RNMCBR

Thanks John, Fortunately I only have the rear cap to do and the only area with spiderweb cracks is the black swoosh. I know it might crack again after painting but it’s impossible to get a good finish without sealing the area well enough to cover over the cracks. Otherwise the cracks get amplified. I’ve painted before so am familiar with the application of 2 stage finish. I bought Diamont paint at Space Age in Pheonix and previously repaired blistered clear on the tops of both caps. I glassed over the seams and repainted down to the windshield and the camera in the back. I also previously repainted half of my 99 Winnebago including duplicating the decals. But manually masking the rear graphics on the Monaco looms as a little more difficult. I do have a nice gun and a 175psi 2-stage 80gal compressor with a fairly good filter/regulator setup. But will probably paint it outside under my rv cover. That’s what I did before and it went ok. The weather here in Sacramento can be ok for outside painting. But I am in no way an expert and I sincerely appreciate all your hints and insights. I know I will need to sand down as deep as possible to get as much of the cracking out as possible. Space Age recommended I then try squeegeeing some resin into the remaining cracks followed by epoxy primer. I doubt this will totally solve the problem but hope it will at least let me get a smooth topcoat. thanks for all the detailed information. I’m also intrigued by your camera setup. I may do something like that as well. Have fun with your boys. I’ve done a bunch of remodeling, car maintenance, furniture building, etc. with both my son and daughter and it is very rewarding to work with my kids. Regards, Roy

John, Really impressive work. I appreciate your comments about boomers passing skills on to kids. I did that with mine too and now they can outdo me. Regarding your paint job, it looks like you may have used a mask. If so, how/where did you get that laid out and cut? I have the dreaded spider cracking on my rear cap and will need to grind it down below the graphics to fix it. I would like to restore the graphics to near original. A custom mask would make that much easier. Thanks in advance for any info/ hints/suggestions. Roy

I’ve been using it for two years now. I have it running on a MS Surface Pro which is way overkill for the app. I have been pretty happy with it and all the customization features. I have had a little trouble with nuisance disconnects though. During this year’s return from Quartzsite, I could not get it to connect because “another app is using bluetooth”. I haven’t had time to troubleshoot this yet but suspect it may be related to installation of a Victron Smart Shunt which uses bluetooth with my iphone. Why this would affect Bluefire on my Surface is unclear, but it does seem coincidental.

We plan to be there along with a few others we have heard from. Hopefully it won’t get cancelled. The Monaco group has a standard location at LaPosa South. Drifter usually posts a thread on IRV2 in the Monaco section. We hope to see you there. Roy

I got mine off Amazon. I found the cracks right before leaving for Quartzsite so I needed it in a hurry.

I had a similar problem. Not until I pulled the inner dome out did I see the cracks in the outer dome from the inside looking out. I could not see them from the outside. That was my leak.

Dollar stores in our area stopped carrying the gallons. Not sure why.

I use LA Simply Awesome that I get at Dollar store. I put it in a pump sprayer and spray the engine, drive shaft, etc. Let it sit a few minutes and rinse with water. It is the best grease cutter I have seen. Better than gunk, simple green or any of the other degreasing detergents I have tried. And it’s cheap. Thanks to Harry M (AzHappycarz). It is also good as a laundry degreaser and will remove grease stains from your clothes.

I use a putty knife heated with a propane torch. I have stripped a bunch of dichor, eternabond and tar tape with this method. Of course, some may prefer a heat gun over an open flame but I haven’t had any problems. I was shown this technique by a seasoned rv service tech. It’s fast and will get you down to a surface clean enough for new dichor or eternabond tape. You don’t have to clean dichor or eternabond residue completely off. The old tar tape surface will need to be cleaned with solvent to remove tar residue which will smear. I’ve used acetone and lacquer thinner for this. Just be sure to not overheat the putty knife or you will destroy its heat treatment and it will bend easily. Also be careful about digging into the fiberglass roof or cap material. As with many things, technique is important. Use nitrile gloves and have plenty of paper towels. I discard the old sealant/ tape into a 5 gal bucket to keep my work area clean.

It’s pretty easy to wire in a led light into the existing handle. You can drill a hole just under the handle bracket and wire it into the step and porch light. The connector is in the console on the other side of the wall. I also found wired led on Amazon that clipped into the handle. Very inexpensive.

You might have water entering the wall along the upper beltline due to rusted/ broken fasteners. I had a similar problem in my coach.

Rick, On my 07 Diplomat it was my solar panels causing the alt fail chime. The 6v relay is located on the aft wall of the left front bay to the right of the front run panel. I think you will find the fuse in the panel. My chime is behind the dash in front of the driver. Roy

That sounds pretty extreme. Maybe something got jammed into the wiper or wrapped around the rod. With the seals and wear rings there shouldn’t be any metal to metal contact in normal operation, unless the rod is bent.

Scotty, That’s unfortunate. I think when I checked, these jacks were in the $700-1,000 range. The rod (I think that’s what you mean) is not a complicated part. Someone with access to a lathe, welder and a piece of hydraulic rod could make a new one. Although if you had to pay his wages, it may not be cost effective. I for one would be interested in hearing how it got scored. Perhaps foreign material got under the wiper? The duty cycle on these cylinders is so low, it’s hard to believe it wore out. Good luck with your repair. Regards, Roy

You can rebuild these jacks fairly easily if you are inclined to do so. If the rod is not scored all you will need to do is replace the seals and maybe the wear ring. You can disassemble the jack by unscrewing the bottom with a chain wrench after heating it with a propane torch to release the loctite. Check out the Power Gear web site for instructions and part numbers for parts kits. Their instructions are good. Alternatively, you can disassemble your jack and take the seals to a hydraulic parts shop. They can match them up. Also, if you are on IRV2, I posted a white paper I wrote a couple years ago when I rebuilt one of my rear jacks after the piston partly unscrewed from the rod. Search under RMCB.