andyshane

I don't like what I have this AM: 11.65 on the Chassis, 12.4 for the House. I'll pull the batteries, load test after an overnight of resting.

Thanks! Also, thanks for all of the suggestions. Oddly, I'm temporarily outdoors (lav servicing) and plugged into 30A and it suddenly seems happy. The plane is a 2001 Progressive Aerodyne Searey. 'Bout as basic as you can get, for romping around nearby lakes and rivers. All of the "going places" planes are gone. She burns about 3 gallons per hour, fun flying. Hey, let's talk about storage. I've perused Newgle and the DSDP manual to no avail. As Huffypuff helpfully pointed out, Sensata tells us in paragraph 4.2 to turn off the inverter when placing mobile installations into storage. So, what does that mean to us? I'm putting mine back into the garage bay today. It'll be plugged into 50A with the block and water heaters off, heat pumps set to 62F, fridge running. A couple who bought another brand DP down the street just encountered this, had similar chassis battery problems, were told to store with shore power running the inverter. But, there is that passage, along with another suggesting physical removal of the batteries. I'll guess that the latter isn't right, since my garage temp never strays below freezing. But, is the best shore storage -- we "store" for several weeks at a time, rarely longer -- protocol physically disconnecting the chassis batteries, and turning off the inverter? If that is what Newmar recommends, I'll be happy to comply. But, I cannot find a procedure published by our Napannee friends. As always, your input is appreciated.

Resolution: Let's hope this is it. At your urging, I laid hands on the entire system, from batteries to Isolator and back. Connections tightened (none were really loose, only one moved at all), searched chafe points, reviewed flex, intervened for strain relief on several data cables that were drawn tight at the inverter. Then, I removed the smallest electrons from the coach with disconnects, unplugging from shore power, and finally crawling into the mid-cabin basement to reach between the frame rails and manually kill the inverter. At this point, let me add that the only charging modes I've seen for weeks have been a default to Float at around 10A, and the Equalizing that I forced to "jumpstart" the chassis charging process after rundown. So, I reconnected the house batteries first. Then, turned on the Inverter. Next, I plugged in 50A Shore. Then, I reconnected the Chassis bank. The panel said Bulk charging, 95A. That was different. Later, when it finally went back to Absorb mode, the amps were 15-19A, higher than before. Plus, that elusive Chassis bank lightning bolt icon was visible, indicating that the chassis bank was charging. I'm assuming I've solved the problem, since operations a day later appear 100% normal after several charging cycles. Lessons learned: Magnum, say their reps, isn't responsible for discerning charging voltage. That's where the isolation relay comes into play. These come in a variety of forms; in our case, it is a discontinued one from Precision Circuits, Inc. That company sent us full diagnostics, which showed the relay to be okay. Newmar is the third entity in the battery-charging provider array. They publish settings for the Magnum control panel specific to the Newmar DSDP fleet. Owners are then responsible for dancing with three partners simultaneously, in dealing with charging woes. If I were to guess, the money shot for solving my problem was resetting the inverter. That is only an educated guess, largely based on the evidence that every other component in the charging pipeline seemed to check out okay. I hope future readers can be aided by this forums entry. Thanks again to all who contributed. 12-23-2019 Photos: View from inside and out 😋

Thanks, all. We have a bunch of guests today, so I don't have much time to do diagnostics. I've already been playing with the "device," which on this Newmar is a Battery Isolation Manager. I really like the dirty terminal notion, or even that of a dead battery. Will look into those. Thanks for branching me out to look in different directions. Disappointing, that an RV right off the dealer lot would present a challenge like this. Taking it to a dealer 80 miles away presents a twofold problem: counting a chase car's miles, that is 480 miles of driving for each dropoff; with something like this, I'd expect a dealer to either fail to duplicate the problem or go through several repair cycles. UPDATE: Even in failure, our rigs teach us about themselves. The wife and I spent the night in our rig, giving houseguests the run of our house (and avoid the drama of leaving some in the bus overnight). In the morning, the MCD Night shades at the DS window, PS window and entry wouldn't budge. Voila! Those are the ones powered by the chassis batteries, which of course discharged overnight. Ten seconds in forced Equalization charging mode restored the illusory normal condition, the shades obediently rose. Today, I'll start removing and cleaning, retightening, etc.

Newmar and even Magnum seem unable to resolve this problem, so I turn to the real experts who populate this forum. Normal operation continues for days, weeks, at a time Arbitrarily, the Chassis batteries run down in the course of less than 8 hours to 3 VDC, according to the Water & Battery display panel When rundown occurs, Float Charging is indicated with no charging symbol on the Chassis Battery icon, 0 Amps output Holding down the Charger ON/OFF control forces the charger into Equalizing mode After a few seconds of Equalizing mode (not appropriate for our AGM batteries) a second prolonged push puts the charger back into Float Charging mode, 20 or so Amps output Both house and chassis batteries show normally charged mere seconds after this action If Magnum tech reps are mystified, taking the rig to a local dealer or even Nappanee seems foolish. Any ideas?

We had some problems on a manufacturer social media platform, with folks jumping to conclusions. 'Looks vaguely like Dawg The Bounty Hunter and his girlfriend, crossing into Mexico in the victims' vehicle. Makes us all think twice about camping outside of the protected venues of campgrounds. Our thoughts are with the victims' families and friends 😢 https://abc7chicago.com/person-of-interest-seen-driving-murdered-couples-stolen-rv-into-mexico-/5673550/

Here's another photo from DFW Scanner, which reported that "no serious injuries" were sustained, that the couple were transported as a precaution. The force vector seems to have been nearly perpendicular to the roadway, with the house portion coming to rest mere feet aft of the chassis.

Hey, does anyone know about a mishap on I-20 south of Grand Prairie between Dallas and Fort Worth involving a Class A whose house came completely off? Apparently, the couple was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. A miracle, considering the photo below. I'm reminded of a Bounder mishap in which the house was shaken off the rig when it departed the highway. The paint scheme and number of slides seen in the news chopper footage reminds me of my 2005 Excursion, but the chassis seems more in the mid-30s lengthwise. An Airstream owner friend brought this to my attention, I wanted to do followup.

Granbury (Pecan Plantation) here. See? You can say that at FMCA 😊

My next-door neighbor at Fredericksburg RV Park here in Texas has one, loves it. Lamented having to pay about $360 up front for a year's worth of data, but says it works great.

Another binding/bending issue to help others in the future. I noticed a drip from the macerator pump outlet, nothing serious. Leak is shown in the video below. My guess is that the glue was still wet on the hose end when the pump was screwed to the flow while mashing the hose against the forward wall. Rather than drill additional holes, I reglued the inside and the outside of the joint with Black RTV, shortened the cuff by an inch. You can see now in the attached photo that the curve is not so abrupt.' Drip_from_Macerator.m4v

I'm a brand-new Newmar owner, longtime RV'er. My wife noticed this during the inspection; technical guru giving us the orientation said it was inherent to DSDPs of our vintage. I missed his explanation, but noticed a lot of electronics there. Mine is hot, whether or not the Oasis is on.

Here at FMCA, we prefer to fulfill the mission of information sharing, productive exchange of ideas. This thread is designed to help future Freightliner owners deal with installing trailer brakes, and I'd rather not stray from that. Along that line, Tekonsha Technical Support was indeed correct: even though suppliers indicate that the 3027-P harness is incompatible with chassis manufactured after 2016, the item I received today appears to function correctly. Note to installers: press the gray side tabs to release the OEM end; you'll notice right away that the 3027-P end looks exactly like the part that dangles from your panel. Mine kind of swung as it detached. In the end, you'll walk away from the project with the surplus part shown in the photo below. Again, thanks to the good folks who added something productive to this exploration; I trust it will benefit many owners in the future.

Right direction, I think. 'Problem is, that cartridge is one fat item 😀 While I fell out of the WABCO Customer Svc phone tree, I'm guessing that I'll need a 7" wrench. Even the beefy Lisle 60200 has a small strap, only goes to 6 1/2" diameter. I ordered a Lisle 53100, I can manufacture extension arms to accommodate the WABCO girth and retain the offset -- you gave me this idea -- needed to cinch tight without binding against the dryer body. Most likely, I'll mount the wrench on the end of a 3' piece of square tubing and drive it from below. I believe it was a new Anthem on which I saw that the dryer cartridge was behind a basement door. That is ideal! Air Dryer Service Guidance.pdf

You know, I'd always heard that; yet, the Beaver went through periods of some water on the wet side. In the last years of ownership, I drained all four stepcocks daily, to achieve perfect ops. Of course, the XC chassis has a dryer; it's just danged hard to reach. Bendix varies in terms of dessicant replacement interval; based on experience, I'm guessing that individual units' usage call for replacement inside the prescribed window. To answer your question, the XC can come with a Haldex PURest cartridge system or the WABCO System Saver 1200 we've always dealt with. I'll step away from the 'puter and do a little dawn spelunking to see which this has... 😉 ================================================= Well, the news is good and bad. It is our familiar WABCO unit, but upright high between the frame members between the tags. Owners have to reach over the slip joint to access, meaning it will become the dirtiest part of the chassis. A question: what tool is recommended to reach upward 24" through a narrow gap and muster enough torque to loosen the dessicant filter?

Lest readers think I'm throwing rocks at Freightliner, let me tell you that my mechanical guru, FMCA member and pilot extraordinaire Captain Kenneth Marczak, steered me to Freightliner when I was pondering a new RV to replace my aging Patriot Thunder. I like the design of the XC chassis, love the factory support. But, I can visualize the chassis' experience, rolling along the assemblyline with you people dutifully slapping on their respective parts, layering on wires, tubes. No regard to how this tangle would age, interact, over the life of the vehicle. I dove into the front end initially to find the three air drain lanyards our friends at Freightliner suggest draining regularly. As a technique, I'd begun draining the air tanks daily: it was the only way to keep the tanks absolutely dry. To date, I've only found two: one behind and inboard of each front tire. So, along the way, I found wires that could be disconnected and routed more neatly and with less strain. One of the hood-release cables was drumming on the underside of the cockpit floor. The other was rubbing against the steering shaft dust boot. An air line was bent to accommodate a tank drain, crimping the nylon tube immediately outboard of the tank fitting and setting into motion material failure. One unclaimed electrical connector was dangling in the generator bay, and the control wiring for the generator was hanging loose. None of these affected the operation of the chassis systems today, tomorrow, next month. But, years from now, they all could lead to serious problems. Owners might want to equip themselves with some zip ties, dykes, a drop light. Take time and go over every inch of your chassis, securing and re-routing as you see fit. In the movie clip below, we address just one of these issues, easily securing two items that might over the years be damaged by normal steering wheel movement IMG_9089.MOV

Richard, I'm so glad you're okay. This is meaningful to me, since we just bought a Frieghtliner XC chassis RV, a 2019, and I'm finding a chafe/strain/flex problem every two square feet. Your experience tells us new bus owners that it's critical to look for problems before they develop. Full disclosure: like you, I had a chafe issue during the last trip with my former bus, in August. A heater hose rubbed against another, developed a small hole. While it wasn't the biceps-building ordeal you suffered, I did get to glimpse the dreaded CHECK ENGINE & STOP ENGINE light combination. Thanks for sharing, good luck.

I was introduced to Kimberly in February by a 2-decade airline buddy who bought his first coach from NIRV. Kimberly conveyed all of our information to NIRV's appraisal folks in Atlanta. To our mutual dismay, their trade on my Patriot (garaged and maintained to aircraft standards) was the lowest of 10-15 dealers with whom we were speaking at the time. Conversely, Jock Milton at Berryland Campers in Ponchatoula tied a west coast dealer for highest trade-in offer, back in February when we began this saga. Both Kimberly and Jock are stellar folks, working with either is a great pleasure. I recommend each, highly. As for the inspection fee, let's allow NIRV Center speak for themselves. I suspect yours was waived, since you were a consignment customer already. This is the email I received at 7:11AM CDT 22 February 2019. Your coach is listed on NADA for a wholesale amount of $140,350 and the retail amount of $190,500. The next book change on NADA I think is March 1st. The reason we bring older coaches in so far below book is that on an older coach we almost always have to put on new tires, batteries, engine and generator service, quite frequently we have to do something to the AC, and then there are typically a bunch of repairs we have to do to get it ready for the next person. NIRVC offers the next customer a 60 day warranty which usually ends up costing more once the customer drives off the lot and has an issue or two so they save a little money for those scenarios. Our inspection fee is $3544which also covers the walk through time with a tech for the next person and tech time while that customer is staying with us in the campground. We never know exactly how much we have to put into an older used coach until it gets inspected. Then NIRVC wants to make some money so a certain flat amount is set aside for the company to make, then if there is any money left over a salesperson gets a small % off that. The other piece of the puzzle is that we have to have a cash buyer for a coach over 10 years old so we are limited as to who we can sell to so it's a bigger risk. In this scenerio the company will make zero profit off the 18 Mountain Aire, so the only way NIRVC will make money is on your trade. Thanks for the info about the hookups. I've already interacted with their maintenance staff while working on my buddy's Entegra Anthem, and found them to be a good bunch. They are a prime candidate for getting warranty work done, if any is needed. So far the house portion is nearly flawless.

I just took delivery of a new Newmar DSDP 4018 on the Freightliner XC chassis. So far, virtually no squawks for the house portion of the rig, believe it or not. Newmar fit and finish, in my humble opinion, transcends that of our hallowed Beaver Patriot Thunder! Several assemblyline glitches with the chassis are easily remedied but bear mentioning, so owners can watch for similar items on their own units. Two have surfaced during my initial crawl-under explorations. First, an air line was bent across a nearby drain valve between the front tires, crimping the line/tube. This would fairly quickly lead to an air loss and possible roadside stranding. The remedy: completely drain the system, remove the tube end and dress, reinstall properly routed tube, secure. The first image below shows the position, this defect. Second, the steering shaft below the floor line is pinched between a condensate drain -- I love the way Newmar engineered these -- and another tube, setting the stage for eating through the adjacent dust boot and possibly later claiming both tubes. Easily offset to protect the tubes and boot. Second image shows the defect.

I have some official responses from Freightliner and Tekonsha: Freightliner - Most owners simply cut the wires off the plug, since if we sell you the mated plug with harness, the cost is about $200 Tekonsha - The 3027-P harness that shows applicable to 2004 to 2016 models will work on 2019 XC chassis Thanks to the magic of Amazon.com, I have the 3027-P ($20) and a blank Tekonsha plug (just in case, $4.30), arriving today.

I found it! The requisite spelunking was a good exercise: lots of loose modules I need to secure. Probably, the easiest way for future readers to locate the connector is for them to remove the dashboard cover above the gages -- it is attached with Velcro -- for a light source, look to the left of the brake pedal, behind the plasic shroud that encloses the aft portion of the lower steering column. A photo is included below, to identify the plug, with its distinctive blue tabs. Barry at Freightliner Help (1-800-FTL-HELP), as mentioned earlier, sent a schematic, the colors and wire numbers are listed below. #1316 Red & White Brake Switch Input #1304 Brown Panel Lamp Input #1204 Black Ground #1105 Red 30A Fused Battery #1316 Red & White Trailer Brake Output #1102 Ignition Power One remaining catch that might trap unwary DIY owners: the harness commonly bought from 2004 to 2016 to marry the Freightliner XC chassis to Tekonsha pn 3027-P will supposedly not work on the 2019 chassis. I've got a request in to their Technical Support, who have Labor Day off.

We were introduced to Kimberly at NIRV, chatted with the owner at the Fort Worth show. Good folks, highly recommended by others. In our case, they gave us a lower trade offer on our (meticulous) Patriot Thunder; plus, it is their policy to charge several thousand dollars to inspect potential trades before the transaction. They might have the honor of doing Warranty service, if any is required.* *Laugh if you must, but the only writeups I have to date are minor items not worth farming out. Other than two inoperative powder room shade motors, which our dealership in LA will either allow me to install or do when we stop by in October. Newmar's interior fit and finish quality actually transcends that of the legendary Beaver, which would cost twice as much, were it still around.

Thanks for the suggestion. Indeed, we're on our way back to the dealer -- they are 9 hours away -- for an October club rally; I promised to return to them the booth half we removed to give the Patriot Thunder a viable aisle when we were hauling passengers annually. Special kudos to Dustin and Matt at Berryland Campers in Ponchatoula, LA. Awesome service pros, makes me walk a little taller, knowing that they will be the first to go over the rig, for warranty service.

We've had this discussion over the last ten years; some folks are convinced people tied to manufacturers prowl the sites. Personally, I think they'd be loco not to 😏 Indeed, every new Newmar has a placard in the cockpit with two company reps' pictures, contact info. Freightliner has come to the rescue, as have old friends **** and Lois, Tiffin owners Dr. Mary and Captain Kenneth Marczak. Mr. Rogers was right: helpers are everywhere. When I unearth the connector, I'll share directions.

I called 1-800-FTL-HELP, after learning about the helpline on YouTube. Barry answered, immediately offered to send me a wiring diagram. 'Turns out, the RV manufacturer deals with securing the harness. He said that Newmar might actually bundle it, that I might have to dismantle some secured wiring to locate the plug. Newmar, if you're listening... Having a technician isolate the brake controller wiring harness as a courtesy to installers -- most of us have brake controllers -- would be a great courtesy to customers, not add a cent to the assembly cost.