richard5933

Hard to tell from the photo what is what. Looks like red shrink tubing was used on multiple cables, so that might not be an indicator of anything. My first suggestion would be make sure that all the ground cables are properly connected to the negative side of things, and that all the power taps and positive cables are properly attached to the positive terminal. Looks like there are a couple of extra pieces in there being used to join the two batteries together, plus a bunch of things improperly connected directly to battery terminals. There also looks to be a main fuse on the left-hand terminal, which may or may not be blown by now. If it is blown, don't replace it until you confirm everything is connected properly.

Something is quite possibly wrong. The cable on the far right has a red heat shrink on it, yet it appears to be connected to the negative post of the right-hand battery. Is this a 12v chassis system? Are these both 12v batteries?

Very good news. It's always great to see that a problem has been solved. Thanks for checking back and letting us know.

True, but then we'd be forced to park in the sun. If we're dry camping we hope not to have to run the a/c, but parking in the sun to power the solar panels would heat us up like an oven. Then we're running the generator to power the a/c, and then we wouldn't get any benefit from the solar panels. Kind of a vicious cycle, which is one of the reasons we are going to make use of ground-deployed solar when possible.

Please make sure that you get stands that can hold the full amount of weight that could come down on them quite quickly. Most jack stands have their weight rating labeled per pair, not for each individual jack stand. I'd avoid the junk sold at box stores and get a quality stand - it's going to be the only thing between you and many tons of vehicle. Leveling jacks are not jack stands. Whatever you get, you also need to know the proper location for the jack stand so that the body of the coach doesn't come down on you while you're under it. It's not the axles that you are trying to hold up - it's the body. Should the air bags that you're working on suddenly fail the body of the coach is going to come down quickly. Put them in the wrong place and the jack stand will just push a hole through the floor of the RV or bend a weak support piece as it settles down. Working safely under a motor home is not a simple task and not something that should be ignored. Maybe this is a topic which would make a good seminar at a rally?

Is the assumption here that the dash air is working properly but just not up to the task at hand? Shouldn't take much to have the system checked out to confirm that the system is holding pressure and doing what it should be doing. If it needs repair, that would be my first choice. Probably a much better long-term solution just to get things working properly if they are not currently doing so. I'm in the process of having the compressor changed out on our OTR (over-the-road) a/c unit - it was leaking and not able to cool anymore. There is nothing that I could rig up that will ever cool as well as my OTR a/c can when it's working properly.

Welcome to the forum. Did your dash a/c ever keep you comfortable or is this a new situation?

Curious why this is so? Not saying what you stated isn't true, just curious why it is.

Not sure if all modern RVs have this, but we have a manual disconnect switch in the chassis battery compartment. When we get where we're going, tripping this manual disconnect is on the setup list. Nothing can draw power from the chassis batteries once this switch is tripped to the 'off' position. When switched off, the chassis batteries can hold their charge for a substantial period of time if they are well maintained and fully charged before disconnecting them. When we're parked somewhere for an extended period of time, we also have a separate smaller charger hardwired into the system specifically for charging the chassis start batteries. To use it, we reconnect the chassis batteries and turn on the chassis battery charger. This charger can charge up to 25 amps, and it is a multi-stage charger that can act as a battery maintainer when needed. Yes, this is a redundant system and yes it's intentionally that way. No matter the state of charge on the house batteries, we wanted to be absolutely certain that the chassis batteries would be charged and ready to start the coach's engine. The house battery system on our coach is totally separate and distinct from the chassis batteries. We can run all of our house systems and never worry about affecting the state of charge on our chassis batteries. If we were to ever get a modern coach, one of the things we'd add right away would be a way to manually disconnect the chassis batteries to be absolutely certain that the two battery systems can be separated when desired and to make sure that there is nothing left connected that can inadvertently run down the chassis batteries. The only downside to this system for us is having to reset the memories on the dash radio, but they can maintain their settings for about a month or more with the battery disconnected. I'd suggest checking with the manual for a modern coach before doing this type of setup to be certain that nothing in the on-board computer(s) will have negative consequences from the disconnect. I know that not everyone wants to have such a manual system, but I'm bringing it up here to add some ideas to the mix and perhaps spark a thought that might be helpful.

We got a set of sheet from this Amazon listing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07837YXZJ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 If you click on the size dropdown box you'll see all the other sizes available. The sheets are sent directly from India, but they showed up amazingly fast. The quality seems really nice and overall I'm quite happy. Hope you find one that will work on your mattress.

I'm probably not the best to give you an unbiased opinion, given that we drive around the country in a 44-year-old coach. Of course, the fact that we drive around the country in a 44-year-old coach is also my answer. As many times as I've complained, belly ached, cursed, and otherwise expressed my frustration at having to fix things as they break on our coach, I'm still constantly amazed at how many more problems some people seem to have with relatively new (or even brand new) coaches and RVs. We've yet to run into a situation where parts could not be found and/or a suitable replacement for the device/appliance/equipment was not made. In my view, you'd be simply trading in a set of known issues for a set of unknown ones if you got a new rig. However, if the rig you have now is not meeting your needs and you can swing a new one financially, then upgrading becomes a more attractive option.

Without knowing the extent of the problem with the a/c and furnace there is no way for us to really know which is best, repair or replace. However, an Atwood Air Command 15K can be had for under $700 plus another hundred or so for the interior parts if needed (just one example - I know the OP might have different needs/wants). In our case we were able to wrestle the unit onto the roof and do the install ourselves, so it was an easy decision. If someone has to pay for the install things get more complicated and expensive. It's always difficult when we start talking about throwing money into an a/c unit which is 18 years old - if it's just a few inexpensive parts then I'd go for it. If it's anything more substantial the cost/benefit equation starts tilting towards replacement.

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.