Things I wish my rig did, or didn't do.

[Jim]

My rig is a 2016 London Aire and there are a things that it does that I don't understand. And there are things that I wish it did, that it doesn't. But I'll start with this one as it came to my attention last night.

• I can turn the headlights on/off with the toggle switch on the left of the dash. But if the headlights are on, and I turn the wipers on, the light switch no longer functions. Even after I turn the wipers off, the light switch will no longer turn the lights off, regardless of which position I have the switch in. I have to actually turn the key to the off position to regain normal operation of the light switch.

Is mine broken? Or is this some sort of "lights on in the rain" thing?

 

[Neal]

Welcome to 1976 @Jim, that's the era RV manufacturers live in. But with your issue, it's a learning curve, and that's why we have forums like this as the systems in these things take a long time to learn. I discovered things years after taking delivery and continue to learn.

Regarding your wipers, assuming all the latest "campaigns" (recalls) are done on your Freightliner Custom Chassis here is how it works.

If you turn on your wipers it assumes rain so it turns on your marker lights. If you turn the wipers off they remain on UNLESS you turn your headlights on and then off, that will reset them to all off. There was a campaign to add this logic around 2018.

I highly recommend, as stated in person, go to Gaffney (FCCC) annually and they will ensure your coach is up to date and also do what's recommended annually and they are very affordable on top of just being great people.

 

[Scooterfan]

That's easy...I wish we got 30 MPG...hmmm...wait, make that 40

 

[Neemer]

What @Neal said. It took me quite awhile to figure out why my headlights were on when the switch was in the off position. One swipe of the wipers is all it takes.

 

[Jim]

If you turn on your wipers it assumes rain so it turns on your marker lights. If you turn the wipers off they remain on UNLESS you turn your headlights on and then off, that will reset them to all off. There was a campaign to add this logic around 2018.

Well OK! One would think that it would have been so much easier to reset the switch automatically when the wipers were turned off.

 

[Jim]

Wouldn't it be cool if we could program one of the buttons on the array that controls the lights and day/night shades. I'd love to able to hit one of the buttons and have the salon lights, bathroom lights, and bedroom lights all turn on/off.

Or maybe hit the button and have all night shades come down, and all the lights except for maybe the accent lights turn off. You get the idea. I know I'll eventually memorize all the buttons and what they control, but still, it would be nice to let the end user decide what happens when that magic button is pushed.

 

[Webz]

This is our light panel just inside the door. If you push the top left and center left at the same time, it will turn on the ceiling lights throughout the coach. If you press the bottom left and center left at the same time, it will turn off all the lights connected to the system including accent lights.
Couldn't get the image to show up.

 

[Jim]

This is our light panel just inside the door. If you push the top left and center left at the same time, it will turn on the ceiling lights throughout the coach. If you press the bottom left and center left at the same time, it will turn off all the lights connected to the system including accent lights.
Couldn't get the image to show up.

Yep, mine does the same. Just thought it would be cool to do it with one button. Just dreaming. . .

 

[ARD]

Yep, mine does the same. Just thought it would be cool to do it with one button. Just dreaming. . .

I have one button. Guess they figured it out.

 

[Rich W.]

The one recurring thing that bugs me is that my brake lights come on with the engine brake. There’s pros and cons so I havent looked into disabling this function yet, but I think overall its a bad idea. When Im cruising down a gentle grade with just the engine brake on, the brake lights are on constantly, so if I then need to slow down suddenly here is no immediate visual indication of this to drivers behind me.

The only benefit, and its a marginal one, is that I can turn on the engine brake, let off the accelerator, and illuminate my brake lights without using the brakes. This is mildly handy when someone is following too closely and Im using the cruise control, but it doesn’t outweigh the negatives. So I’ll probably look into defeating this function. The engine brake on my Ford truck doesn't turn on the brake lights and overall I think this is better.