New captains chair wiring

lweekly · 08-05-2013, 03:29 PM

I just purchased two high-end Flex Steel captain's chairs for my MH. I got them from a salvage yard that got them from Winnebago. They don't appear to have ever been used.

They have 6-way power, heat, massage and power lumbar. They each have four wires to connect, two hot and two ground. One pair provides the 6-way power (works) and the other pair provides power to the heat/massage controller (also works).

My problem is that the power lumbar won't do anything on either chair. Does anyone know if there's a fuse under the chair that might be bad? Or is there another secret to making them work?

I tried contacting FlexSteel customer support, but they said to talk to my dealer. Dealer isn't really a "dealer" and doesn't know the answer.

I'd appreciate any ideas you might have.

Thanks

Skip426 · 08-05-2013, 03:45 PM

Should not be a separate fuse under the chair , however; and this info could be different for the age of the chair ; mine, vintage 99, have a small air pump that inflates the support and a dump solenoid, so their may be a control box under the seat . I'll poke around under mine and let you know.

skigramp · 08-05-2013, 06:37 PM

could that be why they were never used? ... and available

Ret Smokey · 08-05-2013, 06:56 PM

Exactly my thoughts also Skigramp. We always get what we pay for.

lweekly · 08-05-2013, 07:23 PM

Thanks for the input. There is a small box with the air tube leading from it. I'll just have to check all of the wires to trace the power (or lack of it.)

These chairs were manufactured in 2012. The wires had never even been connected. They were stripped and ready for connectors as though they had just come from FlexSteel.

Not a mark on them, everything else works perfectly. And by the way, they weren't cheap. Top grade UltraLeather, everything except footrest, $750.00 each.

Skip426 · 08-05-2013, 10:16 PM

Sounds the same as my set up, now that I've had a look; the lumbar switch is a combo , power supply and air dump. the power wires are not part of the main harness, they are run over near the seat switch and spliced on with what I refer to as scotch locks. Not a real top end hook up considering the cost of the seats. Looks like the entire set up, pump, bladder, switch and wiring was an after thought.
Oh gee wiz guys we forgot the lumbar support;

well we'll just have to slap one in.

Also sounds like they didn't do a whole lot of upgrades since mine were produced in Feb of 99.
Any how I hope you find that you just have to hook up some wires.

lweekly · 08-06-2013, 06:53 AM

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look underneath the seats when I get it back tomorrow from getting the new flooring & carpet installed.

lweekly · 08-06-2013, 04:01 PM

I called customer service at FlexSteel again and this time got to speak with their top technical guy. We discussed the problem and what I might do to fix it.

It seems that there are two sets of smaller gauge wires that need power. They are supposed to be spliced together under the seat. On the one seat (mine) that I could work on today, I found the lumbar wires neatly tie-wrapped in with about a thousand other wires. Once again, it's obvious that it was never hooked up by Winnebago.

His theory is that they pulled them for a swap out and never had even finished installing them. I crimped them with the other set for the Relaxer control, and

the lumbar worked perfectly.

I pick up the other chair tomorrow from the leather repair shop (two small punches through the skirt) and hopefully it will be the same deal.

Thanks for your input.