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12 Volt Switch Questions
While I have internet on my laptop for a few days I want to slip in a few questions. The first ones concern the 12 Volt house system and the switches in particular.
I understand regular house wiring in a stick built house. 3 way switches and all that I get. I understood the 12 volt systems in my previous fifth wheel RVs. It was all pretty simple. But I need an education in the way Vantare wired things.
Instead of wiring power to the switch and then a switch leg to the light everything goes to the back of our closets to a wall full of relays. Every time a 12 volt light is turned on or off the relay in the closet is operating. I do not understand it and have not needed to until now.
My bathroom 12 volt lights are switched in three places. This is the switch panel in the bathroom.
The last few days this switch for the bathroom lights works when it wants to. The switches for those lights in the bedroom and galley work fine but this one sometimes does and sometimes does not. When it does not work I can hit the Lights Master button and turn everything off and then back on and the bathroom switch works fine then.
I took it out of the wall and that was no help to me. Ideas? Is this a switch going bad? How do you replace it? Can anybody explain the whole relay thing?
Second question: I have two fresh water pumps. There is a switch for each of them in the plumbling bay AND in the panel in the galley. I would like to be able to turn on the pump in the bathroom where we need it most. Any ideas how to tap into this sytem and add another switch?
Thanks,
DKO
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13 Replies
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Your setup looks similar to what we have in our Marathon. You have momentary push button switches, we have membrane push button switches. We also have a wall of low voltage controlled switches in the rear closet.
Since you can control the light from other switches reliably, your problem is either the particular swall switch or the control wire going to the central relay. Interesting that your switch always works after you use the master switch to turn all lights off. If the wall switch unit has a cable connector, it might be worthwhile cleaning the contacts and reseating the connector. If his does not help you’d have to look for a replacement wall switch unit. It might be good to have a spare anyway. There should be a way to move the labels to the new switch.
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Take a look at DC panel circuit schematic 07 from the bi-color relay board. That should describe the Bath overhead lights.
Here is the jumpering from the bicolor board. I included the water pump and the Bth O/H lights
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Thanks Bro. I think you sent me that but seriously I am lost. Schematics are one of my many weak points….
DKO
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See my email
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I blew the dust off that switch and it has been working fine since then… Until today. Now those lights will not dim or turn off at any of the three switch locations. You think the relay has gone bad? How do I test it? I want to know as much as I can about the relay before I take everything out of the closet to get to it?
I suppose I could put another of the relays in its place and see if that solves it?
DKO
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I received your email before I checked the forum, so check your email.
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Thanks Ed. I will.
DKO
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Thinking about adding a water pump switch in the bath room.
Researching old threads, but when the answers are private e-mails, it
kinda defeats the purpose of the forum. My two pump switches are push button
switches with ribbon wire that probably go to some kind of Techlon node.
At the pump, the 110 volt power comes from wire 133P. Traced to the breaker
panel in the bath room, but has three wires connected to a circuit board too.
Not sure how to add an additional switch.
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If your breaker to water pump has relay on breakers bottom like Marathon I can tell you how I changed to normal breaker put switch between breaker and pump works fine
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Dan,
I believe the breaker for the water pump is an original Marathon issue.
It says “remote controlled” on it, which I think is the three wires from
connector 133P on the circuit board. When you changed your breaker, did
your original switches still work without the connection to the circuit board?
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You can simply add a parallel 120V switch between the breaker and the water pump supply (133).
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Researching old threads, but when the answers are private emails, it kinda defeats the purpose of the forum.
The emails I received were wiring diagrams specific to my coach. There were no super secret handshakes exchanged. AND my water pumps are 12-volt pumps.
Davy
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No when I put new batters in it would not reboot I put reg breakers in all affected ones installed lighted snitch’s about brecker box in behind glass doors half inch switch’s looks good
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