I wet my bed and other build accidents
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:38 amYes I admit it , I wet my bed. My build prowess was thwarted by mother nature. A tornadic wind and side ways driven rain finally found a way into my tear. Despite the 6" wide ice dam tape and multiple rows of 100 % silicone caulk my 3 piece lexan roof finally leaked. Probably about 2 cups of water soaked mostly into the pillows. Sheets and matress pad were damp but the matress was not wet. The midwest weather has put us in the news for massive flooding and I really shouldn't complain about 2 cups of water in my tear but damn it I thought I could hold my water back better than that.
Of Course I thought I was a real good electrician to......
After spending part of Dad's day re-caulking the 3 piece roof to stop the encroachment of unwanted percipitation I decided to address my electrical short as well. and this is almost as stupid as it gets. I had an interior light that only worked part time on the left side of the tear and on the other side the matching innterior light that did not work at all. I disconnected all the dc circuits except the tail lights. Armed with a hot battery I energized 1 circuit at a time and tagged them for what they were. The on and off occasionally light was due to the fact that I fed the inside light off of the 12 volt porch light but instead of feeding from the always hot side before the switch I fed it after the switch. Now the porch light is outside and I am inside trying to figure out why I have an intermittant short in the interior light. I remove the coverplate from the electrical boxes and retrace the circuits I rechecked to see that the porch light is still working and my attention turns to the inside light and after checking I try it again and it works. Must be a loose wire recheck all wire connections and probably went for a beer and noticed the porch light was still on and turned it off my mysterious inside short has reappeared. Wiggle and giggle wiring and nothing helps.
( Maybe I should have noticed that the inside light works only when the porch light was on but I never made the connection in my tiny brain) .
This mystery solved I moved the hot feed to the other hot feed from the switched side. I won't bore you with the trials and tribulations of my dead circuit on the right interior light but to say after exhaustive surgery on the wiring I eliminated every other problem so today at lunch I will be purchasing a new 12 volt bulb
. My direct short in the clearance light circuit was because at the end of a long day some time back I temporarly fastened one set of wires up to keep them from draging by twisting the bare ends of the hot and neutral feed wires onto an unused bracket on the frame creating a real dead dead short. This is real life no one could possibly make up stuff like this.. But I'm still havin' fun. 
Of Course I thought I was a real good electrician to......
After spending part of Dad's day re-caulking the 3 piece roof to stop the encroachment of unwanted percipitation I decided to address my electrical short as well. and this is almost as stupid as it gets. I had an interior light that only worked part time on the left side of the tear and on the other side the matching innterior light that did not work at all. I disconnected all the dc circuits except the tail lights. Armed with a hot battery I energized 1 circuit at a time and tagged them for what they were. The on and off occasionally light was due to the fact that I fed the inside light off of the 12 volt porch light but instead of feeding from the always hot side before the switch I fed it after the switch. Now the porch light is outside and I am inside trying to figure out why I have an intermittant short in the interior light. I remove the coverplate from the electrical boxes and retrace the circuits I rechecked to see that the porch light is still working and my attention turns to the inside light and after checking I try it again and it works. Must be a loose wire recheck all wire connections and probably went for a beer and noticed the porch light was still on and turned it off my mysterious inside short has reappeared. Wiggle and giggle wiring and nothing helps.
( Maybe I should have noticed that the inside light works only when the porch light was on but I never made the connection in my tiny brain) .
This mystery solved I moved the hot feed to the other hot feed from the switched side. I won't bore you with the trials and tribulations of my dead circuit on the right interior light but to say after exhaustive surgery on the wiring I eliminated every other problem so today at lunch I will be purchasing a new 12 volt bulb
. My direct short in the clearance light circuit was because at the end of a long day some time back I temporarly fastened one set of wires up to keep them from draging by twisting the bare ends of the hot and neutral feed wires onto an unused bracket on the frame creating a real dead dead short. This is real life no one could possibly make up stuff like this.. But I'm still havin' fun. 
Oh dear! I am trying not to laugh but 
The wind probably lifted your lexan and let the water in. As for the lights----you are not the first person to temporarily attach something and forget. At least this time it was humorous and not a fire.
And I sure hope you all's water troubles end soon. We live on a hill and are really tired of the yard being under water. Our neighbors are even more tired of everyone's yard draining to his. 