The Honeymoon is over- 2006 Classic

[thecatsandi]

The honeymoon is over.

I had a factory installed LCD TV in my Classic 31. Fine for occasional viewing but after 6 months of looking at too small a TV I purchased a slightly larger one.

I want to wall mount my new one so I had to remove my old TV and mounting arm. This did not look too hard, until I disconnected the power. The TV side was not your standard 110V but rather an 18VDC plug. Ok that means there is a power pack somewhere. But where? A little tugging and removing the 110-inverter outlet as well as the Winegard TV outlet shed a little light on the matter. The power pack was taped to the wall behind the refrigerator! This had me wondering if I was going to have to remove the refrigerator to get this thing out of the wall.
A little maneuvering and I was able to get the power pack started through the inverter outlet hole. But she would just not fit. A mirror and flashlight enabled me to see that a panel at the bottom of the back of the refrigerator was the only thing in my way. I lowered the power pack to the plywood divider and went outside with a putty knife and hammer. I only pried the back off enough to get the pack out. A few scrapes and a little blood, the power pack was out. I re-secured the panel and went back inside to remove the mounting arm. This was the easiest task yet.

Now the old TV was free to be moved and mounted in the bedroom. This was relatively easy since I can get to both sides of the wall.

Back to the original issue. In order to remove the power pack I pulled out the Inverter outlet and found several feet of 12 Gauge wire just pushed in the cavity behind the refrigerator. The outer insulation had been cut by what I cannot tell. The inner insulation on the Black (hot wire) showed evidence of rubbing on something. I was steamed! I cut the affected part off and reconnected it to the Outlet. Yeah I know there are polarity issues. I am not new to wiring 110 circuits. Additionally I found an anti- abrasion ring just lying on the wire. I hope it was extra. A letter and package will be on its way to Customer service on Monday.

In the process of trying to remove the power pack I found the signal wires from the stereo just lying on a screw. Cutting into the insulation. After the problems one other had with wiring I am beginning to wonder if my AS is safe.

Ok the materials they are using seem to be very good but the assembly sucks!

Pictures follow.
The first is what was removed. The second is from where...The Third is the holes I had to work through. The forth is what was holding the pack in place (Yeah I know I need to do dishes). The fifth is the section of wire removed.

[Zeppelinium]

One really nice thing about being Vintage (as are my Airstreams) is that you just accept that things are going to be broken/rotted/loose/old and you just rip it out and replace it. It's great to do it yourself--only one person to blame....

Zep

[TIMEMACHINE]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

The honeymoon is over.

The power pack was taped to the wall behind the refrigerator!
.

I can't believe AS used tape to secure a power supply that generates heat. I would think that that practice does not conform to RV code. All RVs do have to pass basic codes and are subject to NHSTA recalls if dangerous conditions exist as a result of assembly errors.

[bobchevy89]

This was on a 2006 31ft Air stream? that is quite some shoddy workmanship.. and the price you paid for it..just reading about all the bad threads on the workmanship of them makes you want to buy sob..I guess they want to give you a chance to redo your unit before it becomes a classic..
Bob

[peegreen]

Originally Posted by bobchevy89

This was on a 2006 31ft Air stream? that is quite some shoddy workmanship.. and the price you paid for it..just reading about all the bad threads on the workmanship of them makes you want to buy sob..I guess they want to give you a chance to redo your unit before it becomes a classic..
Bob

If Airstreams are the best, how are all the others put together. Good to know all I need in my toolbox is a roll of duct tape to repair and restore to OEM standards.

[ScottW]

We have a 2006 25'FB. To date all I've found wrong is a screw that was not installed in the kitchen cabnetry, causing a pretty major shift and a gap. No biggy to repair, just annoying that you pay the bucks and get shoddy workmanship. Now you have REALLY got me wondering. Guess a closer inspection of a lot of things may be in order. Hope all works out for you.
Scott

[thecatsandi]

That thought had occured to me more than once over the past few days.

[thecatsandi]

I am not sure a SOB is any better but at least I would not have paid as much.
The problem is most people are un-aware of any problems with thier trailers. I on the other hand have spent most of my professional career finding an fixing problems.

[thecatsandi]

I am at least finding all of this while the trailer is still in Warranty. I am tempted to have them gut the trailer so I can inspect the wiring and have any anomilies fixed.