and shorted wire). Are you that person? Glad you found us.
The dealer in White Marsh wasn't willing to work with me, either. I ended up buying from - and later getting warranty work done - from Stoltzfus' in PA. They were the 2nd closest dealership from me. I live near the PA/MD line on I-83 and its about a 1 1/2 hour drive one-way. Not close, but closer than going back to OH. We camp in that general area several times a year so its not a huge detour if we need to drop it off between trips.
If you want to tackle the wiring issue yourself I agree that the better solution may not be ripping the panelling off. You could look for sticky-backed contact paper with a similar color/design, and then run wires from the nearest 12 volt source, covering it with the contact paper. Worst case, you can buy sticky-backed printer paper, take a picture of your wall, then print the pattern on the paper. With some trial and error you should be able to get it very close.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Aris
Newbie Joined: 19 Oct 2010 Location: Baltimore, MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 at 8:34am |
Thank you all for the responses. I am taking your advice and fixing it myself.
Doug, we did meet last weekend @ Codorus. Thanks for responding.
Aris
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Aris, Baltimore, MD
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Guests
Guest Group |
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 at 12:57pm |
If you remove the light fixtures between the shorted section, you may be able to use the "channels" that the factory used for the original wiring and fish thru a new section of wiring. The lights are usually wired in parallel. I recently did this to lenghten my component video cable running thru the ceiling (it shared a channel with the light wiring) and just this morning, fished two #8AWG wires thru the layers of my floor from one side of the camper to the other, using an existing channel that had 2 pieces of Romex and an RG6 cable in it. Note that sometimes there are 90 degree turns at the fixtures requiring removing the fixture at the 90, fishing to that point, and then fishing to the next. It sounds harder than it is. All you have to do is remove the screws from the fixtures and fish. When done, reinstall the fixtures. You won't be able to tell that anything has even been done, visually.
Caveat: I did no mods to my Pod, so I can't promise that it will work with the Pod. It has worked with more than one trailer that I have owned. I am also assuming that since you are familiar with a meter and testing that something like this would be within your abilities and you sort of know what I am talking about. Also, don't try to use the existing wire to pull thru the new wire, or you'll just get hung up on the same problem screw. Good luck!
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 at 2:50pm |
While I've never removed any light fixtures in the 'pod, my guess is this. With the aluminum-foam-aluminum sandwich that makes up the walls and ceiling, I would guess that the wires are run flush to the inside wall before the interior paneling is applied. I would be surprised if there are any channels which is why I was suggesting running a new line on the interior wall itself. But I could be wrong! Let us know what you find out, it will be useful to others. |
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Guests
Guest Group |
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 at 4:07pm |
Not trying to "one up ya" Tech. I don't know if this how the wires are run in the Pod. But, if one of you guys/gals want to go out to your Pod, remove the clear lenses on one of the lights, there will likely be 4-8 screws holding the fixture to the ceiling. When the fixture comes down there will probably be a hole there containing the wires. A quick probe with the index finger will tell if there is a channel or cavity there holding the wire run. It will take you 10 minutes tops to see. I'm kind of curious myself.
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 21 Oct 2010 at 6:30pm |
At this point you have $.02 on the table, I have $.02 on the table, one of us will win $.04. Probably not me. |
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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