hex_nut

Richard You may wish to carefully check your current AGS to determine if it is actually the ME-AGS-S, or if it is just the OLD version of the ME-AGS. I cannot comprehend that Monaco would actually install an AGS-S in a Motorhome since that version is specifically designed for installations that do not have an inverter. So, I am left a bit puzzled. Please let all of us know what you find out. Thanks. Richard

Richard The old version that I had (see attached picture) had two RJ11 communication cables just like the AGS-N, making it an easy upgrade. If the one you want to replace only has one RJ11 port, than you will evidently have to run another comm cable and things will not be as easy as it was for some of the rest of us. It sounds like you may wish to make a call to Magnum tech support with the specifics of your current installation and what would be required to upgrade to the AGS-N. Good luck. Richard

Richard After I installed the new AGS-N, it started just fine with the "test" mode. However, it would not start correctly from a "low voltage" condition. I grabbed my digital VOM and started testing continuity on the sense wire to the AGS-N. That's when I found that the sense wire was attached to the bus bar for the starting battery and not the bus bar for the house batteries. Thanks to Monaco's nicely labeled wires, it was just a situation of moving the wire from a post on one bus bar to a post on the other bus bar right next it. My AGS is installed in the FRB along with all the battery bus bar connections. I have since read on many Monaco forums, that it was common in those years to have the AGS sense wire connected to the wrong battery bank from the factory. People who did little boondocking never noticed that the AGS did not function correctly. Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I looked up current prices for the AGS-N and Remote monitor. Needless to say, sticker shock set in. I had paid about $100 for the pair. Current prices look to be about $500. Oh well! It is still a worthwhile upgrade. I "assume" your original still has the mechanical potentiometers on the AGS, and they were a nuisance to use. And, mine was in the FRB, so I had to go outside and open the bay door to make any changes. What a nuisance. Richard

Richard When I bought my 2006 Beaver a few years ago, I found the original AGS to be inconvenient. Nicely enough, I found the ME-ARC and ME-AGS-N new-old-stock on E-BAY very inexpensive. It was pretty much a plug-and-play upgrade other than having to learn where all the menus are and how to set things up. I doubt that you can find them cheaply anymore, but I do consider them to be a worthwhile upgrade if you want an easy to use AGS. Richard p.s. Be sure to check which battery bank your AGS is sensing. Mine was wired to sense the engine starting batteries (DUH). Sure had to change that.

As George commented above, I simply went to Home Depot and bought the Watts whole house pressure regulator with 3/4 inch pipe threads in and out. Of course I had to purchase adapters to go to hose connections and a gauge to set the pressure. At the time (years ago) the whole thing came to about $25. It has worked flawlessly for many years. If I had it to do today, I would probably just buy the one from Amazon that already has the gauge and hose fittings built in and is much, much cheaper. Richard p.s. I really, really hate those in-line pressure regulators that do nothing other than restrict the water flow (especially the plastic ones).

Escapees organization has a park in Bushnell with many RVers in the area. You might call them and see who they recommend. Richard

I "assume" your Sig has air brakes. With that consideration, I would definitely recommend one of the systems that is fired directly off of the coach air brake system. I have the Roadmaster Brakemaster system and it out performs anything else I have used. I have used the NSA Ready Brake and a couple of the electrically activated systems. Nothing has worked as well with true proportional braking than having an air cylinder directly pushing on the toads brake pedal. Richard

Tommy I have exactly the same problem, and I have done the same things you have to no avail. I will be monitoring this thread to see if anyone has a knowledgeable solution. It is very frustrating since the drip comes down at the front door when I am parked and level. Richard

That is what water drips look like after the water seeps down through a laminated wall and becomes stained from dissolved adhesives ( I think you understand how I know that). I would be looking up above for water intrusion issues. Richard

I have gone both ways in this situation. Fifteen years ago the CPAP machine I had did not have 12 volt DC power supply capabilities and there was no 120 volt AC inverter power in my RV bedroom. So I installed a power plug from the inverter into my bedroom. I was surprised at how much power drain there was leaving the 3000 watt inverter on all night. The CPAP uses very little power, but the inverter is a significant drain on the batteries just in idle mode. I boondock for weeks at a time and this was not acceptable. So, at the first opportunity, I purchased a CPAP machine that could be powered from a 12 volt power source. I installed a 12 volt DC power port on the nightstand by my bed. This works very well. I do not use a humidifier while boondocking as I expect it would have a significant impact on power usage. Good luck whichever way you decide to go. Richard

When I first installed the Samsung RF18 I plugged it into a Kill-A-Watt unit to determine what wattage it would require to run it. I determined it should run fine on a 500 watt power source, so I purchased a 600 watt PSW inverter. That worked fine for the first 4 years until the defrost heating element needed to be replaced. After replacing the defrost heating element, I found that it would trip the inverter when the defrost heating element came on. Evidently the replacement element consumed enough additional wattage to overpower the small inverter. I replaced the 600 watt inverter with a 1000 watt unit. No problems since. So, if you are looking to power a Samsung RF18 with a stand-alone inverter, I recommend a 1000 watt unit. Richard

All the CRV's I have converted to toads ('99, '06 and '13), had an open port in the taillight housings. The port is molded in but not drilled open (for use in European vehicles). It is an easy task to open up that port and put in another bulb totally separate from the vehicles wiring (I do not like cutting into the wiring harness to install diodes). (A cheap trailer wiring kit from Harbor Freight with LED bulbs and sockets completes the objective.) Also, I happen to have an old style NSA Readybrake inertia type brake unit in my garage that I no longer use. You may have it if you want to stop by and pick it up (I live in Tulsa). You would have to purchase a cable kit in order to install it on your vehicle (NSA RB-011, about $65 on Ebay). Drop me an E-mail if you are interested. Richard hex_nut@yahoo.com

I have a CAT C9 in my Beaver. It is a HEUI Motor and is really picky about clean finely filtered oil. Therefor, I use only CAT high efficiency filters. They are no more expensive than other good quality brands and are guaranteed to filter down to 2 microns. I use Shell Rotella T6 full synthetic. Yes, it is expensive, but not near as expensive as a new HEUI pump, or heaven forbid, a new motor. I do try to save a few bucks by doing my own oil changes. I also look for rebates on the Rotella T6, they do it about once a year. Annual testing at Blackstone labs after oil changes helps me keep on top of any wear issues. My Beaver is now 16 years old and has had no issues (knock on wood). Richard

REV (Recreation Equipment Vehicles) Group is the current owner of the Monaco name. See Revgroup.com

It really does not matter how the factory sealed it. What matters now is how you are going to seal it so there is no more water intrusion. Years ago I bought a motorhome that not only had cap seams front and back, but also had full length seams along the edges of the roof (terrible design). It had multiple layers of "stuff" that had been applied by the PO, all without any real success. The key to repairing those kinds of botched hatchet jobs is adequate removal and cleaning of the previous "stuff". I used a circular wire brush on an angle grinder to remove the Dicor sealant, silicone caulk and whatever else had been used (and, YES that is a messy job) . Various solvents were then used to remove any trace of caulk and adhesives. I applied 4" wide Eternabond tape to the cleaned surface pressed down with a small metal roller (Eternabond is pressure sensitive.) I then applied a very small bead of self-leveling Dicor to the edge of the Eternabond tape to insure that wind and weather at highway speeds did not cause the edge of the tape to peel up. That is as close to a "permanent" repair that I know of on RV roof seams. Good luck on your repair.

I have had a speed related vibration issue ever since I put on new tires (Toyo 295/80r22.5). I have a set of Centramatic balancers, so I did NOT have them spin balanced. Because of the vibration issue, I finally took it back to the dealer and had the tires spin balanced. One of the rear inner tires would have required over a pound of lead weights to bring it into balance (I replaced the tire). If I would have had the tires initially balanced, it would have saved me a lot of trouble and headache as I could have rejected that tire initially. There is no way the Centramatic balancers could compensate for that much off balance in a tire. So, lesson learned. The next time I replace tires, I will have them spin balanced if for no other reason than to verify that they are all within reasonable tolerances. Richard

I would also like to rotate my tires to alleviate a slight heal/toe wear pattern. However, to reverse this wear pattern it would require putting the drive tires in a position where they will rotate in the opposite direction from where they were first installed. I have always been told that radial tires should be rotated so they will turn in the same direction (front to back same side on a car). Does this logic carry over to the heavy duty truck tires on our motorhomes? Thanks for any insight you might have. Richard

Jim I also have a fairly new TST color monitor. I find the monitor impossible to read with daylight glare. The blue numbers on the black background do not provide enough contrast for me to differentiate the values. I have not found any way to change color combinations or increase the contrast. Have I just missed some adjustment somewhere. (I can no longer find the instruction booklet.) Thanks. Richard

Gerry I installed the Samsung 18cf Fridge with a 400ah AGM battery bank. We do a lot of dry camping and this combination works great for us. It takes approx. 3 hours of generator run time per day to recover what we draw from the batteries. It was taking approx. 2 hours a day of gen time before I installed the residential fridge, so the fridge costs me an extra hour a day. I recently upgraded my solar capability from 100 watts to 500 watts, but have not had an opportunity to find out how it will work out in boondocking applications. Richard

I also have the Roadmaster Brakemaster unit. I have been very happy with it. I bought the unit on ebay in like new condition very cheap. I bought the vehicle installation kits from Roadmaster. Also inexpensive. Installation was straight forward. I like having the air activated proportional braking on the toad. There are a couple units for sale on ebay currently. Richard Davis, "06 Beaver

When my scissor arm became loose many years ago, I employed the ball-peen hammer whack it approach. That worked fine for a couple years, but eventually the rivet wore to the point that it no longer worked (it was literally about to fall out). A quick trip to my local ACE hardware provided me with a new set of rivets. They were too long, but a few minutes on my bench grinder and they were the right length. They have been in service now for about four years. The new rivets I installed must be harder than the originals since they are not wearing as fast. So, a cheap solution is available, it just takea a little time to replace the rivets. Richard

Don True deep cycle batteries are built with thicker heavy duty lead plates in order to sustain the long term drain and many charge/discharge cycles. Starting batteries are built with a larger number of thinner lead plates in order to sustain the high amperage short term discharge required to start an engine. In our motorhomes, we want both types of batteries, starting batteries to start our big diesel motors and deep cycle batteries to power the accessories in our coaches. Most of the 12 volt AGM batteries available on the market (such as those at Costco) are starting batteries. Most of the 6 volt AGM batteries will be deep cycle batteries since it is uncommon in today's automotive world to require a 6 volt starting battery. (The last car I owned with a 6 volt starter was a 1956 VW Beetle.) Most all golf carts use banks of 6 volt or 8 volt deep cycle batteries which is why they have become popular as motorhome coach batteries. Take a look at the website of Vmaxtanks batteries. It will give an idea of the different type of batteries available. https://www.vmaxtanks.com/Campers-and-Rvs_c_37.html If I can figure out some way to make them fit in my battery box, I am going to order 4 of their XTR12-155 batteries. You might want to consider their XTR6-235, which is their deep cycle golf cart battery. When they refer to a battery as a "cranking" battery, that is a starting battery and not what you want. Hope this helps in giving you some food for thought. Richard

Don If you can find the 6 volt AGM deep cycle batteries at Sam's club, they will probably be cheaper than anywhere else. Beware of the multipurpose RV Marine starting batteries. They are not true deep cycle batteries. I have only found the 6 volt AGM deep cycle batteries at Sam's Clubs East of the Mississippi. I do not know why they do not stock them elsewhere. Costco has started carrying AGM batteries, but only the starting batteries. Richard

Don Since you have to replace batteries anyway, I would certainly recommend AGM batteries rather than dealing with all the problems associated with flooded batteries. I swapped mine out about 7 years ago. I actually had one of my old 6 volt flooded batteries spring a leak. It destroyed the entire battery box. After rebuilding the storage box and creating new cables. I had to decide which type of battery to replace with. I did not ever want a repeat of the leakage problem, so I went with AGM batteries. I have found from experience that they charge easier with less heat produced, they give up amperage easier, so in general they just work better and there are no corrosion problems. Seven years ago they were still pretty expensive, but they are much cheaper now. They have been maintenance free for seven years. Richard

Bob Yes! That is the kit I installed. The rubber stabilizers are a bit difficult to install. I had to warm them first and then spray them with a silicone lubricant to get them installed in the wheels as they are a tight fit. However, once installed, they have stayed in place and I have had no problems with them. The Borg kits are expensive, but they are good quality. Richard