wolfe10

Check with your A/C and microwave owners manual/manufacturer before running either on 104 VAC. Brett

Yes, with those two choices, hard to go wrong. Brett

Harriser, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. I do not know the specifics of your particular model. Here is the factory contact information for Coleman RV A/C: http://www.rvcomfort.com/rvp/contact.php Might cut and paste your post and send it to them for their response. Brett

Normal excepted range is 120 VAC +- 10%. So 108-132 VAC. BUT, some items, such as most converters are far less voltage sensitive. Bottom line-- if voltage drops below 108 VAC WHILE UNDER LOAD (not just when you plug in), confirm that the appliance you want to run WILL run at the voltage you have available (again while under load). Brett

Source Engineering, Inc. http://rv-chassis.com/index.html is offering a Chassis and Maintenance Rally in Eugene, OR for Coach Owners July 31, 2010- August 2, 2010. It is open to the owners of diesel coaches and even those considering a diesel coach. http://rv-chassis.com/rally3.pdf http://rv-chassis.com/RallySchedule.pdf There is open discussion with the engineers, there is a seminar on Cummins Engines and Allison Transmissions, (which should interest other than Monaco owners), and quite a number of other seminars on topics. If you don't like seminars, there is all the golf you want to play available on site. There's a Keg Party, etc!

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Algae and/or water contamination in diesel is not a common problem, but it DOES happen. You don't say where you live, but particularly if near a marine area, find a FUEL POLISHER and have them service your diesel. They come out with a high-volume pump and large filters and suck fuel off the bottom of the tank and return it to the inlet. When their filters no longer show signs of contamination, you are done. Add a kill dose of Biocide. I am not sure the labor of pulling the tank would do a significantly better job. And some tanks have a drain plug in the bottom of the tank. But, you would still have to find a way to catch and filter/dispose of it. Now-- how can you minimize this issue: 1. Fill up only at high-volume stations. Water can accumulate in station tanks just like in yours. 2. Keep the tank FULL, particularly when stored. If you have a 100 gallon tank and park with it half full, you have 50 gallons of air at whatever the ambient temperature and HUMIDITY you drove through. As the temperature drops at night, when the dew point is reached, it CONDENSES in the tank, sinks to below the diesel and becomes a breeding ground (actually at the water/diesel interface) for algae. And, as the tank heats each day, it exhausts air out the vent line. And, as it cools each night, that humid night air is sucked back into the tank. Repeat 50 or more times! 3. If you are going to store the coach, add a Biocide. They are available at any marine store, as boats have the same storage issue. You will NOT find it at a truck stop, as truckers burn their fuel very quickly. 4. Modern diesel engines have HIGH BYPASS fuel systems. For every gallon of fuel that goes to the engine, only a few ounces are burned. The rest serves to lubricate and cool the head and injectors and is returned to the tank. What that means is that driving 50 miles or so after filling up will have passed a high percent of the new fuel through the filters. SO, it is a good idea to look at the primary filter (the clear bowl) the next time you stop after filling up. If there is a problem, you can not only drain crud before it can get to the injectors, but can identify the source of the problem and potentially hold them responsible. Brett

EXCELLENT procedure and description. Thanks. Brett

Chuck, That is indeed puzzling, as the ONLY belt Caterpillar put on before shipping the engine was the water pump belt-- it "runs" ONLY the water pump on the 3116/3126/C7-- no chassis maker supplied components. The chassis maker specs the A/C compressor and alternator, hence the serpentine belt is speced by the chassis maker. Could a Caterpillar belt be the same as your serpentine belt-- of course. Brett

Scott, There are a number of ways, proper ways, to wire inverter output. The one I like best, as it is totally idiot proof, is that the inverter IN 120 VAC has its own breaker in the 120 VAC breaker box. With pass-through feature, with the inverter sees 120 VAC in, it merely "passes through" the 120 VAC from the generator or shore power (does not invert from the batteries). Inverter OUT 120 VAC is lead to a sub-panel supplying ONLY those circuits you want to be able to power from the inverter. Note: you also have to separate out the neutrals and grounds for those circuits you move from the main breaker panel to the sub-panel. This keeps

Certainly, if you do not need the inverter function, replace it with a quality 3 stage charger. And if you don't intend to dry camp, when you replace the batteries, cutting back the house battery bank to 1 8D/2 golf cart batteries would likely serve your needs. Brett

Thanks for the additional information. If you are safe going up on the roof, with 120 VAC power OFF, remove the A/C cover. Remove the cover plate for the "electrical" area. Check the capacitors for leakage or swelling, or overheating. Do NOT touch the terminals, even with the power off, they can still be charged. Look over the wiring to the compressor for loose connections. Brett

You need to tell us more about what you have. What brand A/C? Model if you know it? Ducted or non-ducted? Remote thermostat or on the A/C unit? Does the fan start OK, but the compressor doesn't kick in-- if not, please tell us exactly what works/doesn't work. Do you have adequate voltage (108+ VAC)? Brett

In addition to considering battery bank size (in amp-hrs), the other consideration is what do you want to be be able to run off the inverter. That will tell you the watts you need AND also give an indication of whether you need a true sine wave inverter or one of the MSW units. And particularly in a small coach, get to combo inverter/charger. Brett

Chuck, It is Caterpillar's recommendation (in writing) to replace the thermostats every three years: http://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/517742/7/LEHT9288.pdf?mode They are a wearing component-- metal on metal. Particularly if you just changed to ELC, I would go ahead and replace them just so you know the system is 100%. Did you also check your belts and check water pump tension? Serpentine belt? Brett

Chuck, You have done a good job with the basics: Verify oil capacity from this Caterpillar document-- it supersedes your owners manual: http://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/517742/7/LEHT9288.pdf?mode Calibrate the dipstick based on these quantities, as the angles of installation is not the same with different chassis. Extend the oil breather to back of the cooling system fan shroud intake. In addition (per Caterpillar), do NOT add oil until the level reaches the ADD mark (of the calibrated dipstick. There are some oil catchment "attachments" for the crankcase breather, including some homemade ones. The only caution is to NOT restrict air flow. Caterpillar fit your engine with a 1" ID hose. Do not restrict it with any oil catchment device. I would start by merely wiring a tin can under the end of the hose-- it is amazing what one single drop of oil will do when it hits a white vehicle at 60 mph. BTW, this issue affects all diesels built before 1/1/07-- Cummins, Detroit Diesel as well as Caterpillar. As of 1/1/07, all went to a closed crankcase system. Brett

Sorry, not a chemist, so I can't answer that one. But I suspect there are different cleaning needs. I don't see A/C condensers being exposed to an oily residue. Dirt, yes.

kenosavvy, Make sure that your crankcase breather is extended to BEHIND the fan shroud. That is the major source of oil mist. It should have been done already by your chassis maker. If you do try to clean the back side of the fan blades (a good idea if you can get to them), make SURE to do all of them the same way. You do not want to unbalance the fan by cleaning some and leaving others "heavier". Steam cleaning is a tricky issue. The PSI most of them work at make bending fins a real possibility. Repeated cleanings as you are doing is likely a lot safer. I don't know the answer to your paint (cosmetic or necessary) question. Much of that answer would depend on whether they are aluminum or steel and whether you drive in or expose the coach to salt. Check with your coach builder on that. Brett

When you are driving with generator on, you have TWO charging sources: engine alternator AND inverter/charger. Particularly if you were on shore power overnight before this occurred, the inverter/charger will have reduced voltage to FLOAT MODE (generally 13.2-13.5 VDC). When you start the engine, the alternator will charge at a much higher rate (generally 14.0-14.5 VDC). At the very least, the inverter charger should sense what it views as an overcharge situation. And adding road heat to the heat produced by what the inverter/charger sees as overcharging could lead to an excessive heat alarm. Have you felt the batteries when this occurs-- are they hot? Is there any sign of overheating-- bulging of the battery cases? Excessive boiling of fluid? Water level in batteries OK? Try turning off the 120 VAC breaker (main breaker panel) that supplies (i.e. IN) the inverter/charger. That will leave a single charging source-- the alternator while you are driving. Brett

If you like, we can certainly call yours "side by side radiator/CAC" configuration. More important than the term (indeed most "single layer" cooling systems ARE one on top of the other), there really is no difference in cleaning process. The operative here is that your cooling system is a SINGLE LAYER thick where sandwiched cooling systems are two layers thick. Start by flushing from the BACK (reverse of air flow). Unlike sandwiched cooling systems you can flush a lot of dirt from the BACK. Then, clean from the front (access from bedroom or closed). Always clean with the engine OFF. It would be very dangerous to do it with the engine running. And unless there is heavy grease that you are trying to remove, having everything hot just adds to the hassle factor. Brett

Wayne, Glad ya'll are safe. As we discussed on your other thread, anytime a tire is run either low on air or severely overloaded, the steel belts in the sidewall can flex excessively. Kind of like bending a wire back and forth in your hand. It materially weakens it. And as you saw, all the weakened strands are the same distance from the rim, as that is the "point of bending." Then, as one strand actually breaks, it places more stress on the strand next to it, and so on ... until BOOM. When the other tire blew (other thread), this remaining tire had to carry TWICE its design weight -- hence the "severely overloaded." BTW, I KNOW your weather is better than at home -- heat index here yesterday was 112 degrees F with dew point at 79 degrees F. Brett

Rolf, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. You have the best arrangement for a rear radiator configuration-- it is called stacked vs sandwiched. It is better, as it is only one layer thick-- radiator and CAC side by side. And you are absolutely correct, the easy place to clean is in the center where the fan blades are the narrowest. But the fan blades sling the dirt to the perimeter, so the perimeter is where most of the dirt is deposited. No real special technique to cleaning it, just systematically cover the whole surface several times-- actually, until you notice that the effluent is clean. And be careful with how long you leave the soap on the surface, you do want it to have time to loosen the dirt/oil, but NOT long enough to dry out on the metal surface. Brett

Go to the Airtab website in my post above. Easy to install -- peel and stick. Come with template to properly space them out. Brett

With many getting ready to hit the road for the summer and it's hot driving conditions, it is time to revisit this subject. Cleaning the cooling system not only keeps your coach from overheating, but gives more HP and better MPG as the CAC is able to keep intake air temperatures lower. Brett

We have had Air Tabs on our coach for several years. I think the operative here is to have reasonable expectations-- exaggerated expectations as to MPG improvement, coach/toad cleanliness improvement and improved handling in cross winds cause disappointment. Indeed, Air Tabs DO improve each of these things, but expecting dramatic improvements is not realistic. There is nothing new about vortex generators-- been on airplanes for decades. The theory and wind tunnel results support improvements in each of the aspects mentioned. Some like their looks, others do not. They can be painted with Fusion paint to match most paint schemes. Bottom line, I would do them again. http://www.airtab.com Brett

Realbob, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Yes, there is a learning curve, as with any new complex "toy". Best answer is to get to an FMCA International Convention-- LOTS of free seminars. Read posts here on the FMCA Forum. And with a Caterpillar Engine, consider joining the Cat RV Club (an FMCA Chapter). Their next Rally is two weeks before the Redmond Convention in Newport, OR. I will be doing two 1/2 day maintenance seminars at the Rally: http://catrvclub.org/rally_info.htm Brett