2005 Monaco Executive lights with switches by y

[rschley]

2005  Monaco Executive  To the right of the passenger seat are several switches for ceiling lights, grab bar light, bay lights, step light, and porch light. All of them stopped working at the same time.  I checked the fuses in the closet and all are good. The step, shade and step cover switches on the same panel all work. A local tech at the local RV Service took the panel off and did a general look and all was ok. 
Any ideas? Bad switch? Check for more fuses?  Your help I’ll be greatly appreciated. 

[Flyinhy]

Check for ground

[rschley]

Good idea. I have a meter, how would I do that? 

[cbr046]

While ground is a common element I doubt that's it:  All of the non-working lights (ceiling lights, grab bar light, bay lights, step light, and porch light) would have to have a common ground wire. 

I'd put a meter on the switches that aren't working and look for 12V on one of the switch pins (switches OFF).  If not on any pin start tracing. 

Are they ALL on the same fuse with the others (step, shade and step cover) on a separate fuse? 

I forget what color wire Monaco likes to use for 12V . . . .

Another strategy would be to pull the porch bulb out and test for 12V on the center pin.  Don't let the probe contact the outside metal.

- bob

[georgecederholm]

I would second the idea of actually checking the switches, especially the Bay Lights switch. On our 2005 Exec, the Bay Lights switch overheated and started to melt, eventually blowing the associated fuse. We lost all the lights controlled by switches on the passenger armrest, just like you did.

We were at a Monaco Rally (this was in the “good old days” when pre-FMCA and “Come Home” rallies were held with a swarm of Monaco techs and a big parts trailer on site). The tech diagnosed the issue and replaced the fuse and switch, but didn’t have the allocated time to chase down the root cause, likely a short in the bay lights circuit somewhere. I asked about a temporary solution and he changed the wiring on the Bay Lights switch so that it only connected to the other light switches and didn’t feed (or more likely, ground) the other switches. Apparently, these switches are daisy chained on our model, and all of the switches have multiple terminals that complete things like backlighting in addition to the primary function.

The end result was that I have no bay lights but the Bay Lights switch must be “off” for all the other lights controlled by armrest switches to work. Fixing the bay lights short has never made it even close to the top of the to-do list, but once in a while the Bay Lights switch will accidentally get flipped and none of the other lights will work. Easy fix to just flip the Bay Lights switch back off.

I’m not suggesting that your root cause is the same as ours or that someone may have executed the same “fix” on yours at some point. But the similarities are enough to suggest a faulty switch and a flown fuse in either the front run bay or bedroom closet fuse block.

[vito.a]

Also check the salesman switch.  Someone may have accidently cut the power.  

[Tom Cherry]

14 hours ago, Flyinhy said:

Check for ground

DOUBLE DITTO.  The switches and circuits there get power from many different sources.  The “night time” bulbs are powered from the headlight switch. When a single panel or “section” looses power….GROUND.  The test.  Pull a switch that has a bulb on the top (turn on the headlights and look at working switches….see the light that comes on).  On the top of the switch, there will be two wires or terminals….maybe have a different orientation of the terminals.  Use your VOM on 12 VDC and use one of screws or bolts inside the door frame as GROUND.  Measure the voltage on each top terminal. Whichever one has 12 VDC, the OTHER is ground.  Use a lead with two alligator clips on both ends.  Find your self a good ground on the door frame.  Then attach the clip to it and then to the GROUND wire on the switch.  ODDS ARE….the whole panel comes to life (the headlights bulbs work) and you now have power back.  The fix.  Do dome digging or run a NEW ground.  There may be a ground buss inside…like behind the dash…

Let us know as it progresses…

[georgecederholm]

3 hours ago, vito.a said:

Also check the salesman switch.  Someone may have accidently cut the power.  

Excellent point. I read the OP to mean that only the lights controlled by the armrest switches were inoperable, but the post was silent on any other 12VDC things that might also be not working.

3 hours ago, georgecederholm said:

I would second the idea of actually checking the switches, especially the Bay Lights switch. On our 2005 Exec, the Bay Lights switch overheated and started to melt, eventually blowing the associated fuse. We lost all the lights controlled by switches on the passenger armrest, just like you did.

We were at a Monaco Rally (this was in the “good old days” when pre-FMCA and “Come Home” rallies were held with a swarm of Monaco techs and a big parts trailer on site). The tech diagnosed the issue and replaced the fuse and switch, but didn’t have the allocated time to chase down the root cause, likely a short in the bay lights circuit somewhere. I asked about a temporary solution and he changed the wiring on the Bay Lights switch so that it only connected to the other light switches and didn’t feed (or more likely, ground) the other switches. Apparently, these switches are daisy chained on our model, and all of the switches have multiple terminals that complete things like backlighting in addition to the primary function.

The end result was that I have no bay lights but the Bay Lights switch must be “off” for all the other lights controlled by armrest switches to work. Fixing the bay lights short has never made it even close to the top of the to-do list, but once in a while the Bay Lights switch will accidentally get flipped and none of the other lights will work. Easy fix to just flip the Bay Lights switch back off.

I’m not suggesting that your root cause is the same as ours or that someone may have executed the same “fix” on yours at some point. But the similarities are enough to suggest a faulty switch and a flown fuse in either the front run bay or bedroom closet fuse block.

I went back to my files and can attach two images from the schematics, one for the panel and switches and one for the wiring underneath. Hard to read of course and you'll need to rotate them in a viewer, but the second one shows how the wires are supposed to run and how various posts are daisy-chained.

2005 Exec Panel Armrest P-S Image.pdf 2005 Exec Panel Armrest P-S.pdf

[Mike H]

21 hours ago, rschley said:

2005  Monaco Executive  To the right of the passenger seat are several switches for ceiling lights, grab bar light, bay lights, step light, and porch light. All of them stopped working at the same time.  I checked the fuses in the closet and all are good. The step, shade and step cover switches on the same panel all work. A local tech at the local RV Service took the panel off and did a general look and all was ok. 
Any ideas? Bad switch? Check for more fuses?  Your help I’ll be greatly appreciated. 

If you were looking into the electrical panel in your closest, those are the breakers for your 110 circuits.  You're going to find all your other 12v fuses in the front outside electrical run bay.  I looked at the 12v fuses in our closest and don't see anything for Grab Bar, bay lights etc.

[georgecederholm]

46 minutes ago, Mike H said:

If you were looking into the electrical panel in your closest, those are the breakers for your 110 circuits.  You're going to find all your other 12v fuses in the front outside electrical run bay.  I looked at the 12v fuses in our closest and don't see anything for Grab Bar, bay lights etc.

Mike, good info, but I think it depends on the floor plan. In our 2005 45PBQ, the 120VAC breakers are just outside the full-width rear closet, just forward on the curb side and positioned over a shallow cabinet. Inside the closet, also on the curb side, there is a small 12VDC fuse block with automotive style fuses embedded in the leading wall (hard to see and access). I’m not sure what floor plan the OP has and where the interior 12VDC fuse block might be. But I’m pretty sure all 2005 Execs had a domestic fuse block somewhere inside somewhere aft of the bathroom area although I’m not sure the relevant fuse would be in there. As always, I could be wrong, as often happens. 😂

Edited June 30, 2023 by georgecederholm

[Mike H]

12 minutes ago, georgecederholm said:

Mike, good info, but I think it depends on the floor plan. In our 2005 45PBQ, the 120VAC breakers are just outside the full-width rear closet, just forward on the curb side and positioned over a shallow cabinet. Inside the closet, also on the curb side, there is a small 12VDC fuse block with automotive style fuses embedded in the leading wall (hard to see and access). I’m not sure what floor plan the OP has and where the interior 12VDC fuse block might be. But I’m pretty sure all 2005 Execs had a domestic fuse block somewhere inside somewhere aft of the bathroom area although I’m not sure the relevant fuse would be in there. As always, I could be wrong, as often happens. 😂

I think we have the same layout, even though mine is a 45 CAQ.  None of the fuses in the closet have anything to do with Bay lights etc.  Check boards F12, F13 and F14 in the outside front run bay (mine is in the attached photo).

[Bruce S]

I am wondering if the problem is in one of the Mate-N-Lock wiring connectors which are down inside the panel.  These connectors have been known to overheat or fail which then takes out multiple devices.  Your coach likely has 2-4 of such connectors beneath the armrest.  Might be worth checking first.  Many, but not all of these connectors, will have a number written on them to correspond with wiring diagrams.  Please see attachment for an example.

03 Signature Pass Armrest Wiring.pdf