Motorized sun shade

[dashonthedash]

Anyone know who makes the motorized sun shade for the Georgetown? I own a 2011 Georgetown 280DS. During a recent trip, the shade would suddenly only go up, not down, and disappeared onto the roller. Although I knew I wasn't supposed to pull it down manually, I tried and heard something snap, followed by the shade falling down to the dash. I currently have it tied up for safety purposes. Anyone know if the entire shade needs to be replaced, and where I can get one? Thanks.

[bubbles]

I believe it's made by MCD located in McKinney, TX

[dashonthedash]

Looking at the MCD online user manual, there appears to be a clip that holds the shade in tension. Could it be that the clip has broken, and that the shade may be repairable? The motor still appears to run when I operate the switch, although, of course, nothiing happens. Is anyone familiar with this unit?

[cjd10]

I recently had the same issue with the front shade on my MH. I learned that FR has used three different manufacturers in the past and if I remember correctly only started using MCD in the later 14's on. Mine is made by United Shades.
You can find my post on this issue here; http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...mcd-81242.html
You can call FR parts dept with the last 5 digits of your vin and they can tell you what you have. If it is United Shade I can tell you exactly how to take it apart. Not hard at all.

[rjohnso3a]

I have a 2011 360DS. The front shade was made by United Shades. Normally, when the shade doesn't operate properly, it can be re-programed. There is a programming button connected to the driver's end of the shade. Mine was hidden behind the plastic column cover between the windshield and the driver's window. There are programming instructions available. My shade kept losing it's programming. After many annoying re-programming episodes, I replaced the shade with two manual roller shades from Ikea.

Ron Johnson
2011 Georgetown 360DS

[Lostdog]

We have a 2011 378TS and the front shade is a MCD.

[dashonthedash]

Thanks for the info. If I had known the shade could be reprogrammed, I wouldn't have broken it trying to pull it down. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[dashonthedash]

I believe I may have figured out why the shade lost its programming. I had disconnected the coach batteries for two weeks to prevent drain. Apparently, that was enough to cause the loss of programming. If this is so, how do people with these shades handle long-term storage of their RV's?

[dashonthedash]

A clarification: I disconnected the batteries by removing the shunt between the 2 6 volts, but it left a residual voltage of about 1.2 v measured across the connected terminals, which apparently wiped the programming. The user manual says the voltage must be maintained at least 11 volts, unless it is zero, or programming will be lost.

[tncruiser]

you guys all luckier than me my early production 2011 gtown didn't come with them I had to pay about 700 bux to have two shades installed I love the shades hate the price
good luck I hope you find a reasonably priced repair
brianj

[dashonthedash]

Brian, I feel just the opposite. I now wish I had stayed with the curtains or manual shades. My old Winnie was so simple: no shades, no levelers, no slides, etc. The more gadgets they stick on these units, the more they seem to break.

[rjohnso3a]

If dropped voltage (from disconnecting the house battery) was causing the loss of programming; it is definitely a bad design choice by Forest River. Hitting the battery disconnect button would have instantly killed the shade's programming. The shades should have been powered by the chassis battery.

Ron Johnson
2011 Georgetown 360DS

[dashonthedash]

Good point, Ron, but the problem has never occurred when I have used the battery disconnect, but not everything is disconnected by the switch, which is why there is a drain even when using it. This is the first time I have actually physically disconnected the battery, except when I had them replaced a few years ago.