Power steps popping 5 Amp fuse

[99frc]

I've about ran down every wire to my power steps, but can't find a short or any other issue.
They are on a 2008 Seneca.
The steps work with the igniting on, but they keep popping the 5 Amp fuse for when the ignition is off. They'll run down, then quit halfway up. I used all my 5 Amp fuses trouble shooting, and tried a 10 Amp.
That blew a 7.5amp fuse on the side of the disconnect solenoid in the back of the motorhome, which was the always on(or maybe the house battery) power for the step and radio too.
Through all this, Never a problem using the ignition power for the steps.

I thought maybe the step lights were shorting out, but after disconnecting them, still blowing fuse.

[Grumpy]

Low voltage causes a higher current draw. How's your battery? Wonder if the motor is going bad since it works harder bringing them up.

[JimD]

As we all know, fuses blow from excessive current flowing through them. Mist often this is due to a short from hot to ground. But there are other reasons a fuse will blow.

Excessive current being drawn by a motor will do it. If the motor is driving something that binds up, the fuse may blow. Or if the motor is going bad and drawing higher than normal current, the fuse will protect things.

So, if it were me the first thing I would do is to make sure the steps are not binding at any point. Lube the heck out of them. If that doesn't help, I would look to see if the motor linkage could be disconnected so the motor could just be run with no load. If the fuse blows then, I would replace the motor.

As Grumpy states, low voltage can cause problems. Measure the voltage directly at the motor and see how low it goes.

[99frc]

The issue was;
Chassis battery cable not connected.
Weird, but I'm guessing there was just enough residual power left after i turned off the ignition that the steps would operate down, but the voltage was low enough to come half way up before the amperage spiked above 5 amps.
I only found this(chassis battery not connected) out because my jacks mysteriously stopped working. I followed the jacks power cable out to the chassis battery.

So two months ago I pulled the chassis batteries to clean and lube the tray i must have missed that one cable when i put the batteries back in. But the steps didn't stop working for another month; and the jacks a month after that...

One mystery solved, and another rears it's ugly head. My life in a soap opera. At least it's all working

*for.now*

Originally Posted by JimD

As we all know, fuses blow from excessive current flowing through them. Mist often this is due to a short from hot to ground. But there are other reasons a fuse will blow.

Excessive current being drawn by a motor will do it. If the motor is driving something that binds up, the fuse may blow. Or if the motor is going bad and drawing higher than normal current, the fuse will protect things.

So, if it were me the first thing I would do is to make sure the steps are not binding at any point. Lube the heck out of them. If that doesn't help, I would look to see if the motor linkage could be disconnected so the motor could just be run with no load. If the fuse blows then, I would replace the motor.

As Grumpy states, low voltage can cause problems. Measure the voltage directly at the motor and see how low it goes.