Riverpark Eric Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 I'm installing a FanTastic fan and am struggling finding power to it. I've got very limited electrical knowledge, so bear with me... What I did was pull the wires (black and white) that go to my small light over the couch into the overhead cabinet. I then spliced off a small part of the insulation (mid line) and connected the Fantastic wires to it. Black to black, etc. I taped them off, hooked my battery back up and now...nothing. The light doesn't work, and the fan doesn't work.. Luckily, the other lights in the coach still work. I've got a multimeter and am slowly learning how to use it. What have I done? Is this a simple fix? Any advice--no matter how elementary--would help! Thanks, Eric in Sacramento 1988 21' Odyssey 4cyl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Well now is the time to learn how to use the multi meter see if you have power under the tape job one meter lead on the white the other on the black. Just wrapping wires around one another is not a really good way to do it bad connections get hot not a good thing, Do you have enough wire to join them together under a connector? If not can you solder them? There usually is more then one fuse for the interior lights you might want to check them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Silly question to clarify. Was the light working before you touched it's wires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Silly question to clarify. Was the light working before you touched it's wires? Not a silly question, but yes, it was. I made sure to test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 You have 12 volt fuses on your converter panel. Look at this link and the picture "BEFORE CONVERSION" Yours may differ. http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3517 There are several automotive style fuses to the right of the 110 volt AC circuit breakers. This is your Coach power distribution center. The 110 volt AC power is on the left, and the 12 volt DC is on the right (circuit card assembly) You probably blew one of these. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 You have 12 volt fuses on your converter panel. Look at this link and the picture "BEFORE CONVERSION" Yours may differ. http://toyotamotorho...?showtopic=3517 There are several automotive style fuses to the right of the 110 volt AC circuit breakers. This is your Coach power distribution center. The 110 volt AC power is on the left, and the 12 volt DC is on the right (circuit card assembly) You probably blew one of these. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Thanks John. That's the first thing I did...check the fuses. They're OK (four old, cylinder-type fuses), and my 2 breakers haven't been tripped. I checked the voltage with my multimeter, and got a reading back of ~30, but the numbers were ranging from about 25-35 all over the place. Now either I'm doing something wrong (again, newbie), or my electrical system is haunted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 30 volts? Something's fishy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Curious = when your taking your voltage readings, are you plugged into shore power? If so, unplug the shore power and try again. Put one of the leads on the metal cabinet of your converter (ground) and put the other lead on one side of the fuse. Take a reading, then read the other side of the fuse. Do this with all the fuses. and report back here with the readings. (They should all be identical) If your meter is an AUTO type (changes ranges and AC/DC automatically), it could be reading AC ripple from the converter power supply when its plugged into shore power, Thats why I had you unplug shore power. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Curious = when your taking your voltage readings, are you plugged into shore power? If so, unplug the shore power and try again. Put one of the leads on the metal cabinet of your converter (ground) and put the other lead on one side of the fuse. Take a reading, then read the other side of the fuse. Do this with all the fuses. and report back here with the readings. (They should all be identical) If your meter is an AUTO type (changes ranges and AC/DC automatically), it could be reading AC ripple from the converter power supply when its plugged into shore power, Thats why I had you unplug shore power. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto John- The MM is the type that I have to set either DC or AC. When on the DC setting, it reads between 12.61 and 12.63 for all 4 fuses. And no, I wasn't plugged into shore power. Crazy, huh? Thanks again, Eric in Sacramento Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Luckily my neighbor owns a controls company and is an electrical engineer. Unluckily, he has zero experience with motorhomes. So what we did is figure out that the circuit that ends at at the "problem light/fan" is shot. The light before it is dead, and the GFI in the bathroom (front bath model) is half dead. What he's looking for is the transformer that takes the 120 down to 12. Where is that? He's thinking I may have fried it. Does this sound like we're on the right track? Half jokingly, he asked if I had a Sawzall. Ugh. Eric in Sacramento 1988 21' Odyssey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 If your getting 12 volts on all the fuses (both sides of the fuse), then that looks OK. Use your meter and go to the place where you did your splice, and see what you get there. The thing that converts 110Vac to 12 dc is the converter, Thats where your fuses are that you just tested (the one thats in the "BEFORE CONVERSION" photo. ALSO - Your GFI plug doesn't have anything to do with your 12Vdc circuit. and, if your not plugged into shore power, there shouldn't be anything there. (You indicated you don't have a generator or inverter??) John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 If you go here:- http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/Wiring.htm You'll be able to look at wiring diagrams for a 1990 Winnebago Micro Warrior. Though not the same (probably) as yours, you'll be able to get an idea of how equipment and circuits are laid out and separated. The wrong map is hopefully better than no map. Unfortunately, Winnebago seems to be the only wiring diagrams I've come across on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 If your getting 12 volts on all the fuses (both sides of the fuse), then that looks OK. Use your meter and go to the place where you did your splice, and see what you get there. The thing that converts 110Vac to 12 dc is the converter, Thats where your fuses are that you just tested (the one thats in the "BEFORE CONVERSION" photo. ALSO - Your GFI plug doesn't have anything to do with your 12Vdc circuit. and, if your not plugged into shore power, there shouldn't be anything there. (You indicated you don't have a generator or inverter??) John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto We went to the spot I did my splice (he said it looked good), and there was no power there. We went to the light down the line...no power there, either....and one more. Again, no power. Checked other lights in the coach, and those were working. We guessed that the line went through the wall into the bathroom, where we found the funky GFI. The RESET and TEST buttons hadn't gone off, he ran power through with it with some machine that beeped a lot , and today we're going to try to diagnose it further. Thanks again for all your help. Our first outing is next weekend and I want to be ready with a fan! Eric in Sac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I don't believe there should be any sign of life at the GFI unless you're plugged in to 110v at the house. Unplugged from the house, it should be 'dead'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 I wish my fan was louder! It's never sounded so good! We located the "other" fuse box located under the panel with the breakers. Previously, we'd been concentrating on a different aux box. And there it was, hiding in the corner like a scared dog, the blown fuse! Reconnected everything, and voila! Lights! Fan! Action! Thanks for all your help. On to the next project...Installing MaxxAir vent on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Glad you got that sorted out. Now that you're suddenly upgraded from Newbie to Expert status, how about a better description of the 'other' fuse box so that the next time an Odyssey owner has a similar problem he'll know where to look! P.S. As Maineah said above, adding in a wire as you did isn't the greatest (safest) way to do it. Best to learn how to do it properly before your Odyssey goes up in smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Ok its working now. Did you replace the fuse with the correct sized one to run the fan?? Otherwise you may pop it again with the light and fan on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverpark Eric Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Glad you got that sorted out. Now that you're suddenly upgraded from Newbie to Expert status, how about a better description of the 'other' fuse box so that the next time an Odyssey owner has a similar problem he'll know where to look! P.S. As Maineah said above, adding in a wire as you did isn't the greatest (safest) way to do it. Best to learn how to do it properly before your Odyssey goes up in smoke. Good advice. And thanks again for bearing with me through this journey. I'm sure there'll be more questions, and at some point, hopefully I can pass along the knowledge. Here on the left you see the fuses that I was concentrating on. The breaker box is over to the right, under the brown metal cover. This is all at the bottom of the closet directly behind the passenger seat. The "other" fuses are under the panel. I had to unscrew part of the panel to expose a flap that held the fuses. Unfortunately, it won't allow me to post the other 2 pics of the box. Says the pics are too big, but I took them all with my phone at the same time. Oh well. Maybe I should find my was over to the camera phone forum and find out what's wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 That certainly is a big picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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