Forum Discussion

egh33's avatar
egh33
Explorer
Jul 22, 2016

Dash Radio's Motor Homes

Has any one else had their dash radio go bad?? Maybe it's just me. My first coach after about 5 years old the dash radio just quit completely. Tried a couple of radio shops, both told me they were not worth fixing,so I replaced it.
Now in this coach, (bought it new)which is a Winnebago Adventurer 06 the off & on button has quit working, plus the remote on the steering wheel has quit also. Do those radio's last about like the car radio's back in the 40's & 50's did ? Some of you might remember they didn't last very long at all.
I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

13 Replies

  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    I have had two dash radios die in cars.. Both modern, and my parent's I had to pull it and take it into a shop for rebuild.

    Now back in my parent's day it was a better quality radio

    Today a good number of 'em are made you know where or in another country both of which are kind of lacking in quality control.

    I do have horror stories.
  • Some of the automobiles that I restored still had working tube type radios. With today's electronics I would think that vehicle radios should last forever. I know that the current TV's are much more reliable than those a few decades ago.
    I am guessing that most of the failure comes from mechanical issues caused by the constant earthquake environment that our motor homes endure. Components that are shaken loose/damaged are the main causes of failures. I don't think the same quality exists in aftermarket radios that are used in most RV's.
  • The Magnadyne radio in our previous Monaco Dynasty was just junk. It couldn't pick up a good signal 15 ft. out of a major city. The car radio always worked much better.

    When I would set the tow vehicle up for towing in the mornings and running through the gears, I would search for a radio station in the car first, about 50% of the time, I could get it on the Magnadyne, sometimes not. What irritated me is that when I would 'scan' for a radio station in the motorhome, it would stop on 'staticiky' stations. ???

    The radio in the new coach is much more car-like for reception. I'm not sure of the brand, it does have the Garmin GPS system built-in.

    I should have changed the radio in the Dynasty, I would just play CD's in non-signal area's. I never did sign up for Sirius radio, I have this thing about paying for radio. LOL!

    MM.