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So, you checked for voltage at the black and white wires that enter the dome light from the ceiling, right? If so the problem is obviously with the wiring to the dome light, not the light itself. I can't really help you trace it down, but you need to find where it goes and why it isn't getting voltage.

I realize that this post wasn't particularly helpful  .

David

I would doubt that the insulation caused the bubbling. It is pretty inert polystyrene, but maybe glue or something else caused it.

But typically aluminum that isn't prepped right before painting will do this. The bare aluminum needs to be primed with an etching primer like Alodine before painting with the finish coat.

You can patch an area that is bubbling by sanding the area down to bare aluminum, priming with Alodine or similar and then finish coating with a can of matching spray paint. It may not match exactly but will be better than the bubbling area.

David

Overhead lights in CLs often get aluminum shavings in them. This usually causes the lights to flicker on when the switch is off, not stay off all the time which is what you are experiencing.

So, even though it may not be the cause, I would open each fixture, check for shavings and vacuum them out. While you have them open and the shavings gone, check for voltage at the switch and that it goes up and down on the light side when you flip the switch. If you have voltage and the switch works then maybe the LEDs are bad. But it would be highly unusual for four to fail, unless LL got a bad batch from their supplier.

David

not on warranty?

If out of warranty or too much hastle to get defunct LL to fix, then this might work:

Smooth down the ripped section with a warm iron, or heat gun. Then get an automotive vinyl upholstery repair kit. Use the kit to make the patch. I was surprised at how nice a patch it made to a ripped section of our car's seat.

David

Well, looking at the top of the roof should be obvious- aluminum sheet vs rubber, but not the front oval which has always been aluminum.

For the floor, look underneath, near the wheel wells. If aluminum the aluminum floor sections with narrow ribs skould be visible.

The dealers new, old stock could be all aluminum.

David

We have a 2013 16TBS and like it for the reasons mentioned above. The dealer swapped out the dinette for a short sofa from another LL on his lot and we much prefer the sofa. I think later on the factory started offering both types of slide outs. From a layout standpoint it is almost ideal for a couple (who doesn't want to cuddle together at night  . The lack of a sink in the bath is ok for us, but others have added foldup sinks that seem to work well. The sofa is kind of crude and not very comfortable to sit on. The location of the reading lights is a joke. But those nits are minor given the overall package.

Here is a short history of the development of the 16TBS and LLs in general. I may have the dates a bit wrong, so ask about any specific unit you are considering:

From 2012 (or maybe earlier) to about 2015 they were built traditionally with all aluminum sides, roof and floor and Azdel interior paneling and aluminum frame cabinets covered with Azdel.

In 2016 or thereabouts they started building them with composite floors and rubber roofs as well as less industrial looking interiors.

Then in 2017 they went to single axles. That change reduced the payload carrying capacity but in practice it really doesn't matter much except for a little less redundancy with single axles.

Some like the changes and some don't. I am ok with most of them but I definitely like our traditionally built 2013.

David

Is this an aluminum floor with a tile overlay or is it the composite floor?

David

There is no glue in the wall structure, so any rain water that leaks in around the roof seams would just run down and out with no effect.

David

AFAIK, LL walls are aluminum sheet attached to aluminum frame members. Inside there is Azdel attached to the aluminum frame members. The foam insulation is in between the two and not attached.

David

ALL couplers are steel.

David

Their website says that these windows are European made. I will bet they are exactly the same as the LL OEM Dometic Seitz windows and are made by the same manufacturer.

David

Well, not sure what you mean, but this was what we did for a shake down campout with our new LL camper:

Since we like to camp in rustic NFS campground, State Parks, and NPS parks we picked a NFS campground near us, about 45 miles away so if we needed to abort it could easily be done.

I had already checked out all systems in our driveway: fresh water, water heater, toilet, slide, lights, etc. No point in going camping if one of these doesn't work. Also checked the tire pressures on both the camper and the TV.

We towed to the campground, picked our site and backed in. We chocked the wheels, unhooked (but kept the chain on), leveled the camper, dropped the corner scissor jacks and unhooked the chain and drove the TV forward a bit.

We got our stuff out of the pass through: camp chairs and portable grill and set up. All worked well.

When we left the next morning we stopped by the dump station even though the tanks were no where near full and I dumped them just to know how that worked.

We towed home, backed into our drive way, chocked the wheels and unhooked.

Successful shakedown!!

David

[Be sure that where you camp is open. Mine aren't.]

Your wish list is very common for RVs and any RV repair place should be able to do them like Campingworld. See below for some comments:

I'm thinking of:
Adding a rooftop solar package- Be sure that where you camp is open. Mine aren't.
Adding a second propane tank with auto-switchover
Switching to a two 6-volt golf cart battery system- Adding both of these will increase tongue weight significantly, at least 100 lbs. Can your TV handle it?
Backup camera or additional exterior lighting
Maybe another awning on drivers, port side (do nautical terms work for RVs?)
Maybe a roof rack that could hold a lightweight boat
Maybe a back bumper extension deck- Make sure that you reinforce bumper with new aluminum members that are welded to frame. This will reduce tongue weight but not as much as the batteries and propane tank because the bumper is closer to the wheels.

I realize some of these may be DIY but if I would rather pay to get it done professionally, where should I go?

Your best choice if your warranty has expired (and probably the best choice even with a warranty) is to find a welding shop that does aluminum. The welding on LLs isn't particularly difficult, but aluminum is a different animal than steel and you need the right equipment and skills to do it right.

Ask the shop what current projects are aluminum and preferably look at some first.

David

That does look serious and you are right to not use it until it is fixed. It is vary strange that the cracks start at the top of the aluminum member. I would have thought that the tensile forces would be at the bottom. I see that you have a WDH. What is the rating of the torsion bars. They need to be low, no more than 600 lbs for that trailer.

When you weld it up, I would put a 1/8" doubler plate on top about 6" long to help carry the load and reinforce the member where it crosses under the house.

David