Entegra RV Problems: Step Slide Cover
Many years ago, from 2014 to 2017, in our reviews of previous models of Entegra coaches, we were reporting issues with the black tank, steering, and with the automatic step, system to enter the coach. According to our last tests, these Entegra problems disappeared after testing successfully the Reatta XL and the Cornerstone model in 2021, some time ago.
It is possible to fix the Entegra problems in coaches manufactured mostly between 2014 and 2017 that occurred primarily in the steering system, black tank, and in the automatic step slide. We are going to study below how to fix the Entegra problems, especially relevant if you have one of the older models.
Entegra Problems Solved
The last tests were done in 2021 with the step slide system, a typical feature in Entegra coaches. One week utilization mixing road usage and RV campground and three series of 10 uses of the “Step Pwr” button daily. No flaws, and no rattling anymore.
We have also tested the new storage drawer that is included since 2021 in the Entegra coaches without problems. We used that small storage space to put umbrellas and the invoice of the RV campground. It is delivered with the new units and it is like a drawer inside a step
Entegra Problems With the Steps
There is a switch just inside the door titled “step pwr” that can shut off the action of the step when we are parked in a campground. There is an ignition override that will automatically store the steps when the engine is started.
So when you open the door, the step comes out automatically. If you are at an RV campground and you want to stop that automatic behavior, what is very reasonable to do, just inside the door, we will see the step buttons right there.
Thus if we turn it off that button, then this stops the activation with the door so that your step is not going in and out the whole time.
The other button “Step Lgt” is for the light that illuminates the stairs.
Also recognize that if by chance that you forget to put the step in before you leave, the automatic ignition control switch when you turn the ignition on will automatically retract the step for you.
This applies on all models from the Aspire, on up to the Cornerstone, Reatta. All the product line.
The Entegra problems with the steps were related to fuses blowing out and rattling of the automatic step systems. At least those were the issues regarded as most important by our followers in the social networks.
Fuses Blowing Frequently In The Step System
You have to go underneath the stairs to have a look. However, you cannot see where the wire comes out from. So you have to take the carpet out because you need to get in and out of the coach without crawling in and out all the time. So you have to remove that part to gain visibility to the wires.
There is a switch just inside the door titled “step pwr” that can shut off the action of the step when we are parked in a campground. There is an ignition override that will automatically store the steps when the engine is started.
So when you open the door, the step comes out automatically. If you are at an RV campground and you want to stop that automatic behavior, what is very reasonable to do, just inside the door, we will see the step buttons right there.
So when you open the door, the step comes out automatically. If you are at an RV campground and you want to stop that automatic behavior, what is very reasonable to do, just inside the door, we will see the step buttons right there.
Thus if we turn it off that button, then this stops the activation with the door so that your step is not going in and out the whole time.
The other button “Step Lgt” is for the light that illuminates the stairs.
Also recognize that if by chance that you forget to put the step in before you leave, the automatic ignition control switch when you turn the ignition on will automatically retract the step for you.
This applies on all models from the Aspire, on up to the Cornerstone, Reatta. All the product lines.
The Entegra problems with the steps were related to fuses blowing out and rattling of the automatic step systems. At least those were the issues regarded as most important by our followers in the social networks.
Fuses Blowing Frequently In The Step System
Permanently, the fuses were blowing and you have to change them. You can live with that, but it is difficult to reach those fuses and there is where the problem appears.
You have to go underneath the stairs to have a look. However, you cannot see where the wire comes out from. so you have to take the carpet out because you need to get in and out of the coach without crawling in and out all the time. So you have to remove that part to gain visibility to the wires
After removing the carpet (actually, it is a slide that is covered by a carpet) you can see the wires now. In that part is where the issue can be found. Almost every time there was a short circuit: every time that the users operated the switch Step Pwr, it blows a fuse.
I understand this if you have to change the fuses from time to time, but this was happening frequently and it is not normal behavior.
So the users managed to get the step in just by wiggling wires and unplugging things and plugging them back in the steps. Finally, they have called Entegra to provide assistance and that was the end of the problem.
But which was the root cause of these Entegra problems with the wiring?
There was clearly a wire rubbing on the chassis somewhere which was causing a direct fall. The users utilized in all cases 15 amp fuses. Until it is not fully repaired, the passenger really is uncomfortable because they have got nowhere to put their feet. Their feet are just dangling so it was not a great passenger experience.
When Entegra manufactured the system, the wires are actually crushed under the flooring and then there is a metal part of the chassis so that the wire is actually under strain permanently.
Obviously, in some coaches, there is more strain than in others. So the problems do not appear always in all coaches. The solution was to add about 3 ft of wire (91 cm ) and pick up the loom, to be more precise, pick up the feed to the step motor further down the line so the wire that is installed in is not crushed or affected in any way anymore. So the idea was to change shorter wires for longer wires and alleviate pressure in the wiring system.
After changing the wires for longer wires that are not cramped, strained, or crushed, is operating correctly. The generator must be completely shut off to be able to do this job.
In one week with the new coach used for testing, there was not any issue, so we can currently consider that these issues do not appear in models starting from 2021.
Gap Between The Step Floor And The Floor Of The Coach
One of the Entegra problems, or probably, it was a feature that the manufacturer does not consider an issue, was the gap between the floor of the steps when they are fully extended and the floor of the rest of the coach.
Here, it can be increased the thickness of the wood of the step, because at the moment when the step is fully extended there is a big gap between the level of the step floor and the level of the floor of the RV. The extension was of just a quarter of an inch to close that existing gap.
The normal thickness of the step is one bit of 3/8 board with the carpet glued and then stapled and adding a quarter of an inch on top of that.
You have to line up all the screw holes, so once you have glued this together, each piece of wood, you can then screw down through both bits of wood onto the metal of the step, and then you can, using spray adhesive, fix the carpet.
The spray adhesive can be the 3m, high-strength spray adhesive, basically, this is just sticking one piece of wood to the other, to give it more thickness.
The glue is not easy to handle and it sprays everywhere, make sure you do this away from the coach, and it needs about two to three coats or layers, that is what it says on the package. I applied RV roof sealant many times and it is not the same experience.
Once you have glued the board, you have to line up the holes that you have already drilled.
The last step now is just really to spray the back of the carpet. and glue it in the piece of wood.
Step Cover: Rattling
If you have an older model of Entegra, you will know that the step cover rattles a lot, and even though you may ask the factory to correct it that, customers report that the correction they make did not last long.
Therefore, it is recommendable to purchase some of those pads used for furniture, stick them to each border, so when the stairs extend, they just touch the pad and it will stop rattling.
Newer models, as the Reatta XL 2021 do not rattle any more. We have not opened the system to see if the whole internal system is developed anew or if just they just went on to solve the rattling issue. In any case it would be the end of one of the several Entegra problems from the past.
Please let us know in the comments if you have detected some problems in newer models of Entegra coaches and please describe them.
