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Old 07-30-2015, 03:30 PM   #1
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Thermostat No Display - Help

I have a V3990, with 3 AC units. Came back to the trailer the other day and the display was blank and it is summer time

I checked all fuses and breakers, all good. I have both DC and AC at the ZONE 1 AC.

Any ideas where to start for a fix VS unhooking the trailer and leaving the RV Park to correct. I am mechanical enough to trouble shoot and not worried about getting dirty.

Thanks for any help
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Old 07-30-2015, 03:38 PM   #2
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forgot to mention, I did take my thermostat and plugged into another RV, works fine. Dometic CCC2
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Old 07-30-2015, 09:43 PM   #3
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Is that one of those fancy ones with the phone cable style connectors? Someone on here was getting error codes because the ends were bad.

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Old 07-30-2015, 10:08 PM   #4
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Is that one of those fancy ones with the phone cable style connectors? Someone on here was getting error codes because the ends were bad.

Aaron
Yes, uses a RJ11 (phone jack)

Trying to understand the daisy chain, the "phone line" is gray at the thermostat, Gray at the front BR AC, but black at the middle AC on the outside cover box????

I never opened the rear AC, as it should be the last part of the chain and non-issue?
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Old 07-31-2015, 12:18 AM   #5
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I am not familiar with that system, I have a real simple A/C unit... it has little numbers on the front and you use the up and down arrow buttons. (Think Whirlpool window unit). Without a wiring diagram I have no clue as to what does or does not make your system work. But based on my sparse knowledge of what they are trying to do, yes a single bad connection in the series could be a problem. Given the wonderful QC in today's RV world it could be anything from a crappy connection to a fried control board all the way up to a dud unit, and with three of them you are going to have fun trouble shooting it.

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Old 08-02-2015, 11:54 PM   #6
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I do have a sense of humor, so thanks for the useless responses all in fun

Not to mention as you dig into these units, if you did not have a sense of humor you would walk around mad all the time at the stupidity of what they do while making them.

I found the problem, it was on the ZONE 1 AC unit, went on the roof and took the cover off and they mount the control box under the cover, ZONE 2 they have behind the filter and ZON3 was under the roof top cover as well. ZONE 1, I was thrown back by the different color "Phone" cable and chased for a splice a couple hours. I scratched my head way too long, figured I would chase the wire backwards from the AC unit into the coach, took the condenser front cover from the return air off the roof top. There it was, air vent full of saw dust and chunks of wood from cutting in the AC unit, amazing how sloppy they are. The vent had water in it and the cables were run in the vent, laying in the water, which included phone couplers and the cause of my bad connection. I did not have my camera, but will go back up and get pictures of the sloppy work.
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Old 08-31-2015, 04:45 PM   #7
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Took these pictures, what a mess in wiring and saw dust everywhere.

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Old 08-31-2015, 04:45 PM   #8
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Old 08-31-2015, 05:44 PM   #9
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Yah, its crazy how sloppy they are. I just can't believe people are that lazy or rushed to do such a haphazard job. BTW I have a 3990 and we stayed in Hot Springs AR this August... one of the hottest days... Wonderful RV park (RVC) and they had A/C problems, wife mentions the air is fortunately good in RV to check-in lady... yep she couldn't stop the words fast enough... all 3 units and nothing. Turned out to be exactly like your problem except the phone plug wasn't clipped into extension and just bounced out apparently. I have a very good toner and it still took me 2 days and I even ended up calling out a tech. (always worth the $100 for me in learning). Glad you figured it out.
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Old 09-02-2015, 12:31 PM   #10
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Yah, its crazy how sloppy they are. I just can't believe people are that lazy or rushed to do such a haphazard job. BTW I have a 3990 and we stayed in Hot Springs AR this August... one of the hottest days... Wonderful RV park (RVC) and they had A/C problems, wife mentions the air is fortunately good in RV to check-in lady... yep she couldn't stop the words fast enough... all 3 units and nothing. Turned out to be exactly like your problem except the phone plug wasn't clipped into extension and just bounced out apparently. I have a very good toner and it still took me 2 days and I even ended up calling out a tech. (always worth the $100 for me in learning). Glad you figured it out.
Exactly, if you do this type of quality in my business, you find your self looking for another job
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Old 09-02-2015, 02:53 PM   #11
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Exactly, if you do this type of quality in my business, you find your self looking for another job
I think that is true for a lot of us. But then again the RV industry couldn't afford us!

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Old 09-03-2015, 02:05 AM   #12
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I think that is true for a lot of us. But then again the RV industry couldn't afford us!

Aaron
lol.. no kidding, but I'm really tempted to start building one... Jeeze, can you imagine how much money could be saved by having standards? I was a Flight Engineer for the military for 14 years and man they screw stuff up, but we had standards and tech orders that showed how every aircraft was built and I can open any tech order book and find exactly what i'm looking for and where. It would have to save tons of money for them if they just ran wires the same way and had some sort of common design. In cable alone never mind the warranty's.
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Old 09-03-2015, 10:08 AM   #13
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lol.. no kidding, but I'm really tempted to start building one... Jeeze, can you imagine how much money could be saved by having standards? I was a Flight Engineer for the military for 14 years and man they screw stuff up, but we had standards and tech orders that showed how every aircraft was built and I can open any tech order book and find exactly what i'm looking for and where. It would have to save tons of money for them if they just ran wires the same way and had some sort of common design. In cable alone never mind the warranty's.
There have been some great ones like that out there, problem is they don't seem to last. People want the golly gee whiz stuff for Walmart prices. There are still a few companies that actually build consistently but it ain't Dutchmen!

Lazy Daze and Born Free are two that come to mind. Another is Oliver Travel trailers. It seems the bigger they get the sloppier they get. Profits and production trump everything else. I have been looking at a larger TT right now Lance is the leading contender, they are nearly twice the price of the similarly sized big boy builders but use better materials and seem to have a better fit and finish. They ain't perfect but when you call the factory you actually get answers and quite often they can provide wiring diagrams.

The other thing I really wonder about is the pricing structure. I can build a quality unit and sell it for a certain price point, along comes Dutchmen with an inflated MSRP, the dealer deep discounts it. Joe Public thinks he is getting a better deal because the Dutchmen (or any other large manufacturer) is being sold for less. IMHO the "MSRP" is smoke and mirrors and I suspect is about 5-6 times what it actually costs to build the trailer. Most RV's appear to sell for around 25% off MSRP. With a few deeper discounts when they need to really move them. I find it hard to believe that dealers are really selling them at that low a profit margin.

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Old 09-03-2015, 02:54 PM   #14
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lol.. no kidding, but I'm really tempted to start building one... Jeeze, can you imagine how much money could be saved by having standards? I was a Flight Engineer for the military for 14 years and man they screw stuff up, but we had standards and tech orders that showed how every aircraft was built and I can open any tech order book and find exactly what i'm looking for and where. It would have to save tons of money for them if they just ran wires the same way and had some sort of common design. In cable alone never mind the warranty's.
I have a 5th wheel that was built well. I took a factory tour of the Teton plant the year after we bought ours. Talk about well built & first rate design & craftsmanship, that's a Teton. It's twelve years old & the wood inside still looks like the day I bought it.
I bought the " smallest & cheapest one " they made. My 2003 33' Teton cost me $13,000 more than I payed for my 2014 39' V3605.
Yea they sure don't make them like they use to. Oh & Teton aren't made any more.
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Old 09-03-2015, 09:35 PM   #15
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If you're going to build a unit, get Cale and Aaron on the build team! I'll place my order now.
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Old 09-03-2015, 09:42 PM   #16
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I have a 5th wheel that was built well. I took a factory tour of the Teton plant the year after we bought ours. Talk about well built & first rate design & craftsmanship, that's a Teton. It's twelve years old & the wood inside still looks like the day I bought it.
I bought the " smallest & cheapest one " they made. My 2003 33' Teton cost me $13,000 more than I payed for my 2014 39' V3605.
Yea they sure don't make them like they use to. Oh & Teton aren't made any more.
Loved those Tetons back in the day. I had a buddy that did pipeline work. His was a custom Teton, all options. IIRC it was a 44' triple axle and grossed at something insane like 35K#. Ceramic Tile floors, gas fire place, solid surface counter tops, etc, etc. He towed with a Class 7 Kenworth. It sold for close to $100,000 back in the early 1990's. It is probably still around somewhere, those babies were built to last.

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Old 09-03-2015, 11:07 PM   #17
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If you're going to build a unit, get Cale and Aaron on the build team! I'll place my order now.
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Break out the check book! I guarantee it will be a Platinum model.

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Old 09-05-2015, 04:30 PM   #18
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lol.. no kidding, but I'm really tempted to start building one... Jeeze, can you imagine how much money could be saved by having standards? I was a Flight Engineer for the military for 14 years and man they screw stuff up, but we had standards and tech orders that showed how every aircraft was built and I can open any tech order book and find exactly what i'm looking for and where. It would have to save tons of money for them if they just ran wires the same way and had some sort of common design. In cable alone never mind the warranty's.
I agree, the documentation is terrible for trailers. Motorhomes, on the other hand, have excellent owner's manuals that tell how things work, unlike our trailers. I've been looking at 8-10 year old diesel pushers and can access their sales brochures and owner manuals on-line.

A side note, my father-in-law was a USAF C-130 FE. Retired mid-70's. He loved that airplane and his job.
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Old 09-05-2015, 04:40 PM   #19
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One other A/C point. When I bought my 3600 I had to re-tape the main's ducts and the interior vents. I realized that there still wasn't proper airflow. Turns out the two intake registers in the kitchen had partially collapsed ducting. Inserted a 1" PVC into each duct to prop it up and now we have great airflow. I also replaced the 360* vents with Spaceports - works much better. Venting Products / AC Vents / "Spaceport" #8841 Fully Adjustable RV AC Ceiling Vent - DW Inc.
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Old 09-05-2015, 06:00 PM   #20
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A side note, my father-in-law was a USAF C-130 FE. Retired mid-70's. He loved that airplane and his job.


My week long excursion to Vietnam was in the guts of a C130, cold as hell and a relief tube up front. USAF fed us cheese sandwiches while on the plane, for obvious reasons. Maybe he flew me there, fortunately on the return trip it was a commercial plane with windows and women.
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