Interior Lights on Pop-Up Camper Do Not Work

by Brandon Ryan
(Spokane, WA)

I have a 1995 Jayco Eagle 10UD and when I hook up to the AC power from the house, all the outlets work, but none of the interior lights do. Is this normal? Also, the battery does not charge while hooked up to AC power either.

Thanks,
Brandon Ryan

ANSWER: Greetings Brandon thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

It sounds like the 12 volt side of your Power Converter/Charger is not working. I am going to assume that you have checked for any tripped circuit breakers, blown fuses or loose connections on your Power Converter. I am also going to assume that you have checked to see if your battery shut off switch (if equipped) has not been mistakenly shut off.

Another problem on some pop up campers is that they have a switch that automatically shuts off 12 volt DCl power to the camper when it is in the down position. If this switch is broken it may not be restoring power to your camper when it is in the up position. The location of this automatic switch varies by make and model of Pop Up Camper so I cannot tell you it's exact location on your camper.

Just because your 120 volt outlets are working does not mean that there is not a problem with your converter. The lights in your camper are powered by the 12 Volt DC system. When you plug in your camper to shore power the Converter

is suppose to take over the task of providing this 12 volt power and charge your house battery if the converter is equipped with a built in charger.
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If you have done everything I suggested above and the problem is still not resolved, then your best bet is to have a Certified RV Technician diagnose and repair the problem. While you have them doing those repairs you might want them to also check your House Battery to make sure that it is in good shape and they should also load test the battery to make sure that no problems have occurred due to not receiving a charge and being run down to 0 volts.

Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.

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Comments for Interior Lights on Pop-Up Camper Do Not Work

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Interior pop up lights
by: Anonymous

My interior lights were not working when hooked up to the house. I pulled the fuses one at a time to see if any were blown. When I pulled the middle one the lights came on. It does have something to do with it being powered to the house but I'm not sure how pulling the fuse turned the lights on. Hope this helps someone to at least see the lights work.

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Found two issues
by: Anonymous

We have a 2010 Jayco pop up and lights worked on 120v but not 12v. Had to trace the wiring and found two issues.
1.The fuse holder was slightly corroded resulting in a poor connection. The fuse was fine but could not get power on the other side which led me to check the holder itself.
2.The safety switch which is activated when the sink is put up in the use position was flaky. Found this when I walked in the trailer and accidently banged on the counter and the lights flickered.
Hope this helps. Check the easy stuff first.

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Inside pop up lights do not work
by: Anonymous

Yesterday lights worked, today nothing. Checked breakers and all. Is there a switch in camper, not on lights themselves but somewhere inside that maybe be off? Thank you.

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safety switch on Clipper
by: Anonymous

my clipper has a safety switch for the overhead lights which is depressed when the stove top is lowered

if the stove top is not raised the overhead lights will have no power.

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Fix for a Jayco popup
by: Anonymous

I had this issue on my Jayco Qwest popup. I found the wire had disconnected from the switch terminal. The switch is located on the lip of the top cover, so it contacts the lower trailer when cranked down to a closed position. On my popup, it is on the driver's side of the trailer, outside of the canvas. I was able to slightly crimp the connector with some pliers and slide it back on the switch terminal.

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No interior lights
by: Ray Anonymous

I got a 2006 Fleetwood Niagara got no interior lights , where I could locate the kill switch , everything else got power but those lights nothing. Need some help

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Trouble with interior lights
by: Mitchell from Claremore, Oklahoma

We have a coachman clipper 2015 125St. Interior lights , fan, and exterior door light do not work. Only used one time last summer. Made a camping trip this weekend and this problem was discovered. AC worked fine. Battery was charged before leaving on the trip. Checked all fuses and breakers. All were reset and fuses were fine.
Do you know where I should look for the problem from here. Thanks. Kim mitchell.

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Found the kill switch
by: Anonymous

I had the same problem on my StarCraft Starflyer 2015. Thanks to the comments here I was able to trace the wires from the ceiling lights to find the kill switch. It is located behind the wall fabric just below the ceiling.

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No 12 V power
by: Anonymous

I have a 2005 Fleetwood Bayside pop up and was in storage for two years. 12 V interior lights do not work. One of the comments said the House battery was drained to 0. Is the House battery on the tongue of the trailer or somewhere near the converter? I hooked the harness from my tow truck to the trailer and still no 12 volt power. I replaced the battery on the tongue so I know that is not the issue. I will check the kill switch under the galley cabinet and will let you know if that is the problem.

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Interior lights do not work but outlets do
by: Anonymous

We bought a 2010 Rockwood freedom pop-up camper. When putting it up for the first time the outlets are working but are interior lights are not does anyone have any ideas? We have checked the fuses and they all seem to be fine

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Interior lights not working ,outlets do work , and converter\ charger does charge the battery
by: Bryan

So any ideas on why the 12volt system not working ,see no broken wiring, no blown fuses , breakers not tripped ,no for see able 12volt on off switch , would like some help if possible please!

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2016 jayco swan interior 12v lights wont work
by: Anonymous

Upon arriving at our destination I plunged in the 12 v situated at rear of sink and alas!! No power, help!!!

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Saftey switch
by: Anonymous

How do you check the saftey switch there seems to be no power at the wires

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Safety switch forex lights
by: Anonymous

We have a 2008 fFlagstaff PPP up camper. Thanks to recent comments, we traced down the issue as to why our interior lights did not work. The wire had disconnected at the safety switch. Ours is behind the sink. Detectable when folded down. Thanks so much!!

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2000 Colman Pop- up
by: Anonymous

Nothing works on 12 volt system but everything works on 120 volt . Have checked for loose wire no luck. Need help

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Inside lights
by: Sherrill Funk

What size light globes should I get for the inside lights?

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Me too
by: Anonymous

Same issues with a 06 Rockwood Freedom 1980. Manual lift so no battery on board. Ideas?

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I have the same issue, but....
by: Jill

I have a 1999 Jayco Eagle 8 Qwest, the smallest of the series. My brother had borrowed my pop-up and returned it with the lights not working, a while ago. It's only recently that I found this site and the exact same issue, but the fix wasn't. I looked everywhere in the pop-up for that switch after reading the replies here. No switch that I could find anywhere. But I did find the reason why the lights were no longer working apparently, they spliced the wires in a connector between the top and bottom sections and the wires had pulled apart when my brother tried to raise the roof, just a little too far. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to fix it, replacing the connector because the wires were really tight with no give at all. I tried pulling them up or down just slightly and ended up going into the space below the seat to take out the stays holding the wires down in place along the floor. This little bit of give gave me the needed length to reconnect it. Lights came on after flipping the switches. I still have not found the up and down switch to turn it off, and I am not sure if they just didn't put one on that model, but I will be heading into the nearest dealer/repair place to find out how to get one and install it. Thanks for all the help everyone!

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My interior lights do not come on
by: John

Hello I have a 1999 Thor Cub 16ft pop up pull trailer. My interior lights do not come on. All my interior outlets work, my AC works, my micowave works. What can I look for to fix this problem? Where can I find an owners manual for my 1999 Thor Cub pull trailer? Any help will be greatly appriciated.

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Jayco PopUp Tent Trailer - No interior lights
by: Norm

On my 99 Jayco Eagle Tent trailer, my interior ligths did not work after I raised the roof. Outside light ok. Fuses ok. I discovered that the kill switch was stuck in the off position. On this trailer, it was on the inside of the roof, on the road side of the trailer, about 1 ft. from the end of trailer, near where the black tubing with electrical wires come down from the roof.

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Broken interior light switch
by: Mitch

I Have a 1997 Colman yukon and my switch is broken where can I get a new one??

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possible answer
by: Anonymous

We just purchased a Jayco popup and had the same problem. Check where your wires go from the top and run down next to one of the supports to the converter. Our's was in a black plastic conduit. There is a switch that is supposed to fall down when you open the camper but doesn't and this is what your overhead lights will work off of. It's a safety so your lights don't burn the interior.The switch is gold and is very small so look closely for it.

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interior lights on pop up trailer
by: Anonymous

That is the same deal with our interior lites on a clipper. All of that seems to be working. Any other suggestios

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