Any one mod the SMI Air Force One indicator?

JimM68 wrote:
I have an SMI stay n play, it used the same "stick to the toads rearview mirror" light.

I cannot see it. I've tried different lights and different mountings, nothing.

The "auto-brightness" on our camera system adjusts it right out, like instantly.

Jim,

THat is exactly what I thought it would be. I don't want to have my eyes off the road trying to figure out if the light is on or not. A dash light you can see out or your peripheral vision.

jeff

DSDP Don wrote:
I bought an Air Force One unit several years ago and it came with the red dash light. As stated there is an extra wire in the seven pin connector. I ran one wire the length of the coach and used a ground on the dash to complete the circuit. I mounted the light in the dash so it could be easily seen without looking around for it. It's a good test at a stop light to make sure all the connectors are still connected.....step hard on the brake and the light comes on.

Fast forward to three days ago. The old style Air Force One tapped into the air brake can, which the DOT and in my case Freightliner says is a no no. Now that we have a new coach, I ordered the newer version of the Air Force One which comes with it's own brake valve and ping tank that mounts to the coach. They really improved the system and eliminated wires and hoses by incorporating everything into two control units. The new one comes with a small red LED strip that is designed to mount on the back side of the towed mirror and can be seen in the camera. I'll just reuse the light on the dash.

Here's another issue some may experience. A lot of the new cars have dead brake lights when the ignition is turned off. On my other vehicles, if you step on the brakes with the vehicle off, no keys in the ignition, the brakes lights would still illuminate. On my Chevrolet Silverado, I have the dead brake lights. To overcome this, I mounted a small roller arm switch to the brake pedal that opens when the pedal moves and sends a signal to the light on the dash.

I'm mounting the towed components today. Their new system eliminates four wires and the need to have a secondary cable between the coach and towed.

It does sound like a big improvement over the original. I wasn't aware of that. I crawled under the coach today to see what I am facing. It is a bit tighter than I thought it was. Still trying to understand all the hoses and valves!

jeff

jwmII wrote:
I still use the SMI Plug and Play unit. It came with a transmitter that is connected to the towed brake light switch. When the brakes activate it transmits a signal to a receiver you locate at your convenience in the coach. It uses a 12 volt outlet for power. There is a red led that indicates brake status. Hopefully SMI still offers this for sale. I usually place the transmitter in the toad over the rear view mirror during towing. Works great.

This is exactly what I was hoping to find searching around the internet. I didn't think of checking SMI. I will do that. Thanks.

jeff

pigman1 wrote:
The seven pin connector has one pole that says BRAKE. This pole is already run to an unused wire under your RV dash where you could install a trailer brake controller. Hook your AF1 tow bar light to that pin, and get a 12V red LED you can put on your dash from Radio shack. Second leg of the LED goes to ground and you're done. I've done it on 3 AF1 installs on 3 different coaches.

Ah! I forgot about that. The PO actually had a brake controller mounted on the dash, which I removed. The wires are there. I'll double check it to make sure it is what I think it is. That sounds like an excellent way to do it. Thanks much!

jeff

I still use the SMI Plug and Play unit. It came with a transmitter that is connected to the towed brake light switch. When the brakes activate it transmits a signal to a receiver you locate at your convenience in the coach. It uses a 12 volt outlet for power. There is a red led that indicates brake status. Hopefully SMI still offers this for sale. I usually place the transmitter in the toad over the rear view mirror during towing. Works great.

I have an SMI stay n play, it used the same "stick to the toads rearview mirror" light.

I cannot see it. I've tried different lights and different mountings, nothing.

The "auto-brightness" on our camera system adjusts it right out, like instantly.

I bought an Air Force One unit several years ago and it came with the red dash light. As stated there is an extra wire in the seven pin connector. I ran one wire the length of the coach and used a ground on the dash to complete the circuit. I mounted the light in the dash so it could be easily seen without looking around for it. It's a good test at a stop light to make sure all the connectors are still connected.....step hard on the brake and the light comes on.

Fast forward to three days ago. The old style Air Force One tapped into the air brake can, which the DOT and in my case Freightliner says is a no no. Now that we have a new coach, I ordered the newer version of the Air Force One which comes with it's own brake valve and ping tank that mounts to the coach. They really improved the system and eliminated wires and hoses by incorporating everything into two control units. The new one comes with a small red LED strip that is designed to mount on the back side of the towed mirror and can be seen in the camera. I'll just reuse the light on the dash.

Here's another issue some may experience. A lot of the new cars have dead brake lights when the ignition is turned off. On my other vehicles, if you step on the brakes with the vehicle off, no keys in the ignition, the brakes lights would still illuminate. On my Chevrolet Silverado, I have the dead brake lights. To overcome this, I mounted a small roller arm switch to the brake pedal that opens when the pedal moves and sends a signal to the light on the dash.

I'm mounting the towed components today. Their new system eliminates four wires and the need to have a secondary cable between the coach and towed.

The seven pin connector has one pole that says BRAKE. This pole is already run to an unused wire under your RV dash where you could install a trailer brake controller. Hook your AF1 tow bar light to that pin, and get a 12V red LED you can put on your dash from Radio shack. Second leg of the LED goes to ground and you're done. I've done it on 3 AF1 installs on 3 different coaches.

smlranger wrote:
I've had the AF1 on two motorhomes and I ran a wire from the toad to the coach dash for the red LED indicator. I think the idea of putting the indicator light in the toad (mounted to the rear view mirror or somewhere on the toad's dashboard) is for folks who don't want to run the wire. I just wanted the indicator in the coach. Running the wire is not too bad, just takes time to do it and get it routed up to the coach dash. On my first DP, I got lucky and found an unused wire that ran from the rear to the area behind the brake pedal.

You are going to love the AF1. I was so happy to get rid of the dopey Apollo thing in the floorboard.

Thanks. I was thinking that might be the easiest method. Did you put the wire in one of your existing pins on the light hookups, or do you have a separate plug to connect each time?

jeff

I've had the AF1 on two motorhomes and I ran a wire from the toad to the coach dash for the red LED indicator. I think the idea of putting the indicator light in the toad (mounted to the rear view mirror or somewhere on the toad's dashboard) is for folks who don't want to run the wire. I just wanted the indicator in the coach. Running the wire is not too bad, just takes time to do it and get it routed up to the coach dash. On my first DP, I got lucky and found an unused wire that ran from the rear to the area behind the brake pedal.

You are going to love the AF1. I was so happy to get rid of the dopey Apollo thing in the floorboard.