Wrong Info Center Display installed

[MrTransistor]

This has bugged me since I got this RV. The Info Center Display has always been very dim but the information on the display is invaluable. They have combined all the warning lights into ‘one’ that says ‘See Info Center’. I finally had the time and inclination to tackle the issue of a dim display. As I got further into the problem, I couldn’t shake the idea that the display may have been originally designed for a 24 Volt truck system and that they made Freightliner such a deal that Freightliner decided to install it on the 2004 XC chassis (as well as others that I'm not familiar with) which I and many others have. Freightliner came out with a replacement display a few years after the 04 model year because there were so many complaints, but I didn’t want to spend the $100.00 to replace the unit at the time.

I searched and searched the web for anything that might help, but to no avail. I sent two letters to Borg Warner Air/Fluid Systems who’s sticker with a part number on it is attached to the display. No response. I finally found a .PDF of the backlight for the unit which I downloaded and sure enough, the unit was originally designed for 24 Volt systems. The backlight LED’s are supposed to run with 100 mA. of current and will , as designed with 24 Volts applied. But on a 12 Volt system, the current is only 40 mA., hence the dim display.

As you can see from these pictures, by adding a 62 Ohm resistor in series with a 500 Ohm potentiometer and running wires into the unit and attaching them in parallel with R13 a 240 Ohm resistor, the current is now variable between 57 and 195 mA. This is perfect, since the nominal current for the device is 100 mA. with a maximum of 200 mA.

Now I need to drive the coach to see if the display is readable in daylight. It should be based on the pictures alone. Anyone can do this themselves. Of course, a little shade tree mechanic in their blood will certainly help. Getting the unit apart to solder wires across R13 is the real trick since the unit is encapsulated with a black rubber like compound sealing the back side. Drilling a hole in the case for the wires to exit and mounting the potentiometer are simple tricks.

Should the owners demand that Freightliner fix this oversight on their part for no charge to the owners?