New owner of 2017 13' - questions on electrical system...

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twinpop
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New owner of 2017 13' - questions on electrical system...

Hi - I'm happy to say that my wife and I picked up a lightly used 2017 13' base model yesterday off of Craigslist and we are thrilled.  It still has that "new Scamp" smell!  It has just one issue (so far!) - the MaxxFan in the ceiling and the outdoor lights do not work - regardless of whether it's plugged into household AC or running off the battery.  The inside lights are working on either power supply. I've checked all the fuses and circuit breakers.  The circuit breakers were all in the on position, but the 20 amp 12v battery charge fuse had blown (the fuse in the #1 position). I've replaced that fuse but it still hasn't solved the problem with the outdoor lights or the fan.  Any ideas on where I should be looking???

Many thanks for any assistance at all! Can't wait to get out with our "new to us" Scamp!!

Paul

ac0gv
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Fuse testing

This won’t be much help but, the circuit breakers protect the 120VAC items, the fuses protect the 12 VDC items. You may have two separate problems, the older incandescent outside lights had water problems and you will need to test for power at the light, some people have had control board problems with the fan, check for power at the fan, mine has worked well. When checking fuses, I check for VOLTAGE on both sides of the fuse. They can look good and be bad. (I think your book has a wiring diagram in it, and Scamp gave me a handwritten list of fuses.)

ac0gv
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My lights and fan.....

.......are the second fuse down.You may have a loose wire, the Scamp wire nuts and crimps are not the best. Look around at the wiring under the seat also.

twinpop
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Thanks for the insights...

I'll check the wires on the fuse box under the seat and I'll also look more closely at those exterior lights - I did notice that there's moisture under the lenses. After those easy things, I'll try pulling the face plate off the fan to see if there's power up there. Thanks for the info about the issues some others have had with the fan... hopefully it's just a loose wire somewhere and not something bigger.

Paul

twinpop
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Maxx Fan still not working...

I identified the outdoor light problem - moisture got inside the lenses and the switch contacts were heavily corroded. Jumping a wire across the switch turns the light on.

However, the MaxxFan issue is still not diagnosed. I pulled out the fan and find that there's no power in the wires at the ceiling connection.  There is power in the electrical box and all the fuses are good. Any idea on how I can trace the wires from the fan back to the main electrical box? I have no idea how to find the wires once they disappear behind the lining, and when I look at the electrical box I have no idea which wires head to the fan. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

athearn2
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Wire Color

The wires at the fan should be color coded so you should be able to find the same color wires at the back of the panel. Sorry my Scamp wiring diagram is in our Scamp (away for the winter!) so I can't tell you the right color wires to look for.

ac0gv
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Scamp wire colors

I just dug my 2017 Scamp book out to make a copy of the wire colors, it had no fan and still shows a fluorescent light.

twinpop
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wire color

The color of the wires at the fan are black and white.  I think I see more than one set of black and white wires running around behind the panel and under the benches. The owner's manual schematic isn't very helpful - it has no mention of the fan, and some of the other details are questionable.  The owner's manual does say that all the lights operate on either AC or DC, but the fan ONLY operates on DC, and it's the only thing in the camper like that... so now I wonder if its wiring even goes through the panel... because I thought the panel was served by the AC/converter when plugged in to shore power?  To add to the mystery - when I was in the camper today doing some other things the fan just mysteriously started up!  I was excited, but then about 2 minutes later it went dead again. Grrrr. I don't think I did anything (bumped wires/connections/etc) that caused it, but who knows.

ac0gv
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Bad connections

All 12 VDC equipment is powered by both the converter and/or battery. The only light to run on 120 AC WAS the fluorescent and that has not been installed in years. All lights and the fan now run on 12 VDC. But it sure sounds like tou have a bad crimp or wire nut in the system, I’d just start moving some wires around and see if the fan starts again. If not it’s time to trace the hidden wire.

ELongest
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Scamp wiring

Scamp use scotch lock connectors which can be intermittent. I would think Scamp would wire a fan directly to the converter fuse panel. Since the fan is intermittent the fuse should be good.  I have found bad connections on the fuse holder itself  causing intermittent problems. Scamp is pretty standard in wire routing. At this point you could call Scamp and ask if the wires run directly to the converter or if and where the wire junction may be. You are on the right track. My guess if there is a junction it could be in an upper cabinet or at the floor on either side of the trailer below the fan. There are also connections behind the converter. I would really look hard at the common ground junction behind the converter.

Good luck

Eddie