Another weekend trip, More issues

[pojoGTH5]

MH been sitting inside since the last trip down to Elkhart factory service. Went for a long weekend and new issues discovered. The 3 roof vent covers are completely destroyed. UV light has made them brittle to the point they just crumble to the touch. Tired of taking the MH in for warranty work, I went to a RV dealer in Ludington Mi., and purchased 3 new replacement crank-up covers, and 3 smoke colored low profile aero vent covers. I climbed up on the roof and installed everything while camping. Real relaxing!!! Then, went to turn on the TV and no power at the King Jack antenna control. We are at the point with this motorhome we do not want to take it anywhere in fear of something else going wrong!!

[Jim G]

I am not sure about yur rv, but power to the antenna does not happen until the small button on the cable inlet cover behind the tv is pressed to change from cable to antenna. This may help.

[bclinton]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

MH been sitting inside since the last trip down to Elkhart factory service. Went for a long weekend and new issues discovered. The 3 roof vent covers are completely destroyed. UV light has made them brittle to the point they just crumble to the touch. Tired of taking the MH in for warranty work, I went to a RV dealer in Ludington Mi., and purchased 3 new replacement crank-up covers, and 3 smoke colored low profile aero vent covers. I climbed up on the roof and installed everything while camping. Real relaxing!!! Then, went to turn on the TV and no power at the King Jack antenna control. We are at the point with this motorhome we do not want to take it anywhere in fear of something else going wrong!!

The button on our GT is in the middle cabinet above the driving area. Take a flashlight, the button is dark and hard to see on the wall plate.

As far as your vent lids.....same here. We went through a small hail storm early on and I decided to get on the roof to check them......one had a hole in it and the other one was brittle and ready to crack. Replaced one with a metal lid and the other a smoked polycarbonate one that is supposed to never break

[pojoGTH5]

Our MH is a 2019 GT5 34H5. Nothing found in the upper cabinet. There is a power on/off switch on the ceiling mounted controller. It has always worked fine. It has 1 red light and 4 blue indicating lts. that show signal strength. After doing channel search on TV's, its shows no signal.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

Our MH is a 2019 GT5 34H5. Nothing found in the upper cabinet. There is a power on/off switch on the ceiling mounted controller. It has always worked fine. It has 1 red light and 4 blue indicating lts. that show signal strength. After doing channel search on TV's, its shows no signal.

We're talking about two different things here. You're talking about the signal strength indicator on the antenna base (where the the knob to turn the antenna is). That slide switch can be on or off and does not affect watching TV.

In the cabinet directly over the TV, on the wall towards the front of the motorhome, is a wall plate and a jack that has nothing screwed to it. That's because the connections are on the back of that plate. On that plate is a tiny pushbutton that needs pushed in and will light a light on the plate.

Is that light on?

Also in the cabinet is a switch box to select TV, Cable, or Satellite. I can't see mine without a stepstool.

EDIT: I just confirmed it. If somebody put something in that cabinet over the TV and bumped the button, the signal strength indicator on the antenna base will not turn on.

The signal strength indicator is semi-worthless because it can't tell you what station(s) are giving the strongest signal. I use an app called "Digital TV Antennas" from Nicolas Lichtmaier which, when installed, shows up as "DTV Antennas". It uses the GPS and compass in your phone and shows you which way to point the antenna for which station. That knob on the antenna base has an arrow on it, which is a bit difficult to see. Just point the arrow in the same direction as the app shows.

HTH,

Ray

[NXR]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

MH been sitting inside since the last trip down to Elkhart factory service. Went for a long weekend and new issues discovered. The 3 roof vent covers are completely destroyed. UV light has made them brittle to the point they just crumble to the touch.

Yeah, those things are junk and it seems every RV manufacturer uses them.

I see Forest River is now installing the MaxxAir fans in some motorhome models as standard. Before we picked ours up from the dealer I had them replace the rear bath fan and the front living area fan with the MaxxAir 7000K's.

I also had them install a shroud over the existing vent in the half-bath. Everything I had read said we would have problems with those crank-up lids disintegrating or blowing off so I just made the problem go away from the start (although expensively).

I went with white so they allow light in, especially in the half-bath. The dealer set the smoke colored one over the half-bath fan and the bath went immediately dark so I went with white.

Ray

[pojoGTH5]

Thanks NXR! The button in the cabinet was off! Everything back to normal. Maybe these new RV's are just too technical for this old RV'er.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

Thanks NXR! The button in the cabinet was off! Everything back to normal. Maybe these new RV's are just too technical for this old RV'er.

It's easy to miss, especially if you don't know it's there. BClinton and Jim G gave me the idea; I just elaborated on what to look for.

Until today I did not know that button would also turn the antenna signal strength indicator off. Good to know.

Ray

[TriGlide]

I have replaced the fan cover that is for the fan in the bathroom twice... once every 2 years of ownership so on number 3 cover now.. I expect to replace the newest one in 2 years again.. Just normal maintenance for our 2013 335DS.. But the cover costs less than $20 so not a big deal. Takes me about 20 min to replace.. I check the A/C units also while I'm up there enjoying the view..

[Btm]

[QUOTE=NXR;

In the cabinet directly over the TV, on the wall towards the front of the motorhome, is a wall plate and a jack that has nothing screwed to it. That's because the connections are on the back of that plate. On that plate is a tiny pushbutton that needs pushed in and will light a light on the plate.

Is that light on?

Also in the cabinet is a switch box to select TV, Cable, or Satellite. I can't see mine without a stepstool.


HTH,

Ray[/QUOTE]

I wonder what the empty jack is for? Also why a button to turn on/off the signal strength indicator is needed? If the power was always on the strength indicator can still be turned on/off.

Your sure right about the switch box location - mine requires a stool AND a flashlight.

Maybe all of the above is a test to see if owners can figure it out.


Btm

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Btm

I wonder what the empty jack is for? Also why a button to turn on/off the signal strength indicator is needed? If the power was always on the strength indicator can still be turned on/off.

That switch plate actually is a switch box and splitter for cable or over-the-air TV but FR is only using it for the TV part. Button in = antenna. Button out = cable TV, if FR was using it for the switching part. Those other connections are on the back side of the switch plate.

The front jack is SET 1 so FR must be using the SET 2 spliiter jack as the connection to the MovieVision switch box. I've never had it off the wall, though.

The pushbutton switch also provides all power to the roof-mounted antenna. The antenna has a signal pre-amplifier inside to help compensate for the small antenna size.

It's a King Jack switch plate so it has to go with their antenna.

You're sure right about the switch box location - mine requires a stool AND a flashlight.

I must be a bit taller than you. I can reach and move the switch by feel. Towards the outside wall is TV, the middle is Cable, and towards the inside is satellite, which I do not have.

Ray

[F.R.O.G.]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

Thanks NXR! The button in the cabinet was off! Everything back to normal. Maybe these new RV's are just too technical for this old RV'er.

When you're in a campground and using their cable system, you'll need to turn that button back off in order to avoid the antenna interfering with the cable signal.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by F.R.O.G.

When you're in a campground and using their cable system, you'll need to turn that button back off in order to avoid the antenna interfering with the cable signal.

While true on earlier models, it's not needed on the later model Georgetowns. Their cable connection is run through that MovieVision switch box so the antenna pre-amplifier is completely out of the circuit. I never touch that button (intentionally ) and cable TV still works fine.

If you have cable problems don't even think about trying to explain this to the campground staff. Just say "Yes, I am aware of that and I have it turned off. Cable still does not work."

Ray

[F.R.O.G.]

Originally Posted by NXR

While true on earlier models, it's not needed on the later model Georgetowns. Their cable connection is run through that MovieVision switch box so the antenna pre-amplifier is completely out of the circuit. I never touch that button (intentionally ) and cable TV still works fine.

If you have cable problems don't even think about trying to explain this to the campground staff. Just say "Yes, I am aware of that and I have it turned off. Cable still does not work."

Ray

Ray, I wasn't aware of that change. Thanks for letting me know.

[satdog01]

My 2020 GT5 has the movie switch. Had issues with positioning the switch. As it turns out, Park cable installed on OTA, OTA was on Sat, Roof sat cable on Park position. After redoing connections all seems to be well. Would be nice if cables were labeled, maybe with silver marks a lot!

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by NXR

While true on earlier models, it's not needed on the later model Georgetowns. Their cable connection is run through that MovieVision switch box so the antenna pre-amplifier is completely out of the circuit. I never touch that button (intentionally ) and cable TV still works fine.

If you have cable problems don't even think about trying to explain this to the campground staff. Just say "Yes, I am aware of that and I have it turned off. Cable still does not work."

Ray

The Movie Vision switch box has been on GT's for about 10 years.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by satdog01

My 2020 GT5 has the movie switch. Had issues with positioning the switch. As it turns out, Park cable installed on OTA, OTA was on Sat, Roof sat cable on Park position. After redoing connections all seems to be well. Would be nice if cables were labeled, maybe with silver marks a lot!

When I was chasing the wires to the splitter I used masking tape and a pen to mark which wire went to which TV. I hate unmarked wires.

I have an aviation maintenance background and we marked every wire with a code indicating what it did and where it went as we were building the wiring harnesses. The markings were all along the wire. That dramatically reduced wiring errors and when you were trying to figure out which wire did what in the middle of a bundle it was very easy.

Ray

[Bob2019]

On my former TT hail that put a hole in the shower bubble. Was that fun to change out. First you have to find a cover for sale on the internet as the dealers have to order and charge you twice as much as you can locate yourself. Then you have to scrape off all the leveling sealant on the cover, below and get it off the rubber roof with mineral spirits. Then you have many screws to remove. Then new cover on, sealant under cover, screws back on, more sealant over screws and cover overlap to roof. Took a long time to do it right.

The normal vent cover do crumble and you can replace them really quick compared to the shower bubble.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by pojoGTH5

Thanks NXR! The button in the cabinet was off! Everything back to normal. Maybe these new RV's are just too technical for this old RV'er.

Figured.

[kszac]

We put a Maxx air in our new camper too. Didn't want to wait for it to fail. Our last camper lost it's lid while in storage, we came to pick it up in the middle of a downpour. Water was pouring into the bathroom. It had been raining all week, the trash can was half filled with water. What a mess. The moldings were damaged, but no other apparent major damage. Don't want to tempt fate again.