richard5933

Kind of scary seeing the amount of damage to the cockpit - I thought that the Sprinter chassis was supposed to hold up well in collisions but this one seemed to have taken quite a big hit. Anyone from the area have information about what type of collision caused the damage?

I know that there could be many problems, but I think it's important to eliminate the easy and simple things first. Nan - you indicated that things were working before the house tank ran empty and that the fridge hasn't cooled since switching to the external tank. That would be the focus of my troubleshooting until it is confirmed that the external tank is full and functional and that the connections are working properly. As for things 'coincidentally' going bad with the fridge at the same time that you switched to the external tank, my first troubleshooting step would be to see if some type of debris/dirt/blockage was set loose inside the piping when the tank change was made which is blocking the fuel flow somewhere. But, this would not happen until I did some binary testing with another tank known to be full and hooked up correctly. I also think it would be worthwhile to confirm that the Extend-a-Stay installation didn't inadvertently cause a kink in the fuel line to the right of the gray cover. That was a good suggestion.

Are you asking about repair/replace with regard to the RV or just the offending appliances? If the rig is generally in good condition and structurally sound, then just repairing/replacing the appliances would be my choice, if possible, rather than replacing the rig. For the appliances themselves, it seems that things like roof-top a/c units are throw-a-way items and just replaced when bad, unless the problem is just something like a bad thermostat or wiring issue. We replaced ours by ourselves, and the only difficult part was getting the unit on the roof. Any RV shop should be able to handle that job. The furnace could be repairable, depending on what's wrong with it. There are replacement circuit boards available for many of the popular furnace models out there, and sometimes it's just a simple part or cleaning that's needed to bring it back in service. A little more information about the decision might help us give more specific advice.

Batteries won't charge from either shore power or generator. GFI shuts down when batteries are too low. Running engine returns things to normal again. If those are the symptoms, sounds to me like you are running off the inverter for some reason. Possibly your transfer switch is not working and is stuck on inverter? Can you shut off the inverter and see if there is 120v power anywhere in the RV when plugged into shore power? If there is power w/o the inverter, then start chasing down the 120v circuit breaker that runs the battery charger. If you shut down the inverter and have no 120v power at all, then find your transfer switch and go through the manual's troubleshooting pages. Why did you replace the batteries to begin with? Was it because of the same set of symptoms or something else?

I'm still confused about one thing...everything was working until the house tank ran empty. Didn't work when the external tank was connected. Logic would say that the most likely culprit is the new tank, as that's the only thing that was changed. Or the way things were connected (like closing the valve on the house tank, etc.) Does a nearby neighbor have a tank you could borrow to test things out? Sometimes these portable tanks have defective valves or are in some other way not working properly, and before opening up the plumbing and possibly creating additional problems I'd want to try another tank that was known to work and to be full.

When you connected the external tank to the system, did you shut the valve to the built-in tank? If not, much of the LP & pressure may have been spent 'refilling' the built-in tank, causing a low-pressure situation. My first attempt would be to get my hands on another tank which is known to be full and working properly. Connect that with the house tank valve closed and see what happens. It worked on the house tank. It didn't work on the external tank. Simple fix is to try another external tank. Little sense in starting to replace parts one by one until you can isolate what the exact problem is. On a side note, is there a propane company near you that can come to fill your house tank onsite?

Looks like the regulator is under the gray cover to the right of all your brass connectors/valves/etc. However, if the flame burned brighter on the house tank than on the external tank, then perhaps the problem is in the Extend-a-Stay system. Have you checked to be sure there there is nothing causing a blockage in the fittings? Hard to tell from a photo, but the fittings that you've got on the Extend-a-Stay system appear to be smaller than those on your house tank itself, so it wouldn't take much to cause a restriction. You said that the flame was larger on the house tank...did the fridge cool better when on that tank? Have you confirmed that the valve on your built-in tank is closed/open according to the instructions in the kit for the external tank? Any chance that the external tank was turned on its side and liquid propane was allowed to flow through the valve instead of vapor? Has the fridge cooled on a different external tank in the past? If so, perhaps this tank and/or the tank's valve is defective? Just throwing these out there for consideration and to help run through some potential problem areas. Not saying that these are necessarily the case.

Here's a photo of what the back side of the portable panels look like. My plan is the drill the hole through the doubled center frame members just below the bottom hinge so that I could thread the cable through both halves of each set. There is a charge controller used, but it's mounted in the electrical bay and secured behind a locked door.

We're in the midst of putting together the first stage of our solar charging system. For this first stage, we are going with three Zamp 180-watt portable/folding panels which will be connected to a Victron 150/85 charge controller. We went with the portable for two reasons, the first being we haven't figured out the best way (actually, any attractive way) to mount things to our very curved roof, and the second (larger) reason is that the portable panels will allow us to park in the shade while our panels are in the sun. The portable panels also have a pretty steep angle when deployed which should catch more sun up here in the north lands than anything on our roof would. Hopefully this arrangement will allow us to continue dry camping without having to run the a/c, something quite doable in this part of the country through most of the summer if we don't have to park in the sun. The use of portable panels brings the topic of this thread, how to best secure them so they don't grow feet and walk away. We won't be deploying them when we are boondocking at Wal-Mart (or other similar locations). We'll be using them when we're in more remote places like parks, campgrounds, etc. What has been the experience of other people with things like this? Am I worried over nothing or is there a real problem with things like portable solar panels walking away? My current plan is to drill holes through the aluminum frames of the three folding panels and use a thin stainless cable to lock them together and to something like a tree, our back wheel, or some other stationary object. I know that cables can be cut, locks can be broken, and that a determined thief can easily figure out a way to take the panels. My concern is more the "opportunity crimes" that can often be prevented by taking away the convenience of the theft. Thoughts? Suggestions?

If in fact you need all the work necessary for the higher quotes, or even the $3000 quote, you might consider replacing the current fridge with a 12vdc/120vac compressor fridge. My experience is that they work well, can fit into the opening left by removing your 3-way, and cost less than the $3000 you're being quoted. A couple of companies make really nice 12vdc/120vac units, including Vitrifrigo, Nova Kook, and even Norcold. If you already have the necessary electrical upgrades to run the residential fridge, than all this wouldn't necessarily apply, but if you are looking at having to upgrade battery bank, inverter, etc. then I'd suggest at least taking a look.

With the seemingly endless line of people with RVs trying to get factory-authorized service done and the apparent lack of authorized service facilities, why aren't there more service facilities out there? Strikes me as a perfect business opportunity, so there must be something blocking it from happening. Could it be the RV manufacturers and the way they interact with repair centers? I don't normally fall into the conspiracy theory camp, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall and know what goes on behind the scenes in the RV manufacturing facilities when they discuss the problem of quality control, repair issues, and related subjects.

I've found that the CB appears to be totally useless as well. That is, until it's not. I was driving back from the northern part of Wisconsin on Memorial Day. Traffic north of Madison was really bad with more than a few places of stop and go traffic on the freeway. It seemed that out of nowhere traffic went from 70mph to a dead stop in just a few feet. The truckers were dead silent when traffic was flowing. As soon as there were brake lights, however, there was a cacophony of 'brake check' warnings as truckers made each aware of the upcoming danger spots. At one point, I was able to listen as they warned each other of a slow moving 'old bus' in the right lane. That was us. It was kind of fun joking back with them as they passed. My experience has shown that while there is little, if any, traffic on the CB truckers do still listen and will respond if there is an emergency or upcoming danger spot. I'll keep mine and keep it turned on just for such warnings.

If this was my rig I'd also be checking to see if the battery charging system was working properly. If the battery is only 8 months old it sounds like you've had problems recently (or the previous owner did) resulting in a new battery. Maybe this has been an ongoing issue, something like a charger that occasionally over charges the batteries and doesn't know when to stop charging. This could be caused by a long list of problems, including a charger that charges at too high a voltage, bad connections, loose wires, etc. Do you have multi-meter you can use to check the charging voltage? It would be helpful for us trying to help you if you could add some details about your RV to your profile, then members with the same or similar rigs could use their experience to help you better. There are so many variants of how RV battery systems are installed that it's impossible to do anything other than guess just knowing that you had a battery boil over.

Definitely a known issue, which is why I also have the amateur band hand held (and license). Still doesn't sound like it provides the level of coverage of the GIR system though. I'll have to explore it further as the budget allows.

Haven't used the Garmin in Reach, but this type of situation is why we carry a hand-held CB in the car and have a CB mounted in the coach. If I'm going to really remote places I also take a hand-held amateur radio, but that requires a license. All that said, I'd be curious to hear what experience others have with the GIR technology, as it might be something worthwhile.

Every time I read about someone's ATS failing (which seems to happen with some regularity on this and other forums) I am thankful that we have a purely manual switch. Almost makes up for the inconvenience of having a manual switch, but not quite. Ours came with the Kohler generator and is labeled as such, and it's located in a control panel just above the outside 50-amp receptacle where the shore power cordset plugs in. This is the same control panel where the generator start controls are (also manual). Our previous coach also had a manual transfer switch, which I replaced with a new one from Blue Sea. They make a great manual switch that works great with 50 amp service. We used one that switched both hot lines (L1 & L2 as well as the neutral). Of course, the whole reason for using an ATS over a manual switch is convenience and not having to pay attention to where the power is coming from. The system just switches to the highest priority power source if it's available. If not, it goes to the next highest priority. As to the question about why not permanently wire the shore power cord to the distribution panel without a transfer switch? That one is easy, as you never want to have the possibility of having both the shore power and the generator connected at the same time. Let's say you are plugged into shore power. For whatever reason power goes out so someone starts the generator. Now you're back feeding the pole with deadly current and who ever is downstream has no idea that you're running a generator. Same reason that home generators require a transfer switch. I've read about people that set up their rigs to either plug in the shore power cord OR a power cord running from the generator. They manually go down to the bay and unplug one cord and plug in another when they want to switch power sources. Problem there is switching in the middle of the night, when it's raining outside, or at other equally inconvenient time. Inevitably the wrong cord will be plugged in when you pull over and decide to run the generator for some reason at a rest stop, etc. I'd love to see a chart with a listing of parts that fail, listed in the frequency of failure. My money would be on ATS being at the top of the list, with remote battery switches running a close second. Anyone know if this forum supports surveys? If so, perhaps I'll put one together and we can see just what has failed people the most.

I also read the forum on my Android, and it took a bit of searching to figure this out. First, bookmark the forum. Easy if you're using the stock Chrome brower...click on the three dots on the top right of the screen, and then tap on the outline of a star at the top of the page. That creates a bookmark. You can also put the bookmark directly on your home screen if you want. Once you're at the page for the forum, there is an unmarked icon at the top of the page that sort of looks like a miniature newspaper. On my phone it shows just to the left of the search icon. Tap on this and it will bring up all your unread content on the forum. It is possible to mark everything as 'read' if you want to start over and only have the latest stuff show as unread as it appears. Hope this helps.

Another way people get around this, at least with the similar system in use in Wisconsin, is to book a longer stay starting before they actually want to arrive. They then later cancel the first half of the trip and keep only the part they want. This allows them to book earlier than should be allowed, Would be nice if there was a way to fix this, but I'm starting to realize that no matter what they do people will find ways around the rules to mess up those of us that try to follow them when booking.

I have not found any sign on 3-in-1 on the first basement a/c fan motor that I did this spring. Hoping that this one is the same. I must be getting old, because I still expect electric motors to have oil cups on each end. Still boggles my mind that they make things with no expectation that anyone will do maintenance in the future. The OTR (over-the-road) compressor is being sent to US Coach in NJ. They are the go-to shop for all things old bus. Luke and Bill have been in the business for decades, have many OEM and NOS parts for coaches that are decades old, and still can do repairs that others only read about in history books. People with older bus conversions would be lost without them. That is my plan - once the bus is back in my driveway I plan on setting the rpm on the governor just a tad higher than it is now so that it's proper under half load.

Not totally sure on that. I'm going to run some tests to compare the current draw on both of the units. My guess is that the front unit is drawing more than the rear, and whether one or both of the units is running it's straining on the generator. My first steps will be to pull the cover on the basement unit and check the easy stuff...air flow over coil, fan motor lubrication (motor has oil cups), relay contacts, wire connections, etc, etc. Then I'm going to double check the generator to be sure that every connection is tight, that the brushes are in place and clean, and that the idle is set to provide proper voltage/hz at a medium load. Right not the coach is in the shop to have the OTR a/c worked on. My Freon disappeared, and apparently it was due to the seals in my compressor drying out. These compressors were meant to be rebuilt and not replaced, which makes finding a replacement difficult. A seal kit is only $35, but they don't have anyone at the shop trained to rebuild a compressor or that has the needed tools. So, I'm having them pull the compressor to send to a shop in NJ that specializes in vintage buses. It will be another week or so till everything is worked out, but at least I'll avoid having to buy all new components to keep the OTR a/c going. Once I get the bus back I'll start on the house a/c and generator issues.

The box stores (HD, Lowes) sell adhesive specifically designed for bonding foam panels to walls. It might work as well.

Login on the regular FMCA site (not the forum) and click on the icon on the right side for 'dashboard'. You'll then see a red link on the left-hand side for membership directory. Once you're in the directory you can search by member number.

The decision would be easy - get the brakes. Do you really want to wake up every day knowing that a decision to save a few bucks caused an accident or took someone's life?

Or maybe that no one is wearing seat belts? Or maybe that the little girl in the foreground is about to fall out the window? Or maybe that the dog isn't restrained in any way and looks like he's about to jump out? To be honest, I never really gave it a good look until you mentioned it. Now that I see the details, kind of makes one wonder who staged the photo?

I couldn't get a good handle on how the front a/c reacted when operated on the generator by itself. Seemed to do better, but to be honest by that time we were so hot and irritated that all we could think about was closing the bedroom door and retreating to the coolness that the rear a/c provided. My initial gut feeling is that the front unit hasn't aged quite as well as the rear for whatever reason. Possibly its location in the bay behind the wheel well caused it to catch more road spray? Who knows, but I'll hopefully find out if there is something going on when I open the cabinet. I'm also going to see what they used for a relay in the circuit that energizes the compressor. It's a mechanical relay/switch, so possibly it's part of the problem. I'll be doing some more testing and inspecting over the next week, including opening the inspection doors to be certain that all connections are tight between the generator head and the control box, as well as in the manual transfer switch. Thought it would be good to eliminate the easy stuff first. Also going to open and inspect all components of the front a/c itself to eliminate obvious problems. Once I have a better idea of the complete situation I'll figure out what to do, hopefully. Additional suggestions are welcome.