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Front tv lift stuck down
Hello everyone,
New owners here and we have found answers to most of our issues in this forum, and for that we are very grateful! One issue we have which we cannot seem to solve is our front tv will not retract up. We lowered the tv without issue and now the tv will not raise. The magnets seem to unlatch and make a humming noise however the lift mechanism does nothing. Seems there is no power to the tv either.
We have checked the breakers and do not see any issues there.
Any suggestions?
We have a 2002 Vantare Featherlite H3-45
Thank you!
Jeff and Jodie Congdon
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15 Replies
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I’m sure someone will respond who has some real experience with your converter, but on my CC a panel over the front door reveals the lift electrics. My TV plugs into a normal household outlet. I also have a specific breaker in an outside bay labeled entertainment which shuts it all down. Last suggestion, my coach is set up into sections with the household plugs in a way that if a GFI breaker pops all the plugs in that section loose power. Good hunting.
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Congratulations on your new coach and welcome!
If you do a search on “tv lift” in the search block at the top of the page, you may find the info you need. Quite a few posts dating back a ways…
Hope to meet you one day soon “out there somewhere”!!
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Jeff, to the right of the tv there should be a panel on the ceiling. inside there are 2 square relays about 1″x1″x1″. pull them and clean the contacts and re-install. Geo.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Thank you all for the input. After opening the panel we discovered there are 2 outlet boxes – one is working and the other has no power. The dead outlet controls the tv power, we were able to plug the tv into the working box and tv turned on. We pulled the 3 relays and replaced back into the box, no change.
1. All breakers are on and lit red in the outside breaker box. How could one outlet not be working? Are we missing someplace to look for breaker issue? The kitchen GF outlets all working none are reset.
2. The TV lift magnets disengage when you press the lift button however the lift motor does nothing.
Suggestions?
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As was mentioned before, it sounds like a GFI outlet issue. Track down all your GFI outlets and push the red reset button on all of them. Don’t forget the ones in the bays.
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Checked all GFI reset all. No luck.
When we plug tv into the working outlet lift still does not work. Apart from the outlet, what would cause the lift to not function? The magnet locks disengage so it seems the lift is getting power, unless these are separate?
Again, appreciate the troubleshooting ideas. We are in MN and not back home to Tradewinds for another 5-6 weeks. Was hoping to not duck when coming in the door for the next month 🙂
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You might try obtaining a GFCI tester (see photo) and use that to figure our which outlets are tried back to which GFCIs. There might be another GFCI you haven’t found yet that is tripped which is why the TV outlet doesn’t work. You can also use the tester to identify which circuit breaker controls each outlet.
Long shot … the wires to the outlet might have come loose.
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I do not wish to contradict what other are saying and admittedly my conversion was done by another company, but there are some things about your post that need clarifying.
As delivered by the converter, front TV lifts should not let the TV come down if the ignition key is on…unless modified by somebody later. Let’s call it an ignition interconnect.
As delivered by the converter, front TV’s should not operate (turn on) if the ignition key is on…unless modified by somebody later. Another part of the ignition interconnect.
I really doubt the the TV lift is powered by 120 VAC. It is likely powered by a low voltage (12VDC or 24VDC) source.
When you said that the TV will not raise and that the TV would no longer operate (turn on) points to the ignition interconnect malfunction. That interconnect operates a relay that sends 120VAC power to the outlet that the TV plugs into only when the ignition is turned off and prevents the TV lift (12VDC or 24VDC) from operating. Plug in the TV to a different outlet and it working makes perfect sense when taking the ignition interconnect into account.
Maybe the the interconnect is out of sequence/confused?
Try this,
Make sure the ignition key is off,
Make sure you are plugged into shore power,
Try to let the TV lift down as far as it will go,
Plug the TV back into the original outlet,
Try to turn on the TV.
If the TV works, turn the TV off and try to raise the TV lift all the way.
Let us know what happens. Hopefully somebody a whole lot smarter than me on your specific conversion will be along and be able to tell you where to look for the specific relays, fuses and breakers.
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Jeff, what Tim is saying may hold water as you have the same situation with the electrical outlet in the rear curb side electrical bay that the aux battery charger is plugged into. The key must be off for it to supply power and this keeps the battery charger and alternator from fighting.
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Is the coach in “Park” ?
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Tim,
Thanks for the reply. Couple points I noted:
Make sure the ignition key is off – done
Make sure you are plugged into shore power – done
Try to let the TV lift down as far as it will go – cannot raise or lower lift – lift does not operate at all
Another thing to add to the troubleshooting-the tv power used to remain on and shut itself off when you raised tv/turned on when you lowered tv. This may help troubleshooting this issue.
The lift does not seem to “plug into” the outlet, only the TV power cord is plugged in. So the question is, where is the source of power for the lift and what could cause the tv to not have power? Seems the lift operation somehow controls the tv power, as I stated the tv would turn on when lift was lowered. Could there be a cut off linked to the lift?
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Yes – the tv went down while parked and then would not return up. We did not move or change power source during the time lift went down and would not go up. We have since driven and parked again, on shore power.
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We’ll try again tomorrow.
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Well, we have done the EASY things to try and suggesting fixes from a distance gets harder and harder.
We have not yet addressed the mechanical linkage (jack screw), limit switches, relays, and fuses, for the TV lift. You will need a real expert to trouble shoot that stuff.
We’ll try something else easy and if that doesn’t work you will need the experts familiar with your conversion to help.
You mentioned in your first post that the the TV lift hums when you push the up or down button. Maybe, just maybe, the motor for lift is running but not moving the TV lift.
Try this:
Very gently pull on the TV lift in the “going up” direction at the same time pushing the button to raise the lift.
If that doesn’t work we have exhausted all of my long distance ideas. Even if it does work, the TV lift will need some adjustments so that it doesn’t fail again.
To address your question.
Yes the “cut off” is linked to the lift. It was/is required by law that the front TV, if visible to the driver, would not come down or turn on if the ignition key was on.
It’s not likely that the TV lift operates using 120VAC (plug in) power. It is probably hard wired to a low voltage (12VDC or 24VDC) power source using relays to control the power to the outlet that the TV plugs into, the TV lift motor, and the limit switches. This is a generalization, your converter could have wired it a number of different ways.
Sorry for not being more help, best of luck.
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Tim
Thanks for all your efforts, very much appreciated. We shall let the pros handle this one!
Safe travels
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