TV up/down motor inop

[palebluedot]

When we started to leave the campground this morning the 40 inch TV in the rear of the 3610RE would not retract down into the cabinet. Checked all the fuses/breakers and they were good. Removed the TV from the mounting and checked all the wiring for any disconnects. Did not have my multimeter so could not check voltages. Called Heartland and the tech said this was the first reported failure they had for the lifting assembly. Seems the DC motor has lost power suddenly. We are going to the dealer anyway to have the entrance door replaced. I will try to find out what caused the failure and post here. Maybe it will help if someone else has the same problem.

 

[palebluedot]

Picked up the Bighorn yesterday. The dealer repaired the kinked gas line to the refrig., replaced the entrance door misaligned from the factory and repaired the TV lift at the rear. The later was a blown fuse in the 12V panel. The panel has a red LED to the left of each fuse that lights when the fuse is blown - don't believe it and the one that operates the TV up/down motor is labeled "Rear A/C". I pulled each fuse separately - some light the LED and some don't. Ain't technology great! The tech replaced the 15 amp fuse with a 30 amp and said if the switch is held down a couple seconds after the lift unit stops it will blow the fuse. Hope this might help someone that encounters the same problem.

 

[boatto5er]

Picked up the Bighorn yesterday. The dealer repaired the kinked gas line to the refrig., replaced the entrance door misaligned from the factory and repaired the TV lift at the rear. The later was a blown fuse in the 12V panel. The panel has a red LED to the left of each fuse that lights when the fuse is blown - don't believe it and the one that operates the TV up/down motor is labeled "Rear A/C". I pulled each fuse separately - some light the LED and some don't. Ain't technology great! The tech replaced the 15 amp fuse with a 30 amp and said if the switch is held down a couple seconds after the lift unit stops it will blow the fuse. Hope this might help someone that encounters the same problem.

Glad you got everything taken care of. I do have a concerned comment and hope I don't step on any toes:

I would be a little concerned with the replacement of the fuse size. The fuse is there to prevent the motor from overheating and possibly causing a fire. This same situation often occurs in the trailers with electric front leveling jacks. Holding the switch down after the legs have fully extended causes the in-line protection fuse to blow. Those of us with electric jacks have learned to carry several spare fuses for the jacks. I would put the 15 amp fuse back in and try to avoid holding the raise lower switch beyond the limits. If you continue to have problems with blowing the fuse, I'd check to make sure that all connections were tight and secure, and then gradually move up to a larger size fuse, perhaps a 20 amp. Just my humble opinion.

 

[tanyandavid]

Picked up the Bighorn yesterday. The dealer repaired the kinked gas line to the refrig., replaced the entrance door misaligned from the factory and repaired the TV lift at the rear. The later was a blown fuse in the 12V panel. The panel has a red LED to the left of each fuse that lights when the fuse is blown - don't believe it and the one that operates the TV up/down motor is labeled "Rear A/C". I pulled each fuse separately - some light the LED and some don't. Ain't technology great! The tech replaced the 15 amp fuse with a 30 amp and said if the switch is held down a couple seconds after the lift unit stops it will blow the fuse. Hope this might help someone that encounters the same problem.

the lights only come on when you are trying to draw load. for example, if the furnace isnt on, the light will not come on when you pull the fuse.

 

[palebluedot]

Tanyandavid,
You are correct about it having to be drawing a load to light the LED. The question is how are going to be in two places at the same time. The switch for the TV is at the rear of the unit and the fuse panel is at the entrance door. You have to be pushing the switch and looking at the fuse panel at the same time (takes two people). Seems like it defeats the purpose of the LED to me. Of course I usually have a multimeter. Thanks for the info.

 

[branson4020]

Bill,

I'm with you on this design. Seems like it would be a lot more convenient to have the led on the load side of the fuse where it would be illuminated as long as the fuse was good. Sure it would be a parasitic load, but at 2 mA apiece, it seems like a small price to pay.