wolfe10

How often did you check battery water level? Most likely cause with they ran dry and the converter kept trying to charge them with one or more dead cells. Start with a new battery, cleaning the battery compartment well with baking soda and cleaning and repainting what needs to be redone. Post what converter, charger or inverter charger you have. How often between visits to the coach-- that way we can come up with a safe protocol for keeping them up. Do you run any thing else on the coach on 120 VAC when you are not there? Brett

Peggy, What water heater do you have. Suburban water heaters DO use an anode. Atwood water heaters use a nylon plug. Put 2 1/4 wraps of teflon tape on the plug and tighten with a crescent wrench.

Actually, Michelin says UP TO 10 years, with annual inspections by a tire professional beginning at 5 years. So, 10 years is the absolute outside number, not the suggest life of the average tire.

Viscosity is the primary determiner of PSI at idle. What viscosity are you using. For most ambient temperatures, 15-40 is the correct oil.

Have you turned off and back on the two on-generator breakers? Have you checked for power at the ATS (if safe working around 120 VAC)-- if the ATS has failed, the generator power would not get to the breaker panel.

What kind of work-- LOF? RV system maintenance? other?

As Rich says, it could be a blown fuse or bad condenser fan motor. But it could also be the fan relay which is between the fuse and motor. The relay is used because you would not want to run the full amp load it takes for those condenser fans through the dash switch. The relay is opened/closed by a signal from the dash switch. When the relay is closed, power from battery source powers the fans. When the relay is open, the fans don't run. And with the condenser fan not turning, even with a proper charge, the high pressure side WILL be high-- often high enough to trip the high pressure cut-out switch (if your A/C has one).

Several options: 1. No spare-- the majority of coaches, particularly DP fall into this category. 2. An unmounted spare tire (much lighter than a mounted one. Still allows road service to install it where you are. 3. Mounted spare. A reasonable option IF you have the equipment and ability to change the tire yourself. If you have to have road service for this, not much advantage over #2. We carry an unmounted spare ONLY when traveling to remote areas where a replacement tire might be hard to find.

I do exactly the same-- plywood on concrete. If storing more than a month, per Michelin's recommendation, inflate tires to max on sidewall.

Bill, They do mix. In fact, in really cold country, gasoline used to be added to diesel in winter for tractors.

Unlikely you did any damage with that small a concentration of gasoline. I would fill up again now to further dilute the gasoline.

It is common on many RV's for the converter, charger or inverter/charger to only charge the house battery. Check with Roadtrek to find out if yours is wired to charge both battery banks from the converter, charger or inverter/charger. There are several good stand along chargers and also, battery combiners that will allow your charging system to charge the chassis battery as well, if yours is not already set up that way.

Mike, et al: Here is another "good read" on fuel consumption and performance in a motorhome-- Written by Caterpillar Corp, but physics is physics, so the information applies to all heavy vehicles-- gas or diesel. It helps set reasonable performance expectations and covers many of the factors affecting fuel MPG. http://www.catrvclub.org/PDF_Docs/Understanding_Perf.pdf

Thanks, Mike. Interesting information. If you know of a source for the "sweet spot" on the common Caterpillar, Cummins and DD used in RV's over the last 20 years or so that would be a great information resource for all of us. But, to make sure I understand this, the sweet spot is that RPM at which the engine produces the most HP/gal of fuel-- correct. Depending on gearing, that may not be the most efficient RPM/road speed. I am thinking of a lot of coaches with low numerical rear axle ratios that don't get into 6th gear until 65 MPH or so. So, if their "sweet spot" puts them at 72 MPH, the "sweet spot" may not give the best MPG. Please correct if this is not correct.

Don't really know if this is a problem or not. Mine (Caterpillar 3116) has always been full. You might give the Caterpillar RV Hotline a call with your engine serial number and discuss this: 877 777-3126.

Jtraveler, Did you get into any heavy side wind driving? With the shorter wheelbase DP's (that one is 208") that tends to be an issue. Also, did you drive far enough to check MPG? Thanks.

Many roof A/C's are designed that way. Does it behave differently than the rear air? If so, THEN I would give Monaco a call. Also, it would help if you tell us what A/C and control panel you have.

An intermittant issue like that can often be traced to a loose ground wire. Also, please post what chassis you have and what gauges are doing what. Are any other electrical items "misbehaving" when this occurs?

Paul, With plastic blades, if (ya, big IF) you can get to the blades as you rotate the fan, you might try some cleaner on a thin rag, using a Popsicle stick to get it in between the blades. Please tell spouse it WILL take a dozen Popsicle to get the job done-- blame me if you wish. Might as well get something for your hard work.

Mike, Great links. There IS a difference, though between an 80,000 pound truck with the same engine as your 40,something or 50,something pound motorhome. Because of your "light weight", you can run lower RPM for a given road speed/remain in the "sweet spot" at higher speeds. Because with heavier weight, as mentioned in the articles, one has to compromise between economy and ability to pull the load.

Stuart, From the Michelin RV tire guide IF the original tires were Michelin 255/80R22.5: 10,400 front calls for a little over 105-- 105 is good for 10,300. 19,000 rear calls for 110, good for 19,220. So, you are correct. Wonder why Tiffin reduced those recommendations??? Any chance the tires were 275's?

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Before looking into anything else, perform the "burner area tune-up" as described in your refrigerator owner's manual It requires no special tools and no parts. Quite possible that a flake of rust, mud dubber's nest, etc is blocking the burner.

Nancy, Good question. Check tire pressure in the morning before driving. Note how many PSI you need to add to bring tires to correct inflation. When you get to the station (tires now warm), check tire pressure and add the amount you would have liked to add that morning. Sometimes this takes too people, one with the air hose and a "supervisor" to do the math-- ya, OK to cheat and use pen and paper.

I think if you ask more specific questions about rigs you may be interested in, there will be more responses. Too broad a question tends to be difficult to answer and if answered, often turn into a "my band is better" thread.

I would use commercial evaporator cleaner. Bleach is really rough on aluminum-- and a lot of the A/C is aluminum.