Power to back up camera/leveling jacks

[DesertDwellers]

Our back up camera/monitor is giving us fits, as are the people in the service dept of LaMesa RV.

Our display goes out intermittently, usually after rolling over a bump in the road (not speed bump sized, just normal road stuff), which would make it appear to be a loose wire or connection....one bump off, next bump back on. What's odd is when the monitor goes off, (and BTW the power light on the monitor goes off as well) the power to the leveling jacks goes out too.

We've had it into the service dept twice, and while they've been "unable to recreate the issue" they've replaced the monitor and swear there is NO WAY the two power loss issues are connected...it's coincidental!

So as I prepare to take it in again....can anyone offer suggestions to bolster my argument with them? Our coach is an '05 Dolphin.

Thanks,
Jean

[DesertDwellers]

Thanks to all who replied. To clarify one point, the jacks will not move without the parking brake being engaged, however they do have an on/off switch that is illuminated when they have power....monitor loses power, jacks lose power. The rig is at the storage lot, we'll tackle it after the holidays! With the hourly labor rate, I think we'll give it a shot ourselves!

Merry Christmas!

[dougrainer]

Fiesta wrote:
The Levers and Camera should be on separate power sources.
My levers won't come on until the parking brake is set. It's going to take some digging and tracing of wiring. I would rewire both.

You system will not come on until the parking brake is set, BUT, there IS 12 volt ignition power TO the Jack system when the key is on. Your system just will not allow the system to power completely up until it sees the ground signal from the parking brake switch. There is no reason to have these systems on a "separate" power fuse. Most fuses power multiple appliances in RV's. Doug

[dougrainer]

1. The levelers and your Back up are on the ignition side of the chassis fuse block. Hitting a bump causes that 12 volt positive connection to open because it is loose.
2. IF you suspect a Loose Ground(I HATE this statement as it is usually NOT a loose ground), then just run a separate ground wire from the back up monitor harness to a good ground. This eliminates to possible loose ground cause for the back up monitor
3. Since both the Jacks and the back up are affected at the same time, there was NO GOOD reason to replace any of the Back up system parts
4. What needs to be done is, check both the chassis fuse block and the Coach storage area fuse block(this has ignition side chassis appliances on it also on a National product), pull a fuse until both the Back up and the Leveling system goes OFF. Then isolate the wire/s for this fuse. Verify the tightness of the wiring. IF the problem continues, then take that wire and run to another Ignition side power source and retest. IF the problem persists, then the loose connection is between the fuse wire hook up and where the 2 appliances "Y" off. I would NOT attempt to go any further. I would just run a separate good 14 gauge wire from the Ignition side to both the Back up feed and the Leveling feed. Doug

[BTPO1]

I agree with a bad ground. They can be hard to isolate, but I would look at a common point where the levelers and back-up camera come together. JMO

[bullydogs1]

Sounds like a bad ground...

[BennieH]

I would get a schematic and check every connection. No Schematic, I would trace the connections. Look for connectors that aren't crimped properly (wire should not move in the connector - ever!). Check the power distribution panels and look for loose connections there.
Since it seems to be two separate, unrelated items in the dash area, make sure that all of the ground connections are tight as well. A loose/broken ground (or return wire if you wish to call it) will cause strange unrelated power issues.
One big one is that I have seen ground wires connected to a bolt that also holds other items together. Was there work done under around the dash area? Start there.
Wiring can be the biggest pain to troubleshoot.

[Fiesta]

The Levers and Camera should be on separate power sources.
My levers won't come on until the parking brake is set. It's going to take some digging and tracing of wiring. I would rewire both.