fuse keeps popping! Why?

[billy]

I have a dodge ram 2000. Every time I plug in my halogen rotating lights into the power outlet not the cigarrette ligfhter outlet the fuse pops when I plug it in. It wont work in the standard outlet but used to work in the power outlet but know the fuse pops. Can someone help?

[Lawngodfather]

Drawing to much power to start the light up

[bud16415]

Billy

Not to over state the obvious here but only one thing can be causing the fuse to blow. And that would be too much current draw. You said it worked before but now is popping them so something has changed to make the current higher. The lights have a fixed draw so I would rule them out as a starting point. The motor on the other hand can draw more amps if it is very cold and the grease on the shafts and gears is thicker. Just some ideas.
Some questions would be. Does it do it the second you power up even if lights are off or does it do it after running a while. What amp fuse did you take out the first time and are you replacing with same type. Does the light have a listed current draw with its information. How long did it work for in the past before this started. Sometimes the smallest detail in trouble shooting makes a big difference. So tell us a little more.

Bud

[John DiMartino]

The fuse is 20 amps for the power port,it should be plenty for most uses.You are putting a 20amp fuse in it right? Most rotators use 2 (55watt halogens)+ the twin motors to spin them.The total of all this should be less than 150watts.150watts is under 13amps.Even if you factor in the little motors drawing 3X the amperage to start you still shouldn't blow the fuse. you might want to check the cigarette plug,and cord for pinched wires that are touching or bare wires.the plug, it could be shorted internally,so it pops when you plug it in.

[Chuck Smith]

You might also try removing the lens on the light, and trying to spin the rotator motors by hand. I had one seize up on me once. Git it to spin by hand, and all was well after that.

The rubber drive wheel got stuck on the steel disc it drives.

~Chuck

[CAMERON SERVICES]

I had the same thing happen on my 91. Every time I plugged my strobe in it blew. I checked the wires going to the cigarette plug. They looked pretty crappy so I replaced them and the problem was solved.

[wyldman]

It could also be a bag lighter socket.Sometimes they get corroded,dirty,or loose,and when you plug the light in,they short out.

Try plugging in another device,and see if that pops it too.If not,then your rotator\cord\plug is at fault.If it does,it's something in the socket\wiring on the truck.

[billy]

chris I pluged in a phone charger and it still didnt work. Could it be the socket? Are they easy to change?

[CAMERON SERVICES]

When you say your phone charger didn't work either, do you mean it blew the fuse or there was just no power?

It could be the socket, but you would probably be able to tell based on the condition it's in. Like Chris said if the socket is corroded or dirty that's probably a sign it needs to be changed. If the socket looks fine I would take a look at the wiring going to it. If your still not sure it's pretty easy to change the socket and re-wire it.

[billy]

when I pluged in the phone charger there was no power at all. Charger did not work. I was wondering is the fuse a small fuse or a small square metal fuse? (cant see if fuse is popped)

The strobe light would pop whenever I would plug in the piece.

[CAMERON SERVICES]

I'm going to assume that you put in a new fuse before you plugged in the phone charger. If that's the case it sounds like it's blowing no matter what you plug in, therefore I would look at the wiring because it sounds like it's shorting out.


I believe the fuse would look like this, but it would be a 20 amp instead of a 30 amp.

[John DiMartino]

Its the socket then,the wiring is fine or the fuse would pop the instant it was installed.I had a plug come apart and a spring get caught i nthe socket,it did the same thing.I took a look inside and seen it,pulled it out and its worked great since.

[billy]

I tested the socket and it works. Put the phone charger in again and it works.

But whenever I plug in the strobe light the fuse pops immediatly. I've had this light bar for 5 years never a problem. Could it be the electric motor jammed? Or the wireing. What could be the probnlem? Thanks for your help

[Adams Plowing]

Originally posted by billy
I tested the socket and it works. Put the phone charger in again and it works.

But whenever I plug in the strobe light the fuse pops immediatly. I've had this light bar for 5 years never a problem. Could it be the electric motor jammed? Or the wireing. What could be the probnlem? Thanks for your help

try plugging the light into another vechical and see if it works if it does its something in your truck if it does it to the other test vechical then its the lightbar

[billy]

I tested it in another truck socket and it popped the fuse there also. So it seems to be the light bar. How can I test the problem in the unit? Is it worth getting fixed?

[bud16415]

Seth is right……In troubleshooting there are many ways to go about it but this is a good example of how to go in 20 different directions at once. First off Billy should try and get all the information he can about his problem before he starts thinking of finding a solution. Then in the absence of any diagnostic equipment like a meter you can cut the problem in half with a simple test. Its ether the truck or the light. try the light someplace else and try something else in the truck. Doing one or the other of these or both rules out half the possible causes. So now it sounds like we have made it down to the problem is in the light half based on the fact Billy said his charger is working in the truck. And will be proved for sure when he tries the light in someone’s car and blows their fuse. Next I think some basic electronics could be applied is there a switch that controls the lights if so with the switch open and the lights blow suspect the plug and or wires coming in. if it blows after lights are turned on then its internal. I’m kind of wondering at this point why these lights don’t have an internal fuse of their own. But not having taken one apart I don’t know. At this point I don’t see any way to trouble shoot it farther without taking it apart. Do the same thing remove the bulbs unhook the motor etc until you find the problem by process of elimination. The fact that its popping the fuse fast would make you think of a dead short someplace. Wires motor brushes etc. all these things could be trouble shot with a meter the motor should show a fairly high resistance. We know from one of the posts it should draw a couple amps and we no we have 12 volts so with ohms law you can come some ballpark resistance. If it’s a dead short the meter will peg. Same with the lights.
The kind of information that is helpful is when you get some feed back like the lights have been dim or the motor has been running slow. Sometimes problems do repeat like I had a bad plug so I bet it’s a bad plug. But never act only on that kind of information alone it will to often lead you down the wrong path.

Cant wait to find out what the problem was.

Bud

[bud16415]

Billy

If its worth fixing or not is a tough question. That’s based on what you value your time at but do me a favor don’t give up and buy a new one. look at it as a educational experience. You will notice there are some of the best trouble shooters I have ever seen as members of this forum. The way they got so good was by digging into things like this. It’s a combination of education and experience that make you truly good at this stuff. All the reading books in the world wont get you there. And likewise just changing parts wont ether. What I have found is what you might learn with something like this will spill over into the next problem that comes up. So take some time and see if you can get it working is what I would tell you.

Bud

[John DiMartino]

Billy pull the cover off,the light and unhook everything where it comes in,plug it in if it pops still ,the wires are pinched/shorted,or the socket is bad.if not one of the motors is likely shorted or even a light socket could be loose and shorting out. When i have a problem like this i now wait for my kids to get home from school if possible, i sit down and let my 7 yr son and 9 yr old daughter figure it out,i help them,and we go thru it,they LOVE to fix things,and doing this is good for teaching them diagnostic procedures.

[billy]

Thanks for all your suggestions!! I did some testing and came to find out plug from the light bar was bad. Kept on shortening somewhere and would cause to pop fuse. I removed the old plug and rewired a new plug and it works like brand new. Boy I.m glad I listen to your suggestions cause I was ready to buy a new. Saved me about $150.00.
This forum has taught me alot and I enjoy reading other peoples post.

Great site. Thanks Billy

[CAMERON SERVICES]

Glad to hear it was a cheap fix Billy.

[bud16415]

Billy

Glad you got it going. Think about getting a cheap multi-meter at radio shack or someplace. Mostly you will be using it to check voltages like seeing if you have a battery or alternator problems or poor grounds things like that. But in this case you could have right off the bat checked across the two contacts of your plug to see what the resistance was. Seeing as how the plug was shorted out some place it would have been almost zero and no pun intended “the light would come on”. Then you may have had to do some digging still to find out what was going on and the meter would help with that. Two great tools to have are a multi-meter and a simple little continuity tester. And both are pretty cheap to buy.

Good luck plowing

Bud