Dwight Lindsey

If you're referring to the plastic pieces that support the carpet on the flat floor slide, I can tell you what we did. We replaced the carpet and vinyl tile on the floor in our Knight with Luxury Vinyl Plank. The slides are carpeted and we replaced the carpet on the slides. We just removed the two plastic support pieces for the carpet and let the carpet just overhang by itself. It works fine for us. I'm not sure what would happen if you did that when the main floor is carpeted . . . the issue I wonder about is that when the slide comes in, does the carpet on the slide move smoothly on the floor carpet. It works beautifully on our luxury vinyl plank. Dwight

You'll need your barrel key to open that panel and to unlatch the radiator to swing it out of the way. The first time I needed to do this I called the dealer and he said "use your barrel key" and I said "what barrel key?", because I did not get one with the coach.

I like the website you guys have designed and maintained. It's really a great effort. Thanks! Dwight

OK, I've got the install done, but as far as I can tell, the Penguin IIs are only operating at high fan speed. The CCII thermostat has settings for Auto, Low, Med and Hi, but setting low fan speed does not result in a change of fan speed. Does anyone have any advice about this?

I had it done by Fibernew: https://www.fibrenew.com/ I guess it's a franchise. One of their people, apparently the owner of his location, came out and did a very nice job on the vinyl. It was a long time ago, but as I recall it was not real expensive. Dwight

I ordered the ones with the white shrouds. I just finished putting the power connectors on. Once you've done it once it's easy the 2nd time . . . They are really very nice connectors. So my air conditioners are running now and cooling. Haven't tried the heat pump mode yet, but I don't anticipate a problem. Now I've got to get some aluminum duct tape and tape up the inside and put the ceiling back together . . . Dwight

I ordered two 651816HXX1C0-01 Dometic Penguin II W/ Heat Pump High Capacity Low Profile Rooftop Air I got them from rvpartscountry.com. I ordered them on November 28. The website said 5 - 6 weeks for delivery, but they shipped right away and I had them in hand a week later. They were likely quite recently manufactured. There were no instructions inside the box. I downloaded instructions from the Dometic website and the instructions I downloaded did not have any reference to the power connector. There was a small plastic bag in each unit that had a 6 connector molex with wires attached, to which I spliced the control wires coming from the coach. That was really easier than it looked at first. Dwight

Thanks Walter. The link to the connector was VERY helpful. 30 minutes of google yesterday did not come up with that. I ordered the connectors from Mouser. They will arrive on Wednesday Meanwhile I've got the control wiring hooked up and the furnaces are working, which of course is what I need right now, since it's real cold here now . . . well . . . cold for Southern California . . . I also ordered and received the CC2 Thermostat, which is a LOT nicer than the 5 button. I did read Chris Throgmartin's post about a new Penguin II working with the 5 button. So before I removed the 5 button I just tried it. Thermostat lit up but furnaces would not come on. I then put the CC2 on and the furnaces fired right up. For anyone interested, here's the link from Walter's post for the connector: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/molex/19045-1000/?qs=c7V%2bsbZfmqvqLYL%2bCrIKLw%3D%3D&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD I've attached a picture of the connector that comes with the Penguin II. The link above is for the mating part, which will go on the romex from the motorhome. For anyone changing out their air conditioners, it would be useful to order this part in advance. Dwight

Well my two Penguin II High Capacity Heat Pump air conditioners arrived last week. Today we got the old Duotherm units off the roof and the new Penguin IIs up on the roof. I could use a little advice from anyone who's done this before. Now I need to get them wired up. I have the CCII thermostat, which I purchased at the same time as the new units The connectors from the coach are different and there's no junction box with circuit board inside the coach where the intake air comes in, as there was in the Duotherm assembly. There's a circuit board in the unit on the roof, where the dip switches are, which I suppose takes the place of the one the Duotherm had in the air intake area. The Duotherm had a 4 wire molex. The Penguin IIs came with a 6 wire molex attached to the unit and mating molex connectors with wires attached, in small plastic bags. Tomorrow I'll cut off the 4 wire molex connectors and splice those 6 wire connectors on The coach has a romex which was connected to the Duotherm with wire nuts, inside the junction box. The Penguin II has a very cool 3 wire connector for the AC, but did not come with a connector for the other side. What to do? Should I try to get the mating connector? Or just cut the connector off and use wire nuts? I've googled for that AC connector and not come up with anything. If anyone knows what that connector is and how to get it, I could use a pointer. Now . . . what to do with the wires? There's no junction box. I don't want them loose and flapping around in the intake air side. There is a small cavity in the Penguin II where the wires were stored for transport. Stuff all the wires in there as much as I can and tape it all up? Suggestions welcome.

OK Howard: The air conditioners are down and in the garage at my office. email me directly for address and directions: lindseydwight at hotmail.com

We haven't started on the removal and re-install yet. Our business has been real busy this week. I may get to it over the weekend, but can't promise. There won't be any hurry to pick them up, we have lots of storage space here. Dwight L

OK Howard. Sold! Dwight

I had one of my 13,000 BTU Duotherm air conditioners quit. There are two of them on my coach and they are 16 years old. I decided to replace both of them with Penguin II 15,000 BTU units, which are due to arrive tomorrow. If all goes well I'll get the two old units down in the next week and replaced with the new Penguin IIs. So I'll have one working Duotherm and one currently not working but perhaps repairable Duotherm. They will be free for the taking, local pickup only. They are in Lancaster California. If someone could get some use out of them, or some parts, I'd prefer that to throwing them away. Dwight L

It's a rectangular box and it will be at the rear of the coach, where the AC power cord enters the coach. This is the box that switches between Generator and Shore Power

Darryl: The White Rodgers Solenoid you posted the picture of connects the house and chassis battery banks together when you press the "Batt Bost" switch at drivers location. In my 05 Knight (which I think is pretty similar to your Diplomat) it's on the side console to the left of the driver. That's not your issue. The most likely issue is the "Salesman's Switch solenoid", which in my coach (and probably in yours) is in the front run bay, roadside front. You're looking for a solenoid that is similar in appearance to the White Rodgers, but probably a little smaller. You don't need it. In my opinion and the opinion of many others, there's just no need for that salesman's switch or the solenoid it controls. What you want to do is locate that solenoid, probably in the fuse box in the run bay and bypass it. You can probably take both cables off, put a bolt through them and wrap with electrical tape, or in some other manner just bypass the solenoid. Dwight Darryl: You probably know this already, but I should mention that for safety, before you bypass the salesman's switch solenoid, turn off the battery disconnect switches in your battery bay. Dwight

Speedco is fine, but there is not one anywhere near Simi Valley, where Joel is. Dwight

Hi Joel: We're still towing your Jeep . . . it has treated us well. You might consider having the work done a bit at a time, with different vendors. Regarding welding: We had some body work done on the motorhome at World Class Paint and Body on 1st. While we were there I had them do a little welding. You could ask. A quick google shows 3 welders in Simi, I'd try Jerry at 649 E Easy St # E. (805) 581-6303 What is the electrical work and house repair? Maybe an Electrician for the electrical and a carpenter for the house repair? Regarding oil changes, I use Gibbs Quick-In Quick Out Quick Lube in Oxnard, probably a 30 minute drive for you. 805-988-8913. You will need an appointment. Ask beforehand about pricing. I had the engine oil changed and the chassis greased about 6 weeks ago and the bill was higher than what I paid a few years ago. I think it was $450. They did a good under chassis inspection and warned me about a few items I need to look at. If you head over to Oxnard, you might consider staying a night on the beach in Ventura. I highly recommend Faria Beach Park and Rincon Parkway. On Rincon Parkway sites 1 - 19 give you room to park a toad. Higher number sites would be difficult to park a toad, but we've always been able to ask someone with extra space to let us park. The beach parks are booked up 6 months in advance but if you go to venturaparks.org in the morning, as early as possible, browse into Camping and RV and then scroll down to "TONIGHTS Outlook!", you can see open sites and you can often book 1 or 2 nights in the morning. Good luck with the repairs! Dwight

They plugged right in to the exiting headlight assembly

Hi Dave: I bought Hikari LED bulbs. Plug and play on my Knight. They are very bright, comparable with Xenon. Here's the H9 version on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077BT6M6Z/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B077BT6M6Z&pd_rd_w=769Bn&pf_rd_p=f0355a48-7e73-489a-9590-564e12837b93&pd_rd_wg=NPnOu&pf_rd_r=VFWYYP3WB17YEWJZP4AA&pd_rd_r=4fb28be7-3b41-481b-8834-5fc812c40bf9&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFOTFJPOTlRUkI0QjYmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwMjA5OTgzMkpTN0RON0cyM0ZaJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA1NDA0NDQzSkZTU0dZMkhLUFBLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== Dwight

I've just purchased 4 new Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries for my Knight. I want to get a watering system but I don't know much about them. Any hints would be appreciated. A quick google gave me the Flow Rite Watering System and the Trojan Battery Golf Car HydroLink (which is more expensive) and apparently will take longer to get. I'd appreciate any recommendations on what to get and what to watch out for. Dwight

Stan: How long have you had the coach? Has the windshield cracked previously? I seem to recall that Monaco had some trouble with Camelot windshields and developed a "halo kit" that was installed in the front cap to stiffen the cap to prevent windshield cracking. If you google (I just did) "Monaco Camelot Halo Kit" you'll get some hits. There's a discussion on IRV2 and one contributor to the discussion suggested calling Source Engineering who are former Monaco guys and know about Monaco coaches. I have a two piece windshield in my 2005 Knight and had serious trouble with windshield cracking. After cracking 4 windshields I drove the coach from California to Coburg Oregon and had Monaco fix it. The tech told me that the front cap should be secured to the plywood dash with two brackets. There was only ever one in my coach and it was loose (thank you Monaco Indiana). He installed 2 more brackets and tightened all 3 while a colleague was pushing on the cap from the side to make it square. I think I had that fixed by Monaco 8 or 10 years ago and have had no trouble since. At least in my case, the front cap was the main cause of my windshields cracking. At 65 or 70 miles an hour road speed into a headwind there is a LOT of force on the cap. If your coach is one of the ones that needed a Halo Kit and you don't have it, you might want to consider stiffening the cap somehow. A call to Source Engineering to discuss would be a good place to start. Dwight L

Grey tank, mostly coming up through the shower. Get a rubber stopper for the shower. Dwight

Joel: I can't imagine that the GFI and Magnum display not working are related. The magnum display is on a low voltage circuit not connected to the GFI in any way that I can imagine. If the two things happened simultaneously, that is odd indeed and I don't know what to make of it. In your original post you said: "No Inverter 12v working in coach including fridge". I don't believe that the inverter supplies 12 volts. Do your ceiling lights work? If so, you've probably got 12 volts. Do you have an MSW inverter? If so, not every GFI is going to work on inverter. Don't ask me how I know . . . If you have an MSW inverter most any GFI will work while you're plugged into shore power. When you unplug and go on the inverter, some GFIs will trip. If I were you I'd pick up a GFI at Home Depot, Lowes or any hardware store and replace the defective one. I think you'll find it will work on shore power. If you have an MSW inverter, I'd then call Magnum and ask them for a list of GFIs that will work with MSW. Xantrex has a list that I posted in response to another message thread. I used the Xantrex list to eventually find a GFI that works on MSW. Based on my experience, I'm pretty sure that you need a new Magnum control panel. Dwight

If the inverter is supplying power to your 110 volt outlets and charging the batteries, then the Magnum remote panel is likely dead. Mine went wonky and unplugging and re-plugging the board made it better. A few months later it died completely and I replaced it. All is well now. Here's a link to my panel on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Magnum-ME-RC50-Remote-Control-Inverters/dp/B00LCCFZZ0/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3T2U2F13MOKV2&dchild=1&keywords=magnum+me-rc50+remote+panel&qid=1600023547&sprefix=Magnum+ME-RC%2Caps%2C243&sr=8-6

Lance: Bypassing the relay will probably solve some of your problems. It sounds as if a flaky relay has been part of your problem. The IOTA transfer switch is a known problem. Mine melted. Others have had them catch fire. What I bought, because of recommendations on this list, is an ESCO Transfer swich, the model number is LPT50BRD. I bought mine on Amazon. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HS0ONG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Even if your IOTA transfer switch is not now causing you trouble, in my humble opinion it should be replaced, before it catches fire. You could consider ordering one and having it on hand when your technician arrives. Your generator has a circuit breaker on it. You could try turning the generator off, then gently flipping the circuit breaker off and back on. Start generator and see if things are better. My Magnum inverter has circuit breakers. They are push button breakers. You may have a Xantrex inverter and I suppose the Xantrex also has circuit breakers. I suggest you look at the inverter and make sure the circuit breakers are not tripped. Good luck. Dwight