Tip time from Melinda!
How to tell when your DOT lights need replacing:
Upon noticing that a previously working dot light does not work, hit light firmly with palm of hand. When the plastic lens shatters underneath your palm, you can be assured that although the light now works, it is still time to replace it.
At this point all my DOT lights are either dead or working intermettintly EXCEPT the two or three I replaced 2 years ago. Time to go through and replace the rest, even if the *happen* to be working at that moment.
The trailer is ten years old and those cheap little dot lights do have a shelf life.
In a stroke of irony I tend to lose the lens covers on the lights that DO work, while the ones summcoming to corrosion stubbornly retain theirs...tommorrow I'll rearrange covers as to have the maximum number of lights possible. Fortunately my yearly trailer maintenance appointment is next week!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod
Before Juanita and I bought the lodge we live in, I spent 20+ years as an electronics technician. The banging you have been using is a legitimate and effective trouble-shooting technique called "percussive maintenance". It finds loose connectors, dirty contacts, etc. But you have also stumbled across its main drawback (Oh @%#&$%, now it's busted!)
ReplyDeleteBill
Your mom and I found out the hard way on the 5th wheel that the fixtures are only supposedly good for 3 years; 5 if you are lucky.
ReplyDeletePa