Jim McGarvie

The original Dometic thermostat in our 2002 Knight (built in 2001) died a couple of years ago, so I decided to replace it with a programmable residential thermostat so I wouldn't have to get up in a cold motorhome in the morning. According to articles on the Internet, some folks have had success. I used a Honeywell RTH7600D, and it worked fine for both the AC and the furnace for quite a while, but ultimately I experienced issues with the control of the AC or the furnace. I eventually went through three of these, and I am ready to give up. I guess I will have to go back to the original, old fashioned unprogrammable Dometic.

What do you do? Do you manually turn down the thermostat when you go to bed and then get up in the cold morning and turn it back up? Do you leave it warm all night, wasting battery power (I'm talking boondocking here) and propane? Or have you found a programmable thermostat that works? Our front Dometic AC is so old it would be very expensive to modify it to accept a modern, programmable Dometic thermostat.

Thanks in advance.

1 hour ago, RVSSNAKE said:

Sorry, the original question was if anyone used the Blue Fire.

The image is of my gauge layout.

Got it, thanks.  Nice layout. 

1 hour ago, RVSSNAKE said:

We use one and have for about three years.

I like it better then the analog gages on the beast now.

Use one what? Previous messages have discussed both the Silverleaf and the Blue Fire. I am unfamiliar with both so can't recognize it from your image. With all due respect, it would be helpful if you quoted part of the message to which you are replying or were more specific in your message.

Thanks.

I used to be able to handle 12-hour days. But then again, I used to be 50 years old, and my wife would spell me occasionally in our previous motorhome.

Now I am 78 and she doesn't drive our Knight, so I try to keep it to six to seven hours, up to eight if "necessary."

5 hours ago, Robert92867 said:

Jim, any followup on that leak?  How many miles on your ISB?

Sorry, I should have reported. After my last post we made that 2400-mile trip and the leak didn't appear to worsen. I took the coach to the shop and they replaced the water pump, tensioner pulley and serpentine belt (without removing the radiator). At the time we had about 104k miles on her.

30 minutes ago, powersltc said:

Ron P.  2004 Monaco Executive 

Simple solution,  but if you don't know,  you don't know. 

 

The negative connections were not connected.   Why the shop separated them,  I don't know. 

 

Thanks. 

 

Thanks for letting us know, Ron. Since it just came out of the shop for dewinterization I suspected it was something they did. I'm not a big believer in coincidences....

16 minutes ago, powersltc said:

All good.   Got it working. 

All good.   Got it working.

So, what was it? It helps all of us to learn the resolution of issues.

Thanks.

Since this happened immediately after dewinterizing, I would suspect whatever procedure is prescribed for your coach was not followed completely.

Hi Rick, so is Nevada Rob's solution when plugging into an external portable generator the recommended solution? One of our sons asked me about that the other day when he discovered he had an open ground when plugged into his generator. He said that he was using a "generic meter so it may have been an open neutral."

3 hours ago, LarryB said:

Howdy Rick, we have been wanting to get to Q for a long time now. Couple of questions, please. 
We r quiet n respectful Az. Licensed SXS riders.

1. Can we ride into Quartzite for supplies n fuel?

2. R there any BLM trail maps of the surrounding areas available for r Rzrs? 
Thx for ur help. 

As Rick said, Ron and I both have street-legal RZRs, but my first time in QZ I was still living in Calif. and still had no problem going into town even though it was unlicensed.

I've never been able to find a paper BLM map of the area, but there is an excellent trail map of the area for Avenza. And Rick is right, I use an iPad.

Thanks, Rick, see you there.

9 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

Not sure, I'm Windows

I have to hit the CTRL   &  5 keys at the same time to clear up the picture,

What program are you viewing it with? And do you know what it calls that shortcut? Something in the View menu or something?

4 hours ago, jacwjames said:

 ...hit CTRL5 if it is blurry

I give up, what is "CTRL5" in Mac lingo? It is not legible as is.

Thanks.

43 minutes ago, weighman695 said:

I am sitting here in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the last three weeks.  Before coming here to Tulsa, we were in Montrose, Colorado.  We used Highway 50 coming down from Montrose descending between 6% to 9%.

 

While sitting here in Tulsa, I am starting the engine for 20 minutes every week.  Today, I started the engine and I noticed that the ABS indicator light is turned on.  I did not see this indicator light before.  We just had rain for the last 3 days here in Tulsa.

 

What do you typically do, aside from calling a mechanic, to fix this issue.  I am new in RVing and this is the first motorhome I owned and driven.  If I have to call a mechanic to fix this, do you know somebody or a company here in Tulsa that I can call for help?

 

I will appreciate your help on this.

 

Thanks.....

We’ve had our ABS light come on occasionally, usually after descending a steep grade, and my procedure is to ignore it. It has always gone out eventually, and even were it a legitimate failure I seriously doubt I could lock a wheel unless the road was very slippery. 

2 minutes ago, BobSchmeck said:

Looking for recommendations for a shop that can do painting and or flooring? In Arizona.  

 

 

Where in Arizona? We had our flooring done at On the Road Again RV in Payson. We are very happy with it.

1 minute ago, gdroberson said:

when you put in the new one use ss screws

Absolutely! They are on my shopping list.

UPDATE:

The Dremel and impact wrench worked, and I removed the screws. I was able to read a part number on the flange, in very small print (for these eyes, anyway), and googled it. Turns out that sure 'nuff, it is a screw-in flange. Armed with that encouragement I used a spanner wrench (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FDL3BS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and with some considerable effort (I think they used glue for pipe dope) I was able to remove the flange. I have ordered the replacement and a new seal, and cautiously optimistic that the remainder of the project will be fairly straightforward.

Thanks to all who helped.

1 hour ago, bobdinsmore said:

Adding to Gary Roberson's suggestion: Use an Impact Driver , starting at low torques, to start moving the screws without snapping them off. Be patient and go in both backward and forward directions. Gradually increase torque so you don't ruin screw slots. Push down very hard as you go.

If you don't own the Dremel or the Driver, Harbor Freight has inexpensive ones that will do the job. A good investment even if you will never use these again.

 

 

Thanks Gary and Bob, I will try the Dremel and impact driver tricks.

35 minutes ago, gdroberson said:

most of the time they are screwed on

Thanks, Gary. That would help, but I would still need to be able to remove those eight screws in order to unscrew the flange from the pipe.

I guess all those bumpy roads over 20 years finally caused the weight of our toilet to break the floor flange where the closet bolts go through. I am inclined to use a repair ring, if I can find one, rather than replace it for two reasons: I have not yet been able to remove any of the 8 screws fastening the flange to the floor, and I'm afraid the flange might be cemented into the pipe leading to the holding tank.

I think something like this might be perfect, but I need slots for four closet bolts rather than just two, and so far I have been unable to find one:

https://www.amazon.com/Oatey-42778-Grommets-4-Inch-Stainless/dp/B003FX6ED6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=stainless+toilet+flange+ring&qid=1595854362&sr=8-3

Our toilet is a Dometic Sealand 511H.

Thank you for any suggestions!

Jim

What model Knight? I would love to hear it would be that easy on my 30PBD!

30 minutes ago, IlliniCathy said:

Friday we accidentally poked a hole in the radiator on our 2002 Knight.  We have a trip planned and finding a new radiator is problematic.  We were able to remove the radiator out the back and a family member who owns a welding shop was able to weld the very small hole shut.  We were able to reinstall everything thru the back without even going inside the motor home.  Just did a 20 mile test run.  No leaking!!!

Great job! I would not want to tackle that.

I have the EEZ TPMS and like it just fine. My only disappointment is because they are external, they essentially report outside air temperature, not tire temperature. I thought tire temperature would be a useful early warning sign, but....

Just mention it since the OP is considering external sensors.

33 minutes ago, Dr4Film said:

Jim,

You are correct, after looking at the brochure in detail it was an option to have the second smaller AC in the rear on it's own thermostat.

I would take you own advice and start digging into the rooftop AC components to see which one has failed that is causing your problem. Hopefully you may be lucky and find parts for such an old unit or you will have to upgrade to a new AC.

Good luck!

Thanks Richard. I will keep my fingers crossed. I was able to find all the replaceable parts to rebuild our equally-old Atwood furnace, so maybe I'll get lucky. If not, it probably wouldn't hurt (except the pocketbook) to replace the 20-year-old AC.

11 minutes ago, Dr4Film said:

Jim,

My 2002 Monaco delivered in 2001 came with two Dometic Peguin Low Profile AC's with a 5 Button Thermostat. The coach was wired with 4 wire DATA cables and RJ-11 plugs, adapters and receptacles.

According to the 2002 Monaco Knight Brochure your 30 PBD came with only one 13.5 BTU AC. So do you only have one AC and one thermostat?

Without actually seeing a photo of the AC there is no telling what type of AC your coach has and how it is all wired together. Based on the what is shown above on the baseplate of your thermostat, if in fact your AC is a Dometic then the factory did some custom wiring job to make it work.

https://www.monacocoach.com/resources/media/user/1469212215_brc_pdf.pdf

This is getting curiouser and curiouser. Our Knight came with two Duo-Therm ACs: a 13.5 in the front and a 600312.32 (11.0 BTU maybe?) in the back. That may have been an option. Each has its own thermostat, and the front thermostat also controls the furnace.

While this discussion is interesting, in my uneducated opinion it is moot. I am pretty sure that, while it is possible the Honeywell might have an issue, my choice of that thermostat is not the problem since it worked fine for so long. All indications seem to point toward a stuck relay or a faulty control board in the AC.