Harvey Babb

I suspect that you may have accidentally connected the lines to the wrong ports. See if swapping them doesn't fix things.

Years ago I added a 4 pin trailer connector to my Endeavor and to my toad and made a cable to hook them together. I then connected one pin of each to the respective battery's hot terminal through a 20 amp automatic reset automotive circuit breaker. No diodes or any other active devices needed, just the circuit breakers to guard against shorts and limit the current in the cable.

I'm not familiar with this unit, but the resistor is normally in the discharge of the blower so that the high speed air cools it.

I concur that the flame sensor is what's failing, but that still leaves a lot of ground to cover. My first suspect would be reduced blower flow due to low 12 volt DC causing an already marginal flame to fail to cover the flame sensor rod. A easy check is to remove and inspect the burner. I have seen the burner diffuser screen block with rust and have also seen screens rust through leaving holes that make the flame miss the sensor. Checking connectors in the blower motor circuit would also be a good idea.

These pumps are positive displacement diaphragm pumps with 3 working chambers and a swash plate driven by the motor. They also have the ability to store a (very small) amount of water under pressure internally and an internal pressure switch that switches the motor off when the output reaches around 40 psi. The fact that it keeps running indicates that either the pressure switch isn't working OR that there is a leak OR that the check valves in the pump are not functioning. Since you see no leak, that leaves the pressure switch or the check valves. The check valves (a total of 6: one inlet and one outlet for each of the 3 working chambers) can be easily checked by connecting to city water. If one or more pairs of valves are bad you should be able to hear water rushing through them, and going back into the fresh water tank. Notice I said "pairs" of check valves, since both the inlet and associated outlet of a working chamber would have to fail for water to flow backwards through the pump. I hope this helps!

Sequence of operation of the furnace is: 1. Thermostat sends 12 volt control signal to the furnace control board. 2. Furnace control board sends power to the blower relay which, after several seconds delay (*1), powers the blower motor. 3. Air flow from the blower operates the sail switch allowing 12 volt sense current to pass through the firebox overheat switch and on to the furnace control board that air is moving AND firebox is not overheated. 4. Furnace control board starts an internal "purge timer". 5. After uninterrupted purge time, furnace control board simultaneously powers the furnace gas valve (loud CLICK), starts igniter pulses (tick, tick, tick...) and starts an internal "ignition failed" timer. 6. Burner ignites (fairly loud "WHOOSH" and sound of gas burning) and the flame is detected by conducting a (very small) electric current to "ground". (*2). 7. If flame detection does not occur before "ignition failed" timer expires, power is cut to the gas valve (slightly less loud CLICK than in step 5) and program drops back to step 4 above. 8. Normal heating continues until a.) thermostat turns off control signal OR b.) Sail switch opens indicating loss of air flow OR c.) fire box overheat switch opens indicating overheat condition OR d.) flame detector indicates loss of flame. 9. Loss of control signal, sail switch, firebox overheat switch, or flame detect will cause the furnace control board to immediately shut off the gas valve. 10. If the shutdown was caused by loss of any of the safety switches (sail, overheat, flame loss) the blower will continue to run and the furnace control board will keep cycling through the startup steps. If the shutdown was caused by the control signal going off (thermostat stops asking for heat) then the blower will turn off after a delay of several seconds. (*1) The blower relay is a thermal relay that takes a significant amount of time to turn the blower "on" and "off". (*2) Flame detection is tricky and relies on sensing the small amount of current produced by ionized gas (the flame) shorting the flame rod to ground. To accomplish this, the flame rod has to be in constant contact with the flame rod. The control board produces a high voltage (several hundred volts) that is applied through the ignition coil. (The flame rod also serves as the "spark plug" for the ignition.) One thing I skipped in the above narrative is that the flame rod is sampled during the purge time to make sure that it's not shorted out. If current flows through the flame rod BEFORE the gas valve is turned on that constitutes a fault condition that will prevent the gas from being turned on. I have seen situations where the flame touches the rod for only a short period of time and then deflects away causing a shutdown. If this happens, the furnace will go through a long delayed heating cycle where it goes through the safety steps and lights, only to shutdown and go through the cycle again and again. I have also seen a burner rust out and the resulting flame miss the rod completely. You mentioned the dip switches in the forward A/C unit. These really have nothing to do with furnace operation. The furnace is controlled by a 12 volt control signal that goes directly from the thermostat to the furnace control board. The only effect mis-setting the dip switches would have would be in screwing up operation of the A/C or heat pump (if so equipped). I just noticed you said "no gas to furnace or cooktop". So that leaves the furnace out of the discussion altogether. Gas from the tank to the coach goes through a two stage regulator and a solenoid valve that's controlled by the propane detector/alarm and by the shutoff electric switch near the tank fill port. Look for a stuck regulator or stuck solenoid valve. I have had both of these items fail over the years. I also have had to replace the furnace solenoid because it wouldn't open if dry camping and the battery wasn't fully charged. (That one had me waking up freezing several times with the furnace dutifully recirculating cold air!)

I have several of them hooked to small electric heaters and heat lamps in various compartments for freeze protection. I can turn them on from home when freezing temperatures are forecast. Beats the heck out of driving 30 miles to where I store the RV!

I don't know for sure, but will hazard a guess that they are indeed too low for the inverter to charge. I'm not familiar with that coach, but my 2000 Endeavour has a switch on the dash that connects the chassis and house batteries together as long as it is held down. Hold that switch down and start your generator and let the generator charge the house batteries. You may have to hold the bypass switch down for a few minutes to let the generator bring the house batteries up enough for the generator to stay running but that's better than running around trying to find a battery charger. Keep checking the inverter to see if the charging error clears, after which you can probably kill the generator and let it take over the rest of the job. Good luck!

I had a blowout on a holiday weekend and the only replacement available was a Toyo. When making a sharp turn chunks of rubber came out of the tread, and it had an odor made me sick (was installed next to the entrance door). No idea if the Toyo brand had anything to do with it but it definitely turned me off to the brand and ever since I give all tires a "sniff test" before buying.

On my 2000 HR Endeavour the dump opens when I hit the button with key "on". Turning the key off while the button is held results in the dump STAYING open. It takes about a minute to fully dump, but only seconds to lock the dump open using this sequence.

Use a piece of wire as an antenna. Connect it to the center conductor and scan for channels. There are stations nearly everywhere

A cable tracer might be money well spent in that case. They cost somewhere in the 25 to $40 range and are available at most home supply and electrical supply dealers. They will allow you to trace wires behind non conductive walls as well as helpingt o verify individual wires once you find the end.

You say that you have replaced all the brake pads and shoes. Be aware that brand new pads, and especially shoes, do not produce full braking effort until they wear in. Shoe type brakes are largely self actuating and can show a profound difference in ability after a few stops from high speed. In addition, the wear in is directional. Wearing in with forward stops does not have as much effect on rearward stopping action so full wear in is slower to occur.

Hopefully someone who knows your coach will reply, but if you have to trace it out start at the compressor. The dryer will be the first device the compressor discharge connects to.

Norman, I was actually suggesting that fixing the fuel sensor problem MIGHT also fix the generator start problem.

A tip that may apply. some models the generator will not run if fuel is below 1/2 tank. My fuel gauge was intermittent and I finally found a broken ground wire on the sending unit.

I grew up on a farm driving darn near everything imaginable, including machinery 30 feet wide and towing 50 foot long trailers. I worked for Eagle International driving busses on roads and test tracks, sometimes monitoring instruments simultaneously. I consider doing a 180 degree slide on a skid pad in an Eagle bus loaded to capacity with bags of cement to be the high point of my driving experience! I can safely say my background isn't typical. Even with all of that I have made my share of screw ups in my own coach, including cutting a corner too close and ripping the sidewall out of a tire, and a number of dings and scrapes from misjudging my position or clearance. I would definitely recommend getting some help making the transition from a car to a coach. I don't think professional training is necessary, but a friendly experienced ride along while learning would be an immense advantage, as would moving up in stages instead of going from compact car to 40 foot coach.

Moonwink I think you nailed the "why it's there" question. I hadn't seen that used in mobile systems at all and very rarely in fixed systems, so had been scratching my head about it's purpose.

Yes, the O-ring in the cap is the likely problem here. The seal around the stem is a very simple one and only meant to prevent gross leakage while service is being performed. The "static" seal for long term is the cap. Older valves used a metal cap and worked just like hose fittings with metal to metal seal. The plastic cap with O-ring or gasket is the cheap way out. Hopefully the plastic cap isn't cracked... While removing the valve would remove any possibility of a leak that would mean losing all the refrigerant, pumping down and refilling. You probably won't be able to pump the system down without using the valve so that doesn't sound like a real option.

Showing that temperature may indicate a short in the sensor or wire. I'd disconnect the sensor and see what the temperature indication shows. If it drops to something like a reasonable temperature reading just leave it disconnected. If you want to connect the new one you can splice in additional wire without fear: the temperature sensors are normally just a thermistor and have no special requirements as far as wiring is concerned. Plain old telephone extension wire should work fine.

I have seen that type of construction on service valves. Some leakage around the stem is normal with them; the cap must be in place and tight in normal operation. I can't see the valve itself in the picture. Does it have a capped off connection on the side?

Any chance you can trace it back to the source? Everyone seems to agree it's a temperature sensor so any battery charging device is a prime suspect. Mini

Looks like the temperature sensor for the charger/inverter. They are usually attached to the battery to measure its temperature. The best charge voltage is dependent on temperature and this is the best way to get it right. Mine is a block with tapered ends that sticks to the battery with double sided foam tape. Anything to keep it in contact with the side of the battery case is OK.

I would check for (loose) high resistance connection on the neutral wire. It's also possible that the waveform of the inverter is causing a false indication. That's more likely with MSW inverter than with pure sine types.

Rest assured that you are the only one on this group who has ever done anything like that! NOT! If that is the worst mistake you ever make you will be doing extremely well my friend!