Community Forums

P-WBob · 07-02-2015, 01:01 PM

I'm a newby with a 2014 Pleasure-Way Lexor TS 21" Camper Van. Does anyone have advice about replacing coax cable from the roof antenna, It got cut when getting between the antenna base and a low overhang. A Homer Simpson moment for sure - “DOH!!”. Winegard advises on their installation page not to put any connectors or it might short out the unit so it sounds like the whole cable has to be replaced. A couple of technical questions. Question 1: Does PW use a single piece of coax from the antenna to the amplifier jack in the coach or is there a connector at the antenna base plate where the cable emerges from the roof? That would be ideal since the cable wouldn’t have to be routed through the coach to the jack in the closet. Even though it’s a short distance, something tells me it would not be easy? Question 2: If the entire cable does have to be replaced would it be simple enough to use the old cable to pull through the new cable or are there nooks and crannies where it would get hung up? Thanks.

Half Dimes · 07-02-2015, 02:25 PM

Don't know anything about PW and I know you said it's not what Winegard recommends, but I think I would put connectors on each end of the cut cable. Once you know it works, then put some heat shrink tubing over the connection to seal it from the weather.

Jcr5353 · 07-02-2015, 08:12 PM

Try the PW Group site on yahoo. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...tions/messages

wa8yxm · 07-03-2015, 12:33 PM

The good news is it may not be the job you think it is.

Burried in that mound of caulk at the base of the antenna,,Or just under it,, SHOULD be a connecor (Double Female) and all you need to do is replace from that point up to the antenna and re-caulk. (Dicor NOT the self leveling kind though).

P-WBob · 07-05-2015, 05:03 PM

Thanks to all for the advice. I decided to splice the cable together. Although I had installed coax connectors over the years to connect TVs in the house, usually they were of the twist-on type. And whenever the cable techs would come over after being called for pixelation, they would replace those twist-ons with compression ones in the course of troubleshooting the problem. So I figured I'd do it right this time. I now know more than I wanted to about compression fittings and the proprietary tools to put them on. If you see a taped up Belden Snap-n-Seal compression tool on the shelf at the local HD, that was me. I ended up using "F" type universal compression fitting and a universal tool since that was the only one available with the RG59 fittings. I finished by using a double female fitting and the shrink tubing. Did the scan on the TV and ended up with nearly 100 viewable channels at our house in the Houston burbs.

nothermark · 07-05-2015, 05:34 PM

Good job. I was going to suggest what you did. ;-)

wa8yxm · 07-07-2015, 10:23 AM

I have the needed tool in my kit.. I buy them in moderate bulk and fix at least one fellow RVer's TV per year.. Some years I use multiple Compression fittings.. I think I used six last year.. So far this year all the repairs (2) have involved knowing which button to push.