Hi All,
I have been diagnosing a wiring issue that my trailer has had since day 1. The dealer could not figure it out and they had the trailer for over 2 weeks after my PDI. I finally told them to forget it and I'd figure it out.
A little on my background; I spent over 20 years in the automotive industry, 10 of which were as an ASE certified Master Technician in a shop and later on getting into shop management at a famous High-Performance Driving school. During my time as a mechanic, I specialized in electrical and early computerized fuel injection systems, among many other things, so I figured I had a lot better chance of figuring out the problem than the tech at my dealer (they couldn't even install a Surge Gaurd correctly, they bolted it to the floor exactly as the instructions tell you NOT too!)
The electrical issues discovered during my PDI;
1- The LED accent lights in the living room/kitchen glow a dim red even when turned off. When turned on, they worked and I could change the colors but I could hear a relay constantly clicking on/off under the stairs.
2- NONE of the manual switches for the awnings or main slides worked. All had to be controlled through the phone app or painfully slow One Control touch screen on the wall.
3- Rear Patio awning (over the ramp door) does not work via app, touch screen or manual switch
What I have figured out so far;
What I cannot find is;
I'd appreciate any input to help get this awning working!
Thanks!
PS - GRAND DESIGN this is no way to wire anything, much less a vehicle that should be safe to inhabit, you and the people that do this terrible work should be ashamed. Make a proper wiring harness like the automotive industry has been doing for over 100 years!!
I wish I could unsee what I've seen, the basement wire/plumbing disaster gives me anxiety!
I have been diagnosing a wiring issue that my trailer has had since day 1. The dealer could not figure it out and they had the trailer for over 2 weeks after my PDI. I finally told them to forget it and I'd figure it out.
A little on my background; I spent over 20 years in the automotive industry, 10 of which were as an ASE certified Master Technician in a shop and later on getting into shop management at a famous High-Performance Driving school. During my time as a mechanic, I specialized in electrical and early computerized fuel injection systems, among many other things, so I figured I had a lot better chance of figuring out the problem than the tech at my dealer (they couldn't even install a Surge Gaurd correctly, they bolted it to the floor exactly as the instructions tell you NOT too!)
The electrical issues discovered during my PDI;
1- The LED accent lights in the living room/kitchen glow a dim red even when turned off. When turned on, they worked and I could change the colors but I could hear a relay constantly clicking on/off under the stairs.
2- NONE of the manual switches for the awnings or main slides worked. All had to be controlled through the phone app or painfully slow One Control touch screen on the wall.
3- Rear Patio awning (over the ramp door) does not work via app, touch screen or manual switch
What I have figured out so far;
- I started at the wall switch in the garage - I noticed one of the switched wires (White with Green stripe) had power to it at all times in addition to the center terminal on the switch. Then I also noticed when pushing the switch to "EXT" the lights in the living room stopped glowing! This is when the light bulb went off in my head!
- I looked at the app on my phone and pulled up the awnings under devices. I noticed the Patio awning said "Awning is retracting" at all times.
- I found the Unity Board under the stairs and with the help of a friend that was pushing the switches determined that the switches feed power into the Configurable Inputs side of the Unity board.
- I found the White/Green wire at the connection to the inputs, sure enough voltage was present even when the wire was not connected to the switch in the garage.
- I cut the Wht/Grn wire at the connection to the Unity board. Low and behold, all the manual switches now work and the LED lights do not glow!
- Apparantly, the Unity board has a lock out that prevents you from operating more than one movable component at a time so since that wire always had power, on the retract signal side for the awning, it was preventing any of the other switches from engaging the relays in the Unity board for those items.
- I ran a shunt wire from the wall switch to the Unity board to bypass the wht/grn wire that is shorted to power. Upon testing, the switch in the garage now is functioning and provides the input voltage based on which way the switch is pressed (RET/EXT).
- The signal to the control module in the awning (according to the documentation I can find it is in the lead rail of the awning) comes out the Low Current Reversing side of the board. This should be what is telling the control module which way to run the awning motor.
- I've traced the Wht/Grn wire as far forward as I can in the ceiling and it is not shorted to power anywhere up there. I suspect it is in the drop to the basement via the wall between the kitchen and mstr bathroom
What I cannot find is;
- Battery power and ground to the awning control module along with any fuse related to it. It is not in the ceiling where I can access the signal wires coming from the Unity board.
- Motor wires to manually extend the awning - According to the Carefree docs I found they should be under the left side cover but they are not. They may be accessible if I pull the inner cover/motor out but I need to wait for another hand to hold the awning shut if I do that.
- Any suggestions on how to fish a new wire from the basement, up the wall, through the ceiling, back down the wall and around the corner to the garage wall switch to replace my wire that is shorted to power?
I'd appreciate any input to help get this awning working!
Thanks!
PS - GRAND DESIGN this is no way to wire anything, much less a vehicle that should be safe to inhabit, you and the people that do this terrible work should be ashamed. Make a proper wiring harness like the automotive industry has been doing for over 100 years!!
I wish I could unsee what I've seen, the basement wire/plumbing disaster gives me anxiety!
Comment