Electric Day/Night Shades

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Lmaniac7
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:59 pm

Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by Lmaniac7 »

Hello friends!

Getting our Imperial Royal ready for the season. Today, for the first time, I had trouble with my electric day/night shades. Most wouldn't raise/lower, and those that did were getting caught and were not going up and down in a straight line.

I was only connected to my house outlet. Could this be that I just didn't have enough juice to run them all? This is the first time I have experienced this..although I haven't really used the rv since December when we took it our for a day trip.

Thanks in advance!

Lia
2017 Imperial Royal
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whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by whemme »

Lia,

Hooked to a 15 or 20-amp house outlet source of 115 VAC will have more than enough power to run your electric shades. Thats at least a 1700 watt source of power and I can't image that your elective shades would take more than 100 watts to run. You have other problems with your shades rather than the source of power.
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
Lmaniac7
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:59 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by Lmaniac7 »

Thanks Bill...that's what I figured.

I have an email in to Kim Olsen at the factory. Very upsetting, as we have hardly used this thing since we bought it in October.

Lia
John S.
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by John S. »

If the batteries were weak it might have that issue. Was it plugged in all winter?
2015 Royal Splendor on Ford 550 none slide version
Former owner 2007 24foot rear bath painted and 2006 22 foot built for two
Former owner 1994 34 foot 2000 36 foot and 2001 42 foot FORETRAVEL's.
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stevek
Posts: 1184
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:33 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by stevek »

These fancy shades are new to me. So, they operate at 110 AC or 12 VDC?
I know the ones you buy for your house run off flashlight batteries. Are you sure the same is not true for your BF?
Steve
2011 Born Free 22 foot RSK, rear side (corner) kitchen, E350, 29k miles.
Our first motorhome. Lots to learn. Thanks.
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jlef123
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:45 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by jlef123 »

The shades on my 2015 coach are Automotion Shades which may be a different mfg. from your 2017 coach. However there may be some general similarities. I have found them to be somewhat temperamental. If they go up at a tilt I would suggest running them all the way down and then rewinding them a few times. Perhaps during long term storage they may have stuck together. I have had my shades go out of adjustment and wind up too far or not far enough from time to time. It is not a difficult task to remove the valance and adjust the shades using the tool supplied with them. It is somewhat tedious and a trial and error thing. I really like these shades over the ones in my old 2002 coach as they do provide excellent shade and privacy in the day and when the night shades are down they do block all light. However I like things simple and would probably opt for a manually operated version of these shades in the future. One less motor and switch that I have to worry about. Probably have to worry about something else, like a broken spring. After all something is always breaking in an RV.

By the way the shades are 12 V and they are controlled through the multiplex system that also controls all the lights. It is kind of nice to be able to close all the shades at one time from the sofa.
Joel & Sandy
2002 26' RB
2015 27' Splendor
2020 Coachmen Beyond
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Dallas Baillio
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Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by Dallas Baillio »

Oh my, here I go again. I thought when I first read of these electric shades, "Why?" Puting the shades up and down never seemed like an inconvenience to me. Manual operation with few ways it could go wrong seemed fine to me. "Gee Whiz" add ons were only a future maintenance problem. BF has made a lot of improvements over the years and I appreciate their cutting edge improvements. But some, like these shades are only a change, not an improvement.
Dallas Baillio
2001 26RSB
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Member
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bcope01
Posts: 1290
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:55 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by bcope01 »

Dallas Baillio wrote:Oh my, here I go again. I thought when I first read of these electric shades, "Why?" Puting the shades up and down never seemed like an inconvenience to me. Manual operation with few ways it could go wrong seemed fine to me. "Gee Whiz" add ons were only a future maintenance problem. BF has made a lot of improvements over the years and I appreciate their cutting edge improvements. But some, like these shades are only a change, not an improvement.
Right there with you Dallas. Improvements? Perhaps not. And of course they add greatly to the overall cost of the coach when new, but get you nothing extra when you decide to sell, and add to required maintenance in between. Just my humble opinion.

Bill
Barb & Bill
2004 Born Free 22' Built for Two (Sold)
no longer towing a 2008 Smart ForTwo

Escondido, CA
jlef123
Posts: 169
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Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by jlef123 »

I believe the motorized shades are no longer standard but an option. I think the standard item is a manual roll up shade. The Automotion Shades which are on my coach and the MDF shades, which I believe are the brand that Born Free is currently using are superior to the day/night pleated shades that were used before. If you think that trying to adjust an electric shade is hard, try restring one of those pleated shades? In my humble opinion, having owned and worked on both types of shades the current offering by Born Free is not a "change" but a major functional improvement.

Hopefully someone at the factory is reading this thread and will verify what is now the standard on the coaches and what is an option.
Last edited by jlef123 on Thu Apr 06, 2017 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joel & Sandy
2002 26' RB
2015 27' Splendor
2020 Coachmen Beyond
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shilohdad
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:58 am

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by shilohdad »

We bought a 2017 Spirit (a.k.a., 24 Rear Bath) last September. The standard shade was a manual roll-up shade. Electric shades were an option, which we decided to pass on for the reasons many have stated here. We can't remember what other "fancy" options were available, but we passed on all of them.
Joe and Lucinda
Tonto, Meadow and Shadow, the papillons
Shiloh and Morpho at Rainbow Bridge
2017 Spirit
Formerly 2006 24RB
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stevek
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Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by stevek »

I have even had problems with my MDF shades. So far I am just living with it. To me a pain. :roll: And requiring the remove of the 2 side valances and the top valance.
I even thought of drilling holes in the end of the valance to access the screw holes. Any the other ideas? Thanks

Also I believe in the KISS. kept it simple stupid. :mrgreen:
The simpler the better !! :D
Steve
2011 Born Free 22 foot RSK, rear side (corner) kitchen, E350, 29k miles.
Our first motorhome. Lots to learn. Thanks.
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Lmaniac7
Posts: 15
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Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by Lmaniac7 »

Well...it turns out that the motors on most of the shades have to be replaced. MCD, the manufacturer, walked me through reprogramming all the shades/ remotes. This was a tremendously time consuming job. The coach was plugged in all winter, with the exception of one week in February. (We were away from home and were leary of leaving it plugged in). It is possible that during that time, the programming between motor and remote was lost however, that should not have caused the motors to stop functioning properly. Some shades move incrementally, others just keep rolling until up into themselves, still others get caught as they are rolling. Quite a nightmare. These shades came on this unit, we did not specifically order them. MCD is willing to replace all, but Born Free recommends we go with the manual shades instead. I think we will go with the manual option, but we want to be sure we are reimbursed the difference in price...motorized cost more.

It seems that the more bells and whistles, the more potential problems!

Thanks for all your replies.

Happy Glamping! :D
M&MAustin
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:15 pm

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by M&MAustin »

We have the AutoMotion shades on our 2013 coach (although with individual switches at each window) and I would concur that a manual shade would be preferable. The one on the rear window stopped working about a year after we got the coach. Kim thought it was a bad switch so he sent a few replacements. Our son (an engineer) replaced it with no effect. So we got a new shade under warranty. Now the solar shade on the driver's side large window won't move. Fortunately, it's all the way down, so we'll just leave it there and live with it. They are nice when they work, but...
Matt & Marie Baker
2013 26' Mobility
MarkB
Posts: 89
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016 11:39 am

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by MarkB »

All the day/night shades on my 2013 model work just fine, one is a little catchy in the rocker switch I think. I didn't know they had the auto on/off deal til I started reading about them, I use the switch to stop and start where I want the shade and don't let it drag in the up position.
2013 23' FL on Ford E350 with all the goodies.
Harvey

Re: Electric Day/Night Shades

Post by Harvey »

My 2014 26 RB has Automotion Shades which are nice until today when one refuses to move. Automotion Shades web site has a users manual and installation guides that do not download and are not viewable on my Mac. computer. Has anyone been successful in solving this issue. Our last B.F. 24 RB had manual shades which were preferable to me however they needed to be restrung after only 15 years, compared to my 2014 fancy electric shades that died after 3 years.
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