1995 T1700 Radio issue

[trs61982]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the site. I just purchased a 1995 Sunline T1700 17ft tow behind camper this past week, and one of my first adventures as a camper owner was to swap out the radio. The radio that was in the camper was rather old and non-functional, so I swapped it with a CD player that I had. I connected the speakers and the power correctly, but after a couple of minutes of listening to the radio, it started shutting off randomly. It would turn back on after a couple of seconds, but then would shut off again a few seconds later. I have no battery connected to the camper, but I'm connected to my house's 110VAC.

This is where I ran out of time tonight. My plan tomorrow is to measure the 12VDC power at the radio to see if it is dropping out. I'm assuming that for whatever reason the converter is not functioning correctly. Does anyone have any ideas of other things I could check? I'm not even sure at this point where the converter is located.

[JohnB]

Welcome TRS

Congrats on your new coach and to Sunline Owners Club

Not all converters will create stable 12 VDC without the battery attached. And most of the older ones will not. Before you go nuts trouble shooting, put the battery in and see if the problem stops. However when you leave the camper for an extend time period with no 120 VAC plugged in, unhook 1 lead off the battery or the LP detector or anything else on in the camper will drain the battery dead. The newer TT's have a disconnect switch at the battery area to save you from unbolting the lead and worse, dealing with the battery case strap ERRRRR.


I do not know your floor plan and exactly where the converter is, but it is normally a short distance away from where the shore line cord comes into the camper. That way they do not have to run that big cable so far in the camper. So look outside where the cord enters, then inside find the approx area it would come in and start looking under benches, in lower cabinets etc. Odds are it is near the floor.

Good luck and hope this helps

John

[Sunline Fan]

John,

Front couch, door side dinette, off door side kitchen, rear bath, converter on off door side just in front of bathroom below wardrobe cabinet.

Here's a set from a '98 17A, which is the Saturn twin from '96-'99:

http://claspics.com/331/488880/12832...JPG.php#browse

Jon

[trs61982]

Sorry for the delayed response, but things have been rather busy lately. John, your idea was a good one. I purchased a deep cycle battery and charged it, then connected it to the camper and the problem went away. I've disconnected the positive lead of the battery while we're not using the camper.

We're very excited to have the new camper and are going to try to sneak a quick trip in before things get too cold (upstate new yorker here .

[quaddriver]

Are you using a car stereo? If so, a word of caution....todays car stereos that have 'soft' switches or memories, is that they have 2 power leads, a small one marked 'battery' and a larger one marked 'ACC' or 'IGN'. Since most campers do not have an ignition switch, place a small toggle switch on the line marked 'ACC/IGN'.

Get in the habit of flipping this switch when not listening. The line also powers the rather large amps in todays units. since most radios boast of 22-ish watts per channel into 4...well thats about a 3-5amp drain just due to the idle current. Its like leaving 2-4 of your lights on at all time.

and make sure you fuse the power connections. 5amp on the memory line (battery) and 15 on the main. (you may get away with a 10 depending on how much it can draw, or may need larger if its a 'big' unit...)