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Old 07-06-2015, 02:00 PM   #1
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Warranty Question (Radio no reception)

I just took delivery of a 201SS. The precheck went fine albiet a bit fast. When I got home, and got the trailer setup, I tried to use the radio and it was dead. Nothing but static. At the dealer the demo guy had a station on but it was full of static. At the time, I did not think twice about it.

I removed the radio from the cabinet believing it was just unplugged and it was plugged in. I removed the cable and the radio worked. It would receive the closer high power stations. Plug it in and nothing. This leads me to believe there is a short in the cable. Probably a screw or something during manufacturing.

I called the local dealer and they refused to work on the trailer. They said they only work on the trailer when they sell the trailer. I got their name/# from the website for service.

(1) Are dealers permitted to refuse work on trailers under warranty? that was one reason why I purchased this brand was the supposed large support network of dealers under the Forest River brand

and

(2) Has anyone had a similar problem with the radio reception?

(3) I have not done anything with anntenna end of the cable. Can anyone advise what I can expect on that if I look for issues?

Its one of the new one piece antennas that is fixed in place and is elongated.

Thanks all.
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Old 07-06-2015, 04:05 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Leatherman View Post
I just took delivery of a 201SS. The precheck went fine albiet a bit fast. When I got home, and got the trailer setup, I tried to use the radio and it was dead. Nothing but static. At the dealer the demo guy had a station on but it was full of static. At the time, I did not think twice about it.

I removed the radio from the cabinet believing it was just unplugged and it was plugged in. I removed the cable and the radio worked. It would receive the closer high power stations. Plug it in and nothing. This leads me to believe there is a short in the cable. Probably a screw or something during manufacturing.

I called the local dealer and they refused to work on the trailer. They said they only work on the trailer when they sell the trailer. I got their name/# from the website for service.

(1) Are dealers permitted to refuse work on trailers under warranty? that was one reason why I purchased this brand was the supposed large support network of dealers under the Forest River brand

and

(2) Has anyone had a similar problem with the radio reception?

(3) I have not done anything with anntenna end of the cable. Can anyone advise what I can expect on that if I look for issues?

Its one of the new one piece antennas that is fixed in place and is elongated.

Thanks all.
Unfortunately dealers are in no way obligated to do warranty work. Some of them are downright rude about it. I would call around to other dealers, you should be able to find one to help you out. I've gotten a variety of responses from, "Go **** yourself" (not in those EXACT words) to, "We will do the work if you pay for it and then you can get reimbursed by Forest River" to, "We will do the work at our shop rates, deduct what we can get out of Forest River, and you are responsible for the rest."

Gary Grigsby ?sp? is the head of warranty claims at FR and he was able to give me some advice on dealers to try so you may want to check with him if you can't find one.
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Old 07-06-2015, 07:17 PM   #3
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Thanks for the input. I did email someone at FR and she said just to try others. I had no ideal that the dealer network was setup this way.

I would have searched harder for a local dealer that had a similar trailer floor plan, etc.

I am googling and seeing what I can find.

Is FR good about refunding expenses for warranty work would you know?
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Old 07-06-2015, 07:25 PM   #4
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Glade I don't have to deal with the folks you do in your part of the country. Here we take to dealer and as long as it's under warranty they will fix and get re em burst From FR. Later RJD
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Old 07-06-2015, 07:29 PM   #5
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quick story
was in a cost battle with my dealer. was offered a cheaper price elsewhere. He told me he wont service my MH if i buy it else where, i told him in no uncertain terms yes he will...Bwhahhahahaha boy was i wrong hehe. he told me he will take care of his customers and not me. My stupid butt thought it works like cars and they haveta service ya under warrenty...man thats a joke huh? Great for me i wound up buying from them and they still suck servicing hahahahahha
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Old 07-07-2015, 01:11 PM   #6
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quick story
was in a cost battle with my dealer. was offered a cheaper price elsewhere. He told me he wont service my MH if i buy it else where, i told him in no uncertain terms yes he will...Bwhahhahahaha boy was i wrong hehe. he told me he will take care of his customers and not me. My stupid butt thought it works like cars and they haveta service ya under warrenty...man thats a joke huh? Great for me i wound up buying from them and they still suck servicing hahahahahha

It's a pain in the ass, but my local guy's best price was $58,900 and I paid $41,250. For that kind of savings I'll just have to deal with it.

Begin angry rant......Just another reason I can't wait to get out of this stupid state. I met a couple the other day that just moved here from Georgia and they have only been here a couple of weeks and are already regretting it. CT is the only state year after year that has a declining population and it's never going to change because you have the wealthiest people in the world in Fairfield County who don't care about anything but being close to wall street and then millions of people on the government dole at the other end of the spectrum. And then you have us working class suckers in the middle that just keep getting taxed to death.....rant over
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Old 07-07-2015, 05:31 PM   #7
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While you have the radio out try substituting a car antenna and see if it works. You should be able to find several options st an auto store.
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Old 07-07-2015, 05:51 PM   #8
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My stupid butt thought it works like cars and they haveta service ya under warrenty...man thats a joke huh?
Many newbies assume that the RV industry works like the Auto industry, which is sadly very untrue.
The only thing that they have in common, is that they both sell things on wheels at dealerships.
Other than that, they couldn't be more different.
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Old 07-07-2015, 08:20 PM   #9
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Yes, I have learned. I asked the sales person if the warranty was nationwide. He said of course (yeah, I know). He just didn't mention that there aren't but 4 dealers nationwide to fix it if (er..when) something goes wrong (Ok, I have exaggerated a bit but I still can not find one to do the work).

Also, I went to Radio Shack and and purchased the parts for a new antenna (motorola to BNc, BNC to 2 solder points and a dipole antenna). Rigged it up and it works flawlessly. The radio stations work fine.

So, it's definately the antenna or the coax to the antenna. i will look at the antenna on the roof and see if I can remove it and check to see they connected the coax from the radio. Maybe that will be my answer.

Does that antenna provide TV recpetion too or is that only from the Satellite / Cable in puts on the side of the TT?

Thanks for all of the responses.
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Old 07-12-2015, 11:27 AM   #10
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Make sure when you're trying to listen to FM radio that your power antenna booster for the over the air antenna is turned off. There should be a switch behind where your tv is mounted, where the coax plugs in. On my camper, Rockwood 2504s, if the booster is on, FM is static, as soon as I turn it off the station comes in clear.
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Old 07-12-2015, 11:48 AM   #11
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I got one of these and now use tv annetenna for FM signals. I swear if I look long enough I find a German FM station. Motorola to "F" connentor Motorola to F Connector 36'' Cable | 10TV110 | Distributed By MCM
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Old 07-13-2015, 02:13 PM   #12
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Thanks, I did create an alternate antenna and it worked fine. I did ensure that the power booster was off before trying the radio. I did get a TV setup over the weekend. Our unit did not come with a TV so we got one at Walmart. It has the connections for the RCA Jacks. I connected it and sure enough, it did not work. The mental midget that they had wire the jacks did it completly backwards. Quick fix and the TV did work fine on the standard DVD player.

The over the air channesl worked fine too. It brought in the local over the air HD channels fine.
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Old 07-13-2015, 02:29 PM   #13
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Some of the units use an amplified radio antenna that is part of the TV antenna. Turn on the amplifier button on the wall plate and you should be OK.
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Old 07-14-2015, 05:26 PM   #14
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I got one of these and now use tv annetenna for FM signals. I swear if I look long enough I find a German FM station. Motorola to "F" connentor Motorola to F Connector 36'' Cable | 10TV110 | Distributed By MCM

Thanks UhDuh. I am set up for the season in Pittsburg, NH, which is right at the Canadian border. On a good day you can get 2 stations and one is French. The antenae in the 8289WS is so bad I cannot receive any stations. I bought this adapter and installed it this past weekend and I now get 12 stations. Happy camping!
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Old 07-14-2015, 08:57 PM   #15
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Thanks UhDuh. I am set up for the season in Pittsburg, NH, which is right at the Canadian border. On a good day you can get 2 stations and one is French. The antenae in the 8289WS is so bad I cannot receive any stations. I bought this adapter and installed it this past weekend and I now get 12 stations. Happy camping!
Glad I could help. I have two stations near my house and could not get either one to come in. It was so frustrating, some one else mentioned the adapter here on the forum. This forum is very helpful. So its a big thanks to people who make this forum great!
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Old 07-14-2015, 11:55 PM   #16
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Thanks UhDuh. I am set up for the season in Pittsburg, NH, which is right at the Canadian border. On a good day you can get 2 stations and one is French. The antenae in the 8289WS is so bad I cannot receive any stations. I bought this adapter and installed it this past weekend and I now get 12 stations. Happy camping!

You only need 1 station in the 'burg. T......O......S.
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