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jfskeet's avatar
jfskeet
Explorer
Aug 04, 2017

Not Happy witn new Tiffin

Well this is day 4 of owning a 2018 Tiffin 34 PA, and not at all happy. Tuesday electrical on spyder system failed when we got it home from signing papers Tuesday. Took it back first thing Wednesday morning dealer tech found a couple of problems and tighten and repaired connections.
Brought it home Wednesday afternoon and we started loading for trip next week, and then Thursday morning all electric failed again, anything controlled by spyder system,. Dealer called Red Bay and a tech from Tiffin called me to help .He said he had no idea whats in a 2018 but it I told what system it had he might be able to help.He talked me though and we found faults in control. He was able to tell me how to retract the slides thru control box and told me to take it to dealer. Tech was waiting when I pulled up and saw the fault light, as it was quitting time they pulled it in bays. This morning, no faults, And everything working. They called Tiffin and no help, as no diagrams yet, next they called spyder controls and they were no help and diagrams is not available yet!!!
Dealer trying to get Tiffin to send tech up, they got 14 man hrs and are no closer to finding problem. Tech will work Saturday on it again and hope it faults again. Service manager said they are afraid to let me have it with nothing found!!!

How can a pair of companies not have schematics of their systems.
Beginning to feel sorry I bought a Tiffin
  • Okay, I have a Phaeton and have had issues. But the factory has fixed them all. New coaches have problems, what is different is Bob Tiffin. You may have called him direct before posting derogatory comments. Tiffin builds lots of coaches and they may have problems, but so does every other manufacturer, just surf this site and you will find problems with every manufacturer.
    Call Bob and he will make sure you are happy, guaranteed.
  • On The Spyder system when you have a complete fault/failure.
    1. You pull the Spyder Module and verify that the 12 volt feed and Ground is tight and secure
    2. You also verify that the regular 14 gauge wiring connectors are tight and secure
    3. Depending on the type fault, you may have to replace ALL the 4 pin Spyder connectors on each wall touchpad and at the Main Spyder module board. Bad Crimps by Tiffin on a few can cause failure on others.
    4. On a Spyder system. IF the complete system fails, you can take just 1 wall module to the main control and plug it in and the Components that the touch pad controls will operate IF the main Control module is GOOD. If it does NOT and you have 12 volt and Ground to the Main Module, then the Main Module needs replaced. That will have to be thru Tiffin as Tiffin must have the Main Module programmed for the various channels that the wall touch pads control. Dealerships cannot do this. Only Tiffin can do it.
    5. Sorry to hear you have this type failure, but this just goes to show, that the Manufacturer and the Phone support are NOT God almighty and have all the answers.
    6. As to wiring schematics for a Spyder system. None are really needed. All you need is 12 volts and ground to the main module. ALL control between the various wall touch pads is done thru the 4 wire connector harness from each wall module to the Main control module. That is why removing 1 or 2 wall modules from the wall and connecting direct to the Main module will yield what and where the fault is.
    7. Maybe the OP will state in detail what the failure was. IF he meant NOTHING on the Spyder system worked at all, then the Main module is suspect as long as the Power is there.
    8. I personally would like to have the Main module pulled and when it fails see if the 12 volt and/or Ground is gone. I also would run a temp 12 volt and ground to the module and see if the failure stopped. Doug





    Thanks for your input Doug, it all sounds reasonable to me. . Its in the hands of dealer and their electrical tech. I was told they had a few calls with Tiffen and got no where so they called spyder and got no where..

    The tech said one issue hes having was after it sits over night it works fine and everything checks out, it did it both times so its hard to track it. I think its a heat issue, It was cleared by the time they started working on it this morning,


    Thanks again Doug, I will pass to dealer one Monday , they are suppose to call me back
  • On The Spyder system when you have a complete fault/failure.
    1. You pull the Spyder Module and verify that the 12 volt feed and Ground is tight and secure
    2. You also verify that the regular 14 gauge wiring connectors are tight and secure
    3. Depending on the type fault, you may have to replace ALL the 4 pin Spyder connectors on each wall touchpad and at the Main Spyder module board. Bad Crimps by Tiffin on a few can cause failure on others.
    4. On a Spyder system. IF the complete system fails, you can take just 1 wall module to the main control and plug it in and the Components that the touch pad controls will operate IF the main Control module is GOOD. If it does NOT and you have 12 volt and Ground to the Main Module, then the Main Module needs replaced. That will have to be thru Tiffin as Tiffin must have the Main Module programmed for the various channels that the wall touch pads control. Dealerships cannot do this. Only Tiffin can do it.
    5. Sorry to hear you have this type failure, but this just goes to show, that the Manufacturer and the Phone support are NOT God almighty and have all the answers.
    6. As to wiring schematics for a Spyder system. None are really needed. All you need is 12 volts and ground to the main module. ALL control between the various wall touch pads is done thru the 4 wire connector harness from each wall module to the Main control module. That is why removing 1 or 2 wall modules from the wall and connecting direct to the Main module will yield what and where the fault is.
    7. Maybe the OP will state in detail what the failure was. IF he meant NOTHING on the Spyder system worked at all, then the Main module is suspect as long as the Power is there.
    8. I personally would like to have the Main module pulled and when it fails see if the 12 volt and/or Ground is gone. I also would run a temp 12 volt and ground to the module and see if the failure stopped. Doug
  • Maybe Doug on this forum who works at a Tiffin dealer can help you shed more light..he is an expert, plain and simple...I'd also check out Spyder on the web, maybe there is some documentation available...Even my Entegra had issues on delivery and one got taken care of immediately and one I had to get a tech but they stood behind the coach.
  • jplante4

    I know all about new RV issues as this is my 4th, The issue i have is not having any schematics on the system, wouldn't you think that would be a priority when you putting units out there, Even your own tech should have them so he can answer question, dealer techs are trying thier best but can't get answers.

    J
  • All new coaches have manufacturing issues. You are not immune if you buy an expensive coach. The difference is how well the factory supports it's products. This is where the Tiffins, Newmars, etc. shine. I ran into a guy in Shreveport on my winter trip that was on his third trip back to Red Bay to have stuff fixed. He had been trying to get it back to California for a month.

    Certainly, being around this forum, you did not go into the purchase of a new coach expecting zero problems. Read the thread Control Your Expectations.