wolfe10

Dave, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Here are some CG reviews for the Panama City area, including Racoon River CG. http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Florida/Panama_City_Beach.html#CGID8120

Paul, While cleaning from the back (you are cleaning the back of the radiator) is fine, the vast majority of the dirt will be deposited on the FRONT of the CAC, since the air is sucked in by the fan and forced back through the CAC and then the radiator. As you saw, it is no fun to access the front of the CAC-- you have to work INSIDE that fan shroud/around the fan blades. As I have posted before, use a strong flashlight inside the fan shroud and make sure that the lower PERIMETER is as clean as the center. Long before you experience overheating (i.e. radiator air flow insufficient), you will experience loss of HP and MPG, as the CAC is not able to cool the engine intake air sufficiently. And no, there is no way with a sandwiched cooling system (CAC in front of radiator) to clean adequately it from the back only. OK, that's the bad news. The good news is that you get to choose that outfit you got for Christmas that you REALLY don't like. Wear it to crawl in and clean the front of the CAC. And, with big apologies to the giver, it will be relegated to the "work clothes" pile.

Ken, Short answer is YES-- As long as you replace all tires on an axle with the same brand, size, model, load range, etc. Brett

What area of the country are you in???

Sage advice, EXCEPT when dry camping it is NOT economical to run a generator to power a converter, charger or inverter/charger until the batteries are 100% charged. Charge rate tapers off dramatically as they get charged so that as they pass from BULK to ABSORPTION phase, the amps into the batteries per hour of generator run time is unreasonable low. When dry camping, discharge to 50%, recharge to 85%, discharge to 85%.... Yes, once a week batteries need to be brought back to 100% charge. BTW, this is pretty much second nature to those of us whose introduction to "The 12 VDC Side Of Life" was life on a sailboat where you are "dry camping" (ya, strange term for being anchored out-- had to translate that into the "land cruising term"!) and having to run the primary engine (4 cylinder diesel in our boat) so that the alternator can charge the batteries. With diesel hard to find in the islands and $5+ per gallon, we minimized run time. Brett

Herman, Not sure about the master status, though I do admit I have achieved "master yard boy status" here at home?! However, that may be from lack of other applicants for the job. If the M&G fit on our toad, indeed it would have been on my short list as well.

Heman, Slight clarification. Many braking system including the Invibrake on ours from Roadmaster that apply the brake pedal also have a vacuum pump that "power" the brake vacuum booster. So it's single pump/compressor uses positive pressure to apply the brake (through a ram and cable) AND the vacuum side to "power" the brake vacuum booster. And on this system, if the coach running lights are on, it recharges the toad battery. We drove from the Madison WI FMCA Convention this summer straight through to south Texas and the toad battery was still just fine when we got home. As you and others have posted, there is no one ideal system-- the proof of that is some companies make more than one type of system. As an example, the M&G only fit a limited number of toads, as there has to be room to move the master cylinder forward to allow installation of the M&G device. So that was not a possibility on our Ford-- not enough room under the hood to move the master cylinder. My recommendation is to start by considering any system that will fit your toad and works well with your coach braking system and then rank the things that are important to you. Example, the Invisibrake we have is totally hidden-- nothing to put in or remove when going from driving the toad to towing it. But, if you change vehicles very often or tow two different tow vehicles, it would be a poor choice, as initial installation time is involved. But once installed, one wire to hook up coach to toad and the break-away cable. That's it. Yes, this involves research, but you CAN tailor your brake system to your toad, coach and your specific requirements.

ramblinboy, Those "idiot lights" are just that. To really tell voltage, you need to use a digital voltmeter at the batteries. If you don't have a digital voltmeter, get one-- they start at under $20 at Sears, Radio Shack, etc.

wbrown, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Please give us more details on what you mean by: "No matter what air pressure I put in them the seem to find a pressure of about 95 PSI cold." And, yes, it is absolutely normal and expected that tire PSI will increase as the tires heat up with driving. That is the reason that all tire manufacturers recommend checking tire pressure BEFORE driving.

Yes, just as Bill said, your RV runs on 12 VDC. To make 12 VDC from two 6 VDC batteries, the two batteries are wired in SERIES. Positive of battery #1 to house positive. Negative of battery #1 to positive of battery #2 and negative of battery #2 to house ground. Think of the two 6 VDC batteries in series as "a 12 VDC battery in two cases". And, wired in series, amp-hr capacity of the 6 VDC batteries remains the same, though voltage doubles. So, a pair of 220 amp-hr 6 VDC batteries wired in series will give you 220 amp-hrs @ 12 VDC.

Barb, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. My recommendation on any "in engine" work would be to go to a dealer for that engine-- Caterpillar in your case. I would rather have a guy who has adjusted valves on 5 engines just like yours this week than a guy at a chassis dealer who has done 4 brake jobs, 3 front end alignments, 2 clutch jobs and may not have worked on an engine like yours in a month. For a Caterpillar dealer near you, call the Caterpillar RV Hotline toll free at: 877 777-3126. BTW, the first valve adjustment on a Caterpillar engine in RV service is 30,000 miles. The price can vary widely depending on how much (or how little) access your coach maker left to the top of the engine. In most cases, if you do the work to gain access to the top of the engine, you can save some labor charge. Brett

Tom, Running a positive and extra ground directly from coach to toad battery is a very common and reasonable practice. A couple of caveats: 1. Make sure both coach and toad batteries have a fuse as close to the batteries as possible as both ends are hot and if grounded and unfused, could cause a fire. 2. Set up the coach charge wire on a circuit only hot when the coach engine is running so it will not discharge the coach battery when dry camping. If more convenient/an ignition controlled circuit of sufficient amperage is not available, use an ignition hot circuit to control a relay with the main current (large lug) of the relay going directly to the battery (fused of course). No sure there is any one ideal brake system out there-- that is why some companies offer more than one type of brake. If you don't intend to change vehicles often and don't want to fool with moving and setting up a portable brake system, the Invibrake should fit your needs. It is permanently installed out of the way, with nothing to do to have the vehicle tow-ready. It has both vacuum to operate the toad's brake booster and a high pressure ram that activates the toad's brake pedal through a cable (so the ram can be located out of the way).

Bill, I was experiencing the same need to re-log in-- sometimes in the middle of a post. But, I have not experienced this in the last 10+ days. Is this still an ongoing issue for you? Brett

What year and what engine?

mrboyer is correct, IF, repeat IF the CG outlet is properly wired. Many energy management systems need to see 240 VAC between the hots in order to operate properly. If the outlet is wired incorrectly, with both hots coming from the same side of the CG main breaker box you coach will not sense "proper 50 amp power". That is why I suggested measuring hot to hot (outer straight to outer straight) to VERIFY that the outlet is properly wired.

To follow up on Bill's post, to tell if you have 30 amp or 50 amp coach, look at the male end of the shore power cord: 30 amp has 3 prongs. 50 amp has 4 prongs. If your shore power cord is 50 amp and you are plugged into a properly wired 50 amp RV receptacle, you should have 50 amp (two hots) service. IF YOU ARE SAFE WORKING AROUND 120 VAC, start by verifying that the CG receptacle is properly wired: Outer straight (either) to center straight= 120 VAC Outer straight (either) to center round= 120 VAC Outer straight to outer straight= 240 VAC Center round to center straight= 0 VAC If not, AND YOU ARE SAFE WORKING AROUND 120 VAC electricity, remove the cover from the ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) and check from black to white and then from red to white on the "IN" from shore power and also on the "OUT" to the coach 120 VAC breaker box. Readings from black (hot) to white (neutral)= 120 VAC. Reading from red (other hot) to white (neutral)= 120 VAC. Reading from black to red= 240 VAC. If that is OK, then you need to contact Winnebago, as they likely have an energy management system that could have a problem. But you do want to be able to tell them that indeed two hots are are there and properly wired.

Actually, with most vehicles you would use this with (as it lifts the front wheels off the ground) being front wheel drive it would put more than half a vehicle's weight on the hitch. And as you point out, that much weight 10' or so behind the rear axle will add well more than that weight on the rear axle and remove some weight front the front axle. So, you would need to verify: Hitch rating (particularly tongue weight) Enough rear axle capacity (GAWR minus actual weight) to accommodate at least 130% of the added weight-- more if you have a longer rear overhang. And, if the front axle is already underloaded, this will make ride and handling worse. Will this work on some applications, particularly with tax axle DP's yes. But be VERY careful out there. Brett

I have sent the OP a Private Message asking for clarification on that furnace he has, as we are following two very different lines of ASSUMPTIONS on what he has. Brett

Check with your chassis manufacturer. They will have scheduled maintenance schedules. With a Caterpillar engine, also consider this FMCA Chapter (http://www.catrvclub.org/ ) and its technical forum http://www.catrvclub.org/forum/ Once on the Cat RV Club Forum homepage, click on "Forum" to see discussion on each major system.

Koliver, Sorry, I don't have any first hand information on any of the 2007 and newer diesels-- heck, mine Caterpillar engine was built in 1992. It may (or may not) be similar to running any post 1975 automobile equipped with catalytic converter on leaded fuel. This generally resulted in a rather expensive repair including oxygen sensor(s) and new converter. Brett

Koliver, Actually, I suspect the OP has a propane furnace. Brett

I don't have a single "this is the only one to get": Features you want: 3 stage charger (bulk, absorption and float). Setting for battery technology (wet cell, AGM or gel) helpful, but with AGM's not a requirement. If you don't do a lot of dry camping, a 40 amp smart charger is large enough. If you do a lot of dry camping (i.e. you run your generator just to charge the batteries), bigger is better. A charge with dual output is a plus-- it can independently charger both house and chassis batteries. This is not a requirement, as you can use an Echo charger, solenoid or Trik L Charger to charge the chassis battery. Look for these features and you will be happy with the results.

I just got off the phone with my contact at Caterpillar Corporation on another matter. When I called, he was just finishing a conversation with the owner of a newer coach in trouble in Mexico. As I think all of us know, ALL engines (Caterpillar, Cummins, etc) built after 1/1/07 (this is ENGINE build date, not chassis or coach build date) require ULSD. Repeat, all diesel engine built after 1/1/07 require ULSD fuel. ULSD fuel has less than 15 PPM Sulfur. The call was from a guy with a post 2007 engine in Acapulco-- WAY more than the range on ULSD roundtrip from the U.S. And ULSD is not available in Mexico with VERY limited exception (like right along the U.S. border where some of the towns in Mexico get fuel from the U.S.). 500 or more PPM Sulfur Mexican diesel "AIN'T" the same! He also pointed out that there was not a single dealership in Mexico trained on the 2007 and newer emissions engines (Suspect the same thing for Cummins, etc) since they do not have these engines in Mexico. Just FYI.

Doc, Best advice is to see what mil specs your Cummins owners manual recommends for your engine. If you don't have a Cummins manual, get one from any Cummins dealer (will need your engine serial number) . You could also give Cummins a call with your engine serial number and ask them: Cummins 800 343-7357 Brett

Thanks for the post. Is this the CG (southern GA)? http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/milcamps/49-georgia/89-eagle-hammock-rv-park