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andyshane

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Posts posted by andyshane


  1. 1 hour ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

    What does the Magnum battery monitor say? What are the battery readings?

     

    That means if you don't have shore power available turning off the inverter it will reduce parasitic drain on the house batteries in storage.

     

    Please report on what the Magnum battery monitor says? What are the battery readings?

     

    This goes back to storing with no shore power and below zero conditions. You will never see conditions like this where you are. 

    Let me know what your readings are above. Make sure your inverter is on. Make sure the charger function is on.

    Bill

     

    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.


  2. On 12/24/2019 at 2:01 AM, manholt said:

    Andy.   I know it's a PIA, but you need to have your chassis battery/batteries, LOAD TESTED as Brett has suggested.  Same with house batteries...just takes one bad cell.  Any NAPA Store will do that.  

    I would not be able to  start my coach on 11.85 VDC., no slides, Jacks or steps would be operational, unless I have 13.6+...As Brett said, your house batteries should be float charging at 13.6!

    Interesting plane you got. :)

    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.
     


  3. 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 😋

    IMG_4551.JPG

    IMG_4302.JPG


  4. 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. 


  5. 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?

     

     


  6. On 11/5/2019 at 11:36 AM, manholt said:

    A photo was taken of the truck & trailer, crossing into Mexico at Del Rio.  Truck is or was a silver chevy 2500, photo is also of driver / perp!  I suspect that by now, trailer is another color with Mex Tags and same with truck...perp could be anywhere in N.  America!  He is not Mexican.  Go to KHOU. Houston.

     

    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/


  7. 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.

     

    Screen Shot 2019-11-07 at 7.35.40 AM.png


  8. On 4/4/2017 at 6:03 AM, Erniee said:

    I frequent about 15 rv forums. IRV2 was the only forum that I was put in time out for telling what I do and where I live. Really?? I'm 69 and sure don't need to be in bloody time out. Others can post there that I do flooring and even show my website- but I can't say anything .

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


  9. 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.'

    IMG_9126.jpg


  10. On 9/1/2019 at 12:19 PM, WILDEBILL308 said:

     

    I would think if locating the pigtail to connect a trailer brakes control was a hi priority I would have looked for and located it on my final walkaround at delivery.

    Bill

    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.

     

    IMG_9113 2.JPG


  11. 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


  12. 5 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

    Would be VERY surprised if you don't have an AIR DRYER on your air system.  If you do, the tank drains are little more than the "report card" for the condition of the dryer.

    Said another way, if you ever get anything but clean dry air from the drain, the air dryer has  FAILED!

    Air dryers are a service item.

    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?

     

    WABCO location.jpg


  13. 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


  14. On 7/27/2019 at 6:17 AM, richard5933 said:

    Just sharing a little travel joy we had yesterday...

    Driving to Davenport for their big downtown street festival and about 10 miles from the exit we suddenly smelled a strong burned oil smell. No smoke, no electrical problems indicated on dash.

    Got to the end of the exit and realized that the power steering was not there. Strong armed to a wide shoulder, expecting to find oil sprayed all over the engine bay from a blown hose. Nothing. Checked the front axle and steering box - no sign of a leak.

    Start to add fluid to the reservoir, hoping to get enough in so I can get to a safer place, and smoke starts to fill the bus. Ran around and shut off all the batteries. Called the fire department. Smoke cleared before they came. I restarted the bus while they were there just in case, and things looked ok.

    Strong armed the bus to Interstate Power Systems in Davenport. Their 2nd shift tech was able to open up the access panel after dropping the main air tank. Ended up being a near catastrophe... The main 2-0 battery cable going to feed the front of the bus crosses under the copper line for the power steering. The insulation had worn through, and when it came into contact with the copper line it became an arc welder, carving a half-moon hole in the copper line. Oil sprayed everywhere in the HVAC unit, some of it instantly vaporized and some turned to soot.

    The good news is that the problem was found, the mess was contained, and hopefully after a few cases of electronics cleaner is sprayed the relays and a/c controls should be ok.

    Shop is going to repair the copper line Monday and splice a new battery cable to replace the damaged piece.

    I consider this a manufacturing defect. That battery cable was not properly fastened and shielded from rubbing. We came close to losing the bus, as that cable carries the full 270 amps from the alternator. If the short had been a bit more solid instead of glancing, the whole bus would be ashes now.

    My second time in Iowa. Second bus disaster there. Second time leaving in a rental car. Last bus trip in Iowa for us.

     

     

    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.


  15. 1 hour ago, fagnaml said:

     

    Four months ago I purchased my Ventana LE from National Indoor RV in Lewisville, TX which was on consignment to them.  NIRV in Lewisville is a large Newmar dealer. They gave a me trade-in offer for my 2007 Damon Astoria that was comparable to the trade-in offer I received from PPL Motorhomes in Houston.   Given the age of the Damon, NIRV already new they would sell the Damon to a wholesaler (which turned out to be I-35 RV Supercenter in Denton, TX).  The "trade-in" inspection by NIRV was a relatively short 45 minute walk-through by their PDI Manager at no cost.

    The Kimberly you met at NIRV was my sales associate.  She (and everyone else at NIRV) provided exceptional customer service throughout our purchase experience and has remained in contact since the purchase.   A nice aspect of NIRV is if repair / warranty work is needed, they have a on-site RV park with 20 (+/-) spots that have 50 amp power and water service (no sewer hook up at each site but they do have dump stations) for customers who don't live in the greater Dallas area.   I wish NIRV had a location in Houston as the Newmar dealer in Houston is Holiday World which in my opinion is many magnitudes below NIRV in customer service.

     

    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. 


  16. 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.

     

     

    Screen Shot 2019-09-04 at 8.14.25 AM.png

    Screen Shot 2019-09-04 at 8.19.13 AM.png


  17. 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.


  18. 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. 

     

    Brake controller connector lite.jpg


  19. 2 hours ago, manholt said:

    Since you live in Grandbury, I'm surprise you didn't buy at National Indoors in Lake Livingston!  They'll be getting our business.

    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.


  20. 3 hours ago, jleamont said:

    Andy, can you roll through your selling dealer for them to locate it?  

    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. 


  21. 5 hours ago, manholt said:

    Jim S.  Right on!!!  No manufacturer that I know off...monitors this site! 

    I thought Newmar had a 24/7 number also?  

    We have Newmar Mountain Air, on our wish list for next year!  

    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.


  22. 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.





     

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