hermanmullins
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Posts posted by hermanmullins
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Hello Marshall2u,Your second paragraph starts with the statement that you have your wife sold on RV'ing. At that point I would suggest that you should take the above advice about renting an RV and spending some time traveling with one. Try several weekends to different destinations or take a week or two vacation trip to a place that interests you. Once you have had a chance to experience traveling and living in an RV for a while, you will be in a better position to make a decision based on things like floor plans, different kinds of chassis/engines, options you like/need and other things that should be considered when purchasing a motor home.
Renting an RV is not cheap but I consider it a good investment in learning what you like and don't like about different RV's. Think of it as RV buyers school. If you have never owned or driven one, you should try before buying.
Don't be in a rush to buy. This is a buyers market. With the economy the way it is, you have the power, the seller is at your mercy. You have time to consider your options and try out several motor homes. If you do decide to purchase an RV, purchasing a used model is definitely the best decision for a first time RV'er!
Sound like an echo Tom. Us monaco boys have to stick together.
Herman
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From the sounds of your letter you and your wife have never been in an Motor Home for a night. If this is true might I suggest that you rent one for a week end. It might cost a little but if you and the wife try it and do not like RVing it is alot less expensive then buying one and finding out that neither of you care for it.
Having said that, look at both coaches inside at the ceilings. See any water spots? Spot are a sign of leaking and this can be realy bad. Has it been a smokers coach? Did they have pets? High milage and clean, used to travel. Low milage but worn, used to live in. You are wise to start with a smaller unit. Going up easy. Going back down harder. Now is the time to buy a pre-owned unit. Prices are low because of the economy. When money is tight and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground people wonder why am I making this payment?
Good luch to you and your wife. I hope you find what suits you both and have as much enjoyment as may others that have gone before you.
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If you can find a Class 3 hitch used that may have been on a Ford Pickup (I beleive that is the widest frame), get it and have shop weld it to 2 peices of 6" X 6" angle or maybe 8" X 8" with holes drilled in it so it can be mounted to your chassi. You will have to figure out how wide you will need the bracket to be spaced on the hitch. A good welder and fabricator should be able to make the receiver for you.
Good luck.
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peepa
I have a 02 Monaco Dynasty and I don't know which cable reel I have. Does yous wind into a tub or on to a reel? Was your cable in a bind when you were trying to rewind it? I am just asking these questions in hope that I can prevent having your same problem. By the way you gave a great presentation on the repair and will help folks that incure this repair.
Thanks.
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David, Stay below 65 and don't drive with a crosswind. Ha Ha.
Has you mirror been moved one way or the other? If you mirror housing was moved somehow and you just readjusted the mirror, you may have created an unusual air path that could cause the noise. Is the mirror protruding past the housing? If so, you might reposition the housing and then adjust the mirror so it doesn't extend past the housing.
Hope this helps.
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WOW, is anyone else wondering where the first ten years of this century have gone? I don't know when a decade has gone by so quickly.
May you all have a wonderful 2010 and on and on and on.
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Thank you, I guess now I know the purpose behind having the air pressure gauge on the dash. I will definatley start paying more attention as to what the air pressure build up is before I attempt to release the parking brakeJust to add to what Tom said. As long as you hear the warning sound you do not have enough air pressure to do anything other then wait. In this case waiting is "Good".
Good luck.
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Just returned from a rally in Fredericksburg. Two very nice parks. Kerrville.....Buckhorn resort is all tens on rvparkreviews.com. A plush resort for class A's. Saw some poor guy pull in the gate with a tent trailer and left. Probably would have been nice to meet. Buckhorn is worth the money and it is not too steep. I know of a lot of KOA's which are more expensive and not even close at being as good. Glenn in Plano TexasGlenn is correct, Oakwood RV Park in Frederickburg is an OK park. He and Wanda had a great time there. If you are there go out to the airport and have breakfast at the Airport Cafe.
Keerville also has Guadalupe RV Park. Nice park good sights and if you fish it is right on the river.
Come Visit Lone Star Chapter of FMCA in February at Coushata RV Park in Bellville, TX, Feb. 18-20 or at Coffee Creek RV Resort in Santo, TX, April 8-10. We love having visitors at our Rallies.
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We have just recently purchased a Beaver coach with the Aqua hot system. Is it suppose to keep the coach warm if it is on electric instead of diesel when the temperature outside is below freezing?Sandraw,
The technician that serviced our Aqua-Hot said that the unit will operate on 110 volt Electrical. However it needs the full access to 50 amp service and is only a 1500 watt element. I don't know if I would relie on it for a lot of heat. In most cases the Aqua-Hot will have vents into the bays with a thermostat that will turn on the system to prevent the tanks and water line from freezing.
If you have a Beaver, what year is it? A friend of ours has a 1999 Beaver Patriot Thunder and it has a Hurricane Unit. I don't know much about it but understand that it is similar to the Aqua-Hot.
The bases of the Aqua-Hot unit is that it operates like hot water heater. The unit has a fluid that is kept at Approx 184 degrees. Upon demand from the thermostat a pump will circulate warm water through a radiator and a low speed fan will force air across the radiator and into your living area. At the same time it is keeping your hot water hot and ready for use. Great unit and works well if maintained.
Down side it does burn diesel. So if you are camping for and extended time be sure your tanks are full before you park. Just like your generator it will stop working if your fuel tank goes below 1/4 th.
But also note that I am a novice and may not all of which I speak.
Happy Rving and keep warm.
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We just replaced the headlight assemblies on our Georgie Boy. I took the name off the lens and did an Internet search. What we found was surprising, to say the least. Based on the number on the lens, the assemblies came back as fitting the 1996 Chevy Caprice! We bought 2 new Chevy Caprice headlamp units (the old ones were yellowed) from a company in California. They fit perfectly!2drifters See if you read the FMCA forum you learn a lot. I didn't know about the Chevy Caprice Motor Home. Can you send pictures?
Just joking. That is one of the good thing about the internet and this forum, there is always some where or some one that can help with a problem. As was stated, there is a web site for RV Salvage yards, Colaws in Joplin, MO. comes to mind.
Happy RVing.
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Try going to a Camping World store or their web site. Check who makes the one for the USA and google them. They may have one but don't show it here.
You could google RV Maps.
Good luck in your search.
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Does your ref. have a LP mode? On the LP mode it will only need the 12 volt source to operate.
However here in Texas today we just leave everything out side.
Good luck.
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pkendzor
In your search for a braking system check out this company M & G Engineering. www.MGBrakingSystems.com.
They make a very simple great working unit. They have units for coaches with both air and hydraulic brakes. The unit fits between the master cylinder and the power brake booster. I met the inventor of the unit and he had a very good statement, have you ever tried to stop your car when the engine was not running? It can be done but you must was a lot of force. The M & G unit applies the pressure to the master cylinder. Check out this unit in your search.
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At our last rally, December 10 to 13, 2009 I went around to our members to check out how many had their water filter at the faucet. More the half did. I told each one of the dangers of this. Some thought it was just a way to sell more inside filters, but most were shocked but undertood the problem. I think we will have someone give a talk on this at our April rally. In the mean time I am going to fill a jar with filtered water and keep it closed up to see if it will grow bad things. I will post the results here.Herman
Just a follow up on my last post. Here is a copy of a Fox News.com report. on tainted water.
Disreguard the copy. It will not upload. But here is the article
Monday, December 14, 2009
Miami
About 300 guest have been relocated from a luxury Miami hotel after one guest died and at least two others became sick from bacteria in the water. Health officals say the guest at the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami were sent to nearby hotels Sunday to prevent futher contact with the Legionella bacteria. It can cause potentially deadly pneumonia. It is spread in contaminated mist or vapor, not from person to person. An investigation last week by county and state officals revealed that the hotel had installed a water filter powerful enough to remove chlorine from it's city-supplied water, a move that encourgaged bacterial growth.
Just a side note "How did we ever live out on the farm drinking well water?"
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May each and everyone have a wonderful holiday season. Celibrate with joy and happiness with the ones you love.
So may from my family to yours
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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At our last rally, December 10 to 13, 2009 I went around to our members to check out how many had their water filter at the faucet. More the half did. I told each one of the dangers of this. Some thought it was just a way to sell more inside filters, but most were shocked but undertood the problem. I think we will have someone give a talk on this at our April rally. In the mean time I am going to fill a jar with filtered water and keep it closed up to see if it will grow bad things. I will post the results here.
Herman
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Well gentlemen, after all of my cudos for the Aqua-Hot, I lost my heating. The unit would not come on. It worked a little on 50 amp. but nothing on the burner. I had the Aqua-Hot service scheduled for today. It confirmed my thought that the system had never been serviced.
Here are some of the things I learned.
1) keep an eye on the over flow tank. It should always have some fluid in it. Mine was 2.5 gal. low.
2) change the fuel filter at least every other year. More often if used often.
3) change the injector on the same schedule.
4) make sure your switch is in the right position. Ours was upside down. Off was on and on was off.
All were corrected today and we have great heating now.
Moral to this story: Watch and learn from an expert.
Wayne, now I can fix someone else's unit while I call the expert for mine.
Herman
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Generally speaking, a leak that takes overnight to drain the pressure is within commercially acceptable standards.But it is also large enough that you should be able to find it with a trusty soapy spray bottle.
Brett Wolfe
Brett, One of my problems is I don't have a place where I can crawl under the coach. My storage building is rocks and it makes it dificult to lay on your back and move around. OH what I wouldn't give for a concrete floor.
Thanks, Herman
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Herman,I agree with Brett that losing air in 24 hours is withing normalcy. However, I have heard others that state they never loose air, even after a month in storage.
rbdtanasi,
I have this theory. If it is my equipment I leave it alone and let someone experienced fix it. If it is some one elses equipment, I'll jump right in and try and fix it. In 99% of the cases where I have helped some one I have been successful. In 99% of the cases where I worked on my own equipment, I failed. Well, except for some of the smaller items. It would be my luck that I would break the air pressure gauge.
Wayne,
When I was stationed in N.J., I was a crew member for a AA Gas Dragster. We always worked on Friday Nights getting ready for the weekend. The owner, named Joe, could take a 6 foot cheater bar on a half in. bolt and put all of his weight on it without any problems, where as his Brother-in-law Eric could take a open wrench on a three quarter in bolt, and with the lest amount of pressure snap it off. I know the feeling on working on someone elses coach and not your own. I can always diagnose someones problems and fix it but on mine I can stand for hours without helping one bit. So lets start doing this, you fix mine and I'll fix yours.
Herman
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As I suggested, the first things to do are verify that the lens and bulbs are clean and that voltage is close to chassis battery voltage. If voltage is not close to that of the chassis battery, "powering" them with a relay (applies to an even greater degree to the headlights) directly from the chassis battery is relatively inexpensive. You just use the existing wire to the bulb to turn on/off the relay, with power to the relay and then the bulb coming directly from the battery with a large enough gauge wire to have minimal voltage drop. Supplying a light bulb with 13.8 VDC instead of, say 13.2 WILL give you more light. Same as interior bulbs brighten when you plug in and turn on your battery charger.But, if everything is "up to snuff" and the lights are still too dim, upping the wattage of the bulb WILL give you more light. A couple of caveats: There are restrictions on how bright tail lights can be, there are restrictions on the wattage that the wiring can supply-- not a danger, as they are fuse-protected, but too large a bulb (too large an electrical draw) will cause a voltage drop in a small gauge wire, which may lead you back to using a relay from the battery to supply the lights.
You can upgrade the bulb to larger-wattage incandescent bulbs or to LED's designed for that socket.
Brett Wolfe
racerss said that his lights are dim. If he is only looking at them when he has his toad hooked up, he may have too much draw. In the past I had a problem with the headlight switch on a 1 ton Ford Dualy. I was pulling tandum boat trailers at night with both of them hooked up. It was too much draw and I had to change out the switch several times. I then wired a plug direct from the battery with a 15 amp inline fuse for the tail lights. This solved the problem with dim lights and failing switches. Just a thought.
Herman Mullins
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Since it is under the dash and on the pressure guage you know it is a compression fitting. If it were in a place that you could get to easly it would be one of those pressure fittings. I love our motor home, however when they assemble a coach they always seem to put the simple items in simple places and the difficult in difficult places. All mechanics need two more elbows on both arms, long fingers and very flexable every where else.
On a more serious note, when driving my coach I never seem to have a problem with air pressure when I stop and start my engine. But when I leave it overnight I always have to wait for the pressure to build up. Is this normal? Brett? Wayne? Tom? Seajay?
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Thanks Herman, someday when I'm retired we will but it's just too far outside our "2-week trip" limit for distance. Funny though last year on our trip to AZ we travelled a stretch of road that many here may identify with south of ELY, NV. We woke up early and got underway. My wife said to me "good god we can see where we are going to be in an hour" because the road was so straight. We did actually trade drivers twice without slowing down so we could go to the bathroom (don't recommend doing this on a regular basis though) LOL....NWJeeper,
There are some places in West Texas where if your Co-Pilot will stand up, she can see to Friday.
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NWjeeper, welcome to FMCA and the Forum. Since you and the boss have spent so much time in Washington traveling in the MH come out east to Texas. From where you are used to driving you could drive our Texas hills on cruise control and get up to make lunch. Honk and wave when you pass, who knows it might be someone from the Forum.
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Brett is right. Get the weight off the wheels and check for wheel bearings, loose lug nuts, tie rods and the idler arm. It wasn't said but why was the front end rebuilt? Did they replace the ball joints (upper and lower), inner shaft bushings or king pins, wheel bearings, did they get the nut tight enough (or too tight) on the spindle? So many part that could be popping. Check your bill for the work on the front end. Then check every part they replaced. I just had another thought. do your get the noise when your accelerate? If so you might have a bad motor mount.
Food for thought hope it helps.
Disappointed with CoPilot Live GPS
in Electronics
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When I have purchased programs for my computer I always have a code to activate it with when installing and registering. Each time I move the program I use the same code and it works. I do have programs like Notron that I know is a subscride to service and must be renewed each year (And they start telling you 6 months in advance). With the copilot program will your old activation code still work? If you have the disc and old code try that. It might work if it doesn't then you can get more angry and frustrated.
Sorry, hope you get it solved soon.