richard5933

This is the Dairy State, after all. Would you expect anything less? ☺️ Something very cool that I've only seen up here is the little milk door with a cubby inside it which is built into an exterior wall of the kitchen in many homes, especially those built before WWII. The milkman would leave the milk delivery inside the little cubby built into the wall rather than a box on your porch, that way the milk didn't freeze in the winter. Our milkman just leaves the delivery in the fridge we keep inside the barn.

Thanks. No on the 5-gal milk delivery. We still have a milk man, but they don't bring it in the cans, just 1/2-gal bottles. We keep the can to hold a flower pot in the summer.

Decided to tackle the look of the steering wheel today. It was tolerable last year, but it seems like the extreme cold this winter didn't do the plastic steering wheel any favors. You can see the cracking getting bad in the 'in-progress' photo as I'm sewing on the leather cover. Seems as though these old plastic steering wheels have a definite end-of-life. I was unsure what I'd use to cover such a big steering wheel (it's 22"), and then I found http://wheelskins.aapd.net/t/wheelskinsspecialorder where it was possible to order a custom made steering wheel cover to fit perfectly. I was a little concerned at first since I couldn't get them on the phone and they didn't respond to email, but I finally decided to just follow the directions on their site for measuring and order the thing. Order was placed on Monday for a custom cover, and it arrived today. That's quick, especially for a custom order. Not sure my install was perfect, but the end result is so much nicer to look at than the cracked wheel. I know there are others driving older or vintage rigs, so I thought I'd share this in case someone else finds it useful.

It doesn't seem too far from the State Highway. Have you 'run the route' using Google Maps Streetview yet?

I'm scheduled to take my coach to a commercial tire dealer in town next week just for this purpose. The tires all look great to me, but they're 8 years old. I'm open to replacing them, but cash is tight. Hopefully a pair of new tires on the front is all I'll need, and I'm hoping that being stored indoors for the majority of their life the tires in the rear can last one more season. I 'interviewed' a couple of shops in town until I found this one - I didn't feel comfortable taking it to the first two shops since it sounded like they just wanted to sell me tires and nothing more. The third shop had a manager that seemed to know his stuff and was more interested in earning a long-term customer than a one-time sale. I'll report back how things go and what I think of the inspection process.

Assuming that your system uses pressure sensors/switches, it sounds like maybe you have one that's getting a false/incorrect reading or where the wires have come loose or shorted. Whatever you do for troubleshooting, please do not get under your coach for any reason unless the coach is properly blocked to prevent the body from falling on you. Especially when the problem you're troubleshooting is related to the air suspension system, you don't want to be under the coach at all without the proper safety precautions. Leveling jacks are not considered proper safety precautions and shouldn't be relied upon to hold up the coach if a person needs to go underneath.

Not sure about which side (or sides) carry the tension on your awning - manual hopefully will tell you. If you are unsuccessful finding the part through the manufacturer(s), you might have luck with one of the RV salvage yards.

If there is still tension in the awning use caution. There are specific methods used to 'unwind' things in a safe way to avoid injury. Do you have the manual for your awnings? If not, getting the manual from the company's website would be my first step, as it should have instructions for safely getting the tension off the thing.

Thanks. Mom always taught us that neatness counts. And she was right - especially in wiring things like this. I hate opening a compartment and seeing a tangled mess instead of something that can be easily understood or worked on. I try to make sure that the next person needing to work on this system can easily understand what I've done.

Eventually, perhaps. I tested the wiring, and it all tested good so far. It is all protected from weather, heat, and sun and I didn't see anything that was of concern. That said, it's on my list to install upgraded wiring between the converter panel and the headlights. At 13.8v, the halogen sealed beam headlights draw just under the 10a max on the 16ga wiring - not an ideal situation but it will work. In my earlier testing, the resistor panel was the choke point (just like in your cartoon). Proper 24v system voltage going in, but not proper 12v+ coming out. Even with the engine running and chassis voltage at about 27v, the output from the resistor panel was only 11.9v. That's no where near enough to properly power sealed beam halogen lights. My suspicion is that the resistors themselves have started to break down and have increased resistance. Whenever possible, I like to make changes incrementally so that I can do binary testing along the way. Change everything at once and you never know exactly where the problem is/was and you don't know which upgrade actually solved the problem. By just changing the resistor panel to the converters, I can easily compare the results between the two (I'll post photos showing the results). Like many vehicles, the factory installed wiring that was barely up to the task at hand - they used 16 ga wiring for the headlight system. With 24v headlights that might have been okay, since the current draw is lower on 24v systems, but when they installed the resistor panel to use 12v headlights they should up upped the wiring in the final few feet in front of the resistor panel. That final few feet is where I'm going to focus when I start upgrading the wiring. At least they had the wisdom to install the resistor panel as close to the headlights as possible (it's about 12" from the driver's side headlights, and about 6 feet from the curbside headlights). My plan is to eventually run 12ga wiring forward of the converter panel to the headlights. That should provide a good buffer for an eventual upgrade to higher power headlights later on. Or, another option is to use something like the Cibie headlamps, which use modern halogen replaceable bulbs. If I do this I can get 24v bulbs and eliminate the converter panel altogether, and since 24v systems have a lower current draw the wiring once again becomes a non-issue.

Sorry to hear about this...here's to a quick and full recovery!

Finally got the new 24v-to-13.8v converter panel built. Photo shows the new next to the old resistor panel. I'm waiting for one old-school (Pack Con II) connector to arrive on Friday so I can plug it into the harness where the old panel was. The OEM wiring has a separate circuit breaker and power feed for each of the four headlights. Just gotta love the redundancy they built into these old coaches. I followed the same four-circuit system to maintain the redundancy, and I used converters which have far higher capacity than needed (they're rated at 40a each) to ensure lots of overhead since capacity will be reduced as these things heat up. I did some preliminary testing and found absolutely no discernible flicker at all. The light output from the headlights was also considerably higher, as it should be raising the voltage feeding them from about 12v to 13.8v. I'll post some lights-on photos once everything is buttoned up.

Don't the MSW inverters play havoc with some multi-meters? It would seem to me that if digital multi-meters are confused by the output of a MSW inverter, some digital equipment might be as well if it's doing any type of voltage monitoring. Of course, all I have is anecdotal accounts to rely on, but there does seem to be a functional difference in some cases between PSW and MSW inverters. We had a power supply for a tv which wouldn't work on our MSW on our last bus, but it works perfectly on the PSW we have now. I always assumed it had to do with the difference between the two inverters.

Assuming that you're using browser in the phone to view this forum, pretty much the same way as with a PC or laptop. When you click on 'reply' you will get the box to enter your text. Below that is a paper clip icon with a link reading 'Click to choose files'. If you tap on that link you can either choose a photo from your gallery or take a new one with the camera.

If the battery in the compartment with the level system is the 'other battery' then which battery was replaced when the rig was purchased? If Carl is correct and the battery over the level system is the chassis start battery, then this is the battery that needs attention if the problem is cranking the engine. Where was the battery located which was replaced? Photos?

I've got a Samsung Galaxy - there is an option to mirror the screen to the USB output. I just plug the cord from the phone into a USB port on the TV. It's easy since I have a Samsung phone and a Samsung TV, but I believe that it's also possible to do this with other brands of TVs. I used to do this by using a USB-to-HDMI converter when I had a different brand of phone. https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/tv-audio-video/what-is-screen-mirroring-and-how-do-i-use-it-with-my-samsung-tv-and-samsung-mobile-device/ I also bring along a Google Chromecast. The latest version of the Chromecast allows direct streaming from a device to the Chromecast without going through a wifi first. This works, but it took me a few tries and re-reading the directions to do it the first time. Much easier to just plug the phone into the TV. If you bring along your laptop, you can also usually just use the TV as an external monitor - sometimes this works through a USB-to-HDMI converter and other times you need a laptop with it's own HDMI output.

You're not alone. We also only have an OTA antenna for television. If we want to watch something else, I'll stream it through an app on my phone and mirror the screen to the tv.

How many chassis batteries does this motor home have? Any chance you could post a photo of the chassis battery bank as well as the house battery bank? Might help us help you identify the problem.

Are you comfortable working around electrical devices? Familiar with a multimeter? If yes to both of those, you can test your theory by checking the input voltage to the circuit breaker.

See page 88, right-hand image. There is also a coolant drain shown on the engine exploded view, page 77, item 24.

Only possible downside to going to a larger pump like that would be the existing wiring/fuse. Larger pump = large current draw = possible need for upgraded wiring. Not necessarily a problem, but confirm existing wire sizing and fuse rating before just installing a new pump.

3.0 GPM is not much. All the pressure in the world isn't going to feel like much coming out of the tap if the flow rate is not high enough. Have you confirmed that the pump is actually outputting the 3.0 GPM at the pump's output?

Take lots of photos before removing the old inverter/charger, and carefully mark all the wires so you know where they were connected on the old unit. Seems like we get a few "where does this wire go" threads every season, so it doesn't hurt to take the time to make notes first. If the new inverter/charger is the same capacity as the old one, then nothing should need to be changed regarding wiring. The new unit might use a different temperature sensor on the batteries, so double check that. Also, like mentioned above you might need to swap the control panel and the connecting wiring (unless the new & old use are the same brand and use the same control panel.)

I agree with the previous comments about the date code - if the dealer can't get you fresh tires then you need a new dealer. Unless, of course, he's going to pro-rate the price of the tires based on how much of the life was spent wasting away on a shelf somewhere. Balancing? If you are going to rotate tires get them all balanced. Some coaches can have the tires rotated so this is important. We will get all ours balanced - for me anything that can help reduce drive line vibration is a benefit, even if I have to pay more for it.

If you have a commercial truck repair center in your town they can probably run a test on a sample while you wait, at least for water. In my experience, milky oil often indicates water mixing with the oil.