Fantastic Fan

[pegski]

My second ? today. My fantastic fan is not running. I have done all of the obvious stuff; i am plugged in, lid is open, dials are turned to hot or cold, tried switch for intake and out take air. Actually read the Manuel, checked the fuse, looked for a fuse underneath bed. Anybody else ever have this problem? I need a Casita rally to solve these problems

[Steve Outlaw]

Are you actually getting power to the hot side of the fuse? Is the ground good at the fan? I had a fan quit for no apparent reason and after checking all the things you mentioned, I found that the source of the ground had come loose somehow.

[Raz]

First lights then the fan. Could be related. Could be coincidence. Many well meaning folks will try to troubleshoot your problem. My suggestion is to find a local professional. Good luck.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by pegski

My second ? today. My fantastic fan is not running. I have done all of the obvious stuff; i am plugged in, lid is open, dials are turned to hot or cold, tried switch for intake and out take air. Actually read the Manuel, checked the fuse, looked for a fuse underneath bed. Anybody else ever have this problem? I need a Casita rally to solve these problems

A fellow member recently had a problem with his Fantastic Fan and went through a whole lot of effort assuming the fan was the problem. Eventually he disconnected the fan's power supply wiring and connected a 12 volt power source directly to it whereupon he found the fan worked perfectly. Looks like he had a intermittent problem with the wiring in the camper.

A basic premise of electrical trouble shooting is to break the problem down and isolate the problem until you have ruled out everything else. A logical first step is to check to see that the fan has power available so you know if the problem is the fan, or the power going to it. Checking at the hot side of the fuse as Steve said is a good idea. Also making sure the ground side is good makes sense.

Kudos to Raz for noticing that you had also posted a problem with lighting. You should have mentioned that in this post also. It is almost surely related, and a bad connection is very possible, maybe a bad ground connection. Can you establish that the troublesome lights are (or are not) on the same circuit as the fan? Maybe a call to Evelands can help there.

This is something that can be hard to track down, especially if it only occurs sometimes as it did for the aforementioned member. It has to be done in-person and should be a methodical process.

If opening up the fan, and/or dealing with live electricity is not something you feel you can do safely, then Raz is right.. get some in-person help (from someone with a voltmeter and enough experience and knowledge).

[David B.]

Intermittent power or ground is usually the “Scotch Locks” that Scamp likes to use. I removed the dinet seating benches to easily get at many of them. I disconnected them and spliced the connections together to solve the problems.
Dave & Paula

[David Tilston]

I like solder and heat shrink, or liquid electrical tape. I have come across older crimp connections that have corroded half an inch, (1cm) under the insulation of the wire.
I figure, keep the air off the splice to prevent that. Plus, the solder seems to act like a sacrificial anode.

[Raz]

Gordon, I'm not sure about a call to Evelands. I think Peg has a Casita.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Raz

Gordon, I'm not sure about a call to Evelands. I think Peg has a Casita.

I wondered why she said a Casita rally, since her profile says Scamp (which I did check for and partially base my reply on). I can only go by the information I am given. If she has a Casita and not a Scamp I hope she will update her information.

[Raz]

I was equally confused but she said Casita in the light bulb thread as well so I had a head start on you.

[pegski]

Sorry about the confusion...I hate to sound like a “trailer hog” but I have a 2015 Casita that I live in in the winter and am storing my older 13 ft. Scamp for summer travel. I’ve been trying to make a decision about selling the Scamp but I love it so much I can’t part with it. It has no bathroom so living in it for four months was a bit prohibitive.

[pegski]

Is Evelands the Casita dealership?

[Mary F]

No, Evelands makes Scamp. Casitas are made by Casita Enterprises.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by pegski

Sorry about the confusion...I hate to sound like a “trailer hog” but I have a 2015 Casita that I live in in the winter and am storing my older 13 ft. Scamp for summer travel. I’ve been trying to make a decision about selling the Scamp but I love it so much I can’t part with it. It has no bathroom so living in it for four months was a bit prohibitive.

Got it now.. I was relating your problem to my 2015 Scamp. I don't know how Casita is wired but it can't be a great deal different and might be very similar. My Scamp has a 12 volt circuit for the front half of the camper, and a second one for the rear. So if the fuse for the rear circuit blows, or the wiring to that circuit is broken, then all the 12 volt stuff in the rear of the trailer will be dead.. lights, fan, etc.

The fuses holder can be in the converter, or as it is in my Scamp, in a separate power distribution panel along with the 120 volt breakers also. You can check the fuse holder on the hot side to see if there is power there, and that will eliminate part of the wiring as the problem.. then check the fuse for continuity using your multi-meter, then work from there toward the lights until the problem is found.

Again, Casita might be a little different but all small campers are wired more alike than different.

[John in Santa Cruz]

the fan and the 3 rear under-cabinet lights are ON THE SAME CIRCUIT, along with the water pump.

per the wiring diagram I have, its the 'grey' circuit, from the voltage converter, it goes up and over to the fan from the street side, and also goes around the back to all three lights, then to the water pump switch in front of the sink.

if you have a volt meter, look for volts on the wire into the fan, also the wire into the switches on the three rear lights that aren't working, I bet there's 0V at all those places. the ground wires are white, they should be common everywhere.

Do note, if you have a bad wiring connection, its just as likely to be a ground wire as a power wire!

I would dig up a jumper wire with alligator clips on both ends. connect one end to the white ground wire at the converter fuse panel, and clip the other end to your volt meters black (-) lead, then use the red lead to probe circuits.

if you turn things on and they don't work, check for voltage on the grey wire AND also on the white wire, with your meter's black wire to the ground on the converter... if you see voltage on the ground wire in the cabinets, then its not connected to ground somewhere.

[pegski]

Thanks for the detailed advice...I have a neighbor in the RV park with a Casita that has his pretty tricked out and he is coming over tomorrow to take a look. I’ll show him this post.

[sfc007]

In my 2017 Casita Spirit Deluxe, my back rear inside light and the fantastic fan just stopped working. Any ideas were to start with a repair/trouble shooting? Thanks in advance....

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by sfc007

In my 2017 Casita Spirit Deluxe, my back rear inside light and the fantastic fan just stopped working. Any ideas were to start with a repair/trouble shooting? Thanks in advance....

start with the fuse panel... the fan, and the 3 lights over the bed are all on the same fuse, which is Fuse 9. use a volt meter, and verify there is 12V at the screw terminal directly below fuse 9, which should have a grey wire coming off it.

[sfc007]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

start with the fuse panel... the fan, and the 3 lights over the bed are all on the same fuse, which is Fuse 9. use a volt meter, and verify there is 12V at the screw terminal directly below fuse 9, which should have a grey wire coming off it.

Replaced Fuse #9 and it worked like a charm, thanks a bunch....