dickandlois

Should your hot water heater be located in the rear of the coach, and has not been used for an extended period of time it might take some time before the gas reaches the burner. Do you get a spark at the water heater burner ? Do you hear the gas valve open(click when first turned on) ? If you get both the click and a spark, you may need to cycle it a number of times before the LP reaches the water heater valve. Rich.

With only one camera, that makes things simpler. Your rear view camera connection access is from the outside, there is a removable cover or panel. There have been reports of poor connections between the camera cables and the cabling running to the monitor at the driver station. Check all the connections at the back of the monitor. check for loose or connectors that are not snapped together tightly. also check for pins with in the connector that are not seated properly. The connections at the camera are often just made with wire nuts and can loosen or oxidize. If you are one who dislikes working from ladder you might want to get some help working on these connections. Check the grounds carefully. If the connection work does not clear the problem you will need to have the camera and monitor checked by some one. Some security companies have personal who are familiar with a number of different camera and monitor models. One of there tech. might be willing to look at things. Rich.

You dropped a possible test with your response. You mentioned that the rear view camera has never failed when in reverse. So if you can interchange the other cameras with the port for the current rear view camera you can see it those cameras work every time you select reverse. If they work well then you have a soft switch issue, that can be a mechanical relay system or a software driven system. Could you post the system you have ? Thinking R-5000 considering your make year and model.. Rich.

Hi Andy, from your description I think you have a video problem not a focus problem. It sounds like an intermittent connection inside the camera itself. Few questions. Is the problem more prevalent on cold or hot days ? or about the same? The wiggle generally is caused by a power issue inside the camera assembly and quite often is caused by a cold solder connection. The other part that can cause the problem is a defective filter or bypass capacitor failing ( Braking down internally) The contact cleaning sprays are for connections exposed to outside weather conditions that cause oxidation to form on the connections and splices in the cabling itself. Dielectric grease keeps the moisture out of the connections when used properly, but to much and some in the wrong place can block the flow of low level signals and voltages. Just a note !! Some of the newer rear view camera switching systems use software codes to perform the switching and a problem can be a software signal error or the device the software is controlling. So a little more involved when trouble shooting. Rich.

Neil, a 24 watt solar panel is common on a number of coaches and is connected to the batteries using a 3 amp fuse. One could go up to a 48 watt panel with a fuse size 5 amp on the low side and 7.5 amp on the high side with out going into a lot of other additional parts, more then that and you should consider charge controllers. A simple answer, but a starting point. Rich.

Thanks for sharing the information with the Group, Always nice to have the problem, cause and a possible solution listed. Enjoy the sun and sand !! Rich.

Don, The year and make of your coach could have a Cummins ISB 300 to 330 hp engine, Cat came in around the same year, 2003. The air supply for the compressor often is from the intake manifold, boost side of the turbo. I get a heads up on the air intake filter condition by watching the time it takes to air up the air brakes and air ride. The filter air restriction monitor does read a little higher, but the air up time is by far a better indicator that I need to change the air filter. There is a rubber hose between the air intake manifold and the air compressor that runs along side the manifold and can be a little hard to see. This hose can fail over time, causing low engine power and slow air up issues. The system air pressure regulator (Governor) should be set at 120psi. The blow off valve is located under and is part of the air drier assembly in most cases. There are manual air bleeders on the primary and secondary air tanks, with lanyards coming through the front right frame rail, just behind the tire. Always a good idea to pull them for a few seconds twice a year. If you get a mist or water spray, hold the valve(s) open longer, release; re-air the system and pull them again. Then plan on replacing the air dryer filters ASAP. Water build up in the air systems is not good !!! When checking the system for leaks, get some kiddy soup bubbles and a spray bottle and squirt some around all the connections and valves. You get different sized bubbles depending on the size of the leak. Little bubbles = little leak -- Bigger bubbles = bigger leak. After that check back in and post your findings. Some one has most likely been through the issue at some time. Rich.

Just for the same reason I carry a Truckers Road Atlas with all the low bridges listed in the back. One never knows when that detour is going to pop up. Most of the low bridges are on secondary roads or in the older cities, but I have stared at one or two over the years that just seamed to be out of place. Rich.

Travelcade. Do you still have the owners manual? If not I can try to get a copy to you, The manual pictures the hydraulic cylinder quite well and as mentioned with some good information a good shop should be able to rebuild it. The trim block and valve could offer a challenge. The tougher one is the glass sight tube should it get broken. I posted my thoughts regarding the sight tube on this thread. http://community.fmca.com/topic/4726-howard-power-center-steering-system/ Good luck Rich. Edit 2-5-2013--- Owners Manual link: http://janeandjohn.org/docs/Howard%20PCS%20Manual.pdf

DD you are correct, but a number of Freightliner Chassis had the 275 HP an MT 643 up to the start of the 1999 chassis year and the MD 3060 used from then. The MT-643 is 660flb torque at 70,000 lb load and the MD 3060 is rated at around 750flb torque at a load of around 40,000 lbs. Close with out looking up the exact specks. Rich.

Hi Dwayne, Welcome to FMCA. You take care of the coach, they return the favor. There are a number of coaches out there with over 100,000 miles, many over 200,000. That is allot of time sitting in the driver set. Your Cat has around 42K miles, so its almost broke in. Good maintenance like you mentioned. The generator manuals mention replacing the belt around 1000 hrs. The belt drives the water pump. Then there are the normal maintenance items. Tires, alignment, breaks, ride-height, air ride parts an suspension work. The maintenance of the turbo system and lubing the Jake or Engine brake. Rich. PS --Dwayne ! we use lower case when writing a post. Upper case is like yelling.

Hi Andy, Like Brett said. A little like apples and oranges. The 275 Cummins was likely matched to a Allison 4 speed or 5 speed transmission. From your information I'm thinking thinking an MT 643- 4 speed.The big items are weight, body profile and gearing between the two coaches. Also 125 more HP. More ponies equals more oats. More power is not always a good thing, its how all the parts come together. Are you driving them the same ? Was the coach new or a couple years old when you purchased it. Filters, injector pump setup, ECM program, Transmission style and software setup, CAC size, tappet settings, Turbo set up and boost, plus air flow through the engine all come into play. One could go through the system and get a good shop to check things out to see where you could gain some mileage, no single item will get allot of mpg. The other is a complete Re-power. replacing the engine with a Detroit 550 and all its required Radiator and CAC changes plus and Allison 4000 transmission might work real good. A friend had this setup installed in his coach and its on its first run. Getting about 18 mpg and all the power one could ever use on a 45ft. coach / 50,000 lbs or so, but at a price. Note received later this AM, MPG is now 20+. Running the Grapevine at 75 mph. Re-power also requires the use of DEF fluid. Your current set up is Pre. 07 or 2010 EPA. a lot less involved then to meet the new standards. Rich.

Thanks Don, The model you mentioned has an internal relay. I have to check and see if the BCC control board has a circuit working in conjunction with the charger / inverter. Do you have the manual for the BCC unit ? There could be a fuse inside that box that has failed. Could you clarify one more item for me. You mentioned the batteries discharged over night. That kind of leads to the charger side of the inverter not working. Think from your first post that the only way you got the coach batteries to recharge was running the engine-- kind of missed that the first time I read your post. Can you hear a hum coming from the charger while connected to shore power? The inverter is powered through the main breaker panel, so if you do not have a 110 volt input to the 2000 unit then you would not have the 2 --110 volt circuits you mentioned and this would also lead to a issue of charging the coach batteries from the generator or shore power. Rich. To reset the inverter: Press and hold the Power ON/OFF push button for approximately fifteen (15) seconds until the Charging/Inverting Status LED (see Figure 3-5) comes on and flashes rapidly; once the rapid flashing has begun, release the Power ON/OFF push button. The Status LED will go off after the push button is released.

Hi Don, Could you list the model and make of your charge / inverter for the group? The fact that you only get power to the 2--110 volt circuits wired from the inverter only when its running, kind of tells me there is a relay issue. With more information I can look into things a lot better. Rich.

Mike this manual should cover your series steps. http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/exterior/kwikee_owners_manual.pdf Rich.

Neil, like DD mentioned there are mountains everywhere. Look at a map of WY, Get a state map from the State Tourism Dept. and you will see an area called the Great Divide Basin, that is in the middle of the state. So its a big bowel with high sides all the way around. To stay off mountain passes is very difficult, but this is the way I would go to minimize, that look up the grade and the feeling of we are going down there feeling. From Gillette take Rt. 90 to Bozeman Mt.--RT. 191 south to West Yellowstone. Drive around the park and enjoy. With your toad or rental drive down towards Jackson Hole from the South Entrance of the park. This is the most direct route south, but like I mentioned what is up on the rim of the bowl must drop down at some point to get back to Rt. 80 to go East to Cheyenne. Looking again at you state map. The more wiggly the road looks generally means more turns and that equals a greater drop in elevation over a given distance. The Rt. as mentioned has less abrupt changes in elevation over all, but will not eliminate the up and down driving entirely. How or where are you coming from West Coast, East Coast or Midwest on your way the Gillette? Rich.

The picture of the coffee drinkers has one familiar face on the Right side. Looks like a trouble maker to me, but I could be wrong. Have a good winter down there in Southern Texas. Rich.

Tigerpa, John mentioned a air operated system and in your case it looks like a threaded rod turned by an electric motor, that moves the system in and out. Did the post(s) that the arms from the drive rod connect to have a hole for a lock pin or snap ring that may have come out? The torque between the drive arms and the pins could pull them loose if there is something binding, or one of the locking pins fell out and the side torque finely pulled the other side loose, although everything in you picture looks clean. Rich.

John, That is some real good information ! Thanks for sharing it with the membership. This really adds to the value and information of the web page. Thanks again Rich.

The Trace series of Inverters are made by Xantrex. However, they are configured more for residential applications. Some of the Couches that incorporate them into there electrical systems are often referred to as all electric using a larger number of solar panels, shore power and generators to maintain, in some cases larger numbers of Coach Batteries that power the inverter(s). These coaches also have a larger primary12 volt panel or 2 to 3 sub-panels powering a greater number of items. Also, there tends to be a greater number of 110 volt outlets built into the coaches. This is more prevalent in coaches with 50 amp. for shore power and the use of inverters that supply 2-- 120 volt feeds that equal 220 volts as measured across the 2 primary line breakers in the main AC power panel. This is a link to a Trace installation PDF file to look at if you wish. http://www.soligent....cts/22161_3.pdf One thing for sure is that as the market and customers look for more features on and in their Coaches, the level of sophistication in the power system increases. Rich.

Jack, I will forward to information to you. The latching relay Should stay closed, if not then you have a option to try. make up a jumper wire with a (start with a 10 amp fuse in the jumper wire) Connect it across the latching relay. This should power up the high current solenoid and power up your fuse panel. Should the fuse blow. Then you need to take some resistance readings from the coil circuit connection of the solenoid to its metal case, looking for a short to ground. Now, if the solenoid closes OK with the jumper without blowing the fuse, this will give you power to use temporarily. Just a work around until the bad part(s) can be replaced it the circuit. Rich.

Jack, Looks like I thought it would, except for the use of a solenoid instead of a latching relay!! The small circuit board and its relay supplies power to the latching relay. The one below it is a solenoid. Now, what I think should happen in this case is when the latching relay closes, it should stay in the on mode. This allows power to flow to the winding on the solenoid, that then closes to power up you main 12 volt fuse panel(s). Both the relay and the solenoid need to be closed to supply power to you 12 volt circuit panels. The unit at the top is a 415 unit and works as described in my prior post. The item on the left is the used to charge the coach batteries from the alternator. The large circle(s) under the copper bus bar are high current circuit breakers. Does that make sense ? The pictures do help me!! Rich.

Could you attach a picture or two to a post ? I will see if I can cross index the numbers you posted. Thinking that the 5 amp fuse replaces the fuseable link in this case. Could you tell me if you have any 12 volt coach functions. there appears to be 2-12 volt fuse boxes powered from the battery disconnect circuit drawings I have. The inverter mentioned for the coach is a Trace RV 2512. That would mean 2500 watts of 110 AC from 12 volts. KIB Makes a number of propitiatory circuit boards. The 963-1C-1205 could be one of the newer control Boards used to energize many different types of circuits. This is a link to the control circuit board that might be what you have. Old link http://www.kibenterprises.com/highside.html part discontinued New Link--http://rvpowerpartsplus.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=360 Did you look at the link information I posted ? Do your relays match that information? Rich.

There are 2 ways the relays where wired. These are latching relays and the switch is a momentary rocking switch that toggles them off an on. The difference in the wiring is where the fuse link(s) is connected. The links are gray in color and outwardly show no sign of being open. Both fuse links need to be good and both relays need to energize to get the system on line. There should be a Purple wire from the switch to the relay, at the switch there will be a white wire going to ground and the other end of the Purple wire. Purple wire to center connection of the SW.#2-- White wire to connection #1 Is this what you see ? The switch does not need to be locked to keep the circuit active ! The lock is to prevent from inadvertently turning off the 12 volt system. 12 Volts should be present on 1 side of each relay, these are high current circuits with large fuses so do not short out these cables. One gets a large spark if you do !!!! and the fusses are expensive and special. Not found at the auto supply store. The relay part number listed is KIB 16615055 Momentary, Location Rear Run Box. Page # 196 Monaco prints. Edit: 1-18-2013 second edit, 5-14-2016 The latching relay is an effective battery disconnect device. The LR9806 is a single-pulse latching relay. It only requires a short "pulse" of voltage to activate or deactivate the relay. Since the LR9806 does not require constant voltage, it is one less load on the battery. Discontinued. Link to a replacement for the LR9806 http://rvpowerpartsplus.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=360 Edit : 1-19-2013 This device feeds one of the Latching Relays and could be a part of your problem. Original equipment on high end Monaco motorhomes since 1995! The Model LE-315 Keep-It-Up and the Model LE-415 Super Keep-It-Up are battery maintainers. They are fully automatic devices which are used in motorhomes to keep the chassis battery fully charged when the coach is plugged into shore power, or the AC generator is operating. Both will deliver up to 15 Amp. charging current. The Model LE-415 automatically shuts down when the coach is dry camping to protect the coach battery, and features a green light to show when it is active. Patented in the US and Canada. http://johnstoecker.vpweb.com/The-Product.html Rich. NOTE! Herman, Your coach should be wired the same! Why there are 2 different wiring methods ?? both accomplish the same result.

Hi Dave and welcome to FMCA. This link might help find your problem regarding the EMS 800 series. http://www.rvcruzer.com/docs/EMS800_SvcManual.pdf Rich.