wolfe10

You don't need to do anything, other than making sure there is some water in the black tank before using the toilet and that both dump valves/blade valves are CLOSED.

A good explanation of what happened: http://community.fmca.com/topic/10744-why-the-fmca-forum-was-down-so-long/

Really not clear. His statement about shore power begins with "If I connect it to a shore power source....... So, yes, I ASSUMED that it was not plugged in when the batteries deeply discharged. Certainly could have made the wrong assumption.

Since you do have shore power available, I would NOT jump start it. Hard on alternator to make it charge two large deeply discharged batteries. Better, plug in. If your battery voltage is too low, many built in chargers will NOT begin to charge. If that happens, just put a small charger (I have an old 6 amp Sears charger for that) on the house battery until the on-board charger can take over. As Carl said, on some makes, the on-board charger only charges the house bank, not chassis bank. Do not know how yours is wired. If the chassis batteries are not charged by the on-board charger, use that small plug-in charger to bring them up. Sure, if you have to leave right now, jump it, but if you have time, do it the "more gentle" way.

#1 cause of low performance in a modern diesel is fuel restriction. So the first "solution" (and the least expensive) is to change the fuel filters. BTW, with a modern diesel, lack of boost often does NOT mean smoke. The engine ECM factors in boost pressure and de-rates fuel delivery if boost is low.

I agree, correcting an "egg shaped" tire certainly improves ride quality. But, truing tires is becoming a lost ART. Said another way, it is not a job for a guy with one hour's training!

Yes, welcome to the FMCA Forum. Have you checked the fuse (12 VDC) generally in the front fuse block?

Use the tire chart for your new tires to determine the MINIMUM PSI. Most of us add 5-10 PSI as a safety margin.

Suspect the Onan 5.5 (I thought that model Safari came with a 6.5/6.3 propane Onan???) does not have two hots giving 240 VAC between them. Just two separate 120 circuits. If so, hot to hot SHOULD read 0. I am not familiar with the 5.5, so someone please correct me if this is not correct.

Bill, if I am reading this correctly, I see no problem with what you did here. Though you brought in the two neutrals instead of just one, at the main breaker box, the two neutrals should be on the same neutral buss bar. So, basically the second neutral is redundant. Same for ground-- both should be "joined" on the ground buss bar in the main breaker box.

Puzzling. Obviously, it is not tripping the on-generator breakers, since they are manual reset only. IF, repeat IF you are safe working around 120 VAC, open the ATS. Next time this happens, check for voltage IN from the generator and voltage OUT to the main breaker box.

See if there is power to the roof A/C's. They are NOT supplied through the inverter. That will tell you if power is reaching the 120 VAC main breaker box.

Freightliner, Gaffney would be who I would contact/forward a copy of this picture.

Can't imagine you would want "all terrain" tires on a motorhome.

More important than brand is to insure that the circumference is extremely close if in a dual installation. Pairing a "short" and "tall" tire means the majority of the load is on only one tire. BAD!

I like front tires/wheels within .035". Rears within .050". Said another way (the way a tire dealer would address it: less than that amount of RUN-OUT).

Carl, The Walmart 2 miles from the coach storage facility recycles oil. Buy the oil there, return the used oil there. Even in the same gallon containers/cases.

Generator or main engine-- if the level of fuel in the fuel tank is higher than the filter head, fuel will run out until it reaches the same level!

So, do you suspect some out of round/runout in the tire/wheel that repositioning corrected?

You can call the Caterpillar RV Hotline to see if they have any suggestions: 877 777-3126.

I asked the FMCA Staff Forum support person and got this response: "From looking at the post content it appears that the issue is on his end, with the browsers he is using. That is desktop support and isn’t really something we do. We support the forums software itself, but cannot know what may be causing the issue on his personal computer. I would suggest he update his browsers and remove any plugins he may have installed. But because I didn’t setup his machine I really can only speculate what the problem could be on his end."

Carl, I suspect the two Magnum 2800's are electrically the same: Invert to change 12 VDC from batteries to 120 VAC when not on generator or shore power. And, when on shore power or generator to do two things: "pass through" the 120 VAC to all circuits wired to them AND charge the battery bank. Yes, I guess they could have disabled the charge function in one of them. Let us know if yours are different.

There is certainly "one answer fits all". Three questions, really: 1. Do you have a place to do it? We have a storage garage with concrete floor. If I need it up higher, I drive up on 2X12's. As long as I have been under that part of the coach with all the air out of the suspension, I will do work without jack stands. Those 2X12's give me that clearance under the whole coach. 2. Do you have the tools? 3. Do you have the skill and desire? Most work on a DP is not really technical. An oil change is easier on our coach than our car-- plenty of clearance and no front air skirt to remove. Just use a bigger bucket-- I use an old Rubbermade tub that I line with black trash bags. It is on its 3rd coach over the last 19 years and is doing just fine. The real issue for the person who wants to do some/all their own work is to understand exactly what needs to be done! Examples of what is different about a DP: You have an air dryer that needs service, coolant needs to be tested and SCA level maintained, etc.

Five, See my post above. If there are any "care and feeding" of diesel coaches not covered, please post. Other than that, the DRVC Forum not a chat room. It is more an encyclopedia of how to minimize cost of maintenance/minimize breakdowns in a diesel pusher. Most DRVC members post here on the FMCA Forum for other issues.

Percussive repair! I would sure check the connections in and out of the inverter/charger.