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JustCruzzin

RV Rescued From Osage River

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Jim, it's in my service manual to dump all air in the tanks before leveling. Hold the dump button and feather the brakes. It doesn't take long to dump or refill. If I don't dump the air tanks, air will pump up the air suspension.

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At this moment in time, I'm on air leveling...Tonight, I'll be dry camped at a Country Club and be on HWH. My coach, automatically dumps the air out of airbags, before HWH kicks in.

When I'm on air the "air compressor" regulates my level. I block the wheels, brake goes off, the coach is not going anywhere! :)

Other, than getting accumulated condensation out of my air system, I see no good reason to dump tanks....even when I check for or get rid of condensation I only open valves long enough to feel dry air.

Have I been doing something wrong in the past 10 years? :(

The info on coach in river, never said, if it was gasser or DP. From what I could see, 36' newer model.

Carl

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Same here, when I dump the air bags, I do loose maybe 15psi on the dash gauge from 120, (still seems odd to me), the coach levels and I usually end up with 95-110 psi in my tanks. Over the course of a 4-5 days it will bleed down to 50 psi. if and when it drops below 40psi you cannot press the button down...well you can but it pops back at you. If you press the button down with more than 40psi you had better hope your chocked or you are going for a ride with a ghost driver.

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As you read discussions of operations of a variety of coaches you realize that each manufacturer may have differences in their recommended operation. Likewise differences in equipment installed on the coach may affect the way things operate. What follows is a brief description of the operation of our coach. Don't make assumptions about how your system operates.

We have HWH air leveling and no jacks so we're always on airbags. With this arrangement, we can press the air leveling button once and it shows where the coach is low with yellow indicator lights. The second press activates the automatic leveling process which begins with a complete air dump of the leveling system. This evacuates the air through the pressure release valve which is located at the low point in the air tank and this forces accumulated water from condensation out of the tank. Once the air is evacuated from the leveling system and the bags are empty, the leveling system replaces air on the low point, sides first, front or back last until the coach is level. Initially the air to raise the coach comes from the braking system. If the engine is not running when leveling, the electric pump takes over when pressure drops below 100 pounds. The purpose of dropping the air bags to zero is to lower the coach to its lowest position and then raise it only enough to level.

The air pressure on the braking side drops but not to zero. After one day parked and on auto level, our air brake pressure gauge reads 88 pounds. That will slowly go down over time. We have no instruction to take the brake system to zero pressure in my owners manual.

When leveled on air bags there is another system that controls valves to maintain a level coach. Air bag pressure is maintained at 100-110 psi when parked by a small electrical air pump maintains that pressure only on the leveling system side. When driving the engine air compressor maintains system pressures for the brakes and the suspension system.

When we air up we take the pressure up to 130 psi where the automatic vent kicks in, this again removes any water accumulation in the tank and we know that the air bags are inflated to travel mode. In travel mode, there is a separate set of valves that control air bag inflation and ride height.

Our slides operate with the engine off but AC electric to the coach, either shore power or generator. There is a lock out that prevents our slides from operating when the engine is running. We put the slides in when the system is in travel mode, remove the chocks and disconnect the electrical cord. We start the engine, check lights on the toad and we are on our way.

Our owners manual has a completed diagram of the air brake and air bag leveling system and describes the operation fully. The two systems are separate at some times and co-joined at other times. The brake side is dry and the air bag side of the system is wet (the electric compressor has no air dryer). Understanding the connections and way they operate will help you assess whether your system is operating properly.

We keep a laminated sheet with the brake check procedure for air brakes in the side pocket next to the drivers seat and use that as our checklist when checking the air brakes. Several parts of the procedure for testing the air brake system require pumping the brakes to drop the pressure. If you have air brakes and haven't run a complete brake check you should get a copy of the procedure from the DOT (ours is from the Texas Drivers Handbook) and keep it handy. The procedure checks for leaks in the system as well as recovery rates when pressure is dropped. Rates are specified for rate of pressure loss and for rates of recovery. We don't run through a full check of the system every time we drive but before each long trip we'll run through the procedure. And did I say, we use chocks?

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Tom,

I have to agree with you. Most don't run the complete brake check and it is a good thing to do on a regular basis. I think a set of chocks is a good idea but I must admit I don't have any but I am going to be looking.

Are you coming to the 6 state rally in Conroe?

Bill

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Tom,

Are you coming to the 6 state rally in Conroe?

Bill

Wish I could. We're babysitting granddaughters in California right now. We'll spend a little vacation time with the family in Oregon and then head south about the 15th or 16th of October.

Tom

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Has anyone found out what happened?

Herman

Riverview RV Park- Lake Ozark "They were trying to launch a small boat with a 40 ft MH on the very steep, slick boat ramp. Not a good plan!"

b2dff6f0-ec55-40e7-754b-ec34d69c2003-IMG

ce55ef54-06db-415f-9bdf-f9db68fb0297-IMG

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Has anyone found out what happened?

Herman

WoW..........double post.... :wacko:

Riverview RV Park- Lake Ozark They were trying to launch a small boat with a 40 ft MH on the very steep, slick boat ramp. Not a good plan!

b2dff6f0-ec55-40e7-754b-ec34d69c2003-IMG

ce55ef54-06db-415f-9bdf-f9db68fb0297-IMG

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