New Owner Entertainment woes

kevgofly · 10-15-2011, 10:53 AM

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Background: I purchased a 2001 Suncruiser 32V yesterday, very clean, low miles, excellent condition, couldnt be happier with the deal I got.

The details: The coach is equiped with the factory RCA CRT TV, RCA VCR, "premium sound" cube speakers, Sony 10 Disk changer, Sony in dash Stereo, and all the associated switching unit equipment above the passenger chair.

The Problem(s):
1. I can not get audio from the in-dash stereo, It powers up, volume knob changes the indicator on the face, but no audio. It is not "muted", and the "TV/Stereo" selector switch was in the "stereo" position for testing.
2. With the audio selector switch in the "TV" position, I get no audio from the cube speakers, but get audio from the TV itself.
3. The disk changer has no power.

Thoughts: I am assuming the cube speakers must have an amplifier somewhere, but I have been unable to locate it. Perhaps the assumed amp, and the disk changer share a power source?

I have checked all the fuses in the block underneath the console, all were good (I also verified they were proper rating while I was at it). In the wiring diagrams, it appears there is an in-line fuse for the changer, but I have been unable to locate it.

I did a multitude of searches in the threads, but came up empty handed. Please forgive me if this has been discussed elsewhere. I have most (perhaps all) of the documentation from the original owner, and have been pooring through it and came up empty handed there also.

Again, thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer. I am new to this, so it could be completely operator error. My family and I are really excited to be RV'ers, I think we're hooked for Life,
Kev

hdmoxness · 10-15-2011, 11:26 PM

Sounds like some personal upgrades may have been made with that Sony in-dash equipment, and that may be the source of one or more of your troubles.

Re: question number 2, do you have a RADIO PWR switch to select ENGINE or HOUSE on your dash? In my ’04 Suncruiser, the in dash radio must have a valid power source (i.e., HOUSE, if the engine is off) for the TV audio to go to the cubes (the surround sound). The radio doesn’t need to be on, but it has to have power available. Beyond that, I know there are some members out there who know all the ins and outs of all kinds of audio/video hookups. Good luck!

DAN L · 10-16-2011, 02:50 AM

check the television menu: audio-speakers- variable output speakers turned on.

Wizard · 10-16-2011, 07:29 AM

If your CD changer is on, you have to tune the radio to the feequency for the changer, don't remember the freq. but mine is on the low end of the FM scale.

You didn't mention if the radio will play OTA stations. If not it could be your surrond sound amp. Mine is located behind the left footrest on the floor and has a built in fuse.

Good advise on the TV above.

jdefant · 10-16-2011, 10:12 AM

definitely sounds like your surround amp to me. I suggest you locate it and see if 12VDC is making it to the amp.

Good luck!

kevgofly · 10-16-2011, 10:28 AM

I was able to spend some time on this yesterday and did a little more in-depth trouble shooting.

I was using house batteries to power the in-dash unit. The in-dash unit (Sony) does have power to it, appears to be operating normaly. The Sony CD Changer has no power to it, either at the face unit on the dash, or the changer unit (cant eject the disk cartridge). The in-dash and changer units appear to be the original.

I did find the menu in the TV you are refering to, it was origianlly set to "TV Speakers", I switched to "variable output" with no change. Great suggestion, this would have given me fits in troubleshooting.

To clarify, I am troublehooting the problem with the in-dash stereo tuned to a local FM station, volume about half, no audio present at all. I have attempted with engine power and house batteries.

Yesterday I found the amp, it was located in the passenger side dash underneath the pull-out tray. Once I got there, I was able to verify that it did have power avaliable to it as well as a good ground. I was getting 1.6V RMS at the in-dash speaker input to the amp from the in-dash stereo (good indication according to the amp troubleshooting guide). The TV audio input was not present, so I decided to ignore the TV input problem for the moment and focus on getting audio from the in-dash stereo since I knew I had a good audio signal there. The only other input that is questionable is the control line. Apparently, when you flip the Stereo/TV switch above the passenger seat, it applies 12V to a relay located under the drivers side dash, which applies either a ground, or 12V to the appropriate control line to the amp so it knows which audio input to pay attention to. I was unbale to determine what I should have at the amp yet, so I will look further into that today. If I have that input, the problem must be a bad amp. If I dont have the proper control signal, it must be between the relay (which I was able to verify as working) or the amp.

Through all of this it has become obvious I had multiple problems, CD Changer power, no audio out from the TV (even after properly setting it up), and no audio out of the amplifier with either TV or stereo. For the long term, I would like to replace the TV, so I may end up replacing the entire system. I will have to look into what equipment is avaliable that will allow you to operate the in-dash stereo through the house type speakers. Seems to be a unique setup, but I like it so I'd like to stay with a system along those lines. I'm and audio junky, so I've got to get this thing making some kind of noise, and soon!

Thanks all for your thoughts and advice, I really appreciate it. Perhaps through all of this I will become a little more informed and be able to pass it on to others.
Happy RV'ing to you all! Plan to take my family out for a day trip in ours today, our first trip, really excited about it!
Kev

DAN L · 10-16-2011, 04:49 PM

behind my rca tv, there is a ''filter'' that lays in the bottom of the tv enclosure. i needed to use a mirror to see it. it is supposed to be connected to 2 rca cables on the rear of the tv. mine were not connected to the back of the tv and my surround sound would not work. depending on where the filter laid, i got a hum over the surround speakers. i found a good spot for the filter and used Velcro it to keep it there.
there is a picture of this ''filter- ground loop'' pn 123324-01-000 on page 46 of the winnebago parts catalog. it was on page 52 of the old catalog. this file is too large for me to attach here. here is the url:

http://www.winnebagoparts.com/

kevgofly · 10-16-2011, 10:39 PM

Thanks Dan, I'll check that out. Thanks for the link to the part catalog also, huge help!

Kev

jdefant · 10-17-2011, 07:45 AM

Kev, sounds like you did a good job of trouble shooting so far.

The in-dash radio is the default input to the surround amp, meaning that if you remove the control line signal (just pull one of the wires off the switch) then the in-dash radio will be selected as the input.

When you measured the 1.6V RMS was the reading fluctuating as if you were seeing the audio or was it constant. A constant voltage here at the input to the suround sound amp would be bad and would indicate your in-dash radio is the problem. If it was fluctuating, then you should be able to vary it by adjusting the volume control on the radio.

Let's assume the voltage you read was fluctuating and was in fact the audio coming from the radio. You have now narrowed the problem down to the surround amp or the speakers.

Hard to believe that all the speakers would be bad but you may still have some speaker switch somewhere in you coach that is off. A quick test you can do is to remove one of the speaker wires and touch the speaker wires to a 1.5 volt AA battery. You should hear a clicking sound in one of the speakers. If you hear it then you can assume your surround amp has bit the dust!

Good luck!

kevgofly · 10-17-2011, 08:41 AM

Chris,
Thanks for the input. The amp audio input was fluctuating and did vary with volume knob adjustments. I will test the speakers with the battery, hadn't thought of that, but instead was operating along the logic you brought up, surely all the speakers aren't bad. There could,however, be another switch or volume that I haven't located yet, so the battery trick will be certainly worthwhile.

Last night I found an expired Ebay add for one of these amps for $10, it expired with no bid in September. I sent the seller an email to see if he still had it. If so, I'm all over it! If not, back to searching. I haven't had much luck finding these, but will contact River Park today to see if they still carry them.

Again, thanks to all for the input and support, I'll keep updating the status as it progresses!
Kev

kevgofly · 10-18-2011, 12:58 PM

Got so lucky on this one! The dealership quaoted me $277 for the replacment Amp, was able to track down the one that had been listed and was able to get in for $30 shipped! Should be here next week, we'll see if it solves my problems. Thanks all for the advice and input, I'll post how it all works out. If anyone else has problems, I've accumulated a ton of documentation and am happy to share my (limited) knowledge/ experience (you know, the stuff you get AFTER you needed it!).
Kev

kevgofly · 10-23-2011, 12:19 PM

Got home from Virginia yesterday (Mother Navy calls!), the amp was waiting for me. I installed it and taa-daaa! MUSIC! The system sounds great. My initial thought was I would use this system until I decided to upgrade the TV, then do a full upgrade to it all, but it sounds pretty good as is. So, an upgrade of the TV to a flat screen, and Blu-Ray player are certainly in order, beyond that, I think I'm happy with it for now at least.

Now on to the other nagging issues, no reception on the UHF antenna, and still no power to the CD changer.

Thanks for all the input and support,
Kev

bruceh · 10-23-2011, 04:21 PM

I have a CD changer but I never use it anymore. I upgraded the Sony receiver (which I never liked as it was really clumsy to use) to a Sony MEX-3900. Easiest upgrade in the world. Slide the old one and and slide the new one in. Uses the same connector.

This has a USB connector on the front, as well as Bluetooth, and I load all of my music as MP3s on a memory stick, much more convenient. Costs under $200.
Got mine from Crutchfield.

kevgofly · 10-23-2011, 08:44 PM

Thanks for the tip Bruce, I'll look into that. My 14 year old daughter just hit me up today about being able to connect her IPOD, so that sounds like a worthwhile investment. Then I can get rid of the CD changer display unit and replace it with GPS in that spot. Love this forum!

Thanks again,
Kev

bruceh · 10-24-2011, 10:04 AM

I don't have an Ipod but the 3900 has the facility to control it.

You can load a lot of music on a 2gig stick. Walmart sells a little stubby USB stick made just for this application.