Minor Electrical Problem - Are Upper Cabinet Lights and Indicator Lights Run in Series?

[Steve Morris]

Three years ago I wired my LevelMate Pro to the always hot Street Awning switch, and that has worked fine until yesterday. After a drive to our accommodations for the weekend, the LevelMate wouldn’t power up. But the awning did. So apparently, I hooked into the indicator light terminal on the awning switch.

Then I realized that several of the switch indicator lights didn’t work, nor did the lights in the upper cabinets. But other indicator lights do work, as do the closet outdoor, and cabinets lights and other interior lights. So, I figured a wire on the indicator light circuit pulled loose, but after pulling out that messy jumble of wires behind the switch panel, I can’t find anything loose. And that wouldn’t explain the cabinet lights not working. The fuse is fine, and is the same fuse as the other cabinet lights.

This led me to the possibility that either the indicator lights, the upper cabinet lights, or both, are run in series instead of parallel, like on those impossible to fix Christmas tree lights.

The wiring diagrams I have do not go into that detail. Has anyone had upper cabinets light or indicator light problems, and can steer me as to where to look? It isn’t trip critical; just an inconvenience. I’m rewiring the Level Mate to the other leg of the switch.

Thanks for any suggestions

Edited 15 hours ago by Steve Morris

[John Dorrer]

AI response

[Steve Morris]

Copy/pasting reply from FB

Thanks John. We’re only out for a few days, so I’m going to wait until we get home to try tracking down the fault with my good meter instead of the $10 travel one. I know the fuse is good, because the other lights on the circuit work. Yes, the blue indicator light are what I’m referring to, plus’s the upper cabinet lights. It’s most likely a wire disconnected somewhere. I had the switch panel by the door out, and the access port behind.  Tugging on wires didn’t result in anything loose, but it could also be a bad switch.  It’s just odd that some indicator lights work and others don’t. And on that the indicators that don’t work, the device they operate do function correctly except the upper cabinets. They all worked two days ago, so something bounced loose or failed while on the road.

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:

I’m rewiring the Level Mate to the other leg of the switch.

It’s easy to test for voltage on either side of the awning switch. Your LevelMatePRO has been working, so it should be wired to the right side.

Where is the LevelMatePRO grounded? You have an odd set of lights out, others working. I don’t believe they’re wired like Christmas lights! See if a ground came loose common to all dead circuits. A ground that’s open will not blow fuses and your fuses are good.

Good luck with it and let us know. 

[Snackchaser]

 

You've lost a ground connection!  There are several yellow "home-run" ground conductors in the space behind the master switch panel.  Each of them splits off to feed various circuits including a ground wire to each of the switches for the LED indicators.  It's a tangled mess of yellow wires and splices in that space, and the loss of one of those ground connections could cause all the symptoms you described.

Start from a switch where the LED is not working, and trace its yellow wire to the multi wire splice.  Use the ohm or continuity setting on your multimeter to verify there is continuity to ground.  See the post titled "I was awakened by flashing blue lights!" to see a picture of those ground splices, and to see how each switch has a yellow ground wire for the LED indicator.  Also note that some of those ground splices are jumpered together.

If you fed your LevelMate (+) from the hot side of the awning switch, then I assume that you probably tapped into one of those grounds for the (-).  If that's true, then that splice would be a prime suspect!

Hope that helps!  Cheers, Geoff