richard5933

There's a guy on iRV2 that bought a wrecked class A with a missing front cap as well. He used a glass storm door turned sideways as a 'windshield' and screwed it down to a plywood frame similar to yours, just to get it home. Your entire coach appears to be lilting to one side - is it even remotely salvageable?

I believe that's a feature of the unit - ours does it too. Probably to make sure that the power is stable before connecting anything. Ours actually protected us last week while plugged into a campground pedestal. Suddenly everything went dark outside of the 12v lighting. I figured we'd tripped a breaker since we were plugged into 30 amp only, so I set out in the rain to check the pedestal. No sooner did I get out there and start to investigate when the power protector made it's usual loud clank and then turned the power back on. Looked like the power dropped for a moment, and the unit did its job of shutting things off. Nice to know they work as they should.

Welcome to FMCA! Sorry that you're having difficulty printing your membership cards. If you go to www.fmca.com and login, you'll see a few icons on the right side of the screen. The second one down is for the membership dashboard. Select that icon. Once you're in the membership dashboard, on the left hand side there will be one item which says 'view your digital kit'. Select this item. On the right hand side of the page that opens, you'll see the text which says 'your member ID card' with a picture of a membership card beneath it. Click on the picture of the membership card. You should then be prompted to open and/or save the PDF file which contains your membership card. Here's where you have to know your own computer and browser, because whether or not you see the pop-up for the PDF file will depend on how you have security settings configured. Hopefully you see something pop up asking you to open and/or save the file. Once you get the PDF file open, you can print it like any other document.

Is the plug on the end of the cord one which was molded on at the factory or one which you can open and look inside? If you can open it, then you can easily check the connections inside it. I've had those get loose over time. If it's a molded plug, you'll have to examine thoroughly to see if there are any signs of water getting in and causing corrosion. I cut one off earlier this year on an older shore power cord I had, and when I went to install a new plug on the end of the wires I had to cut back about 8" to get to copper which was not discolored from corrosion. Apparently water had gotten in that cord.

If you've got water coming out when you fill to capacity with water, no doubt you've got sewer gas coming out the same place when it's not filled so much. Can you see the top of the tank from both sides so that you can see all the way around where the toilet enters? Perhaps it's time to add something like this to your tool box: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MYTHWK4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It will allow you to see in places you can't otherwise, like behind the tank connections.

If the tank is structurally sound and only has some surface rust on the inside, it is also possible to have the tank coated which might get you a few more years.

Each station is different, in my experience. Just yesterday we were at a Travel America (TA) station in the truck lanes. Their pump swipe device would not take a credit card. Had to go inside. Clerk asked me how much for them to set as the upper limit to turn on the pump. She said that it was just a preliminary approval swipe, and that once I finished pumping they would finalize and I'd be billed for the actual amount pumped. Yeah, it took two walks inside to get this done (went back for receipt), but in the end that's okay since it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and take a break from driving for a minute. I've had stations where I could just leave my driver's license with the clerk and they'd turn on the pump. Others wanted to hold my CC. Usually if you ask before you start pumping they have a way to allow you to fill without having to swipe a card over and over.

If you look at the number of posts there are about tires in general you'll see that many people are confused about tires. In many ways. It's not limited to the discount program. Just the three data books I linked to have more information than FMCA could ever put in the pages about the discount program. The way the discount program runs is complicated, but the information you need is there. Will you need to do some research on your own? Yes, of course. It took about 30 seconds on Google for me to find what you needed. I, for onr, think that the only obligation FMCA has is to publish information about the discounts themselves. The specs on the tires changes often, and the only accurate information is that which is provided by the manufacturer. I get that you're frustrated. I understand that you don't agree with how this program is being run. But the snarky tone in a public forum is not helping, in my opinion. If you have a beef with Dan, then pick up the phone and call him directly. Certainly doesn't help build membership having private spats conducted on a public forum. About your last point... Just my opinion, but if someone is joining FMCA just to get a tire discount they are joining for the wrong reasons. This is not a discount club, it is a community of people sharing a common interest. Yes, the discounts are a great benefit, but nowhere near as important to me as the connections made with other members. If we were to make that a larger focus instead of pushing discounts members use once in a few years, I think we would be better off.

While I'm at it, here is the Firestone book: https://commercial.firestone.com/content/dam/bcs-sites/bridgestone-ex/products/Databooks/TBR/Firestone-TBR-DataBook-08-07-2018.pdf

https://blobs.continental-tires.com/www8/servlet/blob/545220/93cb217af08a6ad19f6abff9f3680838/continental-data-guide-data.pdf It's a big download, but everything is in there. Enjoy. Google is your friend.

There is bare metal showing on the red wire going into the taped bundle. No doubt you have other messes in that box. Maybe some twist on wire connectors (a no-no in an RV). My first step would be those taped bundles and make sure that everything is properly secured with crimped connections. Under most circumstances, the neutral/ground bond should always be made at the source. For shore power, that's in the breaker panel feeding the pedestal. For generator use, that's inside the generator. And the chassis of the generator should be bonded to the chassis ground of the coach.

I'm not sure why the beef is with FMCA. It took me all of about 15 seconds on Google to find the Hankook technical data book. It has all the specs on the tires, including load & inflation charts. https://hankooktire.com/us/files/technical-manual/HK_TBR_2019_Catalog_3rd_Quarter.pdf I see the situation as FMCA providing a member benefit with the discount program, but I don't expect them to be my tire dealer or technical support for the tires. That's the job of the tire manufacturers and their dealers. Or am I missing something here?

Any oil get on your brakes?

Welcome to the FMCA forum. Sorry that your first post is about something which is so frustrating. Not that this will be able to change the poor past experience, but have you looked into getting either a small compressor to carry or checking to see if your coach already has a place where you can connect an air hose to fill a tire?

Were you ever able to run both a/c units on the generator, or has it always had this issue?

You replaced the plug, EMS, and transfer switch. Have you confirmed tight connections where the power lines connect to the breaker panel from the transfer switch? A loose connection there could be responsible for everything downstream. If that doesn't work, I'd be following all the main conductors to ensure tight connections wherever you can.

Oh - now I get what you're saying. I could substitute another power source for my solar panels and let the solar charge controller work its equalizing magic. It won't care where the power comes from. My charge controller has a max voltage input of 150v, so I could use my 24v battery charger like you're saying and be able to do this anytime. Any thoughts on the 2 hours of equalization per month?

Not sure what you mean. My regular charger is a Progressive Dynamics 9270, and it doesn't offer an equalize setting which is high enough to meet the 16.2v level Trojan recommends. How are you suggesting that I equalize using my regular charger? My solar charge controller and my regular 120v charger are connected to the battery bank parallel to each other so that either of them can be connected. When I use the solar charge controller I turn off the 120v charger, and vice versa when using the 120v charger.

Our battery bank is made of four Trojan L16G six volt batteries, wired in series/parallel to provide 12v output. I've got a Trojan Hydrolink watering system installed to make watering the batteries easy. In reading the manual for the batteries, there are a few different recommendations for equalizing, and they all boil down to doing it either on a fixed schedule (ever 30 days) or when certain set points are reached with regard to specific gravity. The Hydrolink watering system caps are not designed to be removed once installed, and the manual comes with a warning about possible damage if they are removed. This would make checking specific gravity difficult without risking damage to the Hydrolink. So, I called Trojan today and asked what the recommendation was, and the tech said to equalize every 30 days for two hours and not worry about the specific gravity. My regular charger doesn't have an equalize setting, but my solar charge controller can do the equalization (obviously on a sunny day) in one-hour increments. Thought I'd tap into the community knowledge base here to see what others thought about doing the equalization on a 30-day schedule like this. I have no specific reason to question the tech's advice, but it just feels odd to do this without checking the specific gravity as I go. Would appreciate any thoughts on this process. (I am aware to have the batteries fully charged and topped off with water before doing the equalization, as well as to disconnect all loads from the batteries.)

Welcome to the forum - glad that you're here. How exciting for you that you've got a new-to-you coach in the works! From the information you posted, it appears that the max towing capacity in your specs is 10,000 pounds for the trailer weight, with a limit of 1,000 pounds on the hitch itself. Of course, it appears from what you posted that there should be a sticker inside the coach itself with information more specific to your coach, including the UVW (unloaded vehicle weight). That should include everything except what you'll add when you load up all your gear. That said, you'll probably be best off getting an actual weight on the coach loaded the way you intend to travel AND with full fuel tanks. Once you know the actual weight of your coach you'll know more accurately how much cargo capacity is remaining before you hit the GVWR. I'm sure that others with more trailer experience will add comments as well, so stay tuned for more replies.

Before you do anything with it though, be absolutely certain that the coach is properly blocked and safe to get under. Especially when working on parts of the air suspension, these things can drop suddenly with deadly results. It's not enough to jack up the axle and block the axle - you've got to properly support the chassis and body to keep it from coming down. All that said, why not just replace the leaking valve?

What's odd is how hard it was to find the harness to connect to the thing. The controller itself was easy to find, but the harness took some effort. Hopefully the company I ordered from will ship promptly. I suppose that most people never need to replace the harness connector, just the controller. The harness connectors are probably sold only to manufacturers. I could have called Intellitec, but it seemed that my only time to sit and do the research recently is nights and weekends.

Wrap-up/Update... I got the Intellitec water pump controller yesterday and today I installed it.Took a bit of finagling to get all the wiring run, but it's in and works. Only missing piece is the proper connector to plug into the controller - I'm still waiting for that so for now I'm using the terminals wrapped in heat shrink tubing. I used a terminal block for the switches to connect through and another for the indicator lamps. Made for a cleaner install, I think. I've got a switch w/indicator light now in the bathroom and kitchen, as well as an indicator over the dash visible from the door (so we can check pump status without having to go inside). I also installed a switch w/indicator in the wet bay for convenience. Overall I like using the controller better than how it was before. Pump can now be turned on/off from any switch, regardless of where it was turned on. Also, the switches are carrying only a ground conductor so there is less risk. The 12v+ runs directly between the fuse block and the pump on a 12ga wire. The phantom/stray voltage was largely corrected by moving some of the 12v wiring away from the 120v, and whatever remaining few milliamps won't matter to the pump now that there is the latching relay in between. Thanks to all for the help and for the suggestion about the pump controller.

Correct - the tax man saw the Montana plates, which led him to discover that the rig was registered to an LLC, which led him to ask about the IFTA sticker... I'd love to hear the end of the story as well. Did they fight it or just pay the ticket?

Used mine to find a water leak in the outer wall of the coach, and to look inside the tranny to see why the neutral safety switches weren't working. Quite handy.