ClayL

A few people have posted on other forums that they were very unhappy with the Girard system. In some cases the water flow at the desired temperature made it dificult to take a shower. I haven't seen any posts praising it but I could have missed them.

There is a button on my EMS that I have to push to tell the EMS what I am plugged into. It will cycle through the readings as it is pushed. Maybe yours is the same.

I let the fridge run on propane while driving for many years but no longer do so. I have found that with our short driving times of four hours or so there is little change in the internal temperature - +4 or 5 degrees.

It sounds like you may have a defective check valve in the pump. There is a rebuild kit available.

It may be a one valve bypass system. I made the following drawing of the one in my Winnebago.

I believe he is talking about the MotorAid auxiliary heater. Engine coolant is circulated to a heat exchanger tube welded to the water heater and then on to a radiator with a fan behind it. There is an AUX heat switch on the dash that turns the fan on. This will supply heat to the back of the motor home while the engine is running. It will also keep the water in the water heater hot while you are driving down the road. There are a number of places where the fan/radiator is located depending on the floor plan. I would call Winnebago customer service with the VIN and ask them where it is. They will cross reference the VIN to the motor home Winnebago ID number. I would ask them what the ID number is and record it for future reference.

Trade in value will be close to the wholesale value. A dealer may play with the numbers to make you think you are getting more but you almost never do. Wholesale used to be about 70% of retail. I suspect it still is. Many people expect a lot more than wholesale for a trade-in; however that is how dealers, and all other businesses for that matter, operate. They buy at wholesale and sell at retail.

There is a troubleshooting pdf document you can download HERE that may be of help to you. Scroll down to "Electric steps"

You can see pictures of my 32 inch TV installation HERE. A couple of the pics at the end show the travel hold down bars I made. They have been use for three years and work well.

Winnebago uses a one valve winterizing set up. If the diverter valve leaks, cold water mixes with the hot and drops the temperature. That happened to me. Another possibility is that the outside shower valves are on and the shower head valve is closed. That will allow a cold water cross feed. That also happened to me. On some models Winnebago uses a mixing valve on the water heater to add some cold water to the hot water. If it is defective the output water temp can be low. I think when a mixing valve is used the water heater water temp is quite a bit higher than the 140 degree (plus or minus a few degrees) setting on the water heaters without one. Below is a diagram I drew of the water heater and diverter valve on my coach. I do not have the diverter valve.

I agree. A loose connection causes increased resistance and that generate heat.

A guy in the RV park where we spent last winter got a Girard. His instructions said the water temp was controlled by how fast the water went through the unit. To take a shower he had to close the cold water valve and then regulate the temp by increasing or decreasing the amount of water coming out with the hot water valve. He was not real happy with that arrangement. There is another brand out there that has a thermostat but I don't recall the name.

I use the setup recommended by Brett. As to how important it is - in my 9 years of full timing I have seen pressures as high as 150 psi in some campgrounds. That can be enough to cause some serious problems. I don't see pressure higher than 45 psi often, but it only takes once...

These guys get good reviews HERE . Another one that is okay is RV RANCH in Clifton. It is probably easier to get to the VA hospital from the RV Ranch. It is a half block off the I70 business loop and the loop goes right to North Ave where the hospital is located - 5 or so miles away. I have a hip replacement scheduled next Monday and we will be in Palisade (abuts Clifton which abuts Grand Junction) until late November or December 1st. Depends on when the doc releases me so we can head south to AZ for the winter. Can't offer you a site to stay on because some good friends are staying with us to help us during the recovery period. Although we are full timers, we are 1/3 owners of a commercial peach orchard and we stay here during part of the summers to help with the harvest.

We spent a month or so at the Big D RV Resort. HERE Rates go from $240 to $300 per month. It is right on the water. They have a clubhouse with planned activities.

Be aware that the dealer will never give you the retail value of your coach. He may play with the numbers to make you think he is giving you more, but he really isn't. He will give you wholesale, which is about 70 percent of the retail value. You may be able to find a NADA book at your local library showing the wholesale or average trade-in value, which the on-line NADA does not for RVs, as far as I can tell. In order to make a profit, he has to buy at wholesale and sell at retail.

I have driven my gas engine coach (Workhorse with 8.1L engine) all over the U.S. for seven years - including up and down and back and forth across the Rockies a number of times with no problem. He does not "need" a diesel pusher, he wants a DP. Going from Denver to Grand Junction via I70 I do drop down to 25 mph or so for maybe ten minutes on one of the grades but that is no big deal. On other mountain roads my speed will often drop to 40 mph or so - again no big deal. All in all during the last seven years I have probably spent less than one percent of my driving time going slower than I would like.

Here is a pdf file with instructions on making the change: hunter-digital-tstat-instructions.pdf

A special router designed to work with the USB modem is required. A popular one is made by Cradlepoint. I would call the 3Gstore and get their advice. Also if you are due for a "New every two" replacement you can now get a device called a MIFI which is a USB modem that will also act as a router and allow up to five devices to connect wirelessly to the internet. It will lower your monthly bill to $50 and allow you to get 1X,3G and 4G where available. The disadvantage is that if you are gradfathered with an unlimited data plan you will lose that and have a 5GB per month limit. The good news is that each additional GB (or fraction thereof) will only cost you $10 extra.

The AUX relay/solenoid is usually activated by the Run terminal on the ignition switch or by the Aux start momentary switch. If the relay fails it should not affect the starter. All it does when activated is connect the starting battery and the house batteries. Sounds like an ignition switch or bad connection problem maybe.

Where are you coming from?

I have driven that road a lot of times in the last 40 years - in a car or pickup truck. We lived in Grand Junction CO for 12 years and have been coming back to visit family for the last eight full timing years. I have seen RVs on the road, not a lot but some. Although I have done a lot of mountain driving with my motor homes I would not drive that road in one. Could I do it? Sure, but I would not enjoy it. There are 5 mph switch backs, the road is narrow, there are no guard rails. I would rather take a different route.

Sorry can't help, it does look like a VDO part and appears to be a design that came out after I left that part of my career.

If you post a picture I might be able to help. It sounds like the sender that was used by a number of companies in the 70's. If so it is actually a small permanent magnet generator and requires no power to operate. Try turning the shaft. If you can feel it sort of lock into position (caused by the magnets) maybe 8 times (could be 4 times) per rotation that would be a good indicator that it is a generator type. As I recall they weren't made by VDO - maybe Ford or Caterpillar - it has been too many years so I am not sure about that though.

There is usually an air admittance valve (vacuum breaker) under the bathroom sink. It is a screw on device mounted on a stub off the line from the trap. It is supposed to open when you dump and allow some air into the line so the water from the trap is not sucked out by the vacuum formed by the dumping. If the flapper in the valve does not seal properly you can get gray tank odors from it. They can be cleaned or replaced cheaply if cleaning doesn't work. They are available at hardware stores. I leave the gray tank valve open until a couple of days before I plan to dump the black. Any sewer gas burps go right out of the roof vent so that isn't an issue.