Not Happy witn new Tiffin

[jfskeet]

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

[Bird_Freak]

Could be a lot worse. Could be sitting on a dealers lot for weeks or months with out anyone even looking at it.

[mrekim]

Any update?

[hostage]

Tntman wrote:
I am relaxed. This is a problem because this post has an effect on Tiffin. Bob is a fair man and will see to it a problem gets fixed. I understand frustration, but he should have read the posts about how Bob repairs the product he sells. If he had read the posts, he would have called and been happy. I will bet he doesn't post the resolution.

again I fully agree;; I could perhaps understand his post and reasons to post had he owned this thing for many weeks or months and this problem was never/not being rectified but less than 4 days? give us a break here;; the dealer and tiffin are working hard to find the fault by his own admission;; I hope he posts the fault(cause) and the repair for sure

[Tntman]

I am relaxed. This is a problem because this post has an effect on Tiffin. Bob is a fair man and will see to it a problem gets fixed. I understand frustration, but he should have read the posts about how Bob repairs the product he sells. If he had read the posts, he would have called and been happy. I will bet he doesn't post the resolution.

[hostage]

Tntman wrote:
I certainly didn't mean Bob would fix the coach, you sure made a reach with that one. Bob will see to it that the problem isn't resolved to the customers satisfaction, very quickly. That was the jist of my post. I am sorry you took it wrong. I get a little upset when someone posts a derogatory comment without checking all the options. Bob TAKES care of his customers. Try calling the CEO of any other manufacturer, bet it doesn't happen. Bob ALWAYS answers to his customers.

relax I totally understood your post and 100% agree; the electrical problem this guy has will get fixed no doubt;; I understand the OP frustration but really crying here will not fix it It sounds to me the dealership and tiffin are working very hard to rectify this problem
EOS

[Tntman]

I certainly didn't mean Bob would fix the coach, you sure made a reach with that one. Bob will see to it that the problem is resolved to the customers satisfaction, very quickly. That was the jist of my post. I am sorry you took it wrong. I get a little upset when someone posts a derogatory comment without checking all the options. Bob TAKES care of his customers. Try calling the CEO of any other manufacturer, bet it doesn't happen. Bob ALWAYS answers to his customers.

[cartmancartman]

OP great post and I completely agree. Padre I also agree, it is horrific from ridiculously overpriced units to shady sales people running rampant, its disgusting. I attended one RV factory tour and it was pure chaos, units being slapped together and not thoroughly checked. I bought one of these units and will never deal with that vendor again, way too many issues from small to large. Unfortunately that is how the RV business is and will stay, I highly doubt there will be international competition, I wish there was, so they would put out a thorough product. As long as the consumer puts up with it, it will only get worse. Hopefully they will catch on and the forums will provide a voice for us. I was very close to buying a Jayco Seneca but once I heard all the issues online and the issues a friend had, I will not buy their product.

[mike_brez]

hostage wrote:

jplante4 wrote:
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.

good post and exactly what I was trying to say;; yes it sucks your having a problem;; sounds to me there doing every thing available to try and trace/fix the problem;;still don't understand the post heading at all

The headline NOT HAPPY you don't understand? Seriously.
Have some more of the Kool Aid

[Mr_Mark1]

My Brother and his wife are on their 2nd Tiffin (2015 Allegro Bus) and 5th RV that included a TT in the beginning.

Sure, there have been adjustments on both of his Tiffin's and Bob gave my brother is personal cell number to call him if there were any problems. If my brother could stay away from trees, poles and dumpsters, he wouldn't be on a first name basis with his paint guy! LOL!

Safe travels,
MM.

[hostage]

jplante4 wrote:
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.

good post and exactly what I was trying to say;; yes it sucks your having a problem;; sounds to me there doing every thing available to try and trace/fix the problem;;still don't understand the post heading at all

[Bruce_Brown]

jfskeet wrote:
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 second to last paragraph, discussing how everything works in the morning;

That is a classic sign of a poor connection somewhere in the system. When everything is cold the connection is tight enough to maintain contact. When thing heat up, even slightly, they loose what contact they had and fail to work. Let everything cool off and they start working again. This has happened with electrical systems since the first electrical system was built.

My parents Tiffin, without a Spyder system, also had electrical issues. A trip to Red Bay fixed it temporally as it failed again before they made it home. It was finally fixed in my garage - on a smaller scale but much in the same way Doug described, tracing one wire at a time.

[padre1944]

hostage wrote:
your post headline is ridiculous;; so u have a brand new MH and have a electrical problem (nothing new) tiffin is doing their very best to rectify the situation what more do you expect???

You expect Quality from the start and testing by the manufacturer. Detroit finally got the message due to competition from Japan. Their cars are much better now. We are getting poor quality from RV makers no matter how much some want to excuse it.

[Ivylog]

BobGed wrote:

Spyder Controls Basics

Bob, thanks for posting but after 7 minutes of watching it confirmed why I'll never own a coach with a multiplex control system...way too many problems that can be very hard to find and expensive to repair/replace.
After watching for 7 minutes, YOU DO NOT NEED ANY DIAGRAMS specific to your rig.

OP, I think you are handling this well having bought a new rig and having a planned trip about to be ruined because no one knows how to trouble shoot this complex system that based on the above video has been around since 2015...not new to your 2018 rig. A good tech willing to watch/understand the above two video can probably solve your problem with Doug's trouble shooting guide above.

As usual Doug has given you the best trouble shooting help for free.

Intermittent problems are the worst to solve and at least your dealer seems to be trying to get it fixed so you can get on the road. Tiffin needs to send someone who knows the Spyder system so your vacation is not ruined.

[Goldencrazy]

I give you Tiffin Owners credit for loyalty. They are a nice coach but not without problems and when you spend weeks ar Red Bay you still are defending the brand.

[BobGed]

Should you need a contact at Spyder Controls, I would recommend Curtis Letniak, Direct toll free (866) 919-9092, direct (403) 782-9738

He is the one that does their very informative videos such as the following two:
Power Management Module
Spyder Controls Basics