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Old 04-17-2022, 07:06 PM   #1
lcastell
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Default Speaker Wiring Broken

Hello,

We just picked up a new to us 2013 2720SD which has the factory speakers in it and came w/o a radio. This weekend I put a new radio in and lo and behold, no sound from the speakers.

Doing some troubleshooting, it turns out the speaker wires are cut somewhere between the back of the refrigerator and the speakers.

Has anyone faced this problem before? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Lee
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Old 04-17-2022, 09:26 PM   #2
Bill
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Have you been able to use a meter of some kind on each of the four individual wires, to know which one is broken?

Are you sure that the speakers themselves are good?

As I recall, the wires go out as looped pairs somehow, and the loop must be cut at the speaker end. My mind is fuzzy on the details - it has been 20 years since I did this.

Bill
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Old 04-18-2022, 09:02 AM   #3
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Default Done so far

Bill,

So far I've used an ohm meter at the radio input and nada. Infinite resistance. I then checked out one pair of wires from the radio input to the back of the refrigerator where they connect to the wires going up to the shell. That checked out fine. I then checked impedance at a speaker at it was fine. Thus, the wires appear to be cut somewhere.

Next up, later on this week, I'll work on isolating if the issue is either in the wires going up the swing arm or somewhere from the back of the speakers to the swing arm. I really hope it's in the swing arm wires as pulling of the crown molding where the wires run does not look like fun.

Lee
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Old 04-18-2022, 09:51 AM   #4
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I can't imagine a wire getting cut under the crown moulding. I think my first places to check would be:
  • the back of the fridge, where perhaps they could have melted/shorted after coming in contact with some part of the fridge heater
  • outside, under the TM, where the wires exit the fridge compartment and start up the support arm
  • in the cabinet behind the speakers, cut when something in the cabinet broke them.
Have you checked for a short? Put one lead of the ohm meter on one wire and the other lead on the other wire.

Dave
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Old 04-18-2022, 04:53 PM   #5
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Lee,

I had an issue with the left speaker, standing inside as you face the trailer a frame coupler. This thread might have helpful information: https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...t=speaker+wire

Dick
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Old 04-21-2022, 08:20 PM   #6
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Default Speaker Wires Fixed

Well after some troubleshooting, it turned out the wires going up the arm were broken. When I got the camper, the 'snake' of wires going up the arm wasn't cable tied anymore to the arm. I suspect the wires got cut when the snake got caught somewhere when opening or closing the camper.

To fix it, I cut the wires where they go up the upper shell, replaced the wires in the snake and spliced everything back together. And yay, we now have sound in the camper!

Thanks to everyone for your comments as they helped.
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Old 04-21-2022, 09:55 PM   #7
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Thanks for letting us know. Experiences are an important part of this Forum.

Bill
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Old 04-22-2022, 12:42 PM   #8
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Default Speaker Wire Fix, Details

Bill,

Thanks for the kind words and here are a few more details.

To troubleshoot the issue, I did the following:
* Checked for continuity from the speaker wires at the radio
- These both showed as open
* Test the wires from where the radio goes to the back of the refrigerator
- These tested good
- Now I know there's an issue from there to the speakers
* Raised the upper shell, cut the speaker wires where they go up from the snake to the crown molding
- Checked continuity from there to the speakers
- Both showed a resistance of about 4 ohms; thus, the wires from there to the speakers are good. Yay! No need to remove the crown molding in the camper. Whew.

At this point, I now knew the wires through the snake are where the problems are. At this point I go to Home Depot and buy 25 feet of the smallest gauge speaker wire they have, some 3M Indoor/Outdoor rated electrical tape, butt splices rated for the proper gauge of wire (18?) and some 3/8" cable clamps.

To replace the wire in the snake, the goal is using the old speaker wires for pulling the new ones through the snake. This is done by first stripping both wires back an inch or so, securely connecting them together and then wrapping in electrical tape. This helps keep them from snagging when going through the snake.

At this point, pulling on the old wire from the back of the refrigerator doesn't work. It turns out the original installation had tape wrapped around all the cables in the bundle in about 3 places. I ended up cutting the snake cover in two places, removing the tape and also using those as places to pull the cable. This made it easier to do so.

To finish things up:
* Finish pulling new wires through snake
* Connect new wires to ones coming from the radio at the back of the refrigerator
* Use the good indoor/outdoor electrical tape to cover up where the snake cover was cut
* Butt splice the wires going up the side of the upper shell
* Put the speakers back in the wire mold and do my best to snap it back in place
* Use the cable clamps for cleaning up some of the other wires
* Done
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Old 04-22-2022, 05:09 PM   #9
Bill
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Lcastell -

You did a REAL NICE JOB documenting the work you did. The photos are great, and the fact that you attached them directly to your post means they won't disappear when some outside photo-hosting site shuts down and swallows them. A surprisingly common problem.

And you also did real nice job with the work itself. I would have done the same thing, with only one exception. As an electrical guy, I hate electrical tape. After a while, it dries out, unsticks itself, unwinds, and falls off. There are two alternatives that I think are better. One is self-fusing electrical tape. You wrap it on, and the layers actually melt into each other, so they can't separate and come off. The other is liquid electrical tape, a thick goo in a bottle that you paint onto the joint.

Bottom line - thanks again. The snake cables are obviously vulnerable to damage, and your post will help someone in the future.

Bill
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Old 04-22-2022, 06:30 PM   #10
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Bill,

Good point about the electrical tape as I've seen the same thing with it drying up and fraying eventually. I wasn't aware of the self-fusing electrical tape and will have to look for it as that's a great idea.

Thanks for the suggestions (and compliments on the write up)!
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