Black Series HQ Tips, Tricks, and Learning.....

[lenny007]

don't have an HQ, but my dominator pulls fantastic tanks empty or full, even at higher speeds.
[/QU

Hi All, I just bought a new 2021 HQ-12, towing with a Tundra Crewmax, 4x4, 5.7L with Fox 2.5 adjustable coil-overs, lifted maybe 3 inches. Extremely pleased so far after our first weekend out. I noticed that when the tanks are 100% full (freshwater and drinking water) the tow was perfect, I didn't really push it on the highway maybe up to 70 max, but kept it around 60-65. Smooth as could be, extremely stable, zero sway. After the weekend, I decided that I would empty the tanks when I got back to my RV storage. The grey water tank was at about 50%, black water tank 45% full upon the end of the weekend. Immediately once on the freeway, I noticed it started swaying at about 62-64 MPH and got worse the longer I stayed at that speed. It was actually a little concerning. Any suggestions? I was thinking about adding Airlifts to the Tundra, and also I want to upgrade the tires on the trailer to a 10ply or something similar to what I run on my truck. Aside from this, we love it! Seems to be built solid, and I agree with some of the other posts, the bed needs to be topped with memory foam or something similar. Oh, and the TV speakers were the worst I have seen on a TV, not really a black series issue but cheap RCA? Anyone else experience this? One more thing, I think I may add the "poop tube sewer hose mod", I like the idea of keeping that mounted under the rig and out of the way. Look forward to more posts in the future.

A couple of tips and updates on the Black Series HQ12. I did a couple more experiments on towing with different tank levels. It tows extremely stable with both drinking water tanks 100% full or 100% empty; no sway at all. This weekend I emptied freshwater and drinking water tanks prior to returning home, the grey water and black water tanks were at 75%, towed fine. I think the issue with swaying with my setup was the tanks being at 50% which makes sense since there would be more space for water in the tanks to create a back and forth motion while driving. I hope this helps someone who might be experiencing any issue with sway. Also, just a note, on the first startup of the heater the initial burnoff might trigger the smoke sensor. Mine went off once and then after it didn't do that again. During the first use, you could smell a slight furnace odor but quickly went away. One more recommendation, getting a portable generator makes offshore camping AWESOME. I bought a 3500 watt at Harbor freight (Predator) and was extremely happy with how quiet it was. I highly recommend it! In a couple of hours, you can charge your batteries 100% and also being able to run your AC. You're supposed to get about 11 hours of run time on one tank of gas.

 

[jcbenten]

Hi All,
This is an great place my wife found to learn about the Black Series. I have a question and hoping I can get a couple of pointers. My wife and I are looking at an HQ19 tomorrow and possibly purchasing (our name is on it but we have the right of refusal) at Fun Time RV in Cleburne, TX (south of Ft. Worth). I have read the entire thread and taken some notes on what to look for and I think I can work my way through most of them but have questions/concerns about two potential issues:
1) Flashing/blinking taillights. Not sure I understand the issue and how to induce to check for the defect. I am pretty sure I can do the repair if required.
2) Wheel bearings: Is this still an issue and is it possible to check on the lot? Or does the trailer need to be jacked up and wheels removed.

Any pointers on the above two items, or anything else, is much appreciated.
Thanks, chris

 

[Bikepals]

Hi All,
This is an great place my wife found to learn about the Black Series. I have a question and hoping I can get a couple of pointers. My wife and I are looking at an HQ19 tomorrow and possibly purchasing (our name is on it but we have the right of refusal) at Fun Time RV in Cleburne, TX (south of Ft. Worth). I have read the entire thread and taken some notes on what to look for and I think I can work my way through most of them but have questions/concerns about two potential issues:
1) Flashing/blinking taillights. Not sure I understand the issue and how to induce to check for the defect. I am pretty sure I can do the repair if required.
2) Wheel bearings: Is this still an issue and is it possible to check on the lot? Or does the trailer need to be jacked up and wheels removed.

Any pointers on the above two items, or anything else, is much appreciated.
Thanks, chris
[/QUOTE
You should consider joining the Facebook Black Series group. Lots of good information. A HQ19 just had the bearings burn out and it is posted on Facebook. Have them check the bearings before you buy. They do have to remove tires and pull the drums. Be there when they do it to make sure they are ok. I have a HQ15 2020 and do not have the blinking lights. Hook up your truck start the engine and check the break lights. They will pulse if there is a problem.

 

[TheLex]

The delaminating and cracking laminate is possibly a continuing problem? Some say BS has switched over to a new glue.

Hi All,
This is an great place my wife found to learn about the Black Series. I have a question and hoping I can get a couple of pointers. My wife and I are looking at an HQ19 tomorrow and possibly purchasing (our name is on it but we have the right of refusal) at Fun Time RV in Cleburne, TX (south of Ft. Worth). I have read the entire thread and taken some notes on what to look for and I think I can work my way through most of them but have questions/concerns about two potential issues:
1) Flashing/blinking taillights. Not sure I understand the issue and how to induce to check for the defect. I am pretty sure I can do the repair if required.
2) Wheel bearings: Is this still an issue and is it possible to check on the lot? Or does the trailer need to be jacked up and wheels removed.

Any pointers on the above two items, or anything else, is much appreciated.
Thanks, chris

 

[TheLex]

Does anyone have a Black Series HQ17T or HQ22T? These are the ones with the bunk beds in the garage area. The 22T looks like it'd be perfect for a larger family. Only issue is they don't have much of an inside refrigerator. But on the 22T there's quite a bit of room aft of the bunk beds to install a small residential refrigerator it seems. Unfortunately RVs of America doesn't carry either of these models.

 

[haqi]

Hi HQers,

New here. It’s been great to read all the posts here to get more inside information on the Black Series HQ models. Both good and bad!
I am taking delivery of the 2021 HQ17 over the next few days and plan to tow it with the 2021 Defender 110 HSE which has a towing capacity of ~8,201 lbs. I noticed that mostly trucks (not a huge fan of trucks) are used to tow these trailers so it makes me curious how it would feel with the vehicle like a defender mentioned above. Anyone tow with something that’s not a truck? Thanks for your input. Cheers!

 

[toylandcruiser]

I want to get a patron. Anyone have experience with them?

 

[Cattledog54]

Hi team.

Just took delivery of a 2021 HQ12, pulling behind a 2014 Ram 1500 ecodiesel with 3.92 gear ratio. I originally built the truck out to pull a 30ft Airstream, so I doubt I will have any trouble here. I am having the taillight blinking issue. Dealer says it has to do with a trailer sensing wire that the trailer is pulling current from. So far he has seen the issue on Ram and Toyota trucks. He is working on a solution that does not require running a new wire to the back. I also appear to have a DOA inverter...new one on order.

Overall, pretty happy with the build quality given the price and that this is a three country manufacturing effort. There is a fair amount of sawdust in the hidden areas of the unit. The guys at Black Series have to learn that people that buy expensive toys are generally OCD types and notice little details like that. When I built my home I made the GC price in an extra body just to go around vacuuming all the sawdust and picking up all the dropped nails every day.

Questions:

- Has anybody installed a satellite radio Antenna into the unit?
- Placard tire pressure is 80psi. Seems a little high?
- Has anybody routed the Anderson plug or the trailer wire through the charge controller, or a different charge controller?
- I don’t have a manual for the filtration system. Does it exist?
- I noticed (annoyingly) that the 12 volt breakers don’t show the amperage. Anybody know what they are?

Overall pretty excited and I do think the unit is built well and priced right for what you get. Build quality seems to be better than the Opus.

 

[drhappy]

Looking forward to the responses as we take delivery of an HQ19 next week.

For all you Black Series owners, is this the only forum you use? Any other recommendations for sites where we can share our experiences?

 

[Cattledog54]

Paul and friends with the tail light flashing/blinking problem.

About 4 weeks ago I was talking to a Black Series deal mechanic and he told me about this problem. At first i did not believe him since low voltage with slow speed signal "CAN pulses" don't cause inductive coupling. This would be a first time seeing it in my 20 year of Electrical engineering. However he showed the flashing tail light on a HQ19.

After getting home from my trip I decided to test my HQ15 with a 2016 MB Sprinter. Knowing that new vehicles use a CAN bus system and send test signals out to all light to see if they are still functional.

Test:
1) So connection with vehicle and I noticed the test pulse ( for MB its one at first connection and another one 30 sec later). However it kept blinking.
2) On Sprinters you use an after market electric braking unit plugged into the stock wiring harness. So I disconnected my Tekonsha Prodigy P3 trailer brake controller unit. Problem solved!!
Why? Well the new Trailer brake units send out a signal to auto detect the trailer for you!

After going through the wiring harness of the HQ 15 I found the problem.... An engineer "maybe" forgot electrical 101. "Signal feedback loop" Diodes only work in one directions and someone used them to stop the signal from one direction but forgot all about the signal coming from the other direction. The Trailer Brake Control Unit. Will explain later to save your time.

Not everybody will see this problem.
If you tow with older vehicles or aftermarket trailer braking system that don't auto detect you may never see this problem.

However if you have a 2000 or newer vehicle with OEM electric brake system or like me a trailer brake unit that auto detects you will have this problem. Some flashing lights will be faster or brighter depending on the vehicle. So it maybe so quick and weak you don't need to do this fix. That is up to you.

How to Fix: "The fun part" Remember that these wires can be hot. So make sure you disconnect all power sources.
1) Locate the emergency breakaway brake system in your trailer. The HQ15 is under the bed "fun" and located within the water heater access panel (Picture #1)
2) The emergency breakaway unit in on the left side looking down or after wall (pic #2)
FYI, the Black Series does use car fuses and they are for the trail light.. So if any of your trailer lights (brake, turn, driving, reverse, ) goes out check these fuses.. (pic #3)
3) Locate the wire bundle under the fuse panel with the two blues, a black, a red, and brown wire (picture #4). Colors may very since I've only work on one HQ.
My HQ has a twist-on wire connector to connect these wires. The bad part is this wire bundle is the signal wire to your emergency breakaway system to apply the brake power to your brakes. I'm going to use a different method of connecting these wire.
4) Remove the left and right tail light signal wire (Red and Brown for my unit) with the diodes installed (pic #5) from this connection. You decide how you want to remove these wire but they don't need to be connector however they are not when connected to the tow vehicle. So use wire end cap or tap to make sure they are not open to shorting. They connected the tail lights to the emergency breakaway unit so the tail light would come on if your trailer broke away.


Why this fixes the problem. So your tow vehicle electric brake unit sends a signal down the brake wire. This signal passes through the diode at the connector (pic 4) and to your tail light. The best part. It travel back and hits the diode and then goes back the the tail light.

I'm in the middle of writing up my report to Black Series with all my test data, video, more pictures and results on this problem. I don't work for them but I figure they need to know the root cause in detail with wiring diagrams and other solution (custom circuit board) if you still want the trail lights connected to the emergency breakaway unit and not have blinking problems.

Hope this is helpful...

Any update from Black Series on this issue? I am having trouble following all of the logic above, so a little scary to try the fix myself.

 

[offroadtravel.mn]

Hope you guys enjoy this video. And let me know if you guys have any questions. We are authorized dealer here in Mongolia.

 

[Louis Ryan Hendricks]

Hi All,
This is an great place my wife found to learn about the Black Series. I have a question and hoping I can get a couple of pointers. My wife and I are looking at an HQ19 tomorrow and possibly purchasing (our name is on it but we have the right of refusal) at Fun Time RV in Cleburne, TX (south of Ft. Worth). I have read the entire thread and taken some notes on what to look for and I think I can work my way through most of them but have questions/concerns about two potential issues:
1) Flashing/blinking taillights. Not sure I understand the issue and how to induce to check for the defect. I am pretty sure I can do the repair if required.
2) Wheel bearings: Is this still an issue and is it possible to check on the lot? Or does the trailer need to be jacked up and wheels removed.

Any pointers on the above two items, or anything else, is much appreciated.
Thanks, chris

I think the strobe Flash of the tail lights is an Australian safety feature! I pulled the grease cap hub covers off and replaced them with bearing buddies to keep 3psi pressing grease through the bearings and dirt and water out. just check your crown bolt for proper tightness and your grease topped off! those bearings are massive. I also trashed the little black center hub covers and replaced them with 107 mm/4.25 Lionshead LHCS108 wheel center hub cover to protect the bearing buddies.

 

[Louis Ryan Hendricks]

Hi HQers,

New here. It’s been great to read all the posts here to get more inside information on the Black Series HQ models. Both good and bad!
I am taking delivery of the 2021 HQ17 over the next few days and plan to tow it with the 2021 Defender 110 HSE which has a towing capacity of ~8,201 lbs. I noticed that mostly trucks (not a huge fan of trucks) are used to tow these trailers so it makes me curious how it would feel with the vehicle like a defender mentioned above. Anyone tow with something that’s not a truck? Thanks for your input. Cheers!

Hi team.

Just took delivery of a 2021 HQ12, pulling behind a 2014 Ram 1500 ecodiesel with 3.92 gear ratio. I originally built the truck out to pull a 30ft Airstream, so I doubt I will have any trouble here. I am having the taillight blinking issue. Dealer says it has to do with a trailer sensing wire that the trailer is pulling current from. So far he has seen the issue on Ram and Toyota trucks. He is working on a solution that does not require running a new wire to the back. I also appear to have a DOA inverter...new one on order.

Overall, pretty happy with the build quality given the price and that this is a three country manufacturing effort. There is a fair amount of sawdust in the hidden areas of the unit. The guys at Black Series have to learn that people that buy expensive toys are generally OCD types and notice little details like that. When I built my home I made the GC price in an extra body just to go around vacuuming all the sawdust and picking up all the dropped nails every day.

Questions:

- Has anybody installed a satellite radio Antenna into the unit?
- Placard tire pressure is 80psi. Seems a little high?
- Has anybody routed the Anderson plug or the trailer wire through the charge controller, or a different charge controller?
- I don’t have a manual for the filtration system. Does it exist?
- I noticed (annoyingly) that the 12 volt breakers don’t show the amperage. Anybody know what they are?

Overall pretty excited and I do think the unit is built well and priced right for what you get. Build quality seems to be better than the Opus.

Are you sure that the strobe Flash of the rear lights is not a Australian safety feature? They all do it!

 

[Louis Ryan Hendricks]

Hi All, I just bought a new 2021 HQ-12, towing with a Tundra Crewmax, 4x4, 5.7L with Fox 2.5 adjustable coil-overs, lifted maybe 3 inches. Extremely pleased so far after our first weekend out. I noticed that when the tanks are 100% full (freshwater and drinking water) the tow was perfect, I didn't really push it on the highway maybe up to 70 max, but kept it around 60-65. Smooth as could be, extremely stable, zero sway. After the weekend, I decided that I would empty the tanks when I got back to my RV storage. The grey water tank was at about 50%, black water tank 45% full upon the end of the weekend. Immediately once on the freeway, I noticed it started swaying at about 62-64 MPH and got worse the longer I stayed at that speed. It was actually a little concerning. Any suggestions? I was thinking about adding Airlifts to the Tundra, and also I want to upgrade the tires on the trailer to a 10ply or something similar to what I run on my truck. Aside from this, we love it! Seems to be built solid, and I agree with some of the other posts, the bed needs to be topped with memory foam or something similar. Oh, and the TV speakers were the worst I have seen on a TV, not really a black series issue but cheap RCA? Anyone else experience this? One more thing, I think I may add the "poop tube sewer hose mod", I like the idea of keeping that mounted under the rig and out of the way. Look forward to more posts in the future.

You moved the front load of your trailer behind the wheels, your fresh water on the front to the black and gray in the rear! I would imagine you did away! You should maintain a 15% forward weight distribution on your trailer, next time you have no dump station move all you can to front storage space or burn the gas and refill your fresh water.

 

[Louis Ryan Hendricks]

Any update from Black Series on this issue? I am having trouble following all of the logic above, so a little scary to try the fix myself.

Darn I was hoping that strobe Flash was some kind of Australian safety feature, if it's not doing damage I kind of like the flash????