12V outlet over TV has no power

[woodbri]

Hi,
I just bought a 2016 Roadtrek SS Agile with Etrek & Solar and there is not any 12V power going to the 12V outlet in the cabinet above the AV system or the TV antenna amplifier? I have 12V at the back on the drivers side and LED lights work. Is this fused somewhere? Where?

Help!

Thanks,
-Steve

[woodbri]

yup found the fuses and the 12V AV fuse is blown. So need to get some fuses and see if the resolves it or if something is shorted out that caused the fuse to blow.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by woodbri

yup found the fuses and the 12V AV fuse is blown. So need to get some fuses and see if the resolves it or if something is shorted out that caused the fuse to blow.

Welcome to the forum woodbri!

Thanks for following up on your own post. I'm betting the new fuse will do the trick.

[woodbri]

Ok replacing fuse puts power on the outlet but amplifier/antenna is still not working. I’ll have to pull the a/b switch and see if power is going to the amplifier.

[woodbri]

And checking the amplifier board, I have 12V now that the fuse has been replaced, but still can not find any DTV Air or Air channels when doing a scan.

So any thoughts on diagnosing this problem? and/or replacing the antenna and amplifier?

[rowiebowie]

I don't know what brand of roof antenna you have, but most have a small led light that comes on to show they have power through the signal booster. I can only see mine at night, so that is the best time to check yours.

[woodbri]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I checked it last night and no light. Its possible the LED to bad, but more likely the amplifier board and/or antenna is bad or the coax from the antenna into the RV is damaged, cut, or pinched.

I have no idea how to replace the wiring, or if there are replacement parts for this 2016 Roadtrek model.

[mloganusda]

Any RV store should have the TV amplifier replacement as they are all the same. It is easy to remove the amplifier to replace, it should be plug & play to install.

MLogan
Smyrna, TN

[avanti]

Just to check the obvious:
You DO have the little black button pushed in, right? It is the power switch and is very easy to overlook.

[woodbri]

In my case the button is white, and it is pushed in.

I did a little more testing, I went to Walmart and bought a cheap antenna and amplifier and plugged them directly into the TV and placed the antenna in a window and running the channel scan did not find any channels. And I tried the same thing with my TV in the house and no Channels. So now I'm really confused!

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps lets you plug in your current location or zipcode and it gives you a list of stations and the signal strength and there are 3 strong, 8 moderate and 6 weak signal strengths, so if I did things correctly it should have found something.

[avanti]

Check that the TV is set to "Antenna", rather than "Cable".

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by avanti

Check that the TV is set to "Antenna", rather than "Cable".

^^^ Correct.^^^

Then run the channel scan again.

[ChicagoTom]

Paid $15, problem solved...thought it was fine, because I was getting the 12V outlet, but still no channels...also fuse blew first...sounds like your same issue

[ChicagoTom]

You also need to be sure there are channels in your area....don't go by some online thing, I can have 30 channels in one area, go to another area, same town, and have none. I was fortunate, because mine was working, so I knew I had a problem. Since my booster light was on, and I had 12V at the accessory outlet, I ASSUMED, that was not the issue. Ran coax to the roof antenna, replaced the antenna, still didn't work and replaced the winegard for grins...problem solved and the easiest to replace

[woodbri]

Yes, I've had it on Antenna and not Cable. Tonight, I received the new Sole antenna and amplifier. So I'll install it in the morning. I'm a little concerned that the antenna cable might be pinched, but I can check that fairly easy and will do so and can run a temporary new cable to the amplifier if needed.

I'm not sure how to check if I have TV signals here, but I close to Manchester NH and the online check says I should have 11 moderate to strong signal channels here and the terrain is fairly flat so I would think that I would be able to find at least one channel. And I can drive over toward one of the local towers if I get nothing at home.

I'll post an update on how things go.

[woodbri]

So I took off the old antenna and it was full of water and from the rust and corrosion had been for some time. The new new antenna has two weep holes to allow water to drain. I installed the new antenna and the new amplifier and the red LED lights when it’s turned on. I put my ladder away before I remembered to check if the blue LED on the antenna was lit.

Sadly the scan does not find and channels. I think I need to try to run a temp new cable from the antenna to the a/b switch and see if the helps. If it does then I’ll need to figure out how to run a new cable.

This is a strange setup as they must run 12v DC up the cable to the electronics in the antenna while sending the signal back down the same 2 conductor cable back to the amplifier and the tv.

[ChicagoTom]

Did you try what I suggested? I had the exact same issue, I started by running coax out the window to the antenna to see if that was the issue. Didn't work. Since the booster light was on my Winegard amp and I was getting 12v out of the socket, I assumed the antenna was bad. Replaced the antenna. Nope, didn't work. Only 3 parts to this thing, so one last part to replace, yes the winegard amp was the issue.

[ChicagoTom]

Also, just an FYI, not sure if I mentioned, but the light was working on the bad booster. Don't go by the light

[woodbri]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTom

Did you try what I suggested? I had the exact same issue, I started by running coax out the window to the antenna to see if that was the issue. Didn't work. Since the booster light was on my Winegard amp and I was getting 12v out of the socket, I assumed the antenna was bad. Replaced the antenna. Nope, didn't work. Only 3 parts to this thing, so one last part to replace, yes the winegard amp was the issue.

By the "Winegard amp", am I correct in assume that is the card on the A/B/ switch? When I replaced the antenna, it can with a new A/B switch and amp and I replaced everything.

I'm still using the existing cable run, but I will swap that with a new temp cable from the antenna to the amp and see if that makes a difference. If that doesn't work, I'll see about driving closer to one of the local TV towers and see if that works and lastly I will assume the TV tuner is fried and try to swap out the TV.

[woodbri]

Argh! I swapped in a temporary cable from the new antenna to the A/B switch to see if the old cable run might be the problem and not LEDs don't light up, switched back to the original cable and still no lights. Sole wants me to pay $20+ for a new A/B switch and shipping after I spent $75 on the replacement antenna and A/B switch. I'm not willing to throw good money after bad. I ordered a refurbished King Jack antenna for $30 and will give that a try.

Sheeh! This shouldn't be this hard!