Replacing a Furrion AM/FM Radio

[Texas_Nomad]

My Furrion radio died on my last outing and I want to replace it with an identical model, if possible. The radio does not have easy access from the top, bottom, back, or sides. I assume the front faceplate is removable and some screws probably hold it in place. However, I have not been able discover how to remove the faceplate. Does anyone have experience with Furrion products. There must be a simple answer.

[Texas_Nomad]

Mission Accomplished! I removed the faceplate from the Furrion DV3100 and what did I find? A burned out 10 AMP blade fuse. Easy fix. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Gdetrailer]

RickLight wrote:
Yes DVDs are fading, but definitely not gone.

My local Walmart has more Vinyl LPs on the shelf than they have combined CDs, DVDs and Blue Rays if that gives you a feeling of where physical media is heading. All physical media combined fits on one display shelving unit.

I do love having physical media, it can't be removed (censored) from my library like what can happen on the Internet unless I wish to remove it.

But, just as much as I love having physical media, I am smart enough to recognize that it has been pretty much abandoned by buyers but also the manufacturers. In recognizing the fate of physical media is doomed I have been proactive in converting my entire A/V libraries to digital files which I can store on computer drives of various types. Those files down the road can be "converted" to newer media file types as needed as older file types eventually will also not be supported in the future.

Once my CDs/DVDs are ripped, the physical media is now set aside and stored as a final backup method until I can no longer find a DVD drive to by or use..

Everything becomes obsolete over time, 8" floppies, 170K single sided, 360K double sided 5.25 floppies, 720K, 1.44M, 1.8M 3.5" floppies all obsolete and no manufacturers make any of the drives or media for them.. Tape backup drives, obsolete.. The list goes on and on..

Best not to bury one's head in the sand thinking that physical media is not gone.. Going forward in the near future pretty much of the worlds newest A/V content will never be released on physical media, instead it will be released via paid streaming services which are copy protected and controlled.. I don't like it, I don't stream so eventually those newer movies and music I won't be watching, listening nor buying and will not be supporting the artists nor the content creators/distributors.. And I am OK with that.. A lot of the new content it is junk anyways..

[RickLight]

Yes DVDs are fading, but definitely not gone.

[Texas_Nomad]

Thanks for some great ideas. The travel trailer is in a storage facility. I will go down later today and see if I can remove the radio. I'll post how it turns out. Thanks, again.

[Gdetrailer]

RickLight wrote:
Mine died recently too! The front pulls off easily.

Since I need DVD to a TV, car units don't work. Maybe an assemblage of components could work but the price would be extreme.

Replacement with any quality will be tricky. Jensen is a major competitor, but no better and doesn't do HDMI. I found iRV Technology that is sort of a private label importer but has better features and a lower price than Furrion. A few other brands are out there but none impressed me enough to try one. My iRV31 should arrive today.

There are car units which do have DVD players, not as popular but still available. The downside to most car DVD indash units is the video output is Analog Composite (single RCA jack for video) which matches SD video (standard definition) of 480i. Unfortunately, newer TVs no longer include SD Composite video inputs (single RCA), or even analog 720 capable Component (three RCA jack video) but only digital HDMI inputs..

This means to get analog 480i into a TV with HDMI input, you will need to add a "scaler/converter" which converts Analog SD 480i to digital HDMI (note, it doesn't improve the Analog 480i video quality). Scaler/converters are not expensive now days, $20-$30 and typically they use the HDMI port on the TV for power but may be able to use optional 5V powersupply like a USB charging port.

Personally, CDs, DVDs and even Blue Rays are pretty much obsolete just like 8tracks, Reel to reels, cassettes, vinyl records (although these are making a comeback), 8 mm film, 35 mm film, reel to reel video, Beta, VHS, 8mm video, Hi8 video, digital SD video tapes.

PVRs, DVRs and streaming audio/video have unfortunately replaced physical media.

You can also get car units which are able to stream audio/video and/or use digital files from USB flash drives.

CDs and most DVDs are easily ripped and converted to digital media files and you can store them on USB flash drives or external hard drives. Lots of free ripping software out there to choose from.

BlueRays due to copy protections embeded in the data can be problematic to rip.

You can also buy digital media players that plug right into your TVs HDMI port and will play most of the current recognized audio and video media file formats from USB flash drives or external hard drives as long as the files are not copy protected.. $30 can get you those players and they work very well.

[RickLight]

Mine died recently too! The front pulls off easily.

Since I need DVD to a TV, car units don't work. Maybe an assemblage of components could work but the price would be extreme.

Replacement with any quality will be tricky. Jensen is a major competitor, but no better and doesn't do HDMI. I found iRV Technology that is sort of a private label importer but has better features and a lower price than Furrion. A few other brands are out there but none impressed me enough to try one. My iRV31 should arrive today.

[BobsYourUncle]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Many car stereos now days have BT capability so you can pair with your cellphone and stream from the phone or the stereo can play music files from your phone.

Now the problem becomes, what can I do with the extra space leftover?

I bought a nice, inexpensive car stereo from Crutchfield to replace my factory unit cheapo. I didn't pay a lot for it, but it has BT, USB MP3 input etc. It's a double din unit.

The space leftover:
I got a piece of thin wood paneling larger than the big opening size and bought a small can of wood stain to match my wall color, did that and a coat of clear semigloss varathene. I mounted the new stereo in it, near the bottom, complete with faceplate etc and put a support block inside the cabinet bottom for the stereo to sit on.

Set it in the opening, a screw in each corner to hold it in place, done.
Looks like it was meant to be there.

On my previous TT I did the same thing, but used a piece of aluminum flat stock to cover the extra space. It looked great too.

[Gdetrailer]

PButler96 wrote:

Texas Nomad wrote:
I assume the front faceplate is removable and some screws probably hold it in place. However, I have not been able discover how to remove the faceplate.

It pulls off, may need to use a flat screwdriver to get it started.

Texas Nomad wrote:
Does anyone have experience with Furrion products. .

Low grade garbage.

EXPENSIVE "low grade garbage"..

Take it out, throw it on the ground, stomp on it as hard as possible, beat it pulp with a sledge hammer, drive over it several times with a road roller, then sweep up the leftovers with a broom and dust pan and file them in the trash can..

Replace with even a $50 car stereo will result in much longer life..

Yes, that Furrion most likely has surround and subwoofer and with a car stereo you won;t get surround sound but many offer a subwoofer output that just needs a external amplifier..

For those setups that have three pairs of speakers (two pair inside and one pair outside, you can buy in expensive speaker switches that can handle that..

Many car stereos now days have BT capability so you can pair with your cellphone and stream from the phone or the stereo can play music files from your phone.

Now the problem becomes, what can I do with the extra space leftover?

[PButler96]

Texas Nomad wrote:
I assume the front faceplate is removable and some screws probably hold it in place. However, I have not been able discover how to remove the faceplate.

It pulls off, may need to use a flat screwdriver to get it started.

Texas Nomad wrote:
Does anyone have experience with Furrion products. .

Low grade garbage.

[BobsYourUncle]

I replaced a stereo in my TT a few years ago. I found little buttons that pried off carefully with a utility knife, revealing screws in behind that went straight into the cabinet face.

[Fisherman]

Maybe similar to this. https://www.etrailer.com/question-555392.html
Others show similar cut out on each side if it's a single unit. Pop it off with a screwdriver and it accesses the screws.