2013 ERA Radio Replacement

wbnjr · 03-06-2021, 09:03 AM

I have about given up on our Winnebego GPS Radio. Has anyone replaced the factory unit with something else. TIA

RV-Travelers · 03-06-2021, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbnjr

I have about given up on our Winnebego GPS Radio. Has anyone replaced the factory unit with something else. TIA

Any idea what radio you have?

Our 2016 Era has an in-dash unit with Rand McNally RV GPS and a bunch of other features (CD/DVD player, USB / iPod / Aux inputs) as well as being the screen for the backup camera. We have been having a lot of problems with ours; for example, the Nav screen says to insert the Rand McNally SD card, which is in the unit and has been updated using RM's Dock software, so the Nav system doesn't work. Our unit freezes, won't play USB music files (they will sometimes start, then quit), etc.

Called Winnebago and they referred me to River Park (https://riverparkinc.com). Talked to their customer support (very knowledgeable and responsive) and they said problems of this nature are often related to the RM SD media card. They are sending me a replacement (should be here any day now) and, fingers crossed, I'm hoping it resolves the issues.

If not, they said replacing the unit is an option, although I'd have to pay for it. They said installation on our 2016 Era is pretty simple and I should be able to save the installation cost if it comes to that.

Otherwise, I would be interested in hearing about any suitable replacement units in case it comes to that for our Era.

RV-Travelers · 03-07-2021, 10:20 PM

Received the replacement Rand McNally SD card for our 2016 Era from River Park. Swapped it in and turned on the system. GPS system came up without any issues.

Went through and reset all of the options (RV type, map & route options, etc.). Turned the system on and off a half-dozen times or so and each time the GPS came up as it should. So it appears (short of actually taking the RV on a trip) that the GPS woes are resolved.

I was hoping this would resolve the issues with MP3 audio file playback from USB flash drives but it didn't. Still having the same problems - unit reads and displays the tracks, starts playing a track and at some point either the audio drops but the track still seems to be playing (based on the track time continuing to run) or it just appears to freeze.

Tried a lot of things to see if I could figure out what might be going on, none of them worked, including:

Trying multiple 32GB Sandisk flash drives that worked in other vehicles, devices, etc. BTW, the flash drives worked fine in the Jensen AV system in the back of the RV.
Tried formatting them as FAT32 and then NTFS
Tried changing the encoding (via the Lame MP3 encoder) from variable to constant bit rate
Tried various quality settings from 255 mbps down to 128 mbps

One more option I'm curious about is Menu > Setup > System > Factory Reset. Not sure what will and won't be affected. No big deal if it wipes out the GPS options I set (RV type, etc.), but I don't know if it will do something I'll be sorry about.

I'll give River Park a call tomorrow and see if they have any ideas, as well as if they can tell me if it's safe to do the Factory Reset.

One other note - on our last trip I wound up plugging a Digital Audio Player (DAP) into the Aux input on the unit and was able to play music that way. I'd much prefer having the music on a flash drive but if I can't get the in-dash USB functionality working I'll likely go the DAP route.

wbnjr · 03-08-2021, 11:38 AM

They advised touch screens not responding might require a hard reset. Said to reset chassis and house batteries. As noted, I am a new owner of the 2013 and not familiar with where to go to do a hard reset. Could you advise. TIA

RV-Travelers · 03-08-2021, 11:48 AM

Spoke to River Park technical support this morning. They are excellent to deal with.

They sent links to manuals for these units: https://www.xsna.ca

I was able to identify the unit in our 2016 Era as Xite model XSG2NA-XS2.

When we first got our Era a couple of years ago we noticed skipping of the audio, but things have gone downhill since.

The rep mentioned they do get reports about issues playing MP3 files from the USB flash drive port on these units. In some cases the audio skips; in other cases like ours the USB functionality is unusable. They thought it might be related to GPS antenna connection issues.

He suggested removing the Rand McNally GPS SD card from the unit (disabling the GPS functionality), restarting it and seeing if the MP3 files played successfully from the USB flash drive. I did this and they do play successfully, so it appears there is an issue regarding the GPS hardware/software in the unit.

I'm pondering pulling the unit from the dash and cleaning all of the connections with contact cleaner. Maybe that will fix the issue, maybe not.

He said there is a newer unit that's Android-powered (our current unit is Windows CE-powered) but he doesn't know if it's available for retail sale or how much it costs. He is going to look into that and get back to me.

RV-Travelers · 03-08-2021, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbnjr

They advised touch screens not responding might require a hard reset. Said to reset chassis and house batteries. As noted, I am a new owner of the 2013 and not familiar with where to go to do a hard reset. Could you advise. TIA

See my update a few minutes ago with a link to the manufacturer of these units, assuming you have a similar unit to ours.

Not sure what they are referring to re: a hard reset, but my best guess is disconnecting the chassis battery for a couple of minutes to remove power from the radio. On our Era there is a battery cable that connects to a post next to the accelerator pedal. You press the red release button and pull the cable off the post to disconnect the chassis battery. You can also access the battery under the floor in front of the driver's seat but that's a whole lot more effort.

The manual recommends you disconnect the chassis battery if the vehicle is parked and not driven for 3 weeks or longer. Rather than doing that, I connect a battery charger every 3 to 4 weeks when it's parked. The easiest way to do that on our Era is under the hood. There is a positive terminal in a red push collar on the right side of the engine (facing front to back) where you would attach the positive cable from the charger, and the black can be connected anywhere that's a good ground in the engine compartment.

RV-Travelers · 03-08-2021, 02:48 PM

We purchased our 2016 Era used and didn't get any documentation on the in-dash infotainment system. Thanks to the kind folks at RiverPark I now have documentation.

I don't know what kind of radio unit the Original Poster (OP) has as it wasn't mentioned in their posts. I thought I'd mention this in case they have a Rand McNally GPS unit similar to ours.

One of the things I learned from the documentation was after updating the Rand McNally GPS SD card there was a process I didn't know about and didn't follow. Not sure if it makes a difference, but perhaps it does.

After updating the card in a computer using the Rand McNally Dock software, you are supposed to start the unit and wait for it so tell you to insert the SD card. I inserted the card before turning the unit on.

Maybe this had something to do with the SD card issues I experienced, maybe not. Just something to keep in mind if you have one of these units and update the software on the card.

wbnjr · 03-09-2021, 02:37 PM

I tried releasing the chassis battery by accelerator but that did not turn off radio. Presume it is either fused somewhere other than the panel by the beds in back or the house batteries. Since I don’t know where house batteries are located can you advise their location. Thx but new to all this.

RV-Travelers · 03-09-2021, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbnjr

I tried releasing the chassis battery by accelerator but that did not turn off radio. Presume it is either fused somewhere other than the panel by the beds in back or the house batteries. Since I don’t know where house batteries are located can you advise their location. Thx but new to all this.

The short answer is I don't know. On our 2016 Era the coach batteries are under the chassis and accessed from outside. Based on a conversation with Winnebago when I was preparing to replace the battery mode solenoid under the passenger seat, the only way to cut the power from the coach batteries is to go under the RV and disconnect the ground (or grounds if you have 2 coach batteries).

I couldn't figure out how to do this. I crawled under the vehicle and didn't see any way to disconnect any of the cables without removing the batteries. At probably 70 pounds each, they are heavier than I can deal with at home laying under the RV.

If there's a boost switch on the dash (which you can use to provide coach battery power to the front in case your chassis battery won't start the engine), make sure it is turned off so the coach batteries aren't connected to the front. Also try turning off the 12V system (ours has a switch on the base of the cabinet by the sliding side door).

Your best bet would be to contact Winnebago and see if they can offer any other guidance on fuses or breakers to pull or switch off. Perhaps a different rep than the one I talked to can explain how to disconnect the ground cable(s).

Hopefully someone else familiar with these vehicles will chip in with a better solution.

Lmonger · 03-10-2021, 05:53 PM

Alpine ILX F-259 or F309. Uses CarPlay.

RV-Travelers · 03-10-2021, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lmonger

Alpine ILX F-259 or F309. Uses CarPlay.

The Alpine units look interesting. Any idea if they support displaying the backup camera feed? At a quick glance I didn't see anything along those lines but I may have overlooked it.

Lmonger · 03-10-2021, 11:10 PM

I have my F259 on a backup camera auto on reverse or on manual.

RV-Travelers · 03-11-2021, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lmonger

I have my F259 on a backup camera auto on reverse or on manual.

Thanks for the info on the Alpine systems. That may be the way to go if I go down the replacement unit road.

Is your F259 working with a factory backup camera or an aftermarket wired or wireless model?

Dbday · 03-16-2021, 02:35 PM

2017 Winnebago Aspect 30 J - I have been thru' all this with the X-ite Infotainment Nav system in my RV. These are supplied exclusively to Winnebago by River Park Inc. and all programmed with Rand McNally NAV system. When my NAV system went down and I did everything they suggested.... rebooting, relocating the antennae (no fun pulling the dash apart to get at the antennae) , new SD card, etc etc. checked and tested all fuses, switches and connections. But my issues were not confined to the NAV. The radio and CD only worked intermittently. Sometimes for a day or two then nothing for a week. I tried disconnecting the battery for about a week, and to my surprise it worked........ but only for one day. I searched and found many many complaints and issues with this system so I did what any sensible RV owner should do.....I replace the system with a Kenwood RVS775 Media NAV system and interfaced it with a Kenwood dash camera. Works GREAT. You can check them out on line... several You Tube reviews available. River Park Inc., by the way, refunded me the $140 USD for the SD card however I had to eat the $105 USD for shipping, handling and Custom Brokerage fees. FYI....when i returned the card, I sent it by mail...... cost me $1.57 CDN....... Good Luck