Dennis-C

I removed the Bendix washer/dryer in our '98 Patriot and did the shelving thing in that cabinet. To get the unit through the little hallway, I had to remove the doors from the Norcold 1200 reefer. It could have been forced but I didn't want to risk scratching the walnut woodwork. It was a bitch for 2 of us to lift up and over the passenger seat to get it out through the door and down the steps! Dennis

Just ran into this problem this weekend. Crawled under the rig to see if any mechanical binding. Nope. Did the wiring checks with the VOM suggested in the troubleshooting docs. Nope. Had a flashlight in my hand with a magnetic base. Touched the base to the switch in the door jamb and VOILA, the steps worked! The part in the door itself still had magnetic properties, so I left that alone. I think the 2 parts were no longer making good contact to operate the switch. Pulled out the door jamb part with the wires and put a small sheet of a rubber scrap behind it and screwed it back in to make better contact with the magnet in the door when closed. Works just fine now. Sometimes it's just the simple things! Dennis

I'd go to a paint store (automotive?) that can custom mix paints. Take in a piece of trim or that gas door in your photo and if the shops any good they can match it pretty close. They can mix you a tiny batch that goes in a bottle with a brush or can put it into a rattle can spray. -Dennis

Richard, I'm guessing Ramco, since I've found some mirrors on the web by Ramco that are the exact dimensions of the one I took off. Others were like 1/8th to 1/4 inch larger. So far, I'm thinking I will want the Ramco SNP-GLS652WS-kit. Mirror is 4 1/8" x 8 3/16". -Dennis

Thanks Ivan, I did see them on eBay for $54, but no measurements. Mine is about 8x4". I just talked to Mike in Parts at Beaver Coach Sales and he's going to check on it and call me tomorrow. -Dennis

Went out this morning and saw busted up mirror in the driveway by the coach step. Looks like the 24 year old adhesive just let go. Went over to the driver side to get a pic for this post and saw the mirror sticking out a little on one side. Reached up and barely touched it and it too was ready to drop off, so I removed it. Any ideas where I may be able to purchase one for the passenger side of a 1998 Beaver Patriot? TIA, Dennis

Yep, love the Thermo Cube. I use it in the cargo area where I remove the cover over some plumbing gear including the water pump. I set up a heat lamp in one of those aluminum chicken coop light fixtures aimed at the plumbing access. I have a remote thermometer that I can monitor from in the house. Works great!

Thanks for the suggestion, Keith! I called and talked to Mike there in Parts Dept. He wanted me to send pic of remote so now I'm waiting for a reply. Dennis

Thanks for the offer Brad, but I think I've really hosed up the pcb at this point with some of the solder pads totally gone. Through magnification I could see some tiny shards of conductor around the holes but apparently not enough to pass current. I did get one of the 4 switches working and the rest became a soldering nightmare. Dennis

Thanks, but I'm way beyond that stage, LOL. They were pretty messed up even after scrubbing the whole pcb. I de-soldered the switches which messed up the solder pads. I went ahead and purchased 4 new switches (only 35 cents apiece) and tried to solder them in, but the pad connections were messed up from my de-soldering process, so I only had only one of the switched making good contact. I could not find my solder-sucker and the copper braid de-solder stuff wasn't really getting it. IF I cannot find a remote I may just take the wires going to the motor for the left and center shade/visor and put momentary switches in for the up and down movement. Not convenient, but better than totally replacing. Dennis

Does anyone have a CareFree PowerVisor that they are no longer using? In my '98 Beaver Patriot the remote had a battery leak in it and it fouled up the little micro switches on the PCB. All I need is the remote. Please tell me what you would want for it plus I'll pay the postage. These were originally from Carefree of Colorado and have been discontinued with no parts available. See photo below. Thanks, Dennis

That Magnum ME2012 is a great unit! We had one in the Minnie Winnie for 9 years before we sold the rig and it was so maintenance-free and dependable. I'm wishing this Beaver had one instead of the Xantrex. If I do ever upgrade this I will go with a Pure-Sine-Wave version. -Dennis

Try to find a local RV salvage yard. -Dennis

I've had the Good Sams Roadside Assistance since 2012 when we had the Minnie Winnie. We recently sold that and got a Beaver Patriot. I'm thinking I will still keep the GS program but also hook up with CoachNet. Over the years I've called GS two times for dead battery in the car and both times I was told it would take 2 hours at least for help to arrive. This wasn't in the boonies, but right in the city. It was faster to call our neighbor and have them bring the portable jump starter gizmo to us. I have heard other horror stories about the Good Sam service. Beware. I think carrying a couple of options is a good idea, though. -Dennis

Just got back from Lowes with a pair of replacements for the F15T8-WW tubes with the plan that if these 2 work, I'll do some more lights. Well, they don't work. But then I thought, well duh, these must be for 120 volts only and I need 12 volt for all the smaller fluorescents in this Beaver. Back to the drawing board. Any suggestions? Dennis

I just recently had a damaged drivers side windshield replaced on our 1998 Beaver Patriot. I have Allstate and they use SafeLite. I didn't know that SafeLite themselves would take care of anything on an RV (on site), so I went to a local glass company that I connected SafeLite to after Allstate connected me to them. The local place installed it but said something about the way the upper corners fit in these things that they had to do a bunch of Urethane filler and said the windshield would most like break there again. They said they would not warranty this because of that fit issue. In my last conversation with SafeLite they said that they would be helpful in any further issues with THEIR own warranty. I don't have that in writing, though, hehe. Dennis

We have a 1998 Beaver Patriot with the fan in the dining/galley area and one in the bathroom. I'm thinking of replacing both with either MaxAir or Fantastic. There is a nice wooden frame in the ceiling below the fans. The question is if that woodwork all has to be removed or is this something installed from the roof side? I should go out a take a photo, but hoping another Beaver owner knows what I'm talking about. Thanks, Dennis EDIT: The photo attached is the nice wooden frame that the fan is mounted in. My question is if all the fan mechanism can be removed from the roof-side or does some of it require removal of this wood frame to lower some of the fan parts?

Cat 3126b, I believe. Will have to dig out the book and see if that tells me if its analog or electronic ECM. -Dennis

So I have this "new to me" 1998 Beaver Patriot with a Magnum ID installed in the dash. It is DOA and no longer supported. So I'm looking to add some other kind of engine and systems monitor. Do these old Beavers have an actual OBD port? I was looking at the BlueFire 9-pin Bluetooth gizmo at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CS1HUXI/?coliid=I1VOC0FBMMLTTZ&colid=I290RGXG48UZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it_im but not seeing any round connectors under the dash. I though this would be nice to stream the data to a small tablet mounted over where the Magnum ID device was. In my brief exploration under the dash I did find a large bundle of wires ending at what looks like a DB-25 female connector. Sort of like the old serial or parallel computer plugs. What is this used for? Has anyone found any other solutions to monitoring engine data on these older rigs? -Dennis

About 8 years ago the previous owner had a similar issue. It was a fuse of some sort. When I recently bought this 1998 Beaver Patriot he showed me where the fuse was in the battery bay in case I ever had a similar problem. Just an idea to check out... -Dennis

Thanks Ken, I'll give that a look! -Dennis

Is there any kind of documentation out there for the air bag system for the Magnum Chassis. Something like a plumbing diagram for all the air lines, fittings locations, tanks, etc.? Both rear bags down on passenger rear. Tech hasn't looked yet, but doubts that both bags would be deflated at the same time by damage, so gonna look for a leaky fitting. Thanks, Dennis

In the cabinet immediately to the right of the TV box in my 98 Patriot is a small panel with the KVH logo on it. There is a power switch for when you want the satellite antenna searching and next to that is a port that looks like the pins on your cable and it's labeled "Maintenance". I suspect it's for a tech to plug into for diagnostics. -D