Upper TV cabinet fans

[JLMunsil]

The fans in the back of the front upper TV cabinets ran when the tv was turned on and now they don't. They still work when the key is on and the switch down by the radio is on. When I traced the wires they go to a relay. Terminal 30 is hot all the time, 85 is ground, 87 is feed for fans (it's hot when the switch is on), and 86 signal comes from a 120 volt feed thru a little black sealed one inch square plastic box. One wire goes to 86 and one goes to 30 from the little box. The box is labled current switch. The 120v feed comes from a plug box where the DTV receiver is pluged in so it looks like a constant feed when 120v is available. Two other wires that come in together one to 87 and one to 85. Anyone know how all this works and what might be wrong?

[EngineerMike]

I'm guessing:
dash switch provides 12V directly to the coil, or else 12V bypassing the relay altogether to power the fans.
the magic box sends 12V to the relay coil when 120V is passing thru to the TV, etc.

If no 12V to when 120V is flowing, the magic may have faded.

[JLMunsil]

I discovered the problem. The dash switch provides 12v directly to the relay. The current switch supplies 12v to the relay when 120v is passing thru to the TV just like you said Mike. The magic faded when I unpluged the TV from the Lock-Out plug box and into another so it would turn on going down the road. The Lock-Out box is what feeds the magic box (current switch). The TV must be pluged into the Lock-Out box, and the key off, for the fans to come on when the TV is turned on.

[OldForester]

After dealing with this fan issue around the TV cabinet multiple times, including installing quiet fans from Home Theater Cooling, I finally gave up and changed out the raised panel in the cabinet doors on both sides of the TV to bronze mesh at Quartzite this year. Now I get all the heat escape I need without the fans. Plus all the various remote controls just work directly through the mesh, which helps because I can never seem to keep the Harmony programmed to keep up with the various changes we've made to the TV receiver, satellite, etc.

Life is just simpler with meshed doors. Allows me to enjoy a very cold martini before I cook dinner while watching the news and think that E-Mike is probably doing the same thing. (Shaken, not stirred, and with good gin, of course).

[Dale777]

OldForester,

Your bronze mesh on the cabinet doors on both sides of the TV sounds like a great idea. Do you happen to have a picture that you could post?

[OldForester]

Dale,

I'll be visiting the coach in the storage area sometime this weekend and I'll take a picture or two and post them.

[OldForester]

Dale,

Here's a few pictures I took today, and hope they come through. Forgot to take my good camera with me so these are taken with my I-Phone, and not as good, with no flash, but it should give you the idea.

The guys from Amazing Creations in Junction City, Or, did the work on these at Quartzite. They did a nice job and did it quickly. I don't have their address phone handy, but I could retrieve it if you wish. Not that hard to do if you have a router handy, a pneumatic stapler, and the bronze mesh you like.

[wa8yxm]

On my coach the compartments either side of the TV had dark tinted plastic "Windows" in the doors.. On one side I replaced it with a black anodized window screen.

Looks good, and vents very well.

[Dale777]

OldForester,

WOW, that is nice. Thanks a lot for the pictures.

[Rick J Fisher]

A warning on those side hinged equipment doors. My '07 had a Hyundai tv with no speakers. Had to use the Home Theatre for sound. Ok until the door over the driver swung out too far and the knob hit the tv screen. The LCD screens are very thin glass, not like the old CRTs. Screen destroyed and unrepairable. Replaced with a Sharp from Costco with down facing speakers. It fit perfectly side to side, just hung a little lower. Don't need the home theatre when watching tv anymore. Put a limit strap on the door.

[Old Rv'er]

Yeah, I have thought of the same thing. But now after hearing your tail, it's on my hot list before we head down south. Thank you for the warning. For the left and right doors which run into cabinets on the sides of the coach, we put a little felt pad, which you can get at home depot or lowes, which are used as bottoms for chair legs or such things or drawer bummpers when they close. Keeps the handle from scaring up the nice cherry finish.

[Jim A]

The plasma screen in the '04 is angled, and the door will hit the side of the plasma well before the knob hits the glass screen. An unexpected benefit, I guess.