# Drop down TV 2008 Autotrail Cheyenne



## skiboycey (May 21, 2009)

I have the 11 inch drop down TV on my Autotrail Cheyenne 696G 2008 model. I think it's made by Orbital or somebody similar...

Two questions.

1/ The lights on it have never worked and in spite of being a pretty good electrician I can't get them to. I dismantled the circuit board and traced everything but couldn't find an easy place to apply 12v to the board to make them come on and the manual doesn't give a wiring diagram so I can't trace the cable that should be supplying the voltage. Voltages on the board are around 5v so I don't want to go connecting 12v to see if the lights will work and go and blow up the LCD controller by accident. Any help appreciated.

2/ Having recently passed my 43rd birthday my eyes are finally getting worse! I'm sure there's more to come in the 'unpleasant surprises with ageing' box (though as I have a 13 month old daughter and another arriving in January at least something's still working more or less properly) and so I'd like to buy the 15 inch model that's alluded to in the brochure as an option when the motorhome is bought. I've had a reasonable search but can't find anywhere that sells them on the internet. Obviously it would be much easier to upgrade using the same model as the wiring is probably the same for the 11 and 15 inch models. Again any pointers gratefully received... Maybe somebody has one hanging around if they've upgraded to some sort of super cinema system in their motorhome and they'd be willing to sell it?

Best regards, Mark


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## stewartwebr (May 27, 2005)

Hi Mark,

I had a hell of a time with my mates Cheiftain. He bought a 12 volt drop down 15inch monitor from e-bay complete with an s-type plug. He assumed that the connection plug on the original 11 inch monitor was an s-video plug.

It turned out not to the case and the lead supplying the moitor comes from the Obserview unit supplying the Video Signal and 12 volt supply.

I contacted all sorts of companies...Sargent, Obserview and so on for advise. Eventually he decided the best option would be to try and purchase the Auto-Trail upgrade 15 inch monitor. They turned out to be like hens teeth. The final option was to install the monitor direct from his digi box and a seperate 12 volt supply. He lost the function of the reversing camera, which was no great loss, as the screen was too big to really see when reversing anyway. We eventually got it installed and worked a treat and looked so much better.

Ohhh from memory I think the other issue was the housing that holds the monitor on the 2008 was installed to suite the monitor size. So if you did not request the bigger screen the housing can only hold the smaller screen

My mate just mounted his screen over the top and looked great.

Hope this helps a little

Stewart

PS getting the new cable through was a nightmare


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## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

Your lights won't work because they have no wiring to them from the vehicle! Autotrail told me they don't wire them up because FIAT advised them the power draw was too great for the electrical supply. On the newer models, (post 2009), they replaced the bulbs with LED ones and they now have the wiring. We had to small strips of LED lighting fitted to the under edge of the shelf and had them wired to the vehicle wiring in the steering column. It had to be done this way because the wiring to the monitor isn't accessible.

Autotrail also told me the 15 inch telly upgrade isn't available for 2008 models either.


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## mickyloo (May 1, 2005)

Don't you just get the impression that they (the designers) put these thngs together in a haphazard way and without testing the suitability/userability. These are typically £50k machines and the least we should expect is a functioning light above the revolving cab seats.


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## VILLAMAN (Sep 22, 2010)

:roll:
Hi Mark
I have a new Apachi 700 just six weeks old, yes my one has the led lights on the 15 inch drop down screen, but my front cab curtsy lights will not work, I have now been told that you can not have both working as the cab light wire is used to power the drop down lights, so are your cab curtsy lights working ? and man went to the moon 40 years ago


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