huffypuff

The weak point to residentials refrigerator is the compressor. The op asked how well does a residential refrigerator rock and roll. I believe one of the reason absorption refrigerators was used in was longevity. How long will a residential refrigerator compressor take the beating going down the road. I haven't yet to see anyone claim that their residential refrigerator lasted 15 years going down the road. If a Norcold died in a 12 plus year old coach it's a piece of junk. At least replacing a cooling unit is a easy fix but not so for a compressor. When to operate and cost is another factor. Most don't operate their refrigerator down the road and only in campsites or running the generator. On propane a absorption refrigerator can run for months on a tank of propane and what little battery used is charged when driving down the road. When I go to a campground that requires me to pay for meter electric I keep the refrigerator on propane. The reason why it's cheaper than running on meter electric. A residential refrigerator don;t have that option. When my 10 year old coach Norcold dies and it may in the near future as I heard others going at 14 years or more or less years. I don't see the benefits of going residential. Not because others are doing it or new wave of builders going all electric. The one good thing about the competition is there is more focus of building the absorption refrigerator better.

I believe the gasses are coming up from the campground sewer lines when you leave the gray valve open like Kaypsmith says. I never leave the valve open and have minimum odor as a result from toilet only. I'm not saying what other saying isn't right but I don't think leaving a dump valve open to open campground sewer is using as designed and not going to end in good results. When staying long term I watch the monitor level gauges to open valve only when needed.

When I leave for the winter to snowbird I carry my 8 foot ladder with me for all of above what Tom says and more. I do not wash before leaving because it would be a waste of time with the rain and road dirt. Also the passes and snow you may run into will make the coach filthy. When I get to my designation I can wash and wax and rain-x all the windows and that will keep the coach looking good until driving in the snow or rain again. I don't care what others thinks of my ladder on the back of my coach.

I'm using the original transfer switch but installed a hardwired surge voltage protector before the transfer switch. This also protect from bad connection and or terminals on the cord or reel.

Happy New Year and retirement from Desert Hot Springs. CA

Where do you live for them to crack so soon? Do you keep them covered or apply tires dressing? Are the tires 5 years old on the coach or by the date on the sidewalls? I heard more than once that sidewall cracking is cosmetic.

That same boost relay is supposed to also energized when the engine is running to keep the house batteries charge. If the relay is weak it won't energized because of the vibration. To check if I'm right check for power to the small positive terminal at that relay and if you got power there you found the problem. I had to replace the relay on my coach to a new upgraded one that look very much like the old one.

If the brake fluid gets hot from heavy use of braking it will reduce the performance of your brakes until cool down. Reduce the pressure setting on your tow braking system.

If you have basement heat and pads on your tanks you should be ok. One years my coach basement heat failed in Idaho at 8 degrees and froze the cold water lines. Once south to warmer weather all was fine. I now have a new basement heater, repaired the old one and another backup. Easy to buy 120 volt ceramic heater but not the 12 volt one.

ObedB you may be right but if it was me if vehicle don't start from dead battery I turn the ignition switch harder.

Merry Christmas from Desert Hot Springs.

If the problem is when the ignition key is off I suspect a problem with a ignition relay. Find the relay for your chassis and disconnect it to see if problem goes away. If so with a test light see if the relay is being activated by the ignition switch. If not bad relay, if so bad ignition switch.

Hard wired PI surge and voltage fault protection will not get wet and not prone to theft. Yes it has happened.

You just proved what I was talking about all along as Delco at same amp rating is no better than Leece Neville. Having a larger frame with internal fans and more amp rating helps. Maybe this should be part of the project when changing to a residential refrigerator. The point made is if you are running it at or near max rating it will overheat the alternator. I can change my alternator to a 200 amps Delco but have to be very careful when to put the voltage sense wiring. I was dealing with ExtraRide insurance so not able to do that. The replacement is supposed to be improved but I guess we heard that before. Supposedly a shop converted one member on here to Delco and did the voltage sense wire wrong and had many problems. He went through three replacements before he found the problem. I can't seem to find the post. Found similar post at this link: http://news.prestolite.com/node/4840

When I was working fleet with emergency vehicles we had a outfit claim that Leece Neville is bad and converted them to Delco. In fact a pair of them. Because of overheating the rectifier bridges were removed from the housing to the grill. Still have problem with heat with either the rectifier or winding burning up. First the company came to educate the mechanics. Then they came to educate the drivers. Fast idle solenoids were installed and resulted in mostly Ford vehicles overheating the exhaust to a point that the inside carpet would smoke. We didn't have any more problems with Leece Neville over Delco on the dump trucks or tractors. I'm not going to say I'm an expert in alternators but Leece Neville being unreliable has not been proven to me. They will all fail if overheated for a period of time.