Can an Xite radio be repaired?

[dcgettinby]

The navigation function on my radio suddenly quit working (just outside warranty of course). When "NAV" is selected, all I see is "No video detected". All other functions seem to work just fine.

NIRVC tells me the radio is NOT repairable. Is that correct?

I was quoted ~$1700 for replacement, which may or may not include an extra ~$450 navigation module. Seems outrageous to me, regardless of whether the replacement cost is $1700, OR $2150. It's also hard to imagine that there are no provisions for repair on such an expensive device.

Given navigation seems to be the only problem, would a new ~$450 navigation module solve the problem?

FWIW, I've tried the salesman switch. I've also disconnected shore power, chassis batteries, and house batteries without joy.

Thanks in advance!

[Tizbad]

Call River Park. They are the supplier for the Xite radio and are very helpful. (800) 442-7717

[UMXHAULER]

Had the exact same issue on my 21 DS-out of warranty of course. I did call Riverpark and they said to check to see if the firmware for the nav is still there. Of course it disappeared. They said only way to fix is to replace the entire unit-too expensive for the crappy nav it has. I had already bought and use a Garmin 1090 for navigation before the head unit crapped out and thus I have no plans on replacing the stock unit. If you don't want to use an external nav system, there are way better units you can purchase and have been discussed in many threads on this forum. IMO this Riverpark stuff is the most overpriced, difficult to use, and low quality unit a manufacture could install. Reminds me of those old junky am/fm, dvd all in one players they install in the wall on old trailers-maybe worse!

[Tedj101]

Originally Posted by UMXHAULER

Had the exact same issue on my 21 DS-out of warranty of course. I did call Riverpark and they said to check to see if the firmware for the nav is still there. Of course it disappeared. They said only way to fix is to replace the entire unit-too expensive for the crappy nav it has. I had already bought and use a Garmin 1090 for navigation before the head unit crapped out and thus I have no plans on replacing the stock unit. If you don't want to use an external nav system, there are way better units you can purchase and have been discussed in many threads on this forum. IMO this Riverpark stuff is the most overpriced, difficult to use, and low quality unit a manufacture could install. Reminds me of those old junky am/fm, dvd all in one players they install in the wall on old trailers-maybe worse!

I agree. There is a Kenwood unit that will fit the opening that has Garmin NAV. The Garmin NAV is night and day better than the Excite NAV. There are threads here that discuss this topic in detail.

<TED>

[dcgettinby]

I completely agree that the stock radio is junk. In my mind however, it's even worse that a company like Newmar uses this junk in their lineup. Very sad, very disappointing!

That said, I am very concerned about the camera system, which seems to be tied in someway to the radio. While I'm not opposed at all to replacing the "radio", I would NEVER do that if it meant losing the camera system!

I've tried searching the forums for a better understanding of the radio/camera relationship. So far, I've been unable to find any definitive info. Can the radio be replaced without impact on the cameras?

Thanks!

[PetesMH]

Personally, I wouldn’t bother fixing it. I threw mine in the trash early on and replaced it with a nice mid level Kenwood and a Garmin 890RV mounted atop the dash. Much much better!

[UMXHAULER]

Originally Posted by dcgettinby

I completely agree that the stock radio is junk. In my mind however, it's even worse that a company like Newmar uses this junk in their lineup. Very sad, very disappointing!

That said, I am very concerned about the camera system, which seems to be tied in someway to the radio. While I'm not opposed at all to replacing the "radio", I would NEVER do that if it meant losing the camera system!

I've tried searching the forums for a better understanding of the radio/camera relationship. So far, I've been unable to find any definitive info. Can the radio be replaced without impact on the cameras?

Thanks!

I am pretty sure a lot of these aftermarket units have multiple camera inputs. I would assume your new head unit will become the screen and not the extra screen we now have but I am not sure on what I have just claimed. Hopefully someone will chime in who has made the switch and explain how it deals with the camera system/issue.

[dcgettinby]

I called River Park and thought the following summary of that call might be helpful.

First, the fellow at River Park was very nice. He listened patiently, led me thru a quick check of my system, provided an interpretation of the basic problem, and offered his recommendations.

Diagnostic: With the radio on, he asked for Menu->HDMI->BT symbol. A page of stuff popped up where the second line on that page simply read "Nav1: ".

Interpretation: Apparently, the absence of any entry following "Nav1: " means that nav has somehow been wiped off of my core. He said this problem is not repairable, so one would have to spend ~$1000 for a complete replacement, if one insisted on sticking with the original equipment. He likened the problem to a brother/sister relationship. Even though brothers and sisters can often get along, they can also fight from time to time, With respect to the Xite, the head and the nav module do not always get along. So, he apologetically implied buying a complete replacement, at an unreasonably high price, may be little more than a temporary fix since underlying conflicts remain.

Recommendations: He suggested using a standalone GPS. In my case, he also suggested leaving the Xite in place for cameras, radio, blue tooth, etc, because all of those functions are working. He did say that it would be best to pull the nav card. He had no reservations about reliability with nav out of the equation.

[USMCRET]

What a racket

[hogdriver]

Agree that the XCite radio is overpriced and underbuilt. Here’s some thoughts from an owner who had both (XCite and Garmin ).

My traded RV was a 2014 Entegra. The Xcite radio in it kept locking up. I talked with Entegra and Riverpark several times and told them it did it more frequently in the Florida heat. I think it was insufficiently ventilated. Riverpark said “not possible”. The vent fan on that unit was about the size of a silver dollar coin. I’m sure that dash compartment was 120-140F at least. I’ve heard since that time others had problems and heat was suspected.

I replaced the Xcite (easy fit) with a Kenwood Nav unit running Garmin software. The problem is you loose all the steering wheel controls unless you are very experienced with CANBUS controls. The wiring changes were complicated but doable.

I do like some of the data logging in my Xcite Rand McNally. The map is not as good as my Garmin was.

I don’t know why Newmar and Entegra used those Xcite monsters. If I could choose I’d just want a functioning radio that would run with a Garmin map.

[PaulTNaples]

When we picked up our new 22 DS4369 I knew I was replacing with a new Garmin. I tried it the first couple of trips. Plus..screen was big, bright and informative. Minus..kept trying to make me exit an interstate. Height and weight restrictions were ok. My new Garmin RV 1090 is way better. More info, better routing, nice display. I mounted it in the area right above the Xcite. I will say the Xcite does a good job with music and phone. I stream Sirius XM and Pandora from my phone.

[UMXHAULER]

Originally Posted by dcgettinby

I called River Park and thought the following summary of that call might be helpful.

First, the fellow at River Park was very nice. He listened patiently, led me thru a quick check of my system, provided an interpretation of the basic problem, and offered his recommendations.

Diagnostic: With the radio on, he asked for Menu->HDMI->BT symbol. A page of stuff popped up where the second line on that page simply read "Nav1: ".

Interpretation: Apparently, the absence of any entry following "Nav1: " means that nav has somehow been wiped off of my core. He said this problem is not repairable, so one would have to spend ~$1000 for a complete replacement, if one insisted on sticking with the original equipment. He likened the problem to a brother/sister relationship. Even though brothers and sisters can often get along, they can also fight from time to time, With respect to the Xite, the head and the nav module do not always get along. So, he apologetically implied buying a complete replacement, at an unreasonably high price, may be little more than a temporary fix since underlying conflicts remain.

Recommendations: He suggested using a standalone GPS. In my case, he also suggested leaving the Xite in place for cameras, radio, blue tooth, etc, because all of those functions are working. He did say that it would be best to pull the nav card. He had no reservations about reliability with nav out of the equation.

I went through same diagnostic with them and the exact same result. Thus, the Xite is a piece of junk-confirmed! Being nice and actually standing behind your product are two different things. I would hope that Newmar finds another supplier in the future for this is unacceptable. Newmar should lay down an ultimatum with them-either fix the issues or we are moving to a different product-it's as simple as that.

[creativepart]

The Xite system in my motorhome was definitely heat sensitive. Winnebago uses the 10” monitor in the dash and puts the actual guts, the Core Unit, in an upper cabinet which gets super heated from a black stripe on the top of the windshield. We tested the temps in that cabinet near 140 degrees on a sunny day.

This heat destroyed the Core Unit, but it was within a month of buying the new RV. So, Riverpark immediately replaced the Core Unit for free.

After that I had less problems but the heat was still an issue in that cabinet so I removed the insides of the cabinet and insulated the entire area with standard pink fiberglass behind the walls of the cabinet. This totally fixed the problems. Temps dropped from that 140 to the ambient air temps inside the RV.

I know others have added computer fans, etc to remove some heat, too. One guy had great success by putting a wide white strip of vinyl over the black stripe at the top of the windshield. The windshield itself isn’t the issue. Just that black stripe painted on the backside of the upper top of the windshield gets super hot.

Since replacing the core unit (for free) and reducing the heat problem our Xite has worked great for nearly 6-years. Many don’t like Rand McNally’s GPS but once you learn the way to program and interact with it we find it just as good as the Garmin system we’ve used in the past. It does work differently than the Garmin and that puts people off.