Bluebird Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Greetings from France ! I have only recently found this forum being something of an aged novice at this motorhoming malarkey ! I hope to be able to contribute constructively as we go along, but today I am looking for some inspiration having reached screaming point with a problem that is entirely of my own making. I have been trying to get the Alden sat dish on our van to align to Astra 2, but that's a discussion for another day. What I have managed to do is snip through a cable that I thought was dead, but wasn't and have lost all power to the TV system. I am guessing that I have blown a fuse, but so far I haven't been able to locate one. The installation looks like an aftermarket addition in the salon. I have traced the cable to a point where it disappears through a bulkhead and into the undersink compartment that houses the Truma boiler. This is on the opposite side of the van to the hab batteries and control panel. Before I dismantle the cupboard to access the boiler space, I was wondering if anyone had an idea as to what the 12V feed might have been taken from. There is a TV switch on the control panel. Please be gentle 🫣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Bluebird ... they won't be gentle if you don't tell them what make model and year of motorhome you have! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 Well I'll go off on a tangent, the Astra 2 signal that satellites lock on to often changes, for many this means updating the sat dish system, but for some (like us) it means the satellite system can no longer lock on to Astra 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 7 hours ago, laimeduck said: Bluebird ... they won't be gentle if you don't tell them what make model and year of motorhome you have! Jeremy Good point ! It's a 2008 Esterel 21 A class, so basically a Rapido layout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 2 hours ago, colin said: Well I'll go off on a tangent, the Astra 2 signal that satellites lock on to often changes, for many this means updating the sat dish system, but for some (like us) it means the satellite system can no longer lock on to Astra 2. The Alden dish we have is a semi-auto, so it selects an elevation based on approximate latitude, but that's about it. It appears that it's down to us to point the dish in the correct direction. Can pick up Eutelsat 5°W no problem for French TV, but still trying to fathom out the Astra signal. I have three different unlocked FTA decoders to try, but me being a muppet has complicated matters by losing all the power to the decoder and TV. The dish still functions. Back to it tomorrow, I think the live feed must come from the fuse box under the driver's seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted April 30 Author Share Posted April 30 25 minutes ago, Bluebird said: Good point ! It's a 2008 Esterel 21 A class, so basically a Rapido layout. ........... on a Merc Sprinter chassis. 2.2l with proper autobox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 1 hour ago, Bluebird said: Good point ! It's a 2008 Esterel 21 A class, so basically a Rapido layout. Fair enough ... I'm sure someone will come along with some advice ... I have no knowledge of your system or anything to do with Sat systems so I'm afraid I'm out! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I did wonder if it was a Rapido product, as that company has a notorious reputation for shoehorning a Truma heater into a L-shaped kitchen unit. (Esterel 21 layout here.) It's quite likely that the Alden sat-nav dish would have been retrofitted, but, as there's a TV switch on the motorhome's control panel, it may well be the case that this switch would have turned the TV and decoder box On and Off. (Stephen should know if that was the case before the wire-snipping incident occurred.) As Stephen's (very credible) theory is that accidentally snipping through an electric cable has blown a fuse that has resulted in 12V power to the TV and decoder box being lost, the first thing to do would be to carefully check all the fuses that can be found in the motorhome. If all the fuses test out OK, then there seems to be no alternative but to trace where the cable goes after it has entered the under-sink compartment that houses the heater. The Rapido Group acquired the Esterel company in 1993 and (I believe) Esterel-branded motorhomes have not been built for several years. They were high-end designs and their control-panels were often made by Scheiber and 'bespoke' (2006 example here) There is a French Esterel camping-car forum http://esterel-forum.fr/ but I'm doubtful that members would be able to help much in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 5 hours ago, Derek Uzzell said: I did wonder if it was a Rapido product, as that company has a notorious reputation for shoehorning a Truma heater into a L-shaped kitchen unit. (Esterel 21 layout here.) It's quite likely that the Alden sat-nav dish would have been retrofitted, but, as there's a TV switch on the motorhome's control panel, it may well be the case that this switch would have turned the TV and decoder box On and Off. (Stephen should know if that was the case before the wire-snipping incident occurred.) As Stephen's (very credible) theory is that accidentally snipping through an electric cable has blown a fuse that has resulted in 12V power to the TV and decoder box being lost, the first thing to do would be to carefully check all the fuses that can be found in the motorhome. If all the fuses test out OK, then there seems to be no alternative but to trace where the cable goes after it has entered the under-sink compartment that houses the heater. The Rapido Group acquired the Esterel company in 1993 and (I believe) Esterel-branded motorhomes have not been built for several years. They were high-end designs and their control-panels were often made by Scheiber and 'bespoke' (2006 example here) There is a French Esterel camping-car forum http://esterel-forum.fr/ but I'm doubtful that members would be able to help much in this case. Hi and thanks for the detailed response. Yes, that is my control panel and I have just found the fuse box in plain sight under the bench seat in the salon. The not so good news is that the TV fuse was intact. I had a horrible feeling it would be okay as the LED on the control panel still lights up. I have swapped it anyway, but the circuit is still dead. I'm thinking that there must be an in line fuse somewhere, but I have traced the cable so far as I can see it, but no fuse. Thanks for the link to the Esterel forum. I do use that quite often and the owner, Charlie, is the font of all knowledge on the brand. I have a question out to him already, but it is a very quiet site and it might be a few days before he replies. As both the TV and decoder are both dead, I can't think what else might be causing the problem, which is a bit more of a general question for the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 No nearer resolving the issue with the original cable, but I have realised that there is working 12V feed under the floor in the same locker for the zone 2 led lighting. There is also a blanked off feed which I will investigate tomorrow when I get a new battery for my multimeter - yep, it's been one of those days - May Day public holiday here and everything closed all day ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labby Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Could it be the negative side of the wiring that is faulty ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 1 hour ago, Labby said: Could it be the negative side of the wiring that is faulty ? It wasn't faulty until I snipped through both wires at once thinking they were dead. The other thing I have thought today is that I have blown the illuminated on/off rocker switch in the locker. I will look at that tomorrow, once I get the multimeter working again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 A lunchtime update .......... The blanked off feed I found under the floor of the locker is indeed live and bizarrely is on the TV switch on the control panel. The circuit isn't completely dead, so it may be the 12V cigar outlet that is faulty. For the time being, I have connected up the newly discovered feed to a new outlet I have screwed to the wall of the locker and we are back in business............. whooopeee !! Next job is to try to find that pesky Astra 2 satellite 😵💫 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.