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I can't remember if it was on this forum or irv2, but I remember somebody mentioning they had a leak at the filler neck and somehow pulled the top off of the tube, then used hose and hose clamps to joint the two. Would that be practical to do without pulling the AH out?

Well, my saga continues... and I think I have the same problem as this... After a number of cycles, coolant accumulates in the surge tank and then there's no overflow when the unit heats up. Apparently it's leaking a little around the filler neck and pulling in air as it cools. Eventually the level stabilizes with about 1/2 gallon of air in the heater tank when cold. I can see a little seepage at the radiator neck as it heats up. Apparently coolant leaks out of the crack slower than the air is pulled back in, so some of the ejected coolant just stays in the overflow bottle each time the unit cools. Ivan, what did you do about your leak? Unfortunately I don't think I have any better access than you do... it's really hard to even get a good look at the neck. Looks like there's a vertical tube coming up from the tank, and filler neck is brazed to that? I don't think I'm willing to pull the AH out to fix this. Is there any harm in leaving the tank 1/2 gallon low? Apparently it burps out the air as it heats up and then is pretty much full when the unit is up to temperature. Thanks, Walter

Hi John, What does this mean? "1-Took my steering and ignition key. Can’t find a replacement ignition switch. Monaco said I need to replace the whole steering column". Sounds like you're saying the keys are missing, but later said you can start the rig??? Cheers, Walter

Right after we bought our 2003 we went to a big RV show in Houston. We were new to RVing. I was a little nervous and figured I’d leave there wishing I’d bought something else (ie newer). But I was pleasantly surprised to find it took a new $400k rig to make me jealous! Cheers Walter

Definitely. I wish I had a nice snow picture to post... We got some light snow new years eve, but not enough to cover he ground.

Hmmm... I don't know about you... but I'm free to choose whatever kind of phone I want. Except maybe that old 90's bag phone that doesn't work with modern digital networks... 😷 I could even choose no phone at all if I wanted. Imagine how tightly restricted are those Juitterbug Senior phones! Still, I think it's a good phone for my mom. She's not an android developer. Maybe I could learn to be an android developer and make my own custom phone OS! Nah... I think I'll keep using an off-the-shelf phone for time being. Even if Apple won't allow me to program it to drive my RV. I work for a software company, which gives me a heightened appreciation for the stability and sustainability that come with a tightly curated environment. It's not about The Man getting all up in your grille and killing the fun. (of course it also has a lot to do do with apple locking other vendors out and squeezing high-margin revenue out of their users, but that's another rant...) Just out of curiosity... what are you doing with your phone that isn't allowed on an iphone? Cheers, Walter

Yeah. Thank goodness we’ve made it through 2020 and all the COVID craziness hasn’t devolved into anarchy (yet...). I’ve got a stockpile of food just in case... Happy new year! Walter

Good point. I forgot about potential assassination threats. I'll need to make sure my security team has a contingency plan for that. 🤪 Maybe Tesla will push out a software update with a hidden 'Secret Service' mode!

Right?!?!!?!? What's up with that danged automatic traction control BS??? Every time I turn it off and try to slide into a ditch, it turns itself back on and prevents the car from spinning out of control and rolling onto the roof. Last year the wife squarely tagged a big fallen rock, instantly blew a tire and the dang German POS didn't even veer off and smash into the hillside, much less flip over, like God intended. Oh, how I long for the good ol' days... cars of the '70s and '80s when any sharp maneuver would cause the car to fishtail back and forth uncontrollably until the car finally spins, landing high-centered on a median. 😉 Ah, yes... that was truly a better era. And don't get me started about automatic braking systems... every time I try and give the car in front a little 'love tap' the electronic nannies step in and spoil my fun. 🤬

Now that you've placed the order... Here's a 3-wire rotary dimmer that might fit in your existing trim panel. Amazon.com: 12 Volt DC Dimmer for LED, Halogen, Incandescent - RV, Auto, Truck, Marine, and Strip Lighting - Short Shaft - Black: Automotive I looked at these back when I upgraded the lights and they were a lot more expensive... so I elected to experiment with the bulbs instead.

Here’s an article explaining the various types of 12v dimmer. http://www.rv-project.com/gear/dimmers2.php When I replaced the halogen lights, the dimmer circuits flickered horribly. And I couldn’t find a direct replacement for the 3-wire dimmer. Without easy access to the lamp wiring inside the panels, it wasn’t practical to change the configuration to suit a new dimmer. So I went through several LED bulbs before finding some that work acceptably with the old dimmer. I still get a little flicker at very low level, but otherwise works great. I also found that if I left one halogen in the circuit, so it might with to put a resistor in parallel with the load to smooth the output. Cheers Walter

Are the new ones LED? The replacement I bought couple years ago is not LED... Cheers, Walter

I just cycled my fan through lo/med/high a few times. The various speeds are not night&day different. I'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between lo and med. Going from med to high is a bit more noticeable. Then the step from high back down to low is pretty easy to hear. Cheers, Walter

Hey Granville... How is the Duo-Therm working out? I'm really wishing I had tried it out... Did I mention how much I hate the stupid CCC2 scheduling feature??? On my home thermostat, I have a temperature setpoints for heating, and a setpoints for cooling. And I can easily over-ride the scheduled temperature by just pushing a temp up/down button, knowing it will return to the scheduled setpoint at the next schedule time. When I put the home thermostat into heating mode, it runs the heating program. When I put the system in cooling mode, it runs the cooling program. Very intuitive. The stupid CCC2 scheduling feature has ONE program. To change from a heating program to a cooling program one must reprogram the schedule. The scheduled temperature setpoints CANNOT be temporarily over-ridden. In order to change the setpoint manually, you have to reprogram the schedule or take it out of schedule mode (and then remember to put it back in schedule mode later...). To put the system into schedule mode, you press the schedule button not once, not twice, but THREE times. 1st press, to shows/edit the first schedule period, 2nd press to show/edit the other schedule period, then the 3rd press actually enables the schedule. And to take the system out of schedule mode, you have to hold the schedule button for several seconds until "PROG1" stops flashing and goes away. I'm slowly getting used to this, but I think they could have made it a lot better and more intuitive. Cheers, Walter

Essex uses a generic keyless entry module in conjunction with their keypad module. Couple years ago when I replaced mine, they were supplying one by Avital, which was also available separately on Amazon. Replacing the entire wireless module is pretty simple . I detailed the install here https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/essex-1603-keypad-and-wireless-replacement-330319.html Cheers Walter

This document is from March 2019 and labeled as "Dometic CCC 2 LCD SZ 3314850.000 Electronic ADB Brisk Air Penguin HP" https://documents.dometic.com/?object_id=54637 I downloaded it thinking it was installation instructions for the CCC2 specifically, but it's a full AC unit install manual. See pp 12-14 for instructions on the power connector. I'm not sure if this is now standard, but it's in their installation manual. Cheers, Walter

Did you get printed instructions? I did not get any printed instructions with the unit, and thought the connector (if supplied) might have been in a bag with the instructions. I reached out to dometic to ask if I should have received printed instructions and the connector. They wouldn’t even answer the question... and told me to contact a distributor for support 😟

The 651816HXX1C0-01 that I ordered from adventurerv.net in August came with the self contained power connector attached. Installation of the SCPC onto the romex was covered in the current dometic installation document, but there was no mating connector supplied with the unit and there's no mention in there of what kind of plug you need.. I'm not sure if that's just the way they ship them now...

No. On the Molex plug part he’s talking about the 12v and furnace connections. But he's mainly asking about a mobile home power connector that comes preinstalled on the new AC power cable. The mobile home connector is classified as a junction box; used inside the wall to connect pre-wired mobile home wall sections. You could cut it off and splice in a regular junction box, or buy the mating plug. It’s not easy to figure out what’s needed... I spell out the exact part number in this thread: Cheers Walter

I’ve got similar panels. I think the size works really well for my roof layout. There’s a roof drawing on the solar panel mounting thread that shows how mine are laid out. If your dynasty roof is like mine, two of those panels tuck in real nice on the centerline between the kitchen vent and rear AC Cheers Walter

I ruled those out pretty quickly. Not sure I’ll tilt the panels often, but I want the option. Also seems like leaves and dirt would get trapped underneath. So far so good...After a year, my home made brackets are still adhered well.

Yeah. There must have been some kind of miscommunication. Maybe the tech was talking about the inverter's internal shunt, which only sees current in/out of the inverter. The Magnum BMK is really just like any other battery monitor w/shunt, except it uses the Magnum remote display as the battery monitor display (rather than a dedicated display unit). The BMK is measuring batt voltage at its +/- input terminals and it's measuring net current across the shunt in the battery negative cable. There's no way it could differentiate between inverter current and any other currents in/out of the battery. Depending on your configuration, it could be easier or harder to install a 3rd party battery monitor. The Magnum BMK requires a phone cable between the inverter and the BMK, twisted pair from the BMK to the shunt (<6ft) and +/- 12v to the BMK. I think most 3rd party bat monitors have a circuit board on the shunt and then run a data cable from there to the display. In my case, running a new data cable from the battery monitor to the console where I want the display head is very difficult, so sending battery monitor data over the existing inverter display cable was preferable. But if it were straightforward to run a new cable to my console, I think I'd rather have a 3d party bat monitor. The Simarine that rvwithtito has is pricey... but looks really nice IMO. Like Bob said, using Magnum's battery monitor will let you trigger AGS from calculated SOC, rather than voltage, but otherwise the magnum BMK is just like anybody else's bat monitor, except it appears as another menu option amongst the other Magnum display menus. All things being equal, I would prefer a dedicated display for the battery monitor and Bluetooth capability, and for those reasons, I would lean toward 3rd party if I were doing it again. I've also experienced a couple functional limitations with the Magnum BMK that I'm not happy about, but those are largely due to the unusual way I have it installed and might not affect 90% of installations. All that being said... for troubleshooting, I'd just get a DC clamp meter and that'll tell you what you need to know about current. For the purpose of determining battery health, you can just measure steady-state current and calculate amp-hours. Charge the batteries fully, turn off the charger and let the batteries rest with no loads and verify that your resting voltage is >12.7. Turn on a constant load and measure the current. See how long it takes to draw the voltage down from >12.7 to about <12v. Multiply Amps x Hrs and compare that result to the 800 AH or whatever those eight batteries should be capable of providing. DC clamp meters are great for troubleshooting, but they are expensive. Could also use a cheap $30 Drok battery monitor from amazon. Cheers, Walter

Thanks. That does sound similar. I can’t see staples involved with the side cabinets directly, but my center tv cabinet had been removed in the past and I can see where it was stapled into that piece. That’s more disassembly than I’m willing to take on at this point...I think I’ll try working around it...

I kind of wish I’d tried those rather than the CCC. Too late now I’ve cut the hole for ccc... The display is easy to read now... But it really irks me that dometic: a- makes a new version of the product that is twice the size of the old model (sucks if your thermostat is in a narrow spot) b- has such a limited and IMO virtually useless scheduling feature (one schedule, as opposed to one for heating and one for cooling) c- has a stupid automatic heat-cool function with only one temperature set point. (I don’t want to cool at 78 and then immediately switch on the heat if it gets cloudy and the temp drops to 76) d- requires a big honking hole to be cut for installation (there’s a big round protrusion coming out the back)

Ok... at 10 amps you should get about 80 hours out of the batteries? It doesn’t add up Let’s round up the current and say you have a 20 amp drain and do the math on that load. Your 8 GC batteries should have at least 800 amp-hours capacity. How many hours should you get out of them at a constant 20 amps??? A heck of a lot more than 4-5 hours... Either you’re overlooking a BIG electrical load or your batteries are bad. Either way, it’ll be hard to diagnose without directly measuring current at the battery. Cheers Walter