Winegard 360+ Gateway Wiring Issue

[brludwig2022]

We recently purchased a 2022 Solitude 380FL-R. We went to install the Winegard 360+ gateway and ran into a slight issue. When my husband removed the access cap, he found the yellow/white loop wire zip tied to the cap plus the other cables. He said that there should be an end to the looped wired but he never found one. He decided to cut the yellow/white wire. When he did that, our front air conditioner stopped working. He reattached the yellow/white wire so that we could have air conditioning again (it was humid that day). Our question is, are we to splice the yellow/white cable and attach the "power" cable for the gateway to that for it to get power or should there be wires already prepped in the ceiling for this install? I appreciate any incite into this that anyone can give us. Thanks in advance.

[howson]

We recently purchased a 2022 Solitude 380FL-R. We went to install the Winegard 360+ gateway and ran into a slight issue. When my husband removed the access cap, he found the yellow/white loop wire zip tied to the cap plus the other cables. He said that there should be an end to the looped wired but he never found one. He decided to cut the yellow/white wire. When he did that, our front air conditioner stopped working. He reattached the yellow/white wire so that we could have air conditioning again (it was humid that day). Our question is, are we to splice the yellow/white cable and attach the "power" cable for the gateway to that for it to get power or should there be wires already prepped in the ceiling for this install? I appreciate any incite into this that anyone can give us. Thanks in advance.

That looped wire is indeed 12V power for the Winegard. Best to remove all 12v power before cutting it...but that's OBE at this point,

What you'll do is wire the Winegard in parallel with the wire that was cut. Again, do this work when it's cool enough to remove all power (including any solar input if so equipped) from the camper prior to doing the work.

If "wiring in parallel" is not understood, fire back and I'll put together a quick diagram.

Howard

[jamesdn]

I used Posi-Taps, https://www.posi-products.com/posiplug.html , to connect my gateway. No wire cutting necessary.

[RMcCabe]

Question I have is which of the yellow or white wire is positive? Through all the posts I have read only one person said that the yellow wire is positive. Is that true for everyone else whose GD's are pre-wired for WiFi? I don't own a volt meter so I have no way to tell and I don't want to buy one and use it one time and then never again.
Thanks,
Ron

[howson]

Question I have is which of the yellow or white wire is positive? Through all the posts I have read only one person said that the yellow wire is positive. Is that true for everyone else whose GD's are pre-wired for WiFi? I don't own a volt meter so I have no way to tell and I don't want to buy one and use it one time and then never again.
Thanks,
Ron

Good morning, Ron. Not that you asked for my opinion...but I urge every RV owner to have (and know how to use) a voltmeter ("DMM"). For $20 a basic version can be had from a big box store (it doesn't need to be a Fluke or anything fancy). There are endless YouTube videos showing how to use a meter.

Now to the question you asked: usually the white wire is negative. The one time I found this not true was the factory wiring to the water pump...which I found by checking with my DMM prior to re-connecting the wiring.

Howard

[RMcCabe]

Hello Howard, Thank you for letting me know that from what you have found out the white wire is negative. Now as far as the voltmeter goes, I did own one at one time. I bought it at a time when I needed and over the past 15 years I used it a total of one time, that one time when I actually needed to use one. I sold it at a garage sale a couple years ago. If anything I would rather rent one than buy one, after all how many times do you need/use one?

Ron

[ncitro]

Hello Howard, Thank you for letting me know that from what you have found out the white wire is negative. Now as far as the voltmeter goes, I did own one at one time. I bought it at a time when I needed and over the past 15 years I used it a total of one time, that one time when I actually needed to use one. I sold it at a garage sale a couple years ago. If anything I would rather rent one than buy one, after all how many times do you need/use one?

Ron

I'm probably an outlier as I use one professionally, but I have two in the trailer (a clamp on for current measurement and a digital multimeter for voltage and resistance) and several at home and in my work bag. I use one of the two in the trailer for something pretty much every time I'm out. It's the first step in troubleshooting pretty much anything electrical. Even if you don't use one frequently it's good to carry one in case you have an issue and someone offers to help who is comfortable with it.

[Jlawles2]

RMcCabe If you have a cheap DC LED bulb and a few loose wires laying around you can cobble up a makeshift DC polarity tester. Most cheap LED bulbs will not illuminate if the voltage is reversed.

something like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (if you plan to add skirt lighting) will work in a pinch as the wiring is already connected. Even https://www.amazon.com/Spec-D-Tuning...s%2C179&sr=8-2 and a little creativity of connecting leads to the legs of the bulb will make a decent polarity tester.

With any system you find that will allow for testing DC polarity, test on a known good battery first to verify which line is positive and which is negative.

Alternatively a really cheap tester (I have a similar one in the truck) is not a bad investment when it comes to owning an RV as mentioned. https://www.amazon.com/Tatoonly-Supe...s%2C131&sr=8-7 you may find that determining if a circuit is missing power in atom the positive or just a bad negative return can create hours of looking for the problem. A simple tester even if not used frequently becomes a useful tool.

[SATA Adventures]

I used Posi-Taps, https://www.posi-products.com/posiplug.html , to connect my gateway. No wire cutting necessary.

Good idea on the posi-taps. I used T connector, similar to the posi’s. Eliminated cutting the wire as well.

I also installed the on off switch by cutting a small slot on the side of the router box just large enough to slide the switch in. Clean, no further wiring or hole cutting in walls etc. From the T connector I added a piece of red 18ga wire using a spade connector to the on/ off switch. Then the original red 18ga w spade attached to the other post of the on/off. Ensured it was connected so that the router was on when switch was on. Works great all right there together, wiring hidden under the router box. Let me know if you want more pics.