OneControl Wiring?

[Mstanlake]

We recently purchased a 2019 Forrester 2291SF class C motor home. I’m a fairly techie person, working most of my career in IT so I am trying to understand the OneControl System. The online documentation at Lippert is woefully lacking. So if anyone would like to comment on my assumptions so far please jump in.


Our First trip in the new motor home will be to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. The nearest Forrest River Service centre will be about 2000Km away over mainly gravel roads so some understanding and trouble shooting ability might come in handy. If the system goes down we will not be able to put out the slide, will have no hot water, actually no water at all since we would not be able to turn on the pump, and no lights.


I thought everything might be running off smart WiFi switches like the way I have Alexa run all the lights in our house, but after crawling through the unit it appears that the Wireless Gateway and WiFi router are only for allowing the connection of a smart phone and running the remote app. Everything else is connected to the Canbus. I have found the controller for the slideout but have not found the controllers for the hot water, pump, awning, or the generator. They hid them very well. I was very disappointed in how they left the Gateway and router, not mounted with screws even thought they are obviously designed to be mounted but simply laying in the bottom of a space behind the touchpad in a pile of wire cuttings and sawdust. I plan on cleaning up the area and securing them before we attempt 1000km of gravel road.


If I am not mistaken (and I certainly could be) the only single point of failure would seem to be the touchpad. It is connected to both the Gateway and the Canbus so I am assuming the smart phone app talks to the Touchpad and it talks to the Canbus. I would really like to know if the smart phone app will control anything if the Touchpad is dead.


Some sort of wiring diagram of the system would have been handy, but I guess Lippert decided there was no “user serviceable parts inside”. I would also be interested if anyone has put analog switches in alongside the OneControl system. An analog switch on the water pump would be handy.

Thanks.

[Steve-W]

I can't tell you where they hid the modules in your rig, check under any access panels, under drawers, etc. You will find 4 additional modules in addition to what you have found. You are correct that everything communicates via a CAN Bus. This CAN Bus is not connected to the chassis bus it is standalone. The modules you will find are the Generator Genie, it only controls as you would expect the generator. The generator hour meter is integral to this module and can not be reset. The Tank monitor module which interfaces to all of your fresh & waste tanks as well as LP tank, it also has 4 outputs for gas/electric water heater, water pump, & tank heat pads. The lighting module has 9 outputs for your lights all may not be utilized.The 5 output receiver has polarity reversing relays for your slide and awnings as well as a single light output again all are most likely not used.

[Mstanlake]

Yes, I had forgotten about the Tank Monitor Module, but I could live without that and the slide out but not being able to take a shower would be a real bummer. The pump in the main thing I would like to have a backup switch for. Crawling underneath and opening the low point drain to fill a pot of water wouldn't be the same.

[Steve-W]

The wireless side as well as each touchpad are independent. The touch pads do not be operational for the wireless app to function. Of course if the CAN Bus integrity is violated all may not work, each end of the can bus must be terminated to ensure proper operation. The tank module simply outputs 12 VDC via relays to the connected loads. You could simply parallel a switch from the 12 VDC supply to the pump terminal to bypass a failed module.
To do the same with the slide(s) and awning you would need to provide +12 and ground in the proper polarity to operate those devices. In a pinch 2 jumper leads would do the trick.

[B and B]

Wow a Trip of a lifetime! Tykyoyaktuk would be a great destination. In Canada and no dollar exchange issues!

How are the roads up there?

I have One Control on aux panel for the levelling jacks on my Landmark the rest of the trailer is KIB control as Heartland is not sold on the Lippert systems.

Things I know so far following issues. Sloppy install of the lippert system overall by many RV manufacturer's. I am not sure of the CanBus variant they use but anything I have worked with is limited to 15 ft between nodes in the system. Some people have shortened the cables and this fixed many intermittent connection issues.

There might be manual switches somewhere to run the systems, I have seen panels of these in some Columbus trailers.

Sounds like you have the Quality part a FR build with all the sawdust and lack of screws.

BTW Welcome from Wilmot Ontario,

[Mstanlake]

This will be our second trip to the Yukon, last time was 6 weeks in a 9.5ft camper on an F350. We made it to Inuvic but now there is a road to Tuc so we just have to go. The Dempster highway (Yukon Highway #5) is "OK" but not great, the Robert Campbell Highway (#4) should be avoided, we will not be doing it again.