rossboyer

SMC coaches on Magnum chassis had this problem. If you allowed the tank to fill to where water would overflow, siphoning would occur and drain 2/3 of the tank until the vaccum could overcome the siphon. Some added a tee and ran a line well up into the rear of the refrigerator compartment to be the vacuum breaker. Instead of doing this is probably the reason that a plug was added to your overflow.

You may want to check www.automotionshade.com. There is an ad in Family Motor Coaching January issue on page 126. They were producing similar if not better quality shades before the other brand. I have seen them and plan to install these myself.

J C Whitney sells them.

I don't think that anyone can guarantee that a particular brand or type of TV will withstand the road shock in a motor home, but I have installed LCD TVs in 3 different motor homes. Those motor homes have traveled 12,000 to 20,000 miles per year for at last 3 years without difficulty. The brand I used was Toshiba. I liked the ability with the Toshiba TV to make the connections from the antenna, DirecTV, and outside cable at the TV which allowed me to switch between those sources with the Remote. The real key is how well you mount the TV to reduce residual vibration. I made my own mountings using flat bar and angle aluminum stock from a big box store. I do not have pictures to share. I was able to provide a pivot to allow access to the rear of the TV to work with the wiring. There was enough space behind the new TV to install the base speaker for the surround sound which gave me additional foot and leg space at the drivers seat.

Additionally, while you are searching if you have any questions, many of us have had similar units and possibly can answer your questions.

We have GMAC. Our only claims have been for windshields with no problems and very responsive. We were able to get the motor home and two autos covered for less than our motor home with our previous insurance.

I see that you installed a residential refrigerator. What model and manufacturer? Did you also install an inverter and was it pure sine wave? Make and model? What is your battery bank?

You might look at the Chevrolet Equinox. It is a little bigger, but we have been very satisfied. Previously we had two Pontiac Vibes which were the same size as the HHR. We would not go back and better fuel mileage. We do have to pull a fuse, but I installed a switch. No problems for the past 25,000 mles towing.

I totally agree with Herman. If you are reasonably knowledgable in electrical wireing, you can do the job yourself. Count on 1 or 2 days to get the job done. The Wiring isn't difficult, but routing the wire from the front to the rear will be very time consuming. Complete circuit diagrams are available on the Roadmaster web site, www.roadmasterinc.com. I like to mount a connector on the front of the Toad. Roadmaster has a cable that has a matching connector to the coaches connector and the one on the Toad. They have complete wiring kits with diodes for different configurations required for different Toads. If you decide to have someone else do the wiring, becareful to be sure they do not add another light by cutting a hole in your taillight reflectors for the sockets, doing so will reduce the light output of both the new and original lights.

You might want to consider getting the foam insulation that is used on air condioner lines. Very inexpensive at any big box store and come in different inside diameters. After you wrap your water line with the heat tape then wrap this foam insulation around all.

Sunflower Resort in Surprise, AZ, but reserve now. The rental sites go fast for the baseball season. Sunflower is only about 2 or 3 miles from the ball park in Surprise. I am not a baseball fan so I cannot help you there. Also, Destiny Phoenix RV Resort is about 13 miles from the ball park just west of the I-10 and Hwy 303. Probably a little less cost than Sunflower. There is another, Cotton Lane RV, but no shade. Friends of ours have stayed in both Sunflower and Destiny and would stay there again.

Usually, at least with our Xantrex inverter, when shore power is available even though the inverter is in the Invert mode; the inverter is bypassed to feed the attached circuits from shore power. What size inverter is currently installed in your motor home? Possibly it is big enough to handle the residential refrigerator. If it isn't, the battery bank is usually sized to handle the expected load; and you may need to add another battery bank or upgrade the capacity of your current battery bank. On our motor home, the inverter has 2 circuits of 20 amp each. When our refrigerator fails, I am going to install a switch or relay to enable switching between the microwave and refrigerator if using the inverter without shore power. Motor homes differ, and you may or may not be able to do this.

I do not know your location, but I had ours replaced at Fry's Electronics in our 2006 Fleetwood Expedition. I purchased a Pioneer unit with a USB port, XM Sirus, FM, AM, and remote control. They installed in less than 1 hour and found that I already had a XM antenna installed on the coach. We like the XM radio so that we do not have to change stations as we travel across the country. If you plan to keep your motor home for several years, you can purchase a lifetime plan that in the long run is cheaper. We have 3 XM radios that have Lifetime plans. I also purchased a Bluetooth option for $19 to enable handsfree answering of my cell phone. Because the radio has the USB port, I can plug the charging cable for my cell phone in to the USB port and never run the battery down on the cell phone while traveling.

The only advantage of having a built in charger with the inverter is at least for Xantrex the charger is 3 stage to decrease the charge as the battery gets near full charge and the wiring does not need to be duplicated. A 200 amp fuse should be enough to protect, but I would have to check a chart for the correct size wire.

On my motor home, I have a 3-kw Xantrex inverter that also has the 3 stage charger. My battery bank is four 6 volt golf cart batteries. Two batteries each in series and then the two sets of series batteries are wired in parallel to have 12 volts at twice the current rating of one battery. The wiring is 4-0 welding cable. I like welding cable because it is very flexible. Do not use house wiring cable. Each conductor within the cable is heavy duty and does not flex well. You can buy custom length cables from Interstate or other battery shops. You can make your own. To make your own the cable is about $4.00/foot for 4-0 welding cable and the connectors vary depending on the type you need and range $10 to $22 each. The cables from Interstate will cost you less. In either case do not make them just long enough. Allow about 6 or 8 inches extra. You may need to replace the cable connectors on the end that connect to the batteries. A 3-KW inverrter will possibly pull 275 amps allowing a 10% loss. So be sure to use 4-0 wire. If you find that you can use a smaller inverter then smaller wire can be used. You will also need a 250 - 300 amp fuse inline on the positive feed to the inverter. These fuses are about $25 plus the mounting/holder. With the exception of the cables and batteries, as Brett said, all other items must be in another bin to prevent accidental explosions.

What size inverter do you think you need or the purpose? If you just want to run a laptop computer, would be one issue; and if you want to power a refrigerator, would another story.

I just had this same problem. Found that the blade connector was loose in the pressure switch. I live close to Elkhart, IN and went to the Shurflo service depot with the old pressure switch. They gave me a new switch. Replaced the switch, just 3 screws, and then packed the connections with clear silcone caulk to keep the wires and connectors from placing strain on the blades in the switch. After the caulk had dried for a couple of days, I reinstalled. No problems.

Our Expedition, 2006, has a switch on the drivers left side console near the cruise control switch that controls the utility lights. The lights are located under the hood, in the water bay, battery area, and rear engine area and do not have switches on the individual lights. The bin lights which do have individual switches on the lights have a master switch near the front door. Ours is on the front dash area and are easily seen as you enter the coach. This switch does not control the utility lights you question. Regarding the battery cutoffs, look in the front compartment on the right side above the windshield. Ours is near the level 'gauges' and next to the water pump on/off toggle switch and the water heater electric or propane switches. Please let us know what you find out that solves your problem. You should not need nor can I think of a reason to shut off the 50 amp breaker. You may need to check to be sure that your inverter is turned off. The switch for that is also in the compartment above the windshield. If the led is on in the Invert button, push the button to turn it off.

i would put water in my fresh water tank to use my pump and store my hose. You sewer hose can stay connected and out, just keep your valves closed until about 3/4 full and then dump.

We have the AirForce 1 braking system on a Chevrolet Equinox. On our first trip, I didn't pull a fuse and the battery was dead that night. Since then I have replaced the fuse connector with two fuse taps and a switch to turn off this circuit, we have not had a dead battery. The fuse taps are available from your local auto supply store, but of course you have to determine which fuse circuit needs to be disconnected. Our owners manual indicated which one. On a previous towed, I had to do the process suggested above to find the right fuse. Our owners manual also suggests that we run the engine at each fuel fill when towing. I don't think they mean 600 miles; therefore, I run the engine for 5 minutes and shift into drive and reverse a couple of times and then leave it in neutral at lunch and when we stop for the night. I do put in park and remove the key at night after running for the 5 minutes. I lay the tow key and the motor home ignition key on the dash of the motor home so I don't forget to setup the towed the next morning.

We tow a 2011 Chev Equinox that does not log the miles towed.

Possibly you need to change your fuel filters. I have had this happen in that I could not go 65. 55 was max and then intermittently I could not get above 35. Stopped at a campground for the night and the next morning changed both the Primary and Secondary filter. I always carry two spares of each. I could quicly accelerate to 75. If you have not ever changed your filters, ask the service tech to show you how so that you can do it on the road. My tech suggested that I buy a special strap wrench that works with a 3/8ths extention. I think it was $5/6 at Auto Zone. Please let us know what the solution is to your problem.

I use DeLorme's Street Atlas 2012 Plus and have used versions for the past 10 or so years. Using my laptop PC, I can plan my route in my easy chair at home or modify on the road. There are many Points of Interest; therefore, for my long trips from Indiana to Arizona, four day trip, I can establish my fuel stops, overnight stops and even where we will eat that evening. I want to get out of the coach for a while and enjoy eating out one meal a day. The large screen on my PC is much easier to see than the 7-8 inch screens of some GPS systems. I have mine setup with split screen where the left side is about 4 miles per inch and the right is 1000 feet per inch. The bottom of the screen reports the distance and information about the next turn or highway changes. When the next turn is 125 miles away, I know that I have a couple of hours before I need to watch for the turn. You can have voice reports, too. There are many menu options to display POIs that are of interest to you. IE: Other than Post Offices, I eliminate Government buildings, etc. You can get a Topo version, but Ifound that I didn't like it as much. Just a personal preference. I have my laptop on the front dash just above the radio and use an anti-skid mat under it. Never had a problem in in an emergency stop but that would depends on your dash layout. DeLorme sells package deals with their GPS that is USB connected and the DVDs for the software and database. And some packages that also include a Hand Held GPS. You might like that option if you hike or do geocashing. I don't know the current prices, but updates are usually about $39.00 and are available about this time of the year. Some retailers will have specials, but these are usually the version that is about to be replaced.

We go to Arizona to Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise, but we cannot go until late December. Check out Happy Trails. 2000 sites and loads of things to do if you want to do them.

I think that most mount them on the rear ladder, and ladder mounts are listed in Family Motor Coaching in the Kiley Mold ad. Those in front are usually mounted where a front license plate would be. If you can not put it there, there are suction cups available at the on line FMCA store that would allow them to be mounted inside on the windshield where it would not obstruct the drivers view. I made a support from one inch aluminum from a big box store for my front plate, area low brow and officer top brow. The aluminum is easy to drill and bend into any shape needed to clear the contours of of the cap on the front of the coach. So you can see thatt there isn't any preferred way to display, but I am very happy that you want to display the Membership Plate or "Goose Egg".