ok-rver

My motor was slow. Pulled it apart and cleaned the commutator. Working fine now. brushes were still long enough to be stable in their slots. I did clean and/or replace most of the shoulder bolts, bushings, and nuts. I have a post on cutting down bushings at half the cost of buying a "new" kit.

transfer switch is on the 120 vac to feed either shore power or generator to the house breakers and inverter. 12.7 might be the float voltage for the charge on the house. the 11.9 would be low for batteries and if on the chassis, then the method of connecting the two banks is not working. it could be the circuit to energize the big boy to charge chassis from house is not working. Not all of the coaches used the big boy for house charging. some have a battery isolator off the alternator and once the chassis is up to a fixed voltage, it charges the house. is this a new problem? is the 120 within the MH working?

My understanding is the check valve in the return line fitting is what creates the up to 19 psi of back pressure when the pump is running. As long as the filters allow enough flow, the engine pulls 1 to maybe 35 gallons/hour from the pump flow, the rest of the diesel returning to the tank and the check valve keeps the pressure up. as the filters clog limiting flow, the engine pulls from the diesel flow and the pressure goes down. the 2-3 psi is typical of air in the pump and it will not build enough pressure to push the air thru the return check valve/pressure regulator. Loosening the 3002 filter lets the air and as you found diesel "leave the system" allowing diesel to get to the pump gears. Once the air is gone, the pump builds enough pressure to open the check valve and diesel/separated air returns to the tank. If the check valve had an issue with not closing, not sure you would get the 18 psi. the other thing is that if the check valve is not closed, the 2 psi might push the air past and eventually fill the line with diesel. you probably have a pretty good size air leak if in 20 minutes you lost prime. The 3001 pre-filter being loose or a bad seal would let air in very quickly as well as others have discussed about fuel line pin hole leaks. Do your fuel lines go thru the old CAPPS pump? They can develop a pretty good leak and would be in vacuum letting air in. The fact that pressure seems to be normal (18 psi) when you turn on the key and goes down may mean that the pump has fuel and as it flows to the engine and return to the tank, it sucks air from someplace in the hose a ways away from the pump. Just a few thoughts on solving your issue.

Tim, Can you shed more light on a rear start switch. I have a 2004 HR Scepter with the 8.3 Cummins and I have never seen a switch at the rear that will crank the engine.

Assumptions and questions: The 30 amp at home does not have a GFCI. Is this a new problem (worked in the past at this storage outlet) or is the storage new to you? Has any work been done on the generator/transfer switch recently? Can you expand on "the short is in the neutral". What did you do to say all the items passed? I would check the resistance between your neutral and ground. I MUST be zero ohms, open circuit, not connected on the coach for the supply GFCI to work. Neutral and ground are connected in the breaker box suppling shore power, upstream of the GFCI. I found that the either the neutral or ground (fading memory) on my engine block outlet had come loose and was sometimes touching the other. Sometimes I could plug into shore power and work, other times it would blow the shore power GFCI immediately. some will tell you that you can not have a GFCI feeding another GFCI. I have 3 or 4 on the motor home and they have no trouble being supplied from the storage unit GFCI. I did replace it as part of my trouble shooting almost a year ago. I have a post with more details of what I went thru.

I posted a few days ago I was going to drain my tank and check levels that gen and engine shut off, 2004 Holiday Rambler Scepter, calculated 95 gal to bottom of fill tubes. Started at just over a 1/4 tank. Generator shut off at just below 1/4 tank. Calculated 8.5 gallons removed. Started sucking air after pumping out another 21.5 gals. Gage showed empty. Tilted to driver side 2" lower than passenger and pumped out another 3 gals. Will drive to Costco for fill up later this week and see how much more it will hold. A little over 6,000 miles on 1st set of FASS filters. Pressure at idle had dropped from 19 psi originally to 15ish psi. Replaced filters after fuel was back in tank and pressure is back to around 19 psi. Diesel in drum was clear enough to see hose at bottom of drum with 19" of diesel. FASS filters doing a great job in keeping things clean.

Two days ago I picket up a clean 55 gallon drum for a planed project. My fuel gage seems to be a reliable on how much it takes to fill the take. at 3/8 full, about 60 gallons on a 100 gal tank with 85 gallon tank capacity at the bottom of the fill neck, level MH. Currently estimate of 30 gallons in the tank. Monday, I am re-plumbing my FASS system to pump ALL of the fuel out of my tank into the drum. I plan on pumping about 5 gallons at a time with generator running to get an idea of where the generator will shut off. Once I have established that point on the gage, recorded by a picture as my memory is not like it use to be, I will pump until the pump pickup sucks air. Another picture. I will measure the height of fuel in the drum to estimate the number of gallons in the drum. I will then tilt the MH towards the side of the pick up and pump out as much as I can. Another height measurement for an idea of how much in the tank is not usable. At this angle, there will should be less than 5 gallons in the tank. Not sure if I will be able to extend a wire with a cloth into the tank to see if any gunk on bottom. My engine standpipe is welded in place. The only easy way to measure would be to remove the top fitting and use a flexible wire with a small hook to maybe measure the length. Then re-plumbing hoses, I will pump the diesel back into the tank assuming that what is in the drum looks good. I have 10k miles on the original FASS filters with pressure down from 19 psi originally to 15-16s psi. i will change out both filters. The FASS pump when in run position of hoses will pressures/bleed air from the CAPS system and I should be ready to go for the main. Electric fuel pump on generator will re-prime system. it would be a good time to change the generator filter while the filter is pretty empty. There is a spice on the suction and return line suppling the generator. It drips a very small amount of diesel no matter what I do to the hose/barbed splices/clamps. I may also run a single continuous line from the tank to the generator while the line is empty. I think this is letting air into the line and requires an extended pre-start run of the gen electric fuel pump to get it to keep running. Diesel is down to around $4 in Tulsa so a 10 mile run to Costco, a fill up, and some calculations using the amount in the drum plus the fill amount will give me an estimate of how many gallons until sucking air. Looking for input

If I go to a bigger TV, I would shrink one or both of the side cabinets to make the center wider. A 40" Samsung is a little over 36" wide. the doors on my cabinet are about 33" apart. Taking 5" out of the driver over head compartment would let me move the sides of the center out enough to position a larger TV like the 32" that is there now. Have not found any smart TVs under 39" or 40" that are larger than the 32" I have.

A lot of great ideas. I would have approached mine a little different if I had waited for these responses. As the side picture on the modified compartment shows, the original crossbar at the front of the CRT TV left an indent in the ceiling material along with a couple of holes from screws. I wanted to cover these. original, it seemed best to leave some of the original side boards to cover the sides. I filled in the center with a 4" piece of oak. In hind side, it would have been easier to cut the side boards back the 4" all the way to the top and used a 6" wide board a little wider than the original cabinet to cover the indentations. If I ever go to a bigger TV and need to get closer to the ceiling in storage, that's probably what I will do. I cut only 1" off the height of the cabinet to have the room below the TV in the cabinet for a sound bar or larger TV. The bottom board would have to been cut due to the 4" off the front. I pulled the "picture frame" at the front apart and took 1" off the sides. I might not have had to change the height if I had left the cabinet full height. I am interested in those that pulled the side compartments off, how difficult it was to pull off and return. I have a steel tube that appears to run the full width of the MH that the center compartment is attached too with a bracket on each side. I could not find any screws for the side compartments but they were tight to the steel tube. Much easier getting in and out of the MH. Well worth the time to modify. Again, thanks to all that have responded. These are great ideas for the next guys to sort thru and determine their approach.

In my search, I found two topics on oil filters so I either don't know how to search or ??? First time I will be changing my own engine oil. The old part number for fleetguard seems to be LF9009. It appears they have come out with a new and improved, LF14009. Wondering what others are using?

I stand 6'2" and my shoulders fill a 48 tall sports coat. The corner of the front center TV cabinet has been a pain in my shoulder way too many times. I now have cut back the front edge 4" and raised the bottom 1" and on initial trial fit up, it is much easier to get up the stairs. Pictures to follow later this week as it gets stained and reinstalled. In the TV cabinet, I found a duplex 120 outlet that is always on plus the relay operated single TV outlet that goes off when the ignition is on. These are shown on my wiring schematic. A second duplex always on is mounted in the curb side compartment that had the VHS and cable management switch plugged in, also shown. Not shown on the schematic is two 120 cables in the single outlet relay. I am thinking seriously about removing at least the relay part of this outlet but am a a loss as to where this would feed. It is possible that 120 non-switched passes thru this box to the other outlets. I guess pulling the curbside duplex outlet out to see if it has pass thru power and then pulling the relay box apart will be needed. My dash radio is not blue tooth. Planing on replacing it and have been looking for a dash DVD unit but have not found anything that I think will work. Originally I had hoped to tie into the ceiling speakers from the radio. There are dash DVD players that have HDMI out but getting a cable fro the center of the dash to the upper cabinet for the TV may be a difficult route thru the A pillar. May go with a small sound bar and small DVD player in one of the side compartments. The 32' flat screen TV (not original) that came with the MH is really a little too small. A Samsung 40" is 36" wide and it would hang over so much the side compartment doors would hit if the TV was not pulled out and angled. Best Buy has a 39" but it is 34.5" wide and still hangs over the compartment. It seems we park a lot with the front of the MH pointed West which results in a hot front even with windshield covers. Removing the cabinet, there is 4" of pink fiberglass insulation sagging badly as it goes across above the roll down sun shades and up to the roof. The plan is to put in two layers of 3/4" foam that is scored to create a radius similar to the section above the windshield. Use it to hold the fiberglass closer to the skin. Wondering what others have done.

Thanks for confirming that the Cummins "fix" was to replace the sensor with basically a on/off switch that simulates the 55 psi. My water and trans temperatures thru the Aladdin are correct. Room temps b4 starting engine. Dash water gage and ECM temp track as they move up to operating temps, 180 & 160. Aladdin trans temp is below water temp most of the time, gets close when engine loaded or pac brake is working hard to slow down the MH. My dash trans temp is fixed at about 150 degrees. Working on figuring out the were the sensor is in the transmission.

55 psi on Aladdin is constant if the engine is running. I see posts about changing out the oil pressure sensor going to the Cummins ECM. Could not find any info on if the new sensor is a switch or a variable sensor. My dash gage shows 35 psi or so hot at idle, 65 + hot at 1,500 rpms and 80-90 cold running so it has "accurate" readings. Anyone have any idea about why the ECM sensor does not vary based on actual pressure?

We and the MH has been in Brookings OR, 5 miles from the CA boundary for a week and made several day trips into CA to see the redwoods. We go thru a CA check point in the car that asks if we have fruits, vegetables, or firewood. Heading for Grants Pass on Tuesday in the MH and unfortunately, it takes twice as long if we go back up thru OR to get there. Will drive under an hour south to Cresent City CA and then turn NE to get to Grants Pass OR. Don't want to lie to the nice men and women at the check point but we might have a few apples, lemons, lettuce in the frig as well as trail mix and nuts in the cabinet. What I have read is this is probably not allowed. Wondering what others that go thru the check points do?

GFCIs trip when the current in the hot and neutral wires are not equal or the neutral and ground wires are not separate. Not sure which GFCI is tripping. Additional explanation of what is going on will help with understanding. It sounds like the GFCI is on your MH as it is functioning on both gen and shore power. Is the battery charger a portable plug in type? Have you disconnected the leads from the battery b4 unplugging?

Pretty sure your's will NEVER move. I caught my boot going bad b4 this trip and was able to replace the dust cover. Had to use a hose clamp to hold the big end on the tie rod but expect a few years of use out of it.

I carry a 120 plug in voltage checker but a voltmeter or 120 lamp will work. Remove outside cover and check the outlet that the frig is plugged into. Just looked back and saw that 96 EVO stated the same thing but adding that the plug in is in the outside compartment. Ice maker was usually plugged into an inverter outlet. Refrigerator to shore power or generator supplied. I don't believe that this would be on a GFCI circuit but worth checking other outlets to confirm.

It's raining in Portland, go figure, and not wanting to crawl around the outside of the coach while here this week. My fresh water tank is about 48" wide and takes up my wet compartment width that has two doors. Part of the tank is behind the 90 deg and back pipe. Black and grey set on top of the fresh. All of this is below the chassis frame. I do not believe that I could get a straight tube across the frame in that area. My wheel cover skirts have been freed up to allow them to lift but have the original screws along the bottom. When I get home, will look and see if there is room for a tube and maybe use toggles like I have seen on this or IRV2 to latch the covers. At least if I remove the current unusable I will have a bit more room.

Our 2004 Scepter has a sewer hose storage in the wet bay with a small door, straight section, 90 degree elbow and then another straight section. Appears to be 4" PVC pipe. measures around 4" ID by 28" deep. The existing swivel fittings on my hose will not fit into the pipe. There may be enough room behind the door for one fitting that does not slide into the pipe. Wondering if there are fittings that will fit into the PVC or do others buy sewer hose with no fittings for storage and then slip them on the end of the hose when needed? If I can't find a hose to fit into the pipe, I might take it out to allow a hose to be stored in that area of the bay.

We spent time in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone area the first week of June. Drove the MH in the south entrance, around the east side of the figure 8 and out the west entrance. after passing several great turnouts on the opposite side while we were driving, I picked one to spend lunch at. Zero traffic either way. Swung far right and started a "U" turn into the turnout. It got tight very quickly. The exit we had passed had lots of room. I had about a foot of clearance to trees at my front but uncomfortably close. Will not try that type of turn anytime soon. The question I have is could the wife have gotten into our Honda CR-V with blue ox tow bar, started the engine and put it in reverse, turn the wheel so that the car followed the rear of the MH as I backed up a couple of feet. It might have helped to release the locks on the tow bars to allow them too float. Could also have pulled the pins in the tow bars, lifted to stowed position and left cable attached. With minimal traffic in this instance, I would have taken 2 minutes to pull pins and cables if I had been stuck. Just wondering if anyone has successfully backed up a small amount. I am prepared for being told this was not the right thing to do.

We were in the area June 1-6. Made most of the figure 8 in our motorhome. That and more in the toad. My wife is know for bringing rain with her. Glad we were not there over the weekend. With government money in short supply, it may take a long time to get this repaired.

Replaced my city/fill valve a few months ago. It now is working well. Suction to our supply pump has a ball valve on the first line coming out of the tank, a tee going to the pump suction, and a ball valve in the line going to the drain. ( suction valve not shown in the system picture above) The poor quality originally installed valve handles were no longer present and pliers had been used to operate the valve. Picked up new PEX valves from my plumbing supplier and installed. This allowed me to close the valve on the suction of the pump to confirm water was NOT flowing that direction into the tank. Will also allow shutting off reverse flow in the future if on the road, the city/tank valve starts back feeding. When I started this project, I pulled my 16 year old valve apart and polished the ball, one of my threads, but it still leaked. I tested by using pipe to hose adapter and pressurized from a hose spigot. Valve ball had lots of calcium build up which spinning 360 deg several times might clean off. My seals had too many little scratches to seal. No new seals from the manufacturer

I have determined that the coil is part of the Aladdin system. The Xantrex has an internal shunt. working thru what is connected to the green post and to the battery negative.

Interesting read for someone that does not have and knows very little about an Aqua Hot. One bit of information I was wondering about: How hot is the initial water coming out of the tap and by "running out", does the water go to fresh water tank temperature in the 90 seconds? I there a way to measure the hot tank (boiler?) temperature assuming the water you are measuring at the tap is in coming from the coil around the tank, not the tank water. Richard mentioned a tempering valve, could this be flakey and not letting hot water thru?

I appreciate the input on having the shunt on the ground. I will give that a try in a couple of days.