PIPEWRENCHGRIP

This is in response to Thomas Felch tech topics article in the December FMC magazine. I know this problem has been talked about before, but I will give my experiences with it. The Trombeta battery boost solenoid has more than on purpose. It can be activated by a swich on the dash to start the engine in case the engine battery voltage is too low to start the engine. I have even used it to start the generator when my house batteries were down. The other purpose is to maintain a charge in all the batteries. When the engine is running, not connected to shore power it will pull in to charge the house batteries. If you are plugged into shore power it will pull in to charge the engine battery. This is controlled by the BATTERY MAINTAINER (ISOLATOR RELAY) Mine is located in the front driver side compartment. I have found that when the boost relay was hot it was on all the time because the contacts in the relay were corroded. I found that out by checking the voltage on both hot lugs on the relay while it was pulled in. The voltage was different, that told me that the problem was inside the relay. I took the relay out and did a little surgery on it. I cleaned the contacts, reassembled it and a year later I had the same proglem so I installed a new one. A year later the same problem. Then I read an article on this Forum learned of another relay with different metal contacts. I purchased one these and it's been working fine ever since. While it's pulled in it's hot (normal). When the batteries are all charged up it drops out and is cool. The model I got is a Trombetta 114-1211-020. I think the old one was 114-1211-010, just one number different. I have a 09 Monaco Diplomat, the Holiday Rambler may have the same set up.

OK Tom, So I won't have to tell you which way you hit the golf ball. I used to fool you a bit (lost ball, out of bounds) so I could beat your score.

Not only great weather, but great people. Thanks to all the people that make this type of activity possible.

Thanks Moonwink, I will be installing the base plate in a couple of weeks and will see if my shield will fit. If not I will consider the protect a tow. Bill

Now, you guys have me scared. I've been towing a Jeep Grand Cherokee for about 10yr using the Roadmaster Shield and have not had any damage. I have not travelled a lot on gravel roads however. But now, I bought a new Jeep and I don't thing I can adapt the Shield to this base plate, so I'm considering the full cover from Coastline or the Protect A Tow. Also known as the Blue Ox Underskirt. I'm leaning toward the full cover and hope it doesn't cause too much chaffing on the paint. Wha da ya tink. Bill

Thanks Larry, I'll keep that in mind. The one I put in cost more that double the price you quoted, and I think it is in the Bear Family. I have a spare right now, so I'll keep an eye it. Bill

I'll take that under consideration. I am aware that I won't reach operating temp, but I thought would still be better to circulate the oil in the engine and transmission once in while. Bill

I'm talking not about the disconnect switch, but the contactor that is supposed keep the house batteries charged while driving and also keep the chassis batteries charged while on shore power. It's the same contactor that connects the house batteries to the chassis for emergency starting with the Batter Boost switch on the dash. I have a 2009 Monaco coach and while wintering Texas this year, I discovered that my chassis batteries were down to where they wouldn't start the engine. I always start my engine about once a month while parked. I then tried the Battery Boost switch and still nothing. I started investigating the cause and found I could hear the solenoid snap in loud and clear. After scratching my head for while and thinking this a new coach only a little over a year old, that contactor should be good. Wrong!!! I tested for current on the out going lead while the contactor was made and had nothing. I then removed the contactor and went an purchased a new one, installed it and it worked fine. Curiosity got the best of me, so I drilled out the rivets disassembled it to see what's inside. I thought the contacts might be burned, but they were fine but coated with a layer of corrosion. This contactor is located in the battery compartment and there no corrosion on any of terminals outside the contactor and I try to keep the compartment clean. How that battery gas can get into the contactor is a puzzle. I cleaned up the contacts and reassembled the contactor and now keep it for a spare. I owned an 05 Monaco with the same set up, and had a similar problem, but I never investigated it so I assume the same thing. I also talked with a friend while I was working on the contactor, he commented he has the same problem. He also owns a late model Monaco. My solution to prevent this from happening again is move the contactor out of the Battery compartment into the compartment next to it and extend the cables as needed. Any other Monaco owners out there with the same problem??

Remember, all those braking systems only apply braking to the rear wheels. Only the foot brake applies braking to all wheels. Bill

To bad you lost your soup, it could have happend while someone was standing in front of the stove. This same thing happend to us. Laura had a pot boiling on the stove one wrong move and the corian cover fell and knocked the hot pot over much the same as yours. I happend to be close by a saw the cover start to fall, I grabbed laura by the waste pulled her out of the way to avoid getting burned. No more propping stove tops behind the stove!!!!!!!!! Bill

Your article is very interesting. We've never spent much time in the Deserts, just the thought of it sounds hot hot hot. I'm sure in the winter months is much more comfortable. We'll have to try it one of these days. We not much for hiking, how about 4 wheeling trails? But I'm wondering when using Cactus in the plural, is Cactai, Cactuses or just Cactus???????????? : I tried to add a smiley face, but they were bashfull and wouldn't show there faces. Bill

My take on running the frig on the road. If the frig is cold when you leave you home or campsite, it will stay cold for a long time before needing to run again, unless you open and close if frequently. We used to run the genset for an hour and then an hour off, that seemed to keep the frig cold enouigh for frig. Lately howver, we have been leaving the gas on or using our build in inverter. Bill

We bought a new Monaco Diplomat a little over a year ago. Can't leave this as is. The new coach had two couches, and we decided one was enough. We were accustomed to having a recliner and also a computer table. On the street side was a 7-foot couch with a full-size air matress hide-a-bed. The other side was a 7-foot J Bed. There was not enough room on the passenger side slide to install a chair and desk, so I removed the J bed to my four-season room. I then moved the hide-a-bed to the passenger side. On removing the J bed I, discovered there was a heat register at the end directed under the J bed. I'm sure that put out a lot of heat. Poor design by someone at Monaco. When I installed the hide-a-bed, I left it 3.5 inches away from the wall to allow air flow behind and along the wall. I also installed a 3.5-inch by 5-foot shelf on the back of the couch, a good place for long thin stuff. I built a corner computer desk out of 3/4' mohagany plywood and stained it to match our existing cherry wood interior. Gunstock stain matched perfectly. I built three small cubicles under the desk on either side of the center where I place my printer. I then installed a matching leather recliner and foot stool. The foot stool can be used as a chair for the desk, or I simply place the laptop computer on my lap. (What an Idea!)

Brett we just got home and check the inverter/charger. It is a Magnum ME 2012 it is a modified sine wave unit. Something else we discovered, we have a digital clock in the bedroom and when inverting, it will gallop along twice as fast as it should. Time really goes fast. Thanks for you response. Bill

I'm away from my unit right now, so I can't tell you the make and model of my charger inverter. I bought this RV new and the charging system was apparently set at the factory or by the dealer. I assumed that it was ok untill I started having problems. I'll get back home on Tues and chech out the Inverter Charger etc.

I love my new Monaco Diplomat, but I can't figure out why they put the vacuum unit under the bed at the rear of the coach. It's 40 feet to the other end and the outlet is in the bed pedistal. One has to stand on his head or kneel on the floor to plug in the hose. Laura has bad knees, so that's not an option. Also, if you pull the hose to the front of the coach it has a 90-degree bend at the outlet, so it starts to whistle. It would be a good Idea it the designers would live in the unit for a month before putting it on the market. Well, I fooled them, I found a place in the kitchen behind the return air grill for the front furnace. This is also an access panel for other mechanical stuff. I mounted the unit just inside and installed the hose outlet in the toe space, and for the electric I just pushed the cord through the grill to a nearby outlet. Only two screws to access the unit. Someday I may go ahead and install an electrical outlet inside the grill also, but for now it works great. I earned some brownie points with Laura .. Hee-hee. This also freed up some space under the bed where I store my extra kitchen chairs. By the way, my floor plan has a front living area and a mid kitchen. I have a friend with an 2009 Diplomat, but it has a front kitchen and middle living room. His vacuum unit is mounted below and the outlet is in the living room, which makes more sense. Bill

After buying our new coach last July and taking our first trip, we set up in a campground with shore power, turned on our Sat reciever and our KVH Sat antenna. Everthing worked perfectly. We were having problems later and could not get a Sat signal and we could hear the KVH system making some odd noises. Then again, at the next stop it would work fine. This has gone on intermitently now for about a year. When I asked a tech about it, it was working at the time. He said he can't fix what ain't broken. Well, it finally dawned on me that the only time it would't work was when I was parked not using a generator or shore power. I was on the inverter. I was under the impression that I had a true sine wave inverter, but maybe not. Apparently, the reciever doesn't like it. However, if I once have the signal and shut off the antenna, it works fine, even with the inverter. This is an in-motion KVH system and it works ok If I have the gen set running. Has anyone else run accross this problem? Bill

My new Monaco came with 2 Carrier heat pumps. They work good down to 40 degrees, then the controll system switches to Furnace Mode automatically. My only problem, we have remote control themostat and they are not at all accurate. Niether in heat or cool mode, sometimes as much as 6 or 8 degrees off. We have learned to live with it. Bill

I too had a lot a battery water usage. I bought a new Monaco Diplomat last July. Our first major trip was to south Texas for the winter. After being set up and hooked up to power for a month or so I opened the battery compartment to find the snaps on the hold down straps coroded off and a various other items badly coroded. I promptly got to an automotive store and bought some spray battery cleaner and protectant. On checking the battery cells I found them to be low. Needless to say I was confused. I even asked a service tech at an RV deadership about it, his comment was that happens all the time!!! I bought a new snap for the battery strap and ignored the problem hoping it would go away, it didn't, next time I opened the battery compartment door, I found the same problem. Then I started studing the problem seriously. After studying my Energy Management owners manual, I found the the batteries were being charged at a very low rate. So I determined that the batteries were being discharged all day long and the evening when we are using 12 volt power. Then they would charge all night long, then again discharge during the day. This going on day in and day out is a lot of discharging and charging thus cooking out the electrolite. To solve the problem, I simply set the EMS system to charge the batteries at the recommended rate. If I remember correcty that was 85 amps max. This keeps the batteries near fully charged even when we are using the 12 volt systems. I checked the battery water before we left on 6 wk trip in mid July, and then again Midway through our trip. The water was down only slightly. When we got home the first of Sept. I added a few ounces to ea cell. and NO COROSION. HAPPY HAPPY BILL

After leaving Quebec City, we continued our trip south to see friends south of Montreal. Since we were close to the U.S. border, we crossed over to fuel up and for our friends Tom and Louise Butler to pick up their mail. We then crossed by into Canada Via a small blacktop road with a small border crossing. Only one border official was there; he checked us out and we went on our way. After we got into Canada, we promply took a wrong turn. With Louise checking the maps, we were able to reach our destination with no problem. The roads were paved but quite narrow, and we crossed one small bridge with a load limit that was marginal at best. Our friends Ray and Francine live at an RV park most to the summer, so that's where we stayed for a few days. While there, the Butlers, Francine and I got in six sets of tennis. The women also got in plenty of cards playing Shanghi. From there we drove about an hour to the Ontario boarder, where we met other friends. All of these Canadian friends we met in South Texas over the past several years. Pierre and Daine were gracious hosts with food, wine and tours of the Montreal and the surrounding areas. We then traveled southwest along Lake Ontario and lake Erie to Leamington, Ontario. If you read Tom's blog, he gives a good discription of the area and the trip through Windsor and Detroit. After we parted with the Butlers, we went to Shipshewana to see the Amish Settlements and visit their shops, etc. While there, we saw a nice museum full of Hudson Cars from their beginnings to the time they quit production. They have probably 50 or more cars mostly restored and some in orginginal condition. Next, we went the countryside to see the oldest opperational grist mill. The mill is powered by a water turbine below the building. Plenty of water was flowing -- in fact, the lower level was flooded, so we were not allowed down there. Our next stop on our way home was at the Amana villages in Iowa. We parked the coach at a nice little campground next to a motel about 10 miles west of little Amana called Sudbury Court and RV park ... good people and reasonble rates. We spent a day and a half there. Laura is a quilter, so we made sure to stop at the fabric and quilt stors. We also stopped at the brewery and one of the winerys and bought a little of both. We visited many of the shops and had dinner at a German restaurant that played Czech Polka music. That caught my ear, as I grew up in a Czech community. We then walked over to the Woolen Mill to watch the looms in action. That evening we made a trip by car to Marion, Iowa, next to Cedar Rapids, for a quick vist with my Nephew's family. The next morning we left for home, and arrived there on Tuesday evening. We've been home in Yankton now for a couple of weeks. Our time has been spent cleaning up and undloading the RV, washing, waxing, and taking care of our house and lawn. Believe it or not, we also got in a few rounds of golf. Our next trek will be to south Texas for the winter. It was a great trip!

Catching Hummingbirds for banding it turns out is quite easy. Our friends Dave and Sandy demonstrated that fact at their home near Bliss NY. Dave is an Ornithologist and a good one at that. They simply hand a couple of bird cages with a humming bird feeder inside. Leave the gate open and the bird finds the feeder. The gate is held open either with a fishing line or he also has an electronic control that when released closes the gate while inside, gotta be quick. Then while the bird is inside we just open the gate and reach in and close our hand around the bird. Once he is in your hand, he is quiet. Then we put it in a mesh bag and Dave would then take it and measure it, weigh it, examine it for fat content, then put a mall numbered band on his tiny little leg. All the data is recorded. They weigh a little more than a penny. After completing the banding, Dave would place the bird in someone's open hand. It would lay there for 15 to 30 seconds until it decided it was free to fly, and away he would go. Quiet facinating. Bill

I'm a retired plumber and have done a lot of bathroom makeovers, but never in a motorhome. That project I'm sure would be a challenge because of all the close quarters, storage tanks and other structural systems. I would be likely to jump into the project with both feet and deal with the problems as they come along. After all, the unit was manmade to begin with. An RV dealer would have the same challenges, as I'm sure that's not a real common project for them. Also, it would be quite expensive. If you like a challenge, do some snooping in under and around the bathroom so you can plan your project. Then go for it.