OK, so the wife and I got it all wired and put back together without burning up the trailer.
Thanks to everybody for the help.
I learned a lot on this project and I wanted to pass along some of the things I learned to help other new people.
This whole process started when I tried to remove (unclip) for cleaning the so-called โremovableโ screen in the bathroom vent and both the screen and the frame it clips in to disintegrated in my hand.
So I got a replacement kit:
Screen and frameBut, the fan switch was permanently wired in to the frame that holds the screen. The wire connectors were not reusable. They were crimp, not screw. So I cut it apart (only way to get it apart) and that's where things became a mess. I tried to jerry-rig back together; which blew a fuse.
So, these are the things I learned on my very first ever electrical / โsemi-deepโ RV project (besides the safety stuff like make sure the power is off and you don't grab two wires at once):
1) Starting to fix one thing in an RV can quickly lead to you having to fix something else. Even if the second thing is not necessarily actually โbrokenโ to begin with.
2) If you run in to stuff with wiring that is โin the wayโ of getting your project done then take lots of pictures of how it all goes back together just in case it's not a five minute fix and it takes you a couple of weeks to get parts or figure how how to fix it.
3) Don't try to jerry rig it. Fix it the right way. I'm lucky all I did the first time was blow a fuse.
4) I am not an electrician. I would still be hesitant to tackle something more complex. If you're not comfortable with even basic handyman work then hire a professional.
5) All of the numbers on and colors of all of the parts mean stuff. My advice: when rebuilding something get all of the same type of original parts. This is a list of the parts I got to do this project:
Wire connectorsSwitchSpade terminalFusesMotor kitThis project probably would have been a lot easier if the car had not died at the beginning and I had a way back and forth to the hardware store. I'm sure the people there could have helped me find the parts and told me how to put it back together. They are a good resource, use them. But, if you're stuck without help then just remember that all of the numbers on AND all of the colors of stuff (wires, connectors, fuses, etc) mean something when you're dealing with electricity. Take the time to make sure that you are getting the right stuff to do the rebuild / repair. If you put the numbers you find on stuff and the colors of stuff in to google and look at the pictures then you can find the right parts to do the job correctly.
(Note, I decided while I was at it to go ahead and replace the motor too. It was only a few more dollars, came with the right wires and the old one was all covered in crud anyway.)
6) A *good* magnifying glass came in really handy for reading the tiny numbers of the parts. I actually bought a good one to replace my crappy one just for this project.
7) Voltmeters are confusing, complex and require about six hands to operate well. But, if you read the directions carefully several times they are not difficult to use. I had bought one online when reading how to do this project. I got it figured out. But it was a pain in the neck (literally). A nice electrican on here PMed me and told me that for projects like this (DC wiring) you can get a light up pen shaped tool that will tell you which wire is hot (positive) that is easier to use than a meter. Good info, wish I had known before I bought the meter.
๐ With a meter or a pen tool verify which wire is positive and which one is negative before you start working. Most trailers black is positive and white is negative; *most*, not all trailers are wired that way. You need to verify which color wire is what before you start wiring things together. Also, the trailer and the voltmeter do not use the same color codes for the wires. On my voltmeter the positive wire is red and the negative wire is black. So when testing it was red probe to black wire and black probe to white wire.
9) This is not a good project to do with a neck injury. It involves a lot of looking up and working overhead.
10) The replacement wire connectors for this project had to be crimped. I am nowhere near as strong as I used to be between getting older and the neck injury. And my wife is a foot shorter and 100 pounds lighter than me with some old sports injuries of her own. Between us we had a really hard time getting all of the connectors crimped tightly enough so that wires would not pull loose easily. If you have any issues that impair your strength you might want to have a youngster (late teens / early 20's grandkid, whatever) with good upper body / hand strength around to squeeze the crimp connectors for you.
11) There is more than one kind of fuse; with fuses it's not only about colors and numbers. There are different types that are similar but not the same size physically. I honestly don't remember all of the details b/c it's been a couple of weeks since I figured out which fuses it was I need. But, IIRC, there were three different types (ATO, ATM, ATC?) and two of those three would fit in to the the same socket, but one wouldn't (or something like that)? So just make sure that you are actually getting the same thing that was in there before and that it is more than just color / number.
12) This was an expensive project for no more than what I bought and no more than what I did. Now, if I had a way to the hardware store at the moment I might have saved a few dollars. But, since I was shopping online I had to buy stuff like bags of 100 of the connectors that I needed for $7 instead of just a couple. (Maybe I could have bought smaller packs cheaper at the hardware store?) But I also had to buy tools (a voltmeter and a wire stripper / crimper). All told I spent about $90 to fix this. At one point during the process I called one of the mobile RV repair shops in my area, since I don't have a way to take it to the shop right now, to see what they would charge me to fix this. I described to them where I was in the process and what parts I had. Even though everything was already taken apart, I had all of the parts and I figure that it would not have taken a trained professional more tha 20-25 minutes to do the rest of the job and have everything back together they still quoted me $150 to finish the repair. I hate to think what their quote would be if I had asked them to do the whole process and provide the parts.
Thanks for everybody who helped me.
Hopefully this will help the next person some.
