Berkshire Exorcism??

[boowho]

So, I'm in a rest area on uphill side of Donner pass in California last Friday evening, getting pounded with rain all night.

Get up next morning pull in the slides, etc and get ready to go. Switch the wipers on...... Nothing. Check fuse (getting soaking wet) and it's OK. Then the wipers came on by themselves, but the over head defogging fans shut down.

Then the external step extended all by itself, but the overhead fans came back and the auto door lock on the refrigerator cycled lock to unlocked several times, also all by itself and then the step retracted again.

This Kabuki Dance when on for several minutes and I wondered if the damn coach might have been possessed; I was waiting for the DW's head to spin around and around, but thankfully that didn't happen. All the above items happened several (in random order) times, with myself or the DW not touching ANYTHING.

I finally just drove off, and gradually everything started working normally again. Obviously, something was really "hosed". Trouble shooting will be tough since it's been fine for several days now. But I'm thinking something intermittent in the ignition switch.

Any other possibilities?? Like an electronic module or something of that nature??

Boowho??

[OldCoot]

Wild guess is you have moisture getting into the electrical box where all those items originate. Don't think it would be the ignition circuit tho.

[wmtire]

Purely from a historical standpoint, Donner Pass would probably be the last place I would want to get stranded.

You never had thoughts about eating your wife with fava beans by any chance?

It does sound like you may have had some kind of water infiltration in the power system somewhere. I don't know how that would make the steps extend on their own, but I have read other posts where this has happened.

[OldCoot]

Wild guess is you have moisture getting into the electrical box where all those items originate. Don't think it would be the ignition circuit tho.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by wmtire

Purely from a historical standpoint, Donner Pass would probably be the last place I would want to get stranded.

You never had thoughts about eating your wife with fava beans by any chance?

It does sound like you may have had some kind of water infiltration in the power system somewhere. I don't know how that would make the steps extend on their own, but I have read other posts where this has happened.

Yeah, I've been over Donner at least 6 times in my life, but never anything like this before. I too believe that it may have been caused by moisture, but would love to know WHAT component was affected. That way maybe I could seal it better.

Thanks all......

Boowho??

[boowho]

Just noticed that the cover to the engine diagnostic plugin point was not attached.

Probably left loose by the guy that reprogrammed my computer (odo/speedo) for the new larger tires a couple of weeks ago.

I'd strongly suspect that a LOT of rain water gets sucked into the rear radiator grille.

Boowho??

[Phil57]

Good that you figured it out. That could cause problems from corrosion if not corrected. I seem to be having electric issues my self like steps retracting with the switch off. All the power point fuses blew in one hours time. I suspect this pos Rand McNally 7710 GPS to be the cause of that? Lights not working and bulbs burning out in the last week or so.
I'll check the cover first thing in the morning.

[Mmnsc]

Phil

What was your reference to the Rand McNally 7710 have to do with it? Please PM me we the details

Thanks

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by Phil57

Good that you figured it out. That could cause problems from corrosion if not corrected. I seem to be having electric issues my self like steps retracting with the switch off. All the power point fuses blew in one hours time. I suspect this pos Rand McNally 7710 GPS to be the cause of that? Lights not working and bulbs burning out in the last week or so.
I'll check the cover first thing in the morning.

My RVND7710 adapter shorted out the fuse to the Radio, map lights and cigarette lighter outlet. Seems to be a design problem from Rand McNally. Contacted them and they sent a replacement. The issue with the original is the inside plastic breaks rather easily and when plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet makes the spring metal clips come in contact with the metal ring on the end of the fuse.

[Phil57]

Originally Posted by cfsoistman

My RVND7710 adapter shorted out the fuse to the Radio, map lights and cigarette lighter outlet. Seems to be a design problem from Rand McNally. Contacted them and they sent a replacement. The issue with the original is the inside plastic breaks rather easily and when plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet makes the spring metal clips come in contact with the metal ring on the end of the fuse.

Thanks for the info. I will call them this week. I don't know what everyone else thinks of the. 7710 but I'm not a fan. I bought it at General RV at a RV show and tried to return it after first use. They wouldn't take it back. I don't blame them but I still feel stuck with a product that wasn't well designed.
Thanks for the heads up on the cord.

[boowho]

I'm not that happy with my 7720 (yes twenty) either, although it did warn me of a restricted road the other day that a non-RV-specific GPS would not have caught.

My issues are that it is "laggy" and the touch screen is very insensitive; you have to press it in an almost abusive manner to get it to scroll. I'm used to just "flicking" the screen like a smart phone. And yes, I have re-calibrated it several times.

Also when managing your POI's there is no way to turn off (not show on the screen) animal clinics and veterinarians. How dumb is THAT? You can turn off every other POI class except that one.

I have not had the shorting out problem, however.

Boowho??

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by Phil57

Thanks for the info. I will call them this week. I don't know what everyone else thinks of the. 7710 but I'm not a fan. I bought it at General RV at a RV show and tried to return it after first use. They wouldn't take it back. I don't blame them but I still feel stuck with a product that wasn't well designed.
Thanks for the heads up on the cord.

The updates seem to be closing the gaps in the original set-up. One thing I do like is I can use Good Sams trip planner and tweek the routing then upload it to the 7710.

[Mmnsc]

Okay guys am I unique. I bought my 7710 last September at the Hershey show. In December on the way to Disney World it froze up and would not reset. The plug into the 7710 got hot as hell. I sent it back and they fixed it. Tried again to use it in January on wat to Disney again. In almost the same spot on I- 4 the damn thing froze up again and would not reset along with the plug getting hot. Sent it back again and they could not repair it so they sent me a new unopened unit. I started using it and on the way back from the international rally the same thing happened as i was going through Cincinnati. Sent it back on August 12 and have been going round and round with them. This time I had to send it to the Skokie Il plant where the chief engineer was to examine the unit. After 3 strike out my confidence in a Rand McNally GPS is zero. I requested an upgrade to a 7720 but they woud not give me that. I am stuck with the piece of junk. Supposedly they are sending me another brand new unit which I have not received yet.

Is my Berkshire possed that it keeps killing the 7710? Anyone esle experience this level of problems with the 7710? BTW their customer service really sticks and I would not recommend any Rand McNally priduct to my worst enemy.

[Mbh818]

I have the same issues with my 7710. I sent it back once because the USB went bad and it would not hold a charge or update when synced to the computer. Sent it back and they sent me a new refurbished one. Took the time to load my entire 7500 mile trip on it to stat the summer, and 1500 miles in it went blank. Re-booted it and it worked for a day, then blank again. Re-booted it a second time and it froze and won't even re-boot now. POS IS CORRECT. was going to request a 7720 as we'll, so I am disheartened to see they won't upgrade for others. Basically a waste of money. Not to mention, it took me on MANY round about routes and a few dead-ends. Thankfully, I was able to see the dead end before I actually made the turn. Not impressed with the product at all.

[Mmnsc]

i always traveled with a back up garmin gps from my car. Thankfully that has been as reliable as a precision watch. It kept me out of trouble on many occasions when using the Rand McNally 7710 but I am reluctant to rely on it as it does not take into consideration the details of the motorcoach. No matter what RV Gps i wind up with I will always use my car garmin gps as a backup. Anybody have experience- good or bad- with the Garmin RV 760 GPS?

[boowho]

I would love to have an android version of the software and database (only) of the RM unit. Hardware is marginal at best.

Anyone found a really good Android compatible mapping/navigation app??

Copilot works for trucks, but that's the closest thing I've seen to RV specific.

Boowho??