wolfe10

Acreed, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Not sure anyone on-line can answer your question. Parkinson can exhibit such a wide range of symptoms from almost negligible to debilitating. No "this is how it affects everyone". Probably your doctor would be a better judge of what you are capable of. In addition to the driving question, you also need to address the "chores" associated with RV'ing. Whether you are capable or your wife is and is willing to do them.

Gerald, What year? What transmission? 2 or 4 wheel drive? Here is a great starting resource here at FMCA: http://www.fmca.com/motorhome/towing/204-towing-guides-towing-four-wheels-down

http://rvsafety.com/weighing-schedule/

Just a word of caution: While ticat900's suggestion of jumper wire from house to chassis battery is absolutely correct electrically, be VERY VERY careful doing this, as allowing either end of that jumper to touch either a negative battery terminal or any piece of metal on the coach creates a DEAD SHORT and can easily become red hot and cause a fire.

Clay, I use the same model-- actually a 1500 for chassis and 2012 for house when in storage. The deslufation feature is the primary difference and reason I chose it over other models.

Gerald, Yes, that is one of the several reasonable ways to maintain chassis battery charge.

Wayne, Thanks for the correction. You are correct-- Change of 10 degrees F makes 2% change in PSI.

Gerald, Many coaches are not wired for the inverter/charger or converter to charge the chassis batteries. So, first thing is to contact your coach manufacturer to see whether yours is wired to charge only house or both house and chassis. There are a number of ways to maintain the chassis battery if your is not wired to charge the chassis battery. Here is what I use: http://batteryminders.com/12-volt-maintenance-charger-desfulator-1500

Rocky, Yes, some jacks (RVA rear jacks for example) have rubber or polyurethane bushings that allow small amounts of movement to accommodate uneven ground. Particularly the OE rubber bushings can degrade, causing excessive play and rattle.

If this occurred coincident with work in the engine room (you mention changing coolant), I would check that the connections are clean and tight, no broken or frayed wires before spending money on a sendor.

Generally chassis maker installs a separate temperature sending unit than the engine manufacturer. But, call your chassis maker with your chassis serial number to verify.

Winnebago should also be able to help you-- give them a call with your VIN.

The salesman switch, also know by other names such as battery disconnect switch is generally close to the entrance door of the coach. It allows one to leave lights on in the coach and rather than going around turning all off and then back on when you return, you just turn off this "master switch". The switch may either be manual or it may be used to control a solenoid that then connects/disconnects the battery bank from fuse box. And, as I mentioned above, you also likely have a large fuse near the battery that also needs to be checked.

When you say everything is dead, can you start the engine (i.e. is chassis battery functioning)? If just the house systems are down, look for the "salesman switch" near the entrance door that turns on/off most all 12 VDC. And, use a digital voltmeter (starting under $20) to determine exact battery voltage. If batteries are 12.2+ VDC, but nothing works, start at the battery to see if the relay controlled by the salesman switch and/or a large fuse is bad.

http://www.myrv.us/electric/ Click on 30 amp service.

Yes, sounds like battery problem. First, let's identify which battery bank you are talking about. Please verify that the shades operate on the HOUSE battery bank, not CHASSIS battery bank. If house, that bank should charge from either engine (alternator) or from shore power/generator via your charger or inverter/charger. If chassis, it should charge from engine and MAY, repeat MAY also charge from your charger or inverter/charger (not all are wired to charge from shore power/generator OK from either alternator or charger or inverter charger, voltage at the batteries should be 13- 14.5 VDC. As soon as charging source is removed, the batteries quickly dissipate their "surface charge" and drop to voltage of a 100% charged 12 VDC battery-- 12.7 VDC. From there the voltage should drop very slowly (depending on amp draw and size of battery bank (in amp-hrs). 50% discharged is 12.2 VDC. As an example, if your batteries are in good condition and fully charged and you have 4 6VDC golf cart batteries for your house bank (and the shades run on the house battery as I suspect they do) you have 440 amp-hrs @ 12 VDC. So, if you run a 10 amp load, it would take 22 hours to discharge your battery bank to 50%. If the voltage drop is as quick (below 12.7 VDC) you very likely have one or more bad batteries. And if over a year or so old, replace all batteries that make up that bank. Brett

Here is a direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCv8M-q80Lc

Frank, Check the sway bar end link bushings. If any play/you can see any daylight between bushings and bar or bushings and frame rail, they can rattle.

Best answer: Weigh each wheel position with the coach fully loaded with fuel and with the stuff you travel with. Take the heavier wheel position on each axle and go to your tire manufacturer's Inflation Table to determine the MINIMUM PSI for that weight. All tires on an axle to have PSI determined by the heavier wheel position. Now that you have the minimum for your actual weight most (including our coach) add 5 PSI as a safety cushion above the minimum. This is cold (before driving). As ambient temperatures drop with the coming of winter, you WILL be adding air, as tire pressure drops roughly one PSI per 10 degrees F. Tires also loose a little air over time. A good TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) is an excellent addition to any coach/toad. A 10 sensor system allows you to monitor both coach and toad without pulling out the tire gauge each morning.

Yup, the critical question is whether anything that normally works from the chassis battery with the key OFF still works. If so, you are absolutely correct-- look for a problem before the ignition solenoid/ignition switch. BTW, if a voltmeter shows no voltage on either large lug of the ignition solenoid, it is another indication that the problem is between the battery and solenoid/other fuses.

ticat900, Yes, if the load when you plug into 15 amp outlet exceeds 15 amps, it will pop the breaker. And even if it is below that, if the house wiring to the 15 amp outlet is long/small-gauge, you can draw voltage down to below 108 VAC. Solutions: Make sure that all 120 VAC appliances are off, particularly water heater. Also, an very importantly, most newer inverter/chargers allow you to set "Power Share or Power Save" which allows you to limit the amps of 120 VAC that the inverter/charger may use for battery charging. Set it to 5 amps. It will still fully charge the batteries and go through the same three stages, it will just take longer, but NOT draw too many amps. Brett

If all the items that normally operate only with the ignition ON don't operate, the likely suspect is the IGNITION SOLENOID. Likely in the dash or basement compartment in front of driver's wheel. Easy to diagnose: The solenoid has two large lugs-- one connected to chassis battery (always battery voltage), the other to all those things that run when the key is ON (battery voltage only when it receives its "signal" from the ignition switch. And either one or two small lugs. If one, it is the "signal" wire from ignition switch. If two, the second is ground (if only one, the body of the solenoid serves as ground). With ignition off, verify battery voltage at one large lug. Turn on key. You should hear the solenoid "click" and will have that same voltage at the other large lug. If not, either the solenoid is defective or is not receiving the signal from the ignition switch. Check for 12 VDC on the signal terminal with key on. If not, you have a problem in the ignition switch, wiring from switch to solenoid or bad fuse. An alternate test is to remove the signal wire and use a small jumper wire from the "always hot" lug to the signal terminal. It will be carrying very little current, so a small wire works fine. If no click and no power to other large lug, bad solenoid. NOW, THE WORK AROUND IF YOU NEED TO HIT THE ROAD. Carefully mark (tape, wire tie, etc) all wires on one large lug (choose the one that has fewer wires on it-- either one. Remove them from their lug and place them along with all the original wires on the other lug. All you have done is "closed the solenoid". Be sure to restore wires to original position when you arrive at your destination. Brett

Because of the programming options (such as on/off switch controls charger section or charger section automatically on when outside source of 120 VAC is present) it is really difficult to give absolutes-- too much depends on how they are set up. Reason to leave switch off: Unless you are storing the coach with shore power. If power goes off, inverter is OFF, batteries stay charged. If ON and any load, you can end up with a set of dead batteries.

The "point in common" for shore power and generator is the ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch). If you are safe working around 240 VAC, pull the lid to the ATS and check for bad connection. Also, check for bad or overheated/melted connection on both ends of shore power cord. And, to check the outlet with a digital voltmeter: Outer straights are HOT. Center straight is NEUTRAL. Center round is GROUND. So, either outer to either center round or center straight= 120 VAC Outer straight to outer straight= 240 VAC Center straight to center round= 0 VAC

Gerard, What make and model system do you have?