dickandlois

Mike, If the suggestions mentioned do not solve the problem could you let us know if your coach is equipped with Kwikee / Power Gear or SCS power steps ; or some other brand. Rich.

Bambiajlora, Check the rear trailing arms on the coach for damage. Broken or cracked parts under the air bags. Rich.

Chuck, Could you post your Coach Make, Model and Year. Rich.

The Secondary Air supply feeds the Air ride system. Air flows from the tank to a manifold with one line in and three lines out. One air line from the manifold goes to rear air ride bladders with one ride height valve.The plumbing is different for different models, year and manufacture. The front air ride has two bladders, but each one is controlled by its own ride height valve. These bladders are supplied air from the same manifold. The air path is controlled by the air dump valves. When open the air is released from the bladders and vented out via the valve(s) lowering the coach. A defective ride height control valve or missing control rod or adjustment problem can dump air from the system as fast as it comes in. These system are supplied air through a 1/4 in. line, remember this is a closed system so the size of the line can be small relative to the weight of the coach. Its pressure not volume doing the work. Therefore, any small leak or restriction in the system can have a profound effect on the system. The main issues are dump valve(s) working properly, Ride height adjusted properly, Ride height linkages adjusted properly, Air system is free of water and contamination in the system and the air driers and the air tank vent lanyards have been pulled on a regular schedule to keep a build up of water in the tanks from happening. There is no magic answer to a problem with an air ride system all the items work in concert. Rich.

I ditto the above post. We often have joint Rallies with a local Blue bird / wounder lodge group. They take great pride in the coaches and share information freely. Some have repairs and restoration work done by the pros, but many do most if not all there own work. I got a little wet helping one owner along with others replacing a cooling line on a generator, and as long as I was up to a lot of ribbing about driving Some Other Brand we did get in some good jabs. Good luck, regardless of way you go. Enjoy the ever changing sun rises and sunsets one see out the window. Rich.

Hi Pat, Found out that most of the wires connected to the disconnect relay go to the momentary switch that you mentioned in you last post. The only one that I have not pined down is the designated circuit LK. That one goes to the chassis harness, but it does not show up in any of the circuit drawings I have found to date. The circuit is on one side of the fuse that blows, so you may be correct in thinking its a relay issue. The bigger issue for me is why did it fail, when you opened the battery disconnect. The only good idea I have, but no proof to date, is there was a counter EMF spike in the circuit and when you opened the circuit that shorted out the diode inside the relay / across the coil to dissipate that spike and to protect the relay winding. The spike could have been bigger then anticipated for whatever reason. The measurements I asked you to make might have answered that question. From the drawings I'm working from I can believe you when you mention its a tight spot to work. I refer to them as 10 lbs of parts in a 1 lb. can. Let me know how things turn out and what failed. Rich.

Hi Bryan ! I was in the middle of posting a reply and the keyboard on the laptop just quit. LOL. The closest I got for the Air dryer filter is R950011 That is the note I made just as things went south. The chassis manufactures are always changing things, so check and see it it looks close. If you know what make you dryer is that would help. Rich.

Hi Herman ! A belated Seasons Greetings to you. Things have just settled down. The kids got home, It snowed 18in. and the grand kids wanted to go ride there sleds. One pooped Pop. And, as I was doing some work on trying to understand how the coach is wired my computer keyboard quit. LOL !!!! So we are running on Blue tooth for a time. Just adds some sea salt into the mix. I do have the diagrams for the 03 version and if you have a source for the 02 diagrams, I will add it to the mix. As you read these threads regarding the systems and equipment that are now very commonly used to enhance the coaches, You just know that the chances of a sales person knowing what they all do and how they work is really slim and none !! When we got our coach and they had the systems person go over things, it was very spotty. I did ask two questions about an item and the blank look was enough to tell me Just Read The Manuals. Rich.

Thanks for the information Pat. I will look it over and see what I can learn or find. Makes one wish all of the coaches where wired the same, but then I would get bored !! Keeps the gray matter tuned up. I will use your information and see if I can expand on it to see how things are connected. To clear things up for me, does the fuse blow as soon as you install it ? You did mention that its on the always hot side of the solenoid. Two things come to mind at the time. 1- There is a short in the Solenoid and 2- it could be caused by a shorted diode that was damaged when you opened the circuit disconnect. Do you have a volt ohm meter of some kind? If so with the disconnect switch open, disconnect the wire from the side of the solenoid opposite the side that has the blown fuse. Measure the resistance between the small terminals, switching the positive and negative probes to see if you read a difference. Red probe on the left / Red probe on the right. Then if the Solenoid has a metal case measure the resistance from each small post to the case and reverse the probes on each terminal and the case. is there a different reading? Make a note of each reading and relay that information to me. Note ! Well I got into allot of information for sure ! around 100 pages,not all related to the coach and chassis isolation and disconnect relays. Now to try to make sense of it all. Is Your Chassis electrical box right behind the cab passenger door or left of the battery tray farther back of the cab passenger door? Rich.

Pat, Could you post the make and model of your charger / inverter and if there is a part number on the Box you mentioned also. there is very little information on the wiring for your model that I have been able to find. Rich.

Jim, Could you post the Model number of your HWH system ? and the make,model and year of your coach. Rich.

Bob, Do not feel bad or that you are slow. It can be confusing to most. Look at it this way, You have a charger / inverter. When the generator is running or you are connected to shore power the charger is running all the time. All your AC needs are supplied from shore power or the generator and those sources feed ac to the input of the charger and are coupled through by a relay circuit to the 2- 120 VAC circuits at the output of the inverter. No 12 volts required from the coach batteries to provide 120 VAC The inverter portion only puts out 120 AC when turned on, the inverter electronics gets 12 volts from the batteries and the alternator if the engine is running. A relay disconnects the 2- 120 VAC outputs for the incoming AC source and connects them to the output of the inverter. You now have the use of 2 -120 circuits. Generally the microwave and one circuit that feeds the outlets at the front (Driver, passenger seat area, overhead area with the DVD,TV and the outlet(s) in the storage above the dash plus the dinning area. There is no need to have it powered up unless you want to use it as a UPC powering computer equipment. No other advantage and remember you are using up battery power because the charger is now disconnected to prevent a feed back loop issue. If the engine is running the batteries will keep charging. If you have a voltmeter and switch things on and off you can read the changes in battery voltage levels and find the Outlets powered by the inverter. Hope I helped answer your question. Rich.

There is no reason for it to be running when plugged into shore power, the two circuits powered from the inverter will get power directly from a feed coming from the Main AC panel. The same goes for when you generator is running. The only exception might be if you use it to power you computer and only then if its a tower system, the laptops will see the power loss and go to a save files and power down configuration. I use ours to power the computer and other items when driving, it can easily supply enough power for items needing 110 AC. The alternator puts out enough 12 volt voltage and current to keep the chassis batteries and coach batteries charged. Not all coaches are set up the same way and some do not charge the coach batteries while driving. So one needs to know just how there unit is configured. The way my coach is set up. When I have had an alternator fail. I disable the exciter circuit at the alternator, Start the Generator and use the Charger / Inverter to supply 12 volts for the engine circuits and lights. The inverter powers the 110 volt circuits also. The charger current outputs vary depending on the make and size, but 30 amps will run a lot of items. One could carry a Battery charger that could be plugged into a 110 outlet in the bay with the cables connected to the common point between the chassis and coach batteries to keep things running if one looses the alternator output and the alternator can be used as a pulley to keep things like the water pump working. There are some nice workarounds one can use once they understand the systems and how they work on there particular coach. Rich.

Welcome to FMCA !! Have you cycled the dump valves, to rise and lower the coach? The fact that both front air bags do not inflate narrows down the problem. The rear would not inflate if the air pump had issues. Could be a valve or a manifold problem. Do your air gauges read normal ? 120 psi on both gauges? I'm a little confused in regards to you mentioning front Air Gauge. Most coaches have a primary gauge and a secondary gauge. The primary reads the pressure in the braking system and the secondary reads the pressure in the air ride system. Rich.

Recve, Welcome to FMCA and thanks for your feedback regarding the laminated windows and the thermal pane designed windows. Rich.

Tim, I went outside the box on this one because I have no technical information regarding the drive system or shade design, but maybe its a starting point, is it a AC powered or DC powered system(s) ? This looks like a system that uses AC power supplied system with a control panel to raise and lower a screen. If one can not find the part maybe a good workaround can be found. http://www.motorized...nstructions.pdf Could you post some pictures of the system and mountings ? Got to start somewhere !! and if its a DC or AC motor system. DJ Specialties bought out there parts inventory I think. P.O. Box 44 New Paris, IN 46553 866.252.7934 Notice-- AMSource is part of this link. http://djspecialties....php?s=AmSource Rich.

We only get the wiggle when the jacks are not down. With the air ride lowered we get the wiggle and had it on a Gas unit until the jacks where lowered. When the jacks are working properly and the coach is leveled the coaches have been very stable. Rich.

Dryclnman, I will send you a personal message. It will be in the envelope in the upper right corner of the forums page so you can reply. Rich.

Bob, In regards to your question, ome of the information is OK just miss stated from my point, not a critical issue. Regarding the Flooded cells OK, Rated Amp Hrs. what battery manufacture and part number? The charge numbers look to be on the low side,but a lower rate will reduce the water lose and the system could be putting out more then is coming in under different loads during the day. 10% ??? The VAC dropout is lower then normal, but again the type batteries come into play. The batteries do reach the float setting over night. So it looks like its operating as programed. Rich.

Andrew, Could you run a little test for me?? Disconnect from the shore power and run the Generator for a period of time to see it the problem you described happens. and post the results. Looking for a bounding issue with this test !!!! There is a J box connecting the generator wiring to the ATS, and wiring issues in this box can cause some issues. I would have an electrician check all the ground connections and I mean ALL of them including the Battery terminals, chassis,inverter connections, and all the Neutral screw terminals and ground terminals in the breaker box. There is a #6 copper wire running from the inverter to the Chassis frame. This is the ground for the inverter, tying it to the ground from the CG power. The Camp ground, ground is also wired (Connected) to the Chassis frame with a #6 copper wire running from the Circuit breaker box ground buss. Make sure they are connected tightly to the chassis and at the Inverter and breaker box. This is best done by an electrician. The Circuit breakers in the panel are numbered 1 to 7 and 11. Circuit breakers # 9 and 10 are at the inverter. No # 8 Circuit breaker !!!! The Inverter power feed is from the breaker box but no breaker is in the line as pictured in the information I have of the circuit breaker box itself. However ! an AC feed is pictured in the block diagram running between the box and to the power input for the inverter. NOW ! Thinks get interesting... You have a dryer, so you have option #6 per my information ( meaning breaker #6) is used for the clothes dryer in the info I have and this circuit is wired different from all the others and needs to be checked by a good RV Tech. With the proper wiring information, an electrician might wonder what is going on regarding this circuit !!!!! Rich.

Edited 1-6-13. you mention problems with volt drop and shedding. There is a current loop inside the AC Breaker box that senses current flow in the primary AC feed. this loop sensor tells the power sharing circuits to shed loads down to an acceptable level. The Loop is not in the inverter section of the circuit. There are 2 circuits that are being powered from the Inverters in most cases. One 20 amp for the Microwave and one 15 amp for general appliances. I do not have the wiring information for your model coach, so I'm limited in information.The items listed are rather large loads for the inverter.I do not think that all the items you listed would be powered from an inverter system. We run the Generator in the AM for a short time when not on shore power, until we are done with the Microwave,toaster and coffee to start the morning. Our coach does not have heat pumps, and in your case this is also a hefty load until the set temperature is reached, even then asking the inverter to supply power to the heat pump places a continual load on the batteries. One needs to remember that there is a constant load to supply 12 volts to a number of items from the batteries. Even with supplemental solar panels there output is limited due to the low sun angle in the AM limiting there output. A small supplemental wind turbine has limits. Increasing the number of Coach batteries would help,but not completely solve a high load request. You would need to decide if the added weight, space requirements and cost are a good choice or just use up some fuel for a short time is more cost effective. Rich.

Winter storage in what part of the country ? Do you plan on driving it during the winter when the roads are dry and the temperature is low, just to exercise it ? Rich.

Bo, This is a link to another thread on the topic. I listed some options that might help get you started. The size of the replacement units and the openings for the current units are not the same thought. Rich.

Scan Gauge is one and VMSpc from SilverLeaf. Scan Gauge is carried by Camping World and The Silverleaf system is software that you load on your laptop and use an interface adapter and cables to connect to the ECM Connector. The Freightliner Chassis uses a 6 pin connector in most cases, but you might have a 9 pin connection. The connection is generally under the dash, drivers side next the the steering column. Rich.

Gary , The 30 second delay is normal. That gives the generator time to settle down to a good steady line voltage. I get a chatter from the ATS when I have the Inverter running and start the Generator. No problem with it off and switching from shore power to generator or generator back to shore power. I have a BCC (Battery Control Unit) and the circuits that power the ATS relay both shore power and generator power go through that unit. IF I have AC from both, the delay relays will cause the ATS to chatter. but only if ac is present from both. Now, I have to look at the wiring in my coach to see if I might have an issue. All these years its been, remember to power down the Inverter before connecting to shore power. When dad was alive he (we) would install backup power to homes and business. The back up power would come on with loss of line voltage and power down when power was restored. Transfer relays in the power panels disconnected the structures from the power supplier so no back feed was present on the line from the backup source. Rich.