Well, we're heading out this Friday for our 2nd outing this year........ I went in the camper to turn on the fridge and to get things organized. When I attempted to turn on the ceiling lights at the front - none of them worked. Checked the fuses and fuse # 5 labelled "living room" was blown, now this was a blown 30 amp fuse, with closer inspection the fuse is labelled to be only a 15 amp. Replaced the fuse with a 15 amp and it popped immediately. Now I will hopefully find the problem, however I am leaving Friday for the W/E and would like to resolve this problem a.s.a.p.. Has anyone out there had this problem? All other fuses are good. In total four ceiling lights and both reading lights over the sofa, the water pump, heated holding tanks do not work. As far as I can tell everything else is working. Any ideas ? ? ? Please help.
BTW, of course the Forest River RV Owner's Manual is pretty much useless. I do not know if a wiring diagram is available - sure would come in handy now ! ! ! Any suggestions as to where I could get one?
Thanks, Mark.
'08 Chevy Avalanche LT3 6.0L (366hp) 4.10's
'06 Rockwood Roo 23SS. Equal-i-zer/P-3 '06 Honda EU3000iS TomTom ONE 130-S GPS.
Me ('71), DW ('70), DD ('01), DD ('04).
A wiseman once said "GIT-R-DONE"
'09 nights camped- 30 CAMPING PICS & MODS
I had a similar problem with an 06 Roo last Friday. No power coming from the battery. I followed the Positive wire from the battery under the trailer to the first junction, before the box. I loosened, cleaned and retightened both fasteners under the frame. Those are readily accessible. I never thought I would have to do that on a 4 year old piece of equipment but hey, this is the way they are built...
Bruno, Carol, Thierry and Julien
Sankei the fox terrier
Starla the Gordon setter
97 Dodge 2500 4x QC diesel
2006 ROO19
Try turning off everything and replacing fuse. If it still blows you have a wiring short (or you forgot to turn something off).
Is this a new TT? If not, did it blow last year? Why is a 30 amp fuse in a 15 amp location in the first place, did you or significant other do that? If you actually drew 30 amps thru 15 amp wiring, you could have melted insulation almost anywhere on those wires. That would be a bad fire hazard if so.
Personally I would leave fuse out until problem located, even if I went on trip with no lites, water pump, or heated tanks.
Possible dealer added heated tanks? Used bigger fuse as he was an idiot?
Maybe it is just me.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
Lovely German Shepherd.
1999 Mercedes ML320 TV
2003 Wanderer 187TB Toybox (3620# UVW, 4800# loaded) Not yet camped in Hawaii, 2 Canada Provinces, & 2 Territories. I can't be lost because I don't care where this lovely road is going
Thanks for the replies. I have not replaced any fuses, ever ! ! ! This must have been a factory error. My Roo is a 2006. The heated holding tanks were a factory install. I have been out once this year and all was fine. If I have to I will camp with the camper "as is" . We will have a rare treat - water hook-up (and sewer). I will check my connections under trailer tomorrow. However- for just one circuit to be affected makes me think this is not it - but I will most definitely not overlook the obvious.
hey Mark,,,just a thought, have you had the fridge recall done? check and see if any of the wires are chaffedaround that new heat shield they installed. just a thought. good luck,nice seing you back
steve
Linda and Steve
2005 Starcraft Antigua 215SB
2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x4
Get a multi-meter and check across the contacts of the fuse holder - it will most likely show a short. I would start by disconncting the water pump from the circuit to see if the short goes away. If it isn't the water pump, try the tank heater next - keep disconnecting stuff one at a time until you find the item that makes the short goes away.
Try checking around the water pump. If anything is stored in that area it may have cut thru the wire. If you have a slide check in that area, something may have got pinched around it. While you're checking the wires look for signs of a visit from those pesky little meeces(mice.)
But, it kinda sounds like a short to ground. There is no wiring diagram available from Forrest River, I asked for one when I bought our Roo. Thankfully the 12v wiring is color-coded though, green/white for outside vehicle lighting and red/white for the rest (now that’s a big help huh?). If your unit has 12v tank heaters, that 30 amp fuse >might< be correct (check with Chuck, I think his unit has them).
Rock077’s advice is right on track, you need to find the short by using a multi-meter. With the fuse removed from the circuit panel, identify the hot side terminal (power in). Then connect the meter to the output terminal (power out) and to ground. A short to ground will show continuity here (it normally shouldn’t). Keep the meter connected this way during your investigation, when you loose continuity you’ve found your short.
The water pump should have a separate fuse on the hot wire it connects to (near the pump). Pull the fuse and check it (probably ok?) and look at the meter for continuity. Your tank heaters might also have a separate fuse; you should probably check that one too.
There’s a good chance for a pinched, crushed or chafed wire. Check the slide out wiring that feeds the two reading lights over the sofa (ours is coiled under the sofa and feeds back into the water pump cabinet). Disconnect the tank heaters from the circuit next and check for continuity back at the meter. Keep in mind that any areas where you can’t visually see the wiring will likely mean that you’ll have to disconnect the wiring for that item from the circuit. You might remove the screws and pull the converter back to see if the wire coming off of the output side (power out) of the fuse terminal is split. If it does split (with optional tank heater, I bet it does), disconnect one wire or the other to see what side the short is on and trace onward from there. Wiring for those 4 overhead lights runs up to the ceiling behind converter and along side the fridge. Remove the first ceiling light on the circuit (probably the one closest to the dinette and fridge) and disconnect it from the circuit and look back at the meter for continuity. If you lost continuity, you’re on the right track, reconnect the light and go onto the next one. With the light fixture pulled from the ceiling, you should be able to look up and see the wiring feeding to the next light(s) for further testing.
If the short appears to be a located in a hidden section of wiring, try pulling on it gently and see if you can see the other side move. If it doesn’t have a hidden split (unlikely), you can use the bad section of wiring to pull in the new replacement wiring. Use a piece of 2 or 3 conductor, 14-gauge extension or lamp cord for the replacement wiring.
Think about any work you might have done recently and whether it could have caused this or not. When you find it, be sure to let us know what you found. Probably wrong, but I’m guessing it’s on the tank heater side.
I have a 2008 Roo 21SS and I had this exact problem. The wiring for the lights also supplies power to several other things and was pinched/mangled underneath the slide. It looked like the wires were never properly attached to the slide frame allowing the slide to pinch the wires and short it to ground. Luckily i was still under warranty when it happened to me.
Steve, thanks. Yeah it's been a while. I'm gonna try to put in a little more forum time.
Rock & llowllms - thanks for the input.
Leef - You get an A+ with honorable mention ! ! ! ! Thank-you ! ! I did just add the window in the slide (as you did) and I also added the door strut (like on many of the new Roos). I don't think there'd be any wires above the door in the wall- especially there ! ! I will definitely get on it tonight - after some shopping (for alcohol) for my DBIL's stag & doe ! ! I've just been so stinking busy with everything. I hope to find the problem soon. I will check the slide wiring first as that makes a lot of sense. As does the tank heater. One thing I thought of this morning was that when I was hanging my mini-blind for the new window was that I had to move the one reading lamp quite a bit to get the hardware mounted. Perhaps a wire came off inside the fixture? I don't know............... Gives me something to do I guess. Like I didn't already have a million things on the list.
Dennis, thanks to you too. I will check the slide wiring as soon as I am able to tonight. Even though our slides are different - they could still have similar problems. My framing and motor are inside and yours is outside/underbody.... and yours is a much deeper slide. Again thank-you.
I will keep you all informed! ! ! ! If there are any others out there who may have had a similar problem, let me know ! ! ! ! ! !
Offline
('71), DW 
('70), DD 
('01), DD 
('04). 
