wolfe10

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. How long has it been on. It takes 24 hours for an absorption refrigerator to reach operating temperature. Any difference when running on propane or 120 VAC? Brett

Normally, you can turn on the water pump (turn off shore water) and listen for the pump to run. Listen inside and in the basement compartments. They are noisy enough that it should be findable. But, hopefully someone with the same coach will respond.

Mel, http://www.michelinrvtires.com/michelinrv/tires-retreads/tireInfo.do?tread=XZE Click on Specifications. Before locking in on the 9R, check dimensions on this Michelin tire site. Look carefully at the 255/80R22.5. But they are both XZE's. Our coach came on 9R's and upgraded to the 255's a decade ago. Brett

Before looking at that, turn on the engine and headlights and check voltage at the head lights. In many cases, you will find what is 14 VDC at the battery or alternator is sometimes under 12 VDC at the headlights. If that is your issue, clearly the bulbs will be dim. Easy fix is to power the head lights through a relay. Use the head light switch to open/close the relay. Run a large-gauge wire from the battery or other large-gauge power source to the relay and then large gauge wires to the head lights themselves. 14 VDC will be a lot brighter than 12 VDC. Brett

Beautiful weather (low high 50s, high high 70s). The facility is great. The majority of seminars are in one building, and in the same building as the indoor exhibits. Coach display across the street. I have been pretty heads down giving seminars and have two more today (Suspension and Ask the Expert), so I really have not had a lot of time to look around myself. Brett

That depends on what inverter you have and how it is wired. Many have a "Pass Through" feature. When they receive 120 VAC from the generator or shore power, they merely "pass it through". If your inverter has this feature, you need to verify that 120 VAC is getting to the inverter from your coach's main 120 VAC breaker panel. Others are wired with a second ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch). Be aware that most outlets are wired with/through a GFI which may need to be reset. But if tripped, it should not work off the inverter either. Brett

Joe, Once primed, there should not be a need to re-prime. Need to re-prime would indicate an air leak at a filter or line from tank to engine. Hard start at high altitudes, which usually means low temperatures, means you should start by verifying that the correct starting procedure is followed (see your Caterpillar Engine Manual). If still a problem, verify that the intake heater is functioning properly. Brett

Ya, we are here too. Low tonight in Madison 54 degrees. High tomorrow, 76 degrees. BEAUTIFUL.

daPrinc, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. That advice is decades old. With the two filter/manual primer pump system you have, the recommendation from Caterpillar Corporation (not my opinion) is: Install filters dry and use manual primer pump to prime. Does that take 3 minutes longer than filling the filters with fuel or ATF that may be clean--YES. Is it a short cut that diesel techs use-- YES. Is it the "Best Practices Recommendation"-- NO. If you are here in Madison at the FMCA Convention, on Thursday morning at the Caterpillar RV Engine Maintenance Seminar you would hear exactly the same thing. As a side note, I have the same fuel filter arrangement and that procedure has worked for me for the last 156,000 miles. Brett

Yes, as long as your actual "Going down the road" weight is not over 32,000 pounds. Brett

Tim gave you the correct advice. Least strong component determines towing capacity. So in addition to checking coach receiver capacity, take the GCWR minus actual weight of your coach (your GVWR could give you a rough idea)= towing capacity.

Two possibilities: 1. Problem in the tank with the fuel pickup. 2. Problem in the fuel line from tank to primary fuel filter. A loose hose clamp or too tight a hose clamp that has cut into the fuel line and allows air in the system could also be the issue. Brett

Chris, To answer the question on Caterpillar recommendation for final bleeding of air from your particular engine, give the Caterpillar RV Hotline a call with your engine serial number. They can look up for you the procedure: 877 777-3126. And, as I have mentioned before, if you are going to keep the coach, I strongly recommend you consider installing the second fuel filter with Caterpillar manual primer pump. Sure makes this easier. Freightliner went back to building their chassis that way as well.

Chris, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. First, 25 PSI is a lot more than I would use. You only need enough to move fuel from its level in the tank to the level of the fuel filter. Heck, with 25 PSI, you could have the fuel filter on the roof and still have adequate pressure. More importantly, I am not sure that the fuel tanks were designed for that kind of PSI. 5 PSI should be enough to raise the fuel from tank level to filter housing level. You don't say what kind of fuel system you have-- will need to know that to answer the question. Do you have one or two filters? Manual primer pump? What engine? And, have you looked in the manual for recommendation for final bleeding of air. With some, after most of the air is purged (which it sounds like yours is), turning the key on or activating the starter will finish the fuel bleed process. BTW, bleeding the air from the outlet IS the correct way to do it. Brett

If you got a clear liquid from your primary fuel filter/water separator, that was water. Diesel is golden in color. This is easy to see if you have a clear plastic bowl fuel filter rather than one that is all metal. Any layering that you can see in the clear bowl is a sign of a problem. Best advice that doesn't cost a lot of money is to buy a couple of extra primary filter elements. Continue to stop every 20-25 miles to check/drain water. As long as the water level does not reach the filter element (i.e. is only in the bottom of the bowl) the filter element itself has not been compromised. Once the filter element gets wet, it needs to be changed. There are some alcohol-based products that absorb water, but you are better off just removing the water from the system as some of these additives are not particularly good for the injection system. If you will be storing the coach before getting to that 100% water-free status, then an additive may be a better answer. Brett

Is the compressor coming on? What is voltage? Safe range is 108-132 VAC. What brand and model?

That is exactly what I do.

If this is a Ford F53 chassis with V10 (not V6), yes many have driven cross country. As with any motorhome, driving in mountains does take some getting used to as momentum is very different than in a car. Only other advice on a gas chassis is to change brake fluid every three years. Hydraulic brake fluid absorbs water and that materially reduces its boiling point. Brett

Good information as always from Gary. If you have an inverter/charger, pull out it's owners manual. Go to the section on programming. These inverter/chargers are smart enough that they will do what you want IF, repeat IF you tell them what you want. Things to be programmed are: Battery bank size. With 6 6 VDC batteries for the house, you have around 660 amp-hrs @12 VDC. Battery technology: wet cell in your case. Temperature: hot (unless you have an optional temperature probe). If you still have the problem with the inverter/charger properly programmed and terminals clean and tight, the next step is to see if one of the batteries may have a dead cell. A dead cell will lead to overcharging the other cells, as the inverter/charger tries to maintain proper voltage into 5 cells instead of 6. A battery hydrometer is inexpensive and available at most auto parts stores. As always, the more information we have on your specific setup (what charger, inverter/charger or converter you have) will allow more focused answers. Brett

First suspect is that running light positive 12 VDC is feeding back into the coach brake circuit. That could be from a bad diode allowing voltage to cross over. That could also be from a bad ground which can cause some very strange ground paths which might include that brake light circuit. Brett

Previous Post: http://community.fmca.com/topic/2363-residential-refrigerator-installation/page__p__11940__fromsearch__1#entry11940 Brett

Darrell, Let me confirm that it is the front A/C breaker in the coach main 120 VAC breaker panel that is tripping. What is voltage when this occurs? As voltage goes down, amp draw goes up. What amp breaker do you have for the front A/C and is it a 13,500 or 15,000 BTU A/C? With shore power disconnected, generator and inverter off, access the 120 VAC breaker panel and verify that all wires are clean, fully engaged and tight. Hopefully see you sometime next week in Madison-- Dianne and I arrive on Saturday. Brett

Manual or automatic?

Need to start with the basics. Disconnect from shore power. Start generator. If everything works, you have verified that from the ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) on all is OK. Then, IF you are safe working around 120/240 VAC, check for correct power at the CG outlet. If that is OK, but still no power the coach, with power off, open the ATS. Plug in and check for power in and out of ATS. And this is much less likely to be a power surge issue than improper CG wiring. Brett

You might contact Henderson/Super Steer for information on motion control valves. http://www.hendersonslineup.com/products/motorhome/handling-suspension.html