kaypsmith

So sad, but quality control seems to have gone out with the bathwater, it is great that you can buy a new one at 82. Hope that the next new one works out better for you.

Joe, this was the op's second post, 56 hours of staying on would be my guess, that's a lot of heat since the filament for brake lights is twice as bright as the tail light.

I carry a small pump garden sprayer in a bay just to rinse when I use the bucket sponge method at those parks that will not allow washing of the coach, just for those times that Tom mentioned cleaning those fresh bugs. I agree that the sooner, the better for cleaning them. Also a spot cleaning at a rest area the sprayer comes in handy.

Mark, about 75 minutes, and he is ready to leave, he does a really good job and shows up with his own equipment, he uses a really soft brush with a really long handle. He is an elderly black gentleman, but moves like about 30. That does not include doing the roof, he charges $25.00 extra for that, I only have that done 2 to 3 times a year. Oh yes he does the tire shine thing each time including the bumpers and the wheel fenders, all of these are black rubber, they look new for 4 of more weeks unless I get into a very bad rainstorm.

This is a little bit on topic, some very interesting read about cast iron cookware, which is what I prefer to cook chili in.http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html While many of you are into chili, I love seafood gumbo made over an open fire in a cast iron pot, and please don't put chicken in gumbo, just lots of oysters, shrimp, flaked fish, crab claws and andouille sausage for seasoning.

I have a local bus washer person that goes about town washing commercial buses, comes to my house, cleans inside and out for $25.00. I feel lucky!

Here is a statement from tireman from 2012, quoted on this same thread. Personally, I also believe that if tires are sitting for a long time that they need to be on something that is weepless, therefore I also use rubber mats which I made from stall mats also. The problem with concrete that I recognize is that it is alkaline (PH-), just the opposite of acid (PH+), as Joe pointed out it will draw the oils from your skin and rubber. For that reason, I choose to let them sit for prolonged periods on something that will stop the weep process. Newspaper. A plastic bag under the tire except for the fact that it is easy to puncture, is better than nothing.

Be sure to check the alternator for a possible short as well, I had one to fry a battery once because of a bad regulator, it was the old Chevy style with a built in regulator, sure hope that you don't have any other problems.

I agree with Herman and Carl, why would anyone ruin a perfectly good pot of CHILI by adding beans, serve them on the side please.LOL

Here is the nearest fam camp that I find Orlando. http://militarycampgrounds.us/florida/manatee-cove-campground

To insert a picture, click by the paper clip at the bottom choose files, browse for the picture that you want to attach, click on open. Then press the + sign to insert into post. Hope this helps. Here comes Santa

Since no one has responded to your question Mark, this is intended for humor only! I did see a B plus MH before, it was a class B pulling a teardrop TT, my wife commented that it was an odd combination. LOL This really happened, also have noticed class A's pulling a 30 foot TT.

I know that this seems odd, but we have an electric motor repair shop here in Birmingham called BEMCO. I deal in repair of all types of computer and peripheral devices. Many times I have taken an odd or obsolete motor to them for repair. Usually takes 2 days to 2 weeks to get it back but they have always come through for me. You may want to check around for such a place near you. Also since you will need to remove it anyway, take it to a large (such as NAPA) store, a good parts savvy counter man just may be able to match it up.

I didn't see that article, but it's pretty easy to make a case for or against it. I am an IT/computer design engineer, many times I justify the use of the motorhome by including the use for work related purposes, thereby actually writing it off for tax reasons. My wife loves to travel by motorhome so I have no problem convincing her to go this way. Also while traveling she cooks the meals, lunch and dinner, she uses the crockpot, places it in the sink, no way for it to fall off the counter, and she has many recipes. One other excuse that I use is that I don't sleep in someone elses bed, can't stand the thought of sleeping in a motel for this reason. You may want to take on a phobia also. LOL Did you mean DOD, or DOW?

I live 8 miles west of B'ham, and 8 miles east 0f Tannehill State park, just a short drive from one of the prettiest campgrounds in the state. Though my machine does not have a true walker, the feed is great for moderately heavy material. If you should decide to come this way, let me know a little in advance, would love to meet up.

Sorry to come back so soon, not trying to be overly skeptical. I have been in the past not quite so cynical, but as I age, I realize more just how precious life is. Here is some interesting facts from the tire safety group. http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tires-expire-in-six-years/ I can appreciate that the OP has been inquisitive enough to want to learn more about this importance, and since he drives busses, even more so. Most bus companies already know this and keep tires up to date, even though some may not add enough miles to wear them out, hopefully they are staying on top.

I use my motorhome for comfort and that reason only, I average 7 to 8 mpg on average. I feel that if I or anyone else can't afford to drive their rig where they want to go, they either don't need to go there, or don't need to own that rig. I know many boat owners that burn 10 to 50 gallons fuel per hour, it depends on how large the vessel is and how much they enjoy using it. I put myself in that same category, motorhoming is my hobby, if I can't enjoy it, I don't need it. My first motorhome was a 27 foot Southwind with Chevy workhorse 454, I got 6 mpg with that thing and hated driving it with the cramped living quarters, of course that was before slides were popular. Next was Sportscoach 34 ft diesel cummings bt6c, averaged 10 MPG, lots of fun to drive and use until delamination set in, I reskinned much of it, but got tired of continuing to do that job, as soon as I made another section look good, I had to move to another. And so on and on. Que sera sera!

Many threads on this and other forums have been devoted to this topic. But here is my perspective, the safety of my family, myself, and my fellow motorist is of the utmost importance. Whether it is mandated or not, my personal mandates will not allow me to drive a rig with 10+ year old tires anywhere other than to the nearest tire dealer for replacement, and that is a 15 MPH top speed for this reason with the warning flashers on, as well as an escort bringing up the rear. I would rather see a trucker with 50% in date tread, than a motorhome with new looking 10+ year olds. Sorry about the little rant, but now everyone knows how I feel about this matter. Kay

The Big Boy is a battery isolator, is designed to allow charging of both house and chassis batteries, then while the coach is not running or being charged by the inverter/converter, separates the house and chassis batteries to keep your house battery drain from discharging the chassis battery. It is no more than an overgrown solenoid. It looks like that the activation circuit has fried. Could have been caused by a shorted/bad battery, or shorted alternator. This looks like a major problem, and will require someone that is qualified to make the repair, as the source of the meltdown needs to ne identified and corrected before any repairs are attempted to the circuit boards and wiring. Hope that you have some type of warranty, if not, be sure to contact your coach insurer, some vehicle policies will cover this type of damage.

Bill. I have a singer 3182 commercial heavy duty sewing machine. I use a 4X8 sheet of plywood on saw horses for a table. You are welcome to use it anytime that you are close to Alabama. I am trying real hard to make it to the Perry convention next year, maybe I will be able to meet up with a few of FMCA members finally. That looks like a real find Joe, glad you finally unrolled them, looks good on your coach.

To copy anything in windows, the simple way is to highlight what you want to copy, best method, place the mouse pointer at the end of whatever you want end of what is to be copied, press the left button and move to the left turning the text blue till you get to the beginning of what is to be copied, release the left button, now press and hold Ctrl on keyboard, press the letter C then release both keys. Now you can go to where you want to paste the text and again press Ctrl and the letter V. I have always found it much easier than choosing edit then clicking copy or paste. But then again, I am old school.

Start at the solenoid that engages when you turn on the keyed ignition, follow the small one or two wires and work your way back, you may find a relay that was added that drops when the salesman switch is turned off. Or simply add a wire from the ignition switch directly to that master solenoid if it is not to great of a distance. You will be doing the next owner a favor in case you decide to move up or down. If it was rigged, you probably will not find any notes to that effect. Kind of funny, now that I think about it, when I first started driving my old ex-Greyhound, I met a time that it wouldn't do anything when I turned on the master switch. I called a buddy that is a Greyhound mechanic, he asked if the entry light came on when I opened the door, I replied no, his answer was to turn on the switch marked light/chime, started back to work instantly. Greyhound wires all their buses that way to prevent a driver from leaving the station without those items working. LOL!

Ron, did you buy your coach new? Quite often some strange things happen, and some of those are that a previous owner "DIYER", or maybe even a qualified mechanic have been known to accidently change wires around causing things to not be the way that they should. I've worked on several coaches over the past thirty years, and have not found one to be wired the same as yours, not saying that yours isn't as stated, but it is a strange coincidence. It is possible that someone may have actually wired yours that way on purpose including the dealership for show purposes, making sure that there was no accidental starts while showing your unit in a show. But I agree with Brett that this is very unusual for a manufacturer to put one together this way. Hope the OP gets his worked out soon, I know frustrating it is to not get to use an RV when planned, had the same situation just three weeks ago. Also I didn't mention that my coach wouldn't start after replacing the cracked manifold, found the problem, it was in my case, a fuel shutoff valve up front by the fuel tank, a wire terminal nut was a half turn from being tight, a lot of rain that week, moisture actually caused the breakdown. I mention this because many times something as simple as a loose/bad connection will cause problems such as the OP is experiencing.

Since this is on topic, I was looking up some specs on my engine and ran across this, very interesting read from an old diesel mechanic. I hope some of it to be helpful since most of you have newer engines, some remarks may be out of your school, but same principals mostly apply. If you are calibrating a stick, same principals apply, cold oil does move slower than hot oil, meaning, patience is the key to getting it correct. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tips on Checking your oil level OIL LEVEL CHECK: The correct way to check the oil is to shut off the engine with the bus sitting on a level spot. Let it sit for a couple of hours and drain all back into the oil pan, then check it. If you check it after just shutting the engine off it will check about 1 qt.. low up to about 15 minutes or so. (Depends on the temperature of the engine oil, the hotter the faster it will flow back.) If the vehicle is not level use common sense and if the nose is high, the oil will show over what it really is. If the nose is low the oil will show lower than what it really is. If the left side is lower than the right side it will read lower and visa versa. The best time to check the oil is just before you start it while it is level. After you start it you can test the level and you will find that it will show approximately 1 gallon low while running if it was at the full mark before you started it. Tips on Oil level procedures OIL LEVEL: Back 30 years ago while working for a large contractor that ran several pieces of equipment which all utilized the 2 stroke Detroit Diesel engines, it was a practice to run the oil 1 gallon low, since when it was full it seemed to smoke and leak more until it got down to the 1 gallon low mark. It might take 2 hours to use the first gallon and then not use another gallon for the next 4 hours. We had not heard of the EPA, nor were any of the famous DOT boys out looking at all the oil dripping, oil was cheap but we didn't like stepping in it so we just ran equipment and trucks 1 gallon low. Much smarter now, I have learned that although it may leak less and smoke less, it also runs hotter when running low on oil. Plus, if you start off running 1 gallon low and then drive it until it uses an additional gallon, you will then be 2 gallons low, which when making a sharp turn or going up or down a steep incline or hill, you increase the possibility of sucking air instead of oil out of the oil pan. This will result in rapid and premature wear on all moving components, lack of cooling to the pistons, and galling of the cylinder walls and pistons. DIP STICK: It is a good thing to check your dip stick just after an oil change after you have installed the correct amount of oil that the bus manufacturer recommends to confirm that the dip stick has the correct markings on it. It is not unusual to find that the dip stick has been replaced with the wrong one or is poorly marked. Install the correct amount of oil to include that which is in the filter, start the engine let it run until it reaches 180 degrees, shut if off and wait at least 2 hours (Overnight would be even better if you have the time) This is being picky, but, I have dropped the pan off of many engines and returned the next day, slid under the engine only to have a drop of oil hit me in the face or in the ear and continue to do so regularly during the entire time I was under it.

They probably thought that yours were getting dull and needed replacement anyway. I believe that you may need to invest in one of those game cameras to catch them on film, not that it would do any good, the police usually say, don't call us call your insurance, what a joke.