Plex panel died

LandKKnight · 04-19-2019, 09:14 PM

2018 Isata 5 30 FW. Plex panel died in the middle of our trip. Can work everything from my phone, thank goodness. I know I've seen posts re this. What did U all do to fix it? I can't remember. Something about unscrew it from the wall, unplug something then plug back in? It did this earlier and rebooted itself when I turned on the generator but this time the gen didnt help it. Thanks!

caseymyers · 04-20-2019, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandKKnight

2018 Isata 5 30 FW. Plex panel died in the middle of our trip. Can work everything from my phone, thank goodness. I know I've seen posts re this. What did U all do to fix it? I can't remember. Something about unscrew it from the wall, unplug something then plug back in? It did this earlier and rebooted itself when I turned on the generator but this time the gen didnt help it. Thanks!

There was a thread on here with lots of detail and not too long ago. Try cutting power to the coach for 30 mins or so via the battery off switch? That might let it reset. There is also a circuit breaker that you can reset that might get it working again.

LandKKnight · 04-20-2019, 10:02 AM

Actually removed it from the wall, unplugged it for a minute, then plugged back in and that got it to reboot. Its been working since. Thank you!!

bratbros · 04-20-2019, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandKKnight

2018 Isata 5 30 FW. Plex panel died in the middle of our trip. Can work everything from my phone, thank goodness. I know I've seen posts re this. What did U all do to fix it? I can't remember. Something about unscrew it from the wall, unplug something then plug back in? It did this earlier and rebooted itself when I turned on the generator but this time the gen didnt help it. Thanks!

Glad you got it going! Every time I am boondocking when the voltage draws down anywhere near 12v if I try to use the touch panel it blanks out. When the generator starts and the voltage goes above 13 it will reboot.

What were the circumstances when your panel wigged out?

caseymyers · 04-20-2019, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandKKnight

Actually removed it from the wall, unplugged it for a minute, then plugged back in and that got it to reboot. Its been working since. Thank you!!

How do you get it off the wall?

LandKKnight · 04-20-2019, 12:41 PM

Wasn't really doing anything I can think of. Although earlier in the day I put my awning out using my phone app and the lights started flashing and the awning wd only go out in spurts until I switched to the plex panel to put it out the rest of the way. Maybe it had something g to do with that.

The way u take it off the wall is you pop off the corners, unscrew the 4 screws and it comes right out. There is a single plug in the back. Unplug, wait like 15 sec, plug back in, it reboots.

bratbros · 04-20-2019, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandKKnight

Wasn't really doing anything I can think of. Although earlier in the day I put my awning out using my phone app and the lights started flashing and the awning wd only go out in spurts until I switched to the plex panel to put it out the rest of the way. Maybe it had something g to do with that.

The way u take it off the wall is you pop off the corners, unscrew the 4 screws and it comes right out. There is a single plug in the back. Unplug, wait like 15 sec, plug back in, it reboots.

Were you plugged in or dry camping when it happened? Just wondering if it has anything to do with voltage.

LandKKnight · 04-20-2019, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bratbros

Were you plugged in or dry camping when it happened? Just wondering if it has anything to do with voltage.

Dry camping.

bratbros · 04-20-2019, 05:23 PM

Just for giggles once the voltage gets down a bit touch the pad and see if it blanks out. My does 100% of the time. I can still control everything with my phone, but I don't think this is right.

**bclemens** · 04-20-2019, 09:01 PM

On the 30FW with the panel on the slide wall....I think if the voltage gets low, it is compounded by voltage drop on the cable. Pull the panel and see if there is any cable bunched up behind the panel. We use wire harnesses and think they were making the data cable longer than it needed to be. If there is, it can likely be cut down and some excess taken out of the middle. That might help/.

Magnatudes · 04-21-2019, 08:48 AM

Nothing like good ole dependable hardwire for basic functions.

bratbros · 04-21-2019, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

On the 30FW with the panel on the slide wall....I think if the voltage gets low, it is compounded by voltage drop on the cable. Pull the panel and see if there is any cable bunched up behind the panel. We use wire harnesses and think they were making the data cable longer than it needed to be. If there is, it can likely be cut down and some excess taken out of the middle. That might help/.

Thanks Brian! I had the panel out last weekend and there is definitely extra cable in the wall. I'll see if I can borrow a crimper and take some cable out.

bratbros · 04-22-2019, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

On the 30FW with the panel on the slide wall....I think if the voltage gets low, it is compounded by voltage drop on the cable. Pull the panel and see if there is any cable bunched up behind the panel. We use wire harnesses and think they were making the data cable longer than it needed to be. If there is, it can likely be cut down and some excess taken out of the middle. That might help/.

Well crap! I pulled the panel and took about 18" of cable out. I used RJ12 6 wire connector. Crimped hard, wires match the old connector, but now I've got nothing on the PP Panel. Any ideas?

**bclemens** · 04-22-2019, 08:42 PM

Likely a bad crimp. I sometimes make the connection back in the middle of the wire cause I can’t see the darn wires in the connector any more. I can’t tell an orange stripe from an orange wire half the time. I would try again with a good set of readers and make sure you don’t have a wire out of place.

bratbros · 04-23-2019, 09:33 AM

I've put multiple connectors on and cut them off thinking I wasn't getting a good crimp...I don't see how I could be that bad at it so I don't think it's the crimp. I did push and pull and jiggle the connector once it was plugged in to the panel and it lit up. If I bend the wire just right the connector moves in the socket and seems to make a connection. Could the RJ12 connectors I bought be poor quality and out of spec? Is there a brand that works better than others?

**bclemens** · 04-23-2019, 09:36 AM

See if you can see anything bent on the female side of the connector??? if you're wiggling it, its either the wire/connector or the receiver. But if it was working before with no issues, I'm not sure why it would suddenly be a fitment issue.

bratbros · 04-23-2019, 09:41 AM

I was able to pull the wire to the side and the panel lit up so I re-mounted the it. If it vibrates loose and I lose the connection to the panel again I'll check out the female side when I pull it. I didn't notice anything grossly out of place when I was working on it.

Thanks for you input Brian. I really appreciate it.

**bclemens** · 04-23-2019, 10:07 AM

Let's see if cutting off that 18" helps with the voltage drop. In most cases, this has resolved it completely. In some cases, there was not enough slack so I think we had to move the panel.

<<crosses fingers>>

bratbros · 04-23-2019, 10:35 AM

I'll unplug from shore power and test it out after work this afternoon. I'll let you know!

bratbros · 04-23-2019, 08:26 PM

My (bad) luck is holding.... when the voltage gets to 12.5v on the Solar Controller and you touch the Wall Panel, it still blanks out after removing 18" of wire. Does that plug into the main PP Fuse panel? Would it make sense to put it near that? Then I would have to figure out how to plug the hole in the wall....or just forget about it and know that it'll come back up when the generator kicks on.....

You may also like: