Gen 1 InCommand Black Screen Fixed by Ground Repair

[Mikendebbie]

I just watched an interesting YouTube video (interesting to Montana Owners with InCommand)(link below).
I follow the Hillbilly Rv Repair channel. He posted this video earlier today.
This unit is apparently a 2016 Montana with the “Gen 1” InCommand that communicated to the BCM in the basement via Bluetooth. At some point (2017 or 2018 models) ASA added a communications cable rather than depend on Bluetooth. The InCommand panel had gone BLACK.

Apparently Hillbilly (can’t remember his name) had never worked on an InCommand system.
It was interesting to me to watch him track down the issue. Also interesting to get a look at the rats nest of wire behind the fuse panel. The problem turned out to be bad ground. He “fixed” it…but I suspect somewhere in the mix the bad ground had help from a rodent…maybe not.

Anyway…enjoy the video…
Edit: the InCommand on my unit is called ProPlus…there was Gen 1, then Pro, then ProPlus, and now Global Connect. My ProPlus has worked flawlessly since we bought the rig Jan. 2018. It does NOT control the air conditioners or the Suburban IW60 on demand water heater (thankfully!). The toughest thing I had to do was learn proper “touch” on the buttons…it was a learning curve for me. There are lots of threads in the forum on the InCommand. Keep your ASA InCommand owners manual handy! That would have helped Hillbilly!

 

[RMcNeal]

His name is Kenny. He is very knowledgeable about most RV's. He actually lives near our home in Southern WV.

 

[Mark77]

It is crazy how many issues are caused by an intermittent ground. Crazy things start to happen.

Un-related to RV's, but we had a combine that had a habit of shutting down the header for no reason from time to time while we were going across the fieldjust could not nail it down... not the whole machine, just the feeder housing! Drove us nuts for days.

I cannot remember how we finally figured it out, but the problem turned out to be a bad crimp / corrosion in one of the battery cable ends on the machine... it has 2 batteries hooked in a parallel / series combination to accommodate a 24 V starter. Might have been a tech somewhere that asked us if we had checked the battery cables... in any case, we replaced the cable and the issue went away.

 

[Rico's Ride]

The Gen 1 In Command had problems with the bluetooth connection. There is an upgraded motherboard available for. no charge that adds a hardwire to the remote panel but they will only ship it to an authorized RV repair facility and you have to pay the labor charge. I had it on my 2016, and it's a simple straight forward swap but they wouldn't let me do it. I have the Global in my 2025 and really like it. I can access anytime over the internet check the temperature, adjust the Acs if necessary and turn lights on/off. unfortunately can't operate the awnings which would be nice if you need to bring them in because the wind increased