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ok-rver

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Everything posted by ok-rver

  1. I bit of additional info on the House Battery Cut-off Switch at the entry door. My switch has some sort of slider button on the rocker. I do not know the function. The relay in the driver side front compartment has a circuit board "attached" to the coil terminal. It appears the function of the circuit board is to convert this solenoid to being a latch circuit. Rocking the switch up on my switch sends power to the solenoid and changes the solenoid to the opposite state (on/off). Other coaches may have it set up differently.
  2. New here to the forum, tried to find earlier topic and did not. Pull light switch on dash and lights come on. Turn indicator switch lever actually changes lights from hi to low and back. The blue light hi beam indicator in top center of my dash does not light. Pulled instrument mounting panel away from dash today. Used alligator clips to 12V source and light is good. used clip on lead from multimeter to ground and the other to each of the two connecters inside the light bulb rubber socket. Tried the 4 combinations of hi-low/left-right wires several times and never saw voltage. Looked a little on wiring diagrams and know there are relays under the dash that this feed is connected to. There are soooooo many wires and they do not have very good labels. Both wires to the socket are black. Any one dug into this issue before? Thanks for any help, Mike
  3. Not sure were this should be noted. Pulled instrument mounting plate away from the dash to check on a couple of issues. I was surprised to see two 1/4" air lines from the front and rear air tanks connected to the back of the air gage. My gage has a red and green needle spinning on the same center post. These track each other very close. One of the air line diagrams I studied showed the front tank feeding the rear tank. I had "expected" that these would have a transducer at the tank and electrical gage. I now know that even with the ignition off, I am seeing actual air pressure in the tanks.
  4. The one I replaced was the same as the picture above. Just feel apart instead of burning.
  5. Many of the house devices that would not come on for you are controlled on my MH by a relay under a black cover in the driver side forward basement compartment. The circuit board has switched and un-switched circuits. Should be fairly easy the "next time" it quits with a multimeter to do some trouble shooting. Is it lack of power going to the solenoid coil or if powered, burn contacts in the solenoid. I like being able to turn off the power using the switch next to the door and would probably repair/replace the solenoid if it went bad. I replaced my engine battery bank manual on-off switch yesterday. Located just above my two starting batteries. Mine did not burn. An internal plastic divider managed to pull loose from the knob, and the internal brass bar lost contact with the two bolt heads used as the contacts. I knew a couple of days ago when I switched it that it was going out due to the funky feel when rotating. O'Reillys had a 300 amp Duralast that was the same size as the original on special for $21, normal around $30. I think one of the issues causing mine to fail is that the cable from the + terminal battery and the continuation cable into the engine compartment for the starter were both connected to the input of this manual switch. Both very big cables. Lots of weight pulling down on the plate that broke. The output cable was only half the size. I made the decision to reloacate the starter cable and connect directly to the positive terminal of the battery bank. Half the weight at the switch and one less terminal connection in the cable going to the starter. Wife picked up a Blue Sea from West Marine as a spare. I then got to looking at the house switch and it has already been changed to a Guest. The boat industry has a tendency to be very conservative about electrical wiring and connections. When at sea, it is very wet stepping off a burning boat. The ABYC standards limit any post type connection to only 3 lugs. Some of mine have 5 or 6. Many of the functions, maybe all, on the dash and those that are controlled by the ignition switch go thru the engine manual on-off switch. Next time it happens, if all 12V house type devices are not working, I would look at the house manual on-off switch. If some are on, maybe the house relay is not conducting current. Good luck in finding the issues.
  6. New to MHs. Converted 300AH house battery bank on cruising sailboat to 700AH, added diesel generator, inverter/charger and 450 watts solar doing all the design and work myself. BlueSea is one of the most trusted brands on boats. Many cruisers replace the weak factory alternators with brands from Balmar. Their alternators accept an external regulator that adjusts the field current to get three stage charging based on battery voltage and temp. Monitors both battery and alternator temperatures and can reduce charging current as needed. The 160 amp LN on many Cummins looks a lot like an alternator they had a few years ago. Sterling Power USA has pretty much any battery bank combining system you need. DC to DC battery chargers that allow you to charge LI-FE from a FLA or AGM starting bank. Battery Chemistry Modules that work very similar. A battery does not care if is on a boat or MH. Our sailboat was not connected to shore power for months at a time so marine can be a little more demanding on a battery bank. Many boats regularly only get to 90% charged. Compass Marine has an excellent series of how-to articles on making your own cables, battery tests, monitoring systems etc. at https://marinehowto.com. I would recommend anyone looking at upgrading their system to spend a little time going thru their articles. I have called a couple of alternator shops in Tulsa to see if they could rewire my alternator to have an external field coil connection. I would like to have a 3 step charging profile. They have no idea of what I am trying to do. I know where the Big Boy is on my coach. Still reading thru posts to try and get a good idea of how it is controlled. Knowledge is good.
  7. Recently purchase 2004 HR Scepter 40PDQ. Our first MH. Spent 2 years outfitting a 40 ft sailboat for a 4 year cruise in the Bahamas. Many systems are similar between MHs and boats. At final check of MH, I asked where tank monitoring was. I was familiar thru the internet with the Aladdin system. No one could find a monitor or TV that was connected to the Aladdin. Call to previous owner and he said when the the original TVs were changed to LCDs, they did not connect to either TV. Dealer stated he would get it working. Tech installed a powered video switch that allowed either coax or composite video to rear TV. Joystick allowed viewing the main screens with data that was realistic. I ordered an under $50 7” color monitor from Amazon. Monitor arrived, fired it up and had a pretty good picture from Blue-Ray DVD. Ran on 24vdc power supply for 4 days while waiting to start project on MH. Bumped it against my hand many times a day to see if anything might come loose inside. It keep on working. From other posts, I got an idea of were the Aladdin video box might be. Removed the access panel holding the radio and AC controls which is mounted on the center of the console. Buried under lots of extra wires is the Aladdin box with two different sets of video/audio RCA connectors plugged into outputs 1 & 2. In the driver side overhead console is a Sony audio/video switch box. Used temp power to the monitor and switched between the 4 yellow video cable until I found the live wire. Worked great, joystick allowed switching between screens. From other posts, a good place was to mount monitor to left of steering wheel on flat area running along window, just in front of the leveling bubble. Pulled the decorative caps and screws out of the driver side A pillar. The plastic cover that runs from the dash to the roof appears to be held in place by the forward edge of the window frame. It would not slide out of the way. Pulled the lower edge of the trim away from the windshield and was able to push the end of a 4’ length of 1/2” OD PEX plastic pipe thru the opening with all the other wires coming down the A pillar. The video monitor has an approximate 14” long pig tail with a 1/2” diameter round connector. The power and audio cables have the opposite gender connector. Cut 3 short slits in the PEX end under the dash, slid the connector up into the inside of the PEX and taped the two together. Pulled the PEX up to above the dash and was able to connect the two cables together. With the radio out of the way, the PEX was long enough to slide across the panel under all of the dash instruments to where the cable came down. Taped the power and video cables to the PEX and pulled them over to the radio area. Upcoming project is to replace the Weldex backup camera monitor. Made the decision to “temporarily” feed power to the new video monitor from the cigarette lighter power. May rewire if I find a better source while rewiring the backup monitor. Video male end was long enough to plug into Video 3 port on the Aladdin. Had to splice in about 16” of red/black to get over to the lighter. Picture is before the cable was tucked into the crack between the post and dash covers. Monitor is working as it should. Power comes on when the House Supply switch is on. If ignition key is off, pressing the Aladdin joystick turns the Aladdin on. Access to engine, house AC, tank info via the joystick. Velcro was used to mount the base. The base is probably the cheapest made part of the video monitor system. Rotational swivel screw is on the bottom of the base. Velcro lets me pull up the base if not positioned correct. Brightness seems OK with the bright sun over the last few days. Will be on the road next week and see if the level is right. Monitor menu lets the level be increased or decreased. May build a hood to go around the top of the monitor to block some of the sun light. Most of these inexpensive monitors have 3% to 10% feedback of 1. Some concern as to how long it will operate. Have found other monitors not on Amazon that are around $100 and may go that route if this one fails. Search Amazon for this monitor: Padarsey 7 Inch LED Backlight TFT LCD Monitor $42 plus tax. I believe information is good. This gives me more info and that is good. The original TV displayed this info but there is an interlock that will not let the TV be on if the engine is running. Will see how it goes down the road.
  8. I did find an air brake safety relief at NAPA for under $16 but it is the same style as what I had. MBI KN31200. Looking at the air diagrams Dr4Film sent me, which is a different coach but was very similar to mine, the compressor feeds the forward tank and then to the rear tank. The diagram does not show a relief valve in the rear tank. If the front can not exceed 150 psi, then neither could the rear. Maybe I don't need another relief valve.
  9. Dr4Film, Thanks for the diagrams. Printed on 8.5 by 11 they were pretty small but a chart magnifier left over from the boat let me see how many of the lines were run. Gary, I agree with printing off to a bigger size to have available for reference. Good day working on the coach. Oklahoma has been almost 10 degrees cooler than a normal August so a little easier to put in 8 hour days. Blocked front wheels up 4.5" and slid under looking for leaks. Turns out it was the high pressure relief for the forward tank. Old style with a cap at the end held closed by a spring. $35 and a new, better designed 150 psi relief in place. After replacement, maybe dropped 5 psi over an hour period of time. Line plumbed to the leveling valve on front axle pretty easy to follow. Tee on discharge of valve. Line to driver side runs to frame rail and a tee feeds front and back forward axle air bags. Line to passenger rail tees with the thru run port going to another tee and supply front and back forward axle passenger side air bags. The first tee (on passenger side) branch port had a line that ran back across the frame to drivers side frame rail and then ran up into the area in front of the "firewall". Pulled out generator and there was the single solenoid valve shown in picture. Wife discharged air and vented thru screened plug on exhaust port. Sprayed with dawn mix and no bubbles. RR8S is side radiator giving good access in rear compartment. Lots of wires so had wife hit the air dump switch. Found under a wiring harness the two valves pictured side by side. Vents are pointed up so easy to load up with dawn mix. No bubbles over a 5 min watch. These solenoids are on the right bulkhead pretty close to the corner where it turns to become the actual engine compartment. Very pleased with the reduction in time for air to come up to pressure. checked a couple of dozen fittings with dawn mix and did not see any leaks. Pleased with the mornings work. The plan is to pick up another relief valve for the rear. The new type has a long body with a hex fitting to install. the poppet is within the ID of the fitting and is better protected from grime. Bendix 800350 ST-4 safety valve Hope maybe this helps someone else understand their system. Air cylinder and brackets came in so will be replacing the door stay lever over the next couple of days.
  10. Print this out. I think this will be a great help. Mike I know that getting the end of the tubing square when cutting without burrs. Wondering if the PVC tubing cutters would be a good way to trim off a little to restab fittings?
  11. New to us 2004 HR Scepter, RR8S chassis, 8 air bags. Picked up this Monday and once in storage bay, MH driver side lowered many inches in a few hours time. Very noticeable lean. I believe that the coach was always on its hydraulic jacks at the dealership and did not notice this. Did not really notice any air hiss. Did some research early this morning and only got to the air dump valves could be rebuilt with new o-rings b4 our internet went down. Spent day at coach working on little things. Installed a 7" monitor on dash that is dedicated to the Aladdin system. Seems to be working great and will write up the install. Before lunch, I decided to bleed the air tanks and air bags down. Drained system to around 30 psi twice, recharged to 120 psi and left for lunch. Some settling of driver side during the next 4 hours, maybe 1/3 of the settling that occured yesterday afternoon. I have one ride height valve for the front axle and left/right for the rear axle. My assumption is that the driver side rear pair of air bags is bleeding down. I think that means the leak is on the air bag side of the leveling valve. As the front has only one leveler valve, the air will transfer from driver to passenger side and tilt based on the rear bleed down. Is this a good assumption? Slid under coach and looked at rear leveling valves. First big surprise is that air lines are in the 1/4" range. I had expected much bigger. There is what appears to be the tank supply going to the leveling valve on the side towards center and 4 lines connected to tees on the discharge. Each corner has two air bags so two line. I figure a line goes up to the air dump valve. Maybe I miss counted because I haven't come up were the 4th line would go. I thought I saw the dump valves mounted high above the differential by following an air line but when I looked at the front axle, it was easy to see that the similar front valve I was looking at had a big, maybe 5/8" line going to the disc caliper. probably looking at the wrong valve. Can some one give me a heads up on what the air dump valve will look like. Is there a repair kit or someone selling o-rings? I picked up a bunch of 2x12 short pieces on the way home to see if I can get the coach up 3" or 4.5" tomorrow to feel better under the frame. As I said, I didn't hear hissing earlier. As I was pulling tools out to go home, I noticed an air leak hissing at the front. Dropped from 120 psi to 90 psi in 10 minutes or so, both tanks. Recharged air and slid under with a spray bottle of simple green (what I had available) and sprayed most of the fittings with not any bubbles. There is a lot of stuff hanging low under the coach at the front so could not get hands on to the tank and lines. I expect the 2 X 12s will help raise it up so I can see. The tank has two approx 3/8" diameter hoses coming out of the bottom. I was expecting a drain. Is one of these a drain of sorts? Are diagrams available of air lines? Looking for what help I can get. Thanks, Mike
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