jreich888

Very nice and thanks for sharing the STL file. I don't have a need for this right now, but good to have models available if I need to tackle the same thing. I've created a duplicate window latch for the atwood lift windows for our RV (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2480496). One word of warning for the ABS prints, I've found unprotected ABS will get brittle with UV damage after time. You don't mention if you painted your mounts or not, but you may want to get some paint on them to protect them. I've also read ASA is similar to ABS but better UV properties, but I haven't tried that. Thanks Jason.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Will start calling some of these places this week. I've submitted an insurance claim and hoping they'll pay, but haven't heard anything from them yet. I expect that will be another delay in this repair started.

Agreed, but I didn't have eternabond on hand, and the ability to get it from a big box store right away is nice. I was expecting to use duct tape, and order eternabond to replace the duct tape for the patch. With this stuff I think it will be fine for the few weeks until we can get a real repair started (hopefully in a few weeks!). But definitely going to keep an eye on it.

While driving in AZ our 2003 Windsor had an encounter with a large panel that blew off a passing semi. This 10' long panel blew up and came down on our roof. It hit a solar panel (smashed the glass), dented a roof vent cover, and then hit fiberglass and ripped a 24" long gash. Overall, surprisingly little damage, and I think the solar panel and vent cover saved us a bit. Inside it pushed the roof down at the front of the bedroom, which broke a couple light fixtures and knocked some wood trim off around the sliding door track. But I'm worried that it may have bent a roof strut as there is a bit of a bow in the ceiling now. The good news is that there wasn't any more damage than that, and I've already patched it with a piece of 28ga galv steel from Home Depot and some waterproof gorilla tape (which seems to be basically eternabond with a thinner backing and a lot cheaper!). We've started a claim with our insurance (and have some dashcam footage to help), and we're back travelling again and I think the patch will even work for the Pacific Northwest weather we're heading towards. But now I'm looking for any shops on the west coast that you'd recommend for this kind of work. Fiberglass is one thing, but I'm hoping for someone experienced with the roof structure of that era's Monaco coaches. Has anyone had a good or bad experience with this type of repairs? What about any of the ex-Monaco shops around Eugene? thanks in advance for any help you can provide, Jason.

My 2003 Windsor has a few of the plastic 3 mini-fuse holders in the RRB and FRB, plus in the engine compartment. Well there is one near the alternator (5V duvac fuses?) that decided to take a break and lean against the exhaust manifold. Luckily the base is still OK and fuse closest to the melt was unpopulated. Besides looking a little faded, the two fuses in use look ok (but will replace). So I'm looking for a replacement for the cover (or a whole new unit). Looked in the parts list, and not having any luck on amazon or google. Does anyone have a source for these? Thanks, and hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas. Jason.

Yes, happened on our 03 Windsor (driver's side in front of the rear wheel). Had it fixed at Colton Truck Terminal east of Los Angeles; they welded on a plate with a new stud, and had a tough time getting good access but they got it done. So far so good.

03 Windsor PST for us. We took out the sofa and built a cabinet to fit in its place, for storage, electronics, and with a TV lift sized for 40" TV. Picture below pre-doors and drawer faces. Fit the ducting and vent into the design; just had the single furnace exhaust in it (bottom left of the cabinet). And yes, had a jack-knife sofa in that space before. Hope that helps, good luck with your remodel!

Just to add more info, the manual for our 2003 Windsor with ISL370 specs Fleetguard FS1242 (20 micron with a bowl part 3831871S) as primary and FS1022 (10 micron) as secondary. I've always guessed that the filters are more specific to the chassis (also RR8S) rather than the engine, as the 03 Windsor could have an ISC350 or ISL370, but never been able to verify that.

Looks like it's just a bad camera. Once I pulled the backup camera and plugged it directly into the monitor (special Sony 6-pin connector) there is sound but no video. I was thrown off by the fact that I could not get the triptek to work reliably, as it needs a good video signal input to add it's overlay. I assumed it could produce a video in any case, but that guess sent me off in multiple dead ends. So it looks like a drop-in replacement color camera with the same connector (6pin mini-din) from rvcams.com costs $325, seems pretty crazy. Anyone found other options?

Hi, the backup camera and Triptek 2500 information display on our 03 Windsor has become flakey and/or failed. The monitor itself seems fine (can display other composite video source on the screen, but the cannot get the camera / info display to work reliably (neither on the dash monitor nor on separate monitor). Every once in a while the monitor and the info display will work, but rarely for more than a minute. I've looks for wiring breaks, bad connectors, tightened up ground connections, opened the triptek and looked for burns, but nothing obvious. Has anyone debugged the Triptek units, or had a similar problem? Any other advice here?

I know a couple of RVers who have starlink and are testing it in their RV. Starlink now lets you change you "service address" on their website, which has let them move around pretty easily (though some areas have no service, or are at capacity for the beta, in which case you're out of luck). The big downside is the power draw, almost 2.5 kWh 24 hours of use (approx 200Ah@12V), so if you plan to use it while boondocking make sure you've got a big battery banks and/or lots of solar. As for me, I'm considering it soon.

I've taken the covers off a couple of mine, and used two different brands of rivets to reinstall. For removing, some I've been able to remove with a small pick, but most were just drilled out. I'm sure yours have push rivets as well, I've never seen any without them, but who knows. But the rivets are also good to keep on hand, as they do not last (at least for me, full time, lots of time in CA and AZ). I have started giving them a bit more attention with 303 Aerospace to help with the UV protection, but I still see them popping off after a couple years. I think the original parts had better UV protection to help them last a dozen years or more. Last time I got replacement rivets I went with these from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01913JEKS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They fit well except they are a bit long, so had to snip the tails off before inserting. Also note that those are still just push rivets; the screw face is just for appearance. I've also ordered the ones from McMaster and Carr, also fine, but are more expensive with the shipping costs and slower to arrive. At one point I did try contacting Product Components (from the parts list) about their true UV resistant plastic, but the min order for that run was 1000 rivets (for $145) with a 6-8 week lead time. If I got the 1000 I hoped I could resell some of the excess, but the lead time killed it for me. By the way, if you want to remove the whole lock, I found many of the holes were enlarged (just self drilling screws in thin fiberglass). When I went to reinstall I replaced some of the holes with rivnuts and bolts, using these from McMaster and Carr: '97217A376 Zinc/Yellow Plated Steel Rivet Nut for Plastics, 10-32 Internal Thread, 0.175"-0.320" Material Thickness, Packs of 10' That way there is a real thread and mount point for new SS mounting bolts to hold on to. A few years ago I actually had one lock that was loose, got caught on the wiper when bringing the slide in, and twisted and bent (fortunately I stopped in time and didn't damage it too much). I was able to disassemble, flatten, and repair the lock, and that led me to the rivnuts approach. Hope that helps! Jason.

Well I started to dig into the cabinet, and it was easier than I thought. There was a cut panel on the end, right at the height of the shower valve. And not even stapled in, just held by two screws for the shelf brackets, basically fell out when removed the screws. So that offers close (but blind) access to the valve and connections. Now I need to decide if we'll just repair the fitting, or do a full replacement of the shower control with an upgraded thermostatic faucet. thanks for the input Jason.

We've got a slow leak at the PEX hot water connection to the shower faucet. So the good news is I've found the problem, and if I climb under the kitchen sink I can see the fittings, verify the leak, see all the hard water deposits, etc. The question is: how to actually get the plumbing? To get to them from the kitchen slide I'd need longer arms, preferably with a couple extra elbows added. Has anyone dealt with this? I've got a 2003 Windsor with the 40PST layout (floorplan below) so there is some access to behind the shower from the kitchen side (see photo below), but nothing easy to reach or anything. The three options I see are: Go under the sink, find a way to reach up and get the plumbing disconnected, replace fitting, etc. Perhaps disassemble the pantry cabinet in the wall and get access that way. Anyone done that? Remove the entire shower (and probably the vanity beside the shower). Huge ugly job. Any advice from anyone?

The cost of the Grape solar panels had me confused; when you said they were a better deal ordering to the store I thought there was some further discount. Right now they show on the HD website as deliver to home and to store as the same price, and the overall price is higher (for the 190w panel) than comparable panels elsewhere. The 200w expansion panel does look a bit better, though. When I bought my Hightec panels from Continuous Resources 2.5 years ago, they shipped 4x175w panels for $25 (and they arrived in perfect condition). Now their website says 4 panels will ship with UPS ground or Fedex ground for free. I think I'll stick with Continuous Resources for my next order (which now looks to be pretty soon, though they have a 1-2 week lead time on new panels), but I am now considering the GS-200-EXP option. Thanks for the info.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but can you share more about the cost and deal you've got? I look online and they're similar prices, and don't actually list a 200W panel (and the pickup price is about the same). Is this a deal from one of the in-store solar guys?

Jim, I think other people have stated it as well, but just to reiterate that the MPTT controllers will take the 48v/20A going into the controller will still convert to 12V/40A going to the batteries (technically 13.6v and whatever amps, but you get the gist). Look at controllers that can be extended in parallel. I've got one of the BlueSky 3024i controllers (also purchased from Continuous Resources), and plan to add a second controller with new panels. They can be networked together so they can manage and report together. That also gives you the option to mix and match panels in your overall system (my first install has 180w panels to the first controller, the next one will have 200w panels). If you go with one big controller (60A or larger) you may run into challenges trying to figure out how to best combine mismatched panels. Many ways to solve this problem, just adding another option, hope this helps, Jason.

Ivan, from what I can tell, I'm thinking that the "+25%" are the panels with the transparent background (which gives you more electricity if there is scattered light from lighter colored surfaces). It doesn't seem like they are panels have specifically tested higher. But I haven't phoned to confirm this, just looking try to figure what the +25% means. BTW: my panels are 180w with white background, from a couple years ago. Continuous Resources also sells the +25% models, but they are sold out (and don't mention the price). https://www.continuousresources.com/collections/solar-panels-and-hardware/products/200w-25-36-cell-12v-nominal-solar-panel-5-busbar Ivan, do you know any more specifics on what the +25% means? thanks, Jason.

I've bought Hightech panels from Continuous Resources in Utah, and they are cheaper than this ebay "direct" ($185 for a 200W panel). And CR had good support; one of the pieces I bought (a controller display) from them was broken, they got a replacement to me very quickly. https://www.continuousresources.com/collections/solar-panels-and-hardware/products/200w-36-cell-12v-nominal-solar-panel-5-busbar

The alternator can charge the lithium batteries fine, in fact it is probably too capable. When the alternator is charging the house lithium batteries, the big risk is that the alternator can overheat. The lithium batteries can charge much faster than lead acid (lower internal resistance), so with a traditional relay (i.e. BIRD, Big Boy) the alternator will provide all the power it can, which leads to overheating, reduced life, and eventual failure. That's why Battleborn recommends the Precision Circuits LI-BIM. When charging via the alternator the LI-BIM cycles 15 minutes on, 20 minutes off to allow the alternator to cool. Regarding maintaining battery charge (some of this topics posts' focus), note that the product description from Precision Circuits states: "The Li-BIM does not guarantee 100% battery charge, but prevents harmful battery charge levels." The LI-BIM is not a battery maintainer for the chassis batteries, but does helps bulk charging at times. Its focus is on protecting your batteries and your alternator. If you don't have another solution for your chassis batteries, you may want to add a trickle charger or a small solar panel for the charge maintenance. References: http://www.precisioncircuitsinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/00-10041-2xx-Battery-Isolation-Manager-Rev7-1.pdf https://battlebornbatteries.com/product/lifepo4-battery-isolation-manager/

Dennis, the construction may vary by year, as my 03 Windsor cabinet didn't have any glue. I removed the center head-knocker cabinet and cut down the cabinet myself (after moving the TV to a lift on the passenger side slide). The center cabinet was screwed to the roof structure and the side cabinets, but I was able to remove it (though it was tight to get out and to reinstall). Then once it was removed, it was all pocket screws so could disassemble the whole thing and cut it down to size myself. Now it's just more storage.

The hybrid function is good when plugged into lower amperage services and you need a higher load. I don't see it for monster loads like helping A/C start; I see it to help boost your power when plugged into a 15A garage circuit in some family member's driveway and you happen to run the coffee pot and the hair dryer at the same time (we've done that!). As long as you've got the input limit set, the hybrid will support power above that. And yes, it will be coming out of the battery bank, but as soon as the microwave or hair dryer goes off, the inverter will put that power back into the batteries (so agree, no overall electricity saving). However, as Rick/Waterskier_1 said, the hybrid model only supports a single line in and out on the AC side. Our 03 Windsor already used dual in/dual out, with a full subpanel on the inverter load side. I didn't want to mess with that, so when I replaced mine a couple years ago, I skipped the hybrid and went with the Magnum MS2012 (2000W inverter with dual in/dual out support). I resisted going to a 2800 or 3000W model because the existing wire size and distance was the limit for 2000W (or even a tad undersized). Now looking back on it, I wish I made the jump and switched the inverter and batteries to 24V (to reduce the current loads overall), but that's a much larger project.

I ended up using metal pipe strapping, and shaped and bent it around the end of the shade. Spray painted it black and screwed into the header with better quality pan head screws. It's held up for 4 years so far. Jason.

Joel, try going to the app settings for Allstays and clear the storage and cache. Mine would crash on startup like you're describing, and this got it going again for me (but of course, still the 2017 data).

Thanks, I think I'll give them a try, a bit cheaper than the parts list ones. Are they holding up to UV and sun damage?