New to me Fleetwood Arcadia- Power roof problme solved

[rokitman]

I'm back on the forum.. sold my 91 Class A (Winnebago Chieftain) and bought a new to me 2007 Fleetwood Arcadia. It's in pretty good shape overall. There was a hole in the canvas that they tried to patch, but looked ugly so I'm replacing the canvas. (Some of the vinyl windows were shot too..) but it was pretty much garage kept and no rust or other signs of wear/exposure.

At any rate, the plug for the power roof is not great so I need to replace it (different thread), but the power roof wasn't working initially. When I plugged the control in and hit either up or down all it would do was click once. So I thought the controller/limiter was shot. I knew it hadn't been used in a few years so I figured I'd check the motor. I disconnected it and ran 12v direct to it and it ran in both directions OK. So I figured that although I'd been cranking it up by hand, the motor may have been sitting long enough where it was sticking and just needed to be exercised. I figured that if it was sticky, it would draw too much current and cause the controller to think that the top was all the way up or down. I hooked it back up and it works fine now. So lesson learned. IF your top doesn't seem to be working after a period of non-use, try exercising the motor, especially since the control electronics run about $240!

[rokitman]

OK, was solved... now another issue. Whoever installed the control unit the last time and tied into the PUP power, used a black wire from the (-) and red from the (+)side of the main wire harness. (this rig uses black as the positive and white as the negative). So when I reconnected the controller, I ran black to black and red to red which made it reversed polarity. As a result, it worked for a few cycles then stopped. So I think I fried it... Not happy...

[rokitman]

Thanks for the info. I did hear about that, my trailer doesn't have the sticker and I don't believe they did anything else to fix it other than warn folks. Can't say I understand the real issue, or the problem but I guess it is what it is.

[bondebond]

Oh yes, please do not raise or lower the roof plugged into 120v AC power, according to the manufacturer.

The official warning label from Fleetwood that was added to PUPs after the issue was firmly documented reads:

DO NOT OPERATE THE POWERED ROOF LIFT WITH THE TRAILER'S POWER CORD PLUGGED INTO ANY 110VAC POWER SOURCE. USE A 12VDC BATTERY SOURCE ONLY TO OPERATE THE POWERED ROOF LIFT ACCESSORY.

IF OPERATED WITH 110VAC, THE TRAILER CONVERTER WILL NOT SUPPLY SUFFICIENT VOLTAGE WHICH COULD DAMAGE COMPONENTS IN THE LIFT MECHANISM; RESULTING IN THE POTENTIAL FALL OF THE ROOF.

FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS OPERATION REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN PERSONAL INJURY, VEHICLE AND/OR OTHER PROPERTY DAMAGE."
(Part # 4768-191)

[Wine_Maker]

Why do you say not to use shore power? Do you mean not to plug the 30Amp plug in and then raise the roof?

I am not under the impression that this is harmful. I think one needs to ultimately use the battery to raise it, but by running current thru the inverter to the battery and then to the power winch, it is fine.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Vin.

[Beer_Belly]

Thanks for the info. You probably already know, but I'll throw it out there anyhow.....do not raise using Shore Power. One thing I also found, if you need to crank up manually, you need to disconnect the power lead to the motor......our battery died (long story), and I had to crank it by hand, and during our walk thru, the dealer mentioned all we needed to do was hit a button that was mounted to the underside of the frame to disengage the motor to raise the roof manually...NOT!!