IRV Radios and Installation

[Purdyquibb]

Just a little tid-bit on the IRV33 media system that is standard in most Roo's and Shamrocks as well as the installation. Although I still stand by my initial statement at this point that these are one step above junk, I did find something that may interest others with a 23ss or similar Forest river rig. I replaced my IRV33 system today with an IRV34 i received under warranty, looks and installs exactly the same as the 33 and has the same features. I installed the new system and it seemed to work, sounded just as bad as the old system when it worked but it did actually work. I started playing with the settings and noticed nothing was playing on the right channel on any zone. All the colors matched from the harness and the speaker wire so Initially I thought another bad radio. But then I noticed the LH zone1 should have been connected to the white lead off the harness and there was nothing attached to it. Long and short is I had to cut all the speaker wires and even though the colors no longer matched speaker wire color to harness wire color I hooked it up according to the diagram. Honestly this thing came to life. Sounds like a completely different system. My point is if your system is fair at best don't do like I did and see the wire colors match and think its ok. Check your system settings and actually check both channels left and right are working. I cant imagine mine would be any different than others since these rigs are assembly line products. I should have known because I only have 4 speakers, 2 inside and 2 out but had 3 zones? now there is nothing on zone 3 but I have actual stereo inside and out. And another side note, I have heard a lot of people complain because the inside speakers were so much louder then the outside when switching zones. This also corrected that issue, No more switching from outside speakers and getting blasted with the inside. Much much better. It's an easy check, Mine had 4 screws in it and pulled right out. Hope this actually makes sense and helps someone else out.

[Mainframe]

Good post, I am going to look into this for my camper 2016 23ws I am also going to try to wire zone 3 to an earphone jack and run it by my front bunk so I can watch from the bunk and not disturb everyone.

[rockfordroo]

How about this? 20 bucks!

Bravo View IH-05A SINGLE SOURCE Automotive IR Wireless Headphones - Walmart.com

[Purdyquibb]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

How about this? 20 bucks!

Bravo View IH-05A SINGLE SOURCE Automotive IR Wireless Headphones - Walmart.com

That's genius....

[Mainframe]

Thanks but I hate headphones. Plus hard to lay on the pillow with headphones.

[Purdyquibb]

Originally Posted by Mainframe

Thanks but I hate headphones. Plus hard to lay on the pillow with headphones.

What do you like? There are all kinds of options,

http://www.amazon.com/AYL-Bluetooth-...=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

[cpd1343]

Originally Posted by Purdyquibb

Just a little tid-bit on the IRV33 media system that is standard in most Roo's and Shamrocks as well as the installation. Although I still stand by my initial statement at this point that these are one step above junk, I did find something that may interest others with a 23ss or similar Forest river rig. I replaced my IRV33 system today with an IRV34 i received under warranty, looks and installs exactly the same as the 33 and has the same features. I installed the new system and it seemed to work, sounded just as bad as the old system when it worked but it did actually work. I started playing with the settings and noticed nothing was playing on the right channel on any zone. All the colors matched from the harness and the speaker wire so Initially I thought another bad radio. But then I noticed the LH zone1 should have been connected to the white lead off the harness and there was nothing attached to it. Long and short is I had to cut all the speaker wires and even though the colors no longer matched speaker wire color to harness wire color I hooked it up according to the diagram. Honestly this thing came to life. Sounds like a completely different system. My point is if your system is fair at best don't do like I did and see the wire colors match and think its ok. Check your system settings and actually check both channels left and right are working. I cant imagine mine would be any different than others since these rigs are assembly line products. I should have known because I only have 4 speakers, 2 inside and 2 out but had 3 zones? now there is nothing on zone 3 but I have actual stereo inside and out. And another side note, I have heard a lot of people complain because the inside speakers were so much louder then the outside when switching zones. This also corrected that issue, No more switching from outside speakers and getting blasted with the inside. Much much better. It's an easy check, Mine had 4 screws in it and pulled right out. Hope this actually makes sense and helps someone else out.

This topic sounded familiar so I checked my camper info and found this: Check item#6

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...3-a-26728.html

[Purdyquibb]

Sorry for the double post, I didn't see this post. This is exactly the same issue I had, And almost exactly how it was hooked up. Only differance is i didnt have any right channel. I guess they (FR) don't worry about which coach the radio goes in or how many speakers, If its green, it gets hooked to green or whatever color. I am surprised they don't actually check the radio functions before it leaves though. I wonder at this point how many trailers are out there that are in fact hooked up incorrectly?

[PEAS_PA]

Thanks for posting! My 233S with Genesis GT-2.0 has two indoor speakers which were wired to A and B separately. Both on the right channel. The two outdoor speakers were wired on C correctly for stereo. I just moved my A speaker from yellow to orange to marry it to the left channel on B. Sounds great! And a five minute job. So, A does nothing now unless I install more speakers in the future.

I suppose you could also put A to your left speaker and B to your right. Then you would get stereo if both are on, but mono if you only want one of the speakers on at a time. But, then you would still have the volume issue mentioned earlier. I don't see myself ever not wanting stereo sound. It is so much of a nicer sound.

Just glad that when they cut the wires they left enough to work with!


2015 Shamrock 233S
2007 Expedition EL Eddie Bauer

[urocav2001]

How did you get them to replace the unit for you? And what does it look like? Any different?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Mr Havercamp]

They have been hooking radios up wrong for awhile, I have redone the connections on quite a few for other people. Make sure to pull the speakers and check the wiring on that end also. They pay no attention to polarity and polarity is important for sound quality even with the cheap speakers.

[Purdyquibb]

Originally Posted by urocav2001

How did you get them to replace the unit for you? And what does it look like? Any different?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

The radios are identcal, front and back, what makes it a 34? No idea, im hoping an ugrade to the electronics. Even the book is idential other than anything that was labeled 33 now says 34 and seriously, thats it.

As far as getting it replaced i called my salesperson said im out of warrenty by 14 days and my radio wont work. We went through a couple checks on it and he said i will call you right back. Less than 10 minutes later he called and said do you still live here? I said yes, he said your new one will be at your door in 2 days, send us the broke one as soon as you can. Love Haylett RV in Coldwater Mi.

[dragon-roo]

I just posted my same fix for the speakers connected wrong in the modifications forum. I also detailed hooking up the TV antenna for better radio reception in the same post...

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...nd-107734.html

[jjstreic]

We just got back from our maiden voyage with a 2017? Roo 233s. I noticed that when I connected my phone to the radio via Bluetooth it was listed as iRV 34, when I was expecting iRV 33 based on my research. Good to know what is going on there.
In addition the inside speakers sounded _horrible_, no bass, etc. and after reading this thread I assume the wiring is wrong. Speakers not in phase, perhaps wrong channels, etc. I'll pull the head unit off and check later on tonight.

Thanks all!

[Happy Camper 2715]

I've read several post regarding the poor sound from these radios and to check polarity of the speakers, but when I pulled the speakers there was no designation of plus or minus on the speaker. The wire with the stripe on it was on either terminal of the other speakers. I guess I will use a 1.5 volt battery and try to see if the cone moves out or in when connecting it,then making them all move the same direction. I'm guessing moving out is correct.

[jjstreic]

Audio is a variable frequency alternating current flow so a VM won't really help. Best thing is to play the radio, pull a speaker and swap the wires + for - on one and see if it sounds like there is more bass. It should be pretty noticeable.

[debandi]

We just got our Rockwood out of the dealer where it has been for the past month with a radio problem. The radio only worked with the remote control when just 2-3 feet in front of the radio. We tried such fixes as pointing the remote control at the ceiling or bouncing the IR signal off a wall or appliance but no luck.
The dealer replaced the radio with a 'new one' and had to trace the speaker wires making sure they were hooked up correctly. The tech found one bad outside speaker which was replaced. The speakers now work fine BUT THE REMOTE STILL ONLY WORKS FROM 2-3 FEET AWAY FROM THE FRONT OF THE RADIO!!! Why even have a remote if it doesn't work from the couch???

[Purdyquibb]

Originally Posted by debandi

We just got our Rockwood out of the dealer where it has been for the past month with a radio problem. The radio only worked with the remote control when just 2-3 feet in front of the radio. We tried such fixes as pointing the remote control at the ceiling or bouncing the IR signal off a wall or appliance but no luck.
The dealer replaced the radio with a 'new one' and had to trace the speaker wires making sure they were hooked up correctly. The tech found one bad outside speaker which was replaced. The speakers now work fine BUT THE REMOTE STILL ONLY WORKS FROM 2-3 FEET AWAY FROM THE FRONT OF THE RADIO!!! Why even have a remote if it doesn't work from the couch???

Thats a weird one you have there. My remote other than looking like something free from harbor freight does work really well. Did you get a new remote with the new radio or did they give you the same remote? I'm wondering if its the remote having the issue?

[Old Eeyore]

Originally Posted by debandi

BUT THE REMOTE STILL ONLY WORKS FROM 2-3 FEET AWAY FROM THE FRONT OF THE RADIO!!! Why even have a remote if it doesn't work from the couch???

That's exactly how the radio worked (or didn't work) in our 21SS. Chucked the remote into the junk drawer the first day.

The inside speakers were wired incorrectly (the same way) in both the 21SS and the 23IKSS. The wire colors were correct - in that they matched to diagram - but they were flat wrong. (They used the wrong color wires during the speaker installs.)

[dragon-roo]

Our remote had very limited range at first. I replaced the battery with a decent one (not from a dollar store). The range is pretty good now but the sensor doesn't like off-axis signals and the buttons on the remote are not always responsive

I was going to take it apart and clean the keypad well, but I started using my phone instead for the remote and haven't gotten to it yet.