Bob Jones

Wouldn't it be easier to just use a multimeter on the batteries to determine what the actual voltage is at the battery before making decisions?

It's very good of them to warn you. This is what I did to everyone over the phone and I saved them from going down a path they didn't want to/could not afford to go down. I turned away at least 60% of potential clients. But here's the thing, I wasted no time and had only very happy customers that had money and just wanted it done right. They also have more than one car, so they could leave it at my leisure. They told all their friends, and next thing you know, they would cut me off in mid speech and say just do it, don't care about the price (within reason). In fact, my sales method probably caused them to tell their friends! If you still have the Nissan, and want to repair it, consider buying some of your own gear and doing it yourself. Typically, you can buy a lot of the equipment for less than the repair if you are so inclined. Two days ago I scored a brand new H10PM off ebay for $99 USD ($200 CAD shipped). This was unusual but it can be done. O-rings are cheap. Jap cars are usually well designed. Could easily be o-rings or what have you. If it's low mileage compressor should be fine. If it's never been in a front end accident the condenser is probably OK. In the US parts are cheap (Arizona Mobile Air). You might be surprised but it's a lot of fun (usually) and it's very rewarding doing something well that 50% of the people can't do. Time is the biggest thing. Not being on the clock.

That depends on compressor/seal design. Some are worse than others. Also, wear on the seal (mileage) and amount of oil in the system come into play. If you have accurate enough equipment you can recover the charge, weigh it, and extrapolate the loss. It gets a bit complex because you have to be able to scrub the oil from the recovered refrigerant to get an accurate number. It's much easier, from a diagnosis standpoint, to do it by exclusion. If it does not leak under vacuum or pressure, where did the refrigerant go? At that point you suspect the seal. If you ask the customer if the vehicle sat for a period of time, 9 times out of 10 they will tell you they were out of the country on a trip or something like that. This is why you *have* to have the proper gear. When doing diagnosis by exclusion you have to know, 100%, that you have excluded *everything* else. Just because the AC works on an old vehicle that sat doesn't mean the charge is not low.....if the charge is low it will not carry the oil through the system as effectively. In addition, the oil can be low as it tends to leak out with the refrigerant. This is why you sometimes see an oily trace with dirt stuck to it around a leak. If a system is low on refrigerant and oil then you are starving the compressor and damage/early failure is easily possible. As the compressor wears it will tend to send metallic material through the system...... When you pull the orifice tube out of a CCOT system you will often see metallic material on the screen. That can be used as a gage as to whether a compressor should be replaced. When a compressor fails catastrophically it will send enough metallic material through the system to plug a modern parallel flow condenser. If you don't replace it the material will eventually break loose, get sucked into the new compressor, and damage that one....So there is a lot to it. AC repairs, proper ones, tend to be expensive. My motto was do it once and do it right. If a person could not afford to do that, I weeded them out right over the phone and they were grateful because they didn't waste any money chasing something they could not afford. A lot of people think you can just buy a 'death can' and charge it back up. The system has to have integrity and the correct charge in order for the oil to lubricate the compressor. Other wise you are just damaging the compressor by starving it for oil as the system leaks out again. AC repairs are generally not cumulative. The industry stats when I was doing it was a 50% failure rate. This means the customer loses their investment if it's not done right the first time. That's not 100% accurate in all circumstances but it's pretty close. You can put an inline filter on the suction line going to the compressor to catch debris. What is interesting is that I deviated from the established norm and publicly stated it's better to put it on the discharge line if there has not been a compressor failure. The idea being that as the compressor wears, or if it explodes, the debris will be stopped on the discharge side before it reaches the rest of the system. I took a lot of flack for that 'heresy' back in the day. Oil level in the system is the real challenge. There is no accurate way to determine how much oil is in the system especially when it's an old vehicle that may have been serviced before. There are rules of thumb, if replacing the condenser add this much, etc. But the only way to really determine oil level is to flush the entire system with liquid refrigerant and then scrub the recovered oil from that refrigerant flush. GM specified that only refrigerant could be used to flush a system, nothing else. If a person can flush the entire system with liquid refrigerant than you know it has no oil other than what is left in the compressor, because it cannot be flushed in a closed loop. So you still have to take the compressor off and drain it into graduated cylinder to see what was actually there.... Proper MVAC AC is tough and not many shops can do it. If you think about the labor time involved in what I've been describing it gets expensive fast. Up here the average low bill was $500. If a customer got an effective repair for that, they were laughing. $1,500 was the common price point, almost all repairs fell into that bracket. $3,500 was usually the top end. At that point it was more/less complete system replacement. Replacing the evaporator alone in a Volvo required removing the entire front interior including seats, console and entire dash. Suburbans with rear air have lines from front to rear that tend to corrode (road salt) and the rear evaporator would often leak. It was not uncommon to have to do both evaporators and the lines from front to rear plus the regular under the hood work. Can't tell you how many people had their AC done multiple times with the result being a lighter pocket and warm air. I live in a relatively affluent area so my customers were happy that they finally found someone that could do it once, and do it right, warranty it, and then be done with it. And that's in Canada, where it's a relatively cool climate for the brunt of the year. I can't even imagine what it's like in Arizona. I do know that my peers down there told me you can get 3rd degree burns if you touch the dashboard in your car if it's been sitting in the parking lot at the mall for the afternoon. One of my peers was a cooling system design engineer for one of the big three and he told me with every new model they took it to death valley to verify the cooling system and the AC system. Up here it's hard to image that AC can be essential.

Be sure to check for leaks around that driver's side window. My curtain has stains on the backside at that window and it was caused by a leaking window. Having said that, I have washed the curtains a few times. I just removed the hooks and fired them in the Splendide. washer. Regular detergent didn't remove the stains but did clean the curtains up nicely. I probably should have sprayed them with something.

No. It's never a bad thing for the AC compressor to run. Here's why. The seal on the compressor is lubricated with oil. It is the oil that is the primary seal keeping the R134a refrigerant in the system. So if you leave the system un-used for a period of time, that oil will dissipate and the refrigerant will leak out. While it's true that there is parasitic HP loss with the compressor running, in our diesels you will never see that in the mileage calculation - period. In a car, yes, if you're very accurate in your measurements. Also, the older the compressor, the less parasitic loss. Having said that, on our 2000 Diplomat the AC ran in odd positions on the dash dial. Can't remember which. It was on sometimes when it should have been off and off sometimes when it should have been on. As such, I installed a switch to override the dash switch and allow manual control of the compressor (see pic). I used to a lot of MVAC (motor vehicle AC) and got it down to a science. Unfortunately, not many shops know how to do good AC (which is why I spent the time developing a diagnostic process). First, most shops recover and then pull a vacuum and then look at the analog gages to see if there is any rise over time that would indicate the system is leaking and sucking in air. The problem is, an analog gage is very coarse and will not show minor leaks even if left overnight. The proper way to do it is with a properly sealed Thermistor Micron Vacuum gage. It will measure vacuum down to the micron level which is extremely precise. Generally speaking, if it will hold 750 microns, or less, for 15 minutes, it's not leaking under vacuum. That leaves leaking under pressure..... To check for leaking under pressure you need access to the entire system AND a very good leak detector. Most shops have no idea what constitutes a good leak detector. They buy whatever Snap On tells them to. By and large, the industry standard is one that was originally made by GE, probably back in the 50's, and then updated along the way. It's been licensed to a whole bunch of companies but is often known as the Yokogowa/Mars/Bacharach HP10. It will reliably pick up very small leaks under pressure but you have to have access to the entire system. GM used to send it to all the dealers as a mandate - every dealer had to buy one - it was considered an essential tool. It just showed up and the dealer paid 400% more for it then they could have bought it for themselves. In your case, because you cannot easily access the lines from the rear to the front you have to diagnose it by exclusion. So, if a shop used a thermistor micron vacuum gage, and it held, you would know the entire system has integrity from front to rear under vacuum. That leaves pressure. If they charge the system, operate it, and then shut it down and hit it with the HP10 you can access everything *except* the lines from rear to front. Point being, if there is an issue with the lines you can determine it by exclusion. Evaporator leaks can be very slow, best way to test them is run the AC, shut it off, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then stick the probe in one dash vent, close all the others, put the fan on the lowest setting, and then run the fan on lowest speed to blow the pooled refrigerant up to the probe and see if it picks up a leak. All switches should be unplugged and the leak detector probe put in the mating hole to see if it goes off. You'd be surprised how many of them show a leak that way. It's also worth knowing that General Motors released a bulletin years ago stating that the Schrader valve service port caps are considered the *primary* seal. Ie, not the Schrader valve itself but the cap. This is because they understood that the valves themselves can leak trace amounts and is the reason the caps have a large rubber seal on them. It's literally a tandem seal. I'm up in Canada but when I was doing MVAC there was only one peer in North America that did work like I did and that was Arizona Mobile Air. The owner is Tim and if you find yourself in that neck of the woods, they can nail it - they have all the same equipment I do, and *tons* of experience. If I remember right, they used to buy their refrigerant by rail car..... Back when I was dealing with them there were 4 people in the US that did work like mine and they were all affiliated, in one way or another, with Arizona Mobile Air. But bear in mind, even if you have a system that has perfect integrity under vacuum and pressure, and it sits unused for long enough, the oil on the compressor seal will eventually drain off and the system will leak refrigerant. This is very common in earth moving equipment that sits over the winter. They fire it up in the summer and cook in the cab because the refrigerant leaked out. When you go on the job site there is no leak. Not under pressure and not under vacuum. Why? The oil ran off the seal during the winter and it leaked out. The minute you recharged it and ran it as part of the diagnostic process that seal got coated in oil again....and presto...it's hermetically sealed once more. One of the reasons they made AC systems come on during defrost was so that the systems would be used more often and keep that oil coating the compressor seal. The other reason is that blasting the fogged windshield with dehumidified air speeds the defrost procedure. With modern vehicles the AC is usually always on. On my Mercedes roadster it actually cannot be turned off. There is no clutch (so that the end user never hears a 'clack' as it engages and disengages) and instead it uses a variable swash plate. So even when it is off, it's still working, just at a very low level. This keeps the seal lubricated and on vehicles like that, typically there are NO AC issues until the compressor packs it in. So even if it's -40c in Russia (they have lots of these cars over there) the AC still runs. The oil in the compressor is high-end synthetic and is carried along by the refrigerant. I used to own an automotive shop and never did AC because it was, typically, a money loser and the chances of a comeback were very high. When you see a regular shop that has an AC machine it's almost a warning sign.....When I retired from that I went into MVAC more as a hobby and to come up with a diagnostic procedure to address the industry standard AC repair failure rate of 50%.....to do it properly you need a shop with a Thermistor Micron Vacuum gage and an HP10 leak detector. Unfortunately, even HVAC people don't always understand the importance of those two items..... Just for the record, I found that even with our dash AC and heater working properly, the design and the load are just too much without being able to enclose the cabin. As such, I run the genset if it's summer and use the roof AC units. If it's winter, the furnace plus the dash heat. Your mileage may vary. Anyway, just some tips and background info to help you in your quest!

Hi Pat! Interesting. I have a 2000 Diplomat 36D but under the bed my box is not plywood, it's that really think cheesy veneer (same as the bathroom door on mine). I think that is where the gear is for the slide out. I don't recall every being in mine. Perhaps yours had the same cheesy veneer and someone wrecked the lid. I know on mine, if I'm working on the engine, you can't put any weight on it or you'll punch a hole right through it. I do know that there is more/less nothing under the carpet in the closet. I took out that entire closet at one point to deal with a water leak issue I had. Under the carpet is just an aluminum frame with more of that really thin veneer on top of foam insulation. I didn't take the top layer of veneer off though so maybe there is something under it? I don't really know how the rear slide works as ours has not been problematic. Done LOTS on the front slide though 🙂

Agreed. My uncle lost a unit due to a 'space heater' - it nearly set his house on fire in the process. That is why I only run an oil-filled radiator-type heater (also for the lack of noise). Asking a fire chief is sage advice, I can just imagine what he would say about them.

Richard, you raise a good point, which is maximizing space and keeping stuff off the floor if possible. Living in an RV, that's key. This is why I originally wanted desktop units but when I saw them their size was too large, IMHO. Then there is filter size, smaller the unit, smaller the filter. So I bought one large one and tried it out. Next day, I bought the other for the bedroom. Yes, one will do the job but.....if it's in the front, is it really pulling all the air/dust from the rear as well? They were on sale so... I had dead space in the front for one of them and in the bedroom there are drawers I never really go into. So I sacrificed in the bedroom, so to speak. But...the units weigh nothing (5 pounds or so?) so if I have to move the one in the bedroom to get into a drawer, it's no problem. Lift and place and then put it back. I put the kill-o-watt on them and wow. Just WOW. On auto setting they use 5 watts (!!!!) That is low fan setting. On Turbo mode they use 52 watts that is MAX setting (!!!) 5 watts x 24 hours x 30 days = 3,600 watts / 1,000 = 3.6 kW x .13 (price of electric) = .47 cents per month each (unless my math is wrong, which is ALWAYS possible). 52 watts x 24 hours x 30 days = 37,440 watts / 1,000 = 37.44 kW x .13 (price of electric) = $4.87 per month on turbo each But here's the thing, operationally, you run them on turbo for half a day when you're away to exchange as much air as possible and get rid of as much dust as possible. After that, they just run in auto mode. So... .47c per month each unit. But, it's actually much less. They have a sensor that determines if it's night time and then go to an even lower fan speed using even less electricity than the 5 watts. So you can easily sleep with one right next to your bed as pictured. They are very interesting. If you have eaten beans for dinner a red light will go on periodically as they have a sensor for air quality. Then they raise the fan speed accordingly until the air has been purified and then go back to the low fan setting. Up here in the winter there are periods of time where you sleep with the bedroom sliding door closed. That means you're in a very small space and keeping that air clean is important. The size of the units mean you get a large HEPA filter which means they are supposed to last a year. The Costco units come with enough extra filters for two years in the box! Quite a few people get more than a year out of the filters and I can see that happening. I've only had them a short time but there is a significant reduction in dust. My gut tells me that eventually they will get 'caught up' with the existing dust in the unit. At that point they should keep the unit as dust-free as it can be. I plan to put them both on Turbo when leaving for the day so that they stir up and capture as much dust as they can. Pollen, at certain times up here can be very bad. The road can literally be coated in it and you can watch it get blown around in the wind. These things do filter that. I think they filter 99.98% of everything. Basically, if it's 3 microns or larger I think the HEPA filter will catch it. I'm NOT normally sensitive to things like air quality or what have you. I just motor on without a thought. But when I saw the amount of dust flying around on a sunny day I started thinking about it and I realized I always feel better outside the unit. The air always feels fresher. So, take it for whatever it's worth. I do know that for people that are sensitive to these things (allergy sufferers etc) they have a lot of good reports. I also think the better you seal your unit, the worse the air quality will be and I've done a lot on that front. Last night I made hot wings. Normally that means the unit gets a real stink in it that takes about a week to go away unless you have the vent/fan open on the roof. I was very surprised to wake up this morning and not smell them at all. You'd never know I made them last night. That heavy oil cooking smell is not present. To give you a better idea as to sizing, here's a pic of both of them in use.

I would not be concerned about the batteries over the winter. Typically they gas and use water in relation to how much they are used, ie, charged and drained, charged and drained. Unless they are being over-charged, which is unlikely. If you want to ensure all is OK just check/top off the batteries before leaving it and also check the voltage with a multimeter when they are fully charged. That will tell you if they are overcharging and give you the peace of mind that they won't boil dry. I suspect you'll find that when you come back to it next year the battery water levels are much the same as they were when you parked it.

Thanks, I appreciate the suggestions! Most have been done already, I sealed many areas of the unit over the years. It now holds heat much better and there's been a drastic drop in bugs etc. I bought one of the Winix C535's the other day and put it next to the kitchen table. It was quite interesting. I can't say much yet but when I moved it to the bedroom for the night I woke up and was NOT congested. In fact, the air seemed much better in there. Today I bought a second C535 for dedicated use in the bedroom so I have two now. I wanted smaller ones but they were all too large to sit on the the little tables on each side of the bed. I plan on running both of them on Turbo mode when I'm away so they circulate a lot of air and hopefully grab as much dust as possible. I'll update this thread as time goes by. I've never used an air purifier before so I was skeptical.

Is anyone familiar with the Articca Snip the Tip thermistor replacement for fridges? I have a Norcold 1200 LRIM that I have nearly perfect. Setting #1 is too warm by about 1c and setting #2 is too cold by about the same. Either way, in order to get it perfect I need to either move the existing thermistor around looking for the golden triangle or use something easier, like a dial that is on the Articca unit. Does anyone know if the Articca unit is actually an adjustable thermistor? Ie, it has both a thermistor to trigger the fridge to cycle based on internal temperatures and then that is offset adjustable so you can skew the ohms as desired for warmer/colder temps? I did send them an email but have yet to hear back.

You're reading my mind. Mine as well, I often have to disassemble the whole thing and clean it out. I even have to go up on the roof and remove the vent cover to clean that and the screen too.

That is good to know. I find it very odd that dust accumulates so quickly. I have sealed a LOT of the unit, while I can't say it's hermetically sealed, I can say that all the gaping holes from the factory have been filled and the ability of the unit to hold heat in the winter reflects this. It's also wet outside and the roads are paved. In my case, it's just me and no pets. The furnace has no filter, so it could easily be a big part of the problem. Sucking in existing dust and re-distributing it out the vents in an endless cycle. I have a theory, assuming that there is, more/less, a fixed amount of dust in the unit from years of travel, can I reduce the amount with an air purifier? I've never bought one but likely will in a few days. The unit that I am looking at is this one => Winix C535 From Costco. So..if it does not live up to its expectation, it can be returned. I am thinking something like this. Install the unit, run it on highest speed, and then use an air compressor to blow the dust off of everything. In short, make a giant dust cloud for the unit to suck in to give it a massive head start on removing the dust. Ie, transfer the dust from all over to the first screen on the filter of the unit. This year I have almost never had the windows open. It was too hot in the summer (AC) and the winters are too cold. It's parked, so it's not going anywhere. Therefore, to my mind, the only way dust should be able to get in, in any meaningful way, is when I enter and exit the front door. Yet, it's wet outside, so how much dust can there be? This makes me wonder if what I am dealing with is 20 years of accumulation in places that don't get vacuumed? Anyway, I will get that unit and put the process to test to see if it makes a meaningful difference and report back the results. My laptop is black and I keep it clean. So it's very easy to see the dust accumulate. My calculator, next to it, has an accumulation of dust on the LCD display that's thick. Really, other than physical changes in my breathing/sinuses, all I have to do is look at those two items over time and it will be very easy to see if it's working. Pics to follow once I have the unit and have run it as described.

Mine is thick, it shouldn't float !! I'm looking into it - seems everyone and their dog makes one and most of the ones I'm seeing are +$1,000 Tell me about it. I just wonder where it comes from!! No, I have a Dyson as well. I just did the day/night shades and the couch. I did the ceiling the other day. Other than that, I don't know what else to vacuum!

Hi guys! I've always noticed a lot of dust in my RV, not from dirt roads or anything, just regular old dust. The other day it was windy and I pulled my awning in. This means my kitchen table gets full sunlight and then you can really see the dust flying around in the air. LOTS of it. I vacuum all the time but for the life of me can't understand where the dust comes from. The day/night shades? The ceiling material? The carpeting? I really don't know. It's parked full-time and occupied full time and the AC is not used at this time of the year. It's also wet or damp out so there should be zero dust from outside. Where the heck does all the dust come from and is there any way to filter it out?

Good to know. I have no idea why people would do that. There's at least 4 of them in there mentioning the pump going way over pressure (pressure switch failing) and the owner having to do some expensive/extensive in-wall repairs. I'm not claiming it, just mentioning what I saw owners reporting. I look for trends in reviews before buying anything new. I've found that quality control can also change over time as companies try to save $$. If a person want to be certain, put a pressure regulator on the outlet of the pump.

I looked into that pump on Amazon. I suggest reading the reviews carefully from purchasers. I was quite surprised. It seems more than a few of those pumps put out well over 120 PSI and burst pipes/joints all over their units causing some serious damage. Not trying to be a negative Nelly - I was just surprised - I didn't think an RV pump could possibly create that much pressure. The reason I looked into them was because I was hoping to find a pump that puts out ~60 PSI with some good volume. That's why I looked into them.

I went with a Flow Max DS-01230-D2 12V 3.3 GPM Water Pump. In fact, I bought two. I'm very happy with it. The pressure is adjustable. There is a small screw in the bottom that you can turn to set the pressure the pump cuts out at. That pump is rated for ~45 PSI which should be just fine out of the box. I used to run mine at 60 PSI but it makes the pump run too long and it has a hard time getting up there. Yesterday I turned it back to about 40 PSI which works well with my park's water. That way I can leave the pump on 24x7 and if the park water is below 40 PSI (it's normal pressure) the pump will make up the difference. If the park water is off I don't even notice. I would be as concerned about park water pressure. That can vary a lot and easily go past 60 PSI which I consider the maximum safe limit. If you need an example of a good cheap regulator I can post one.

Way to go! When you put the new one in, use a LOT of Teflon tape and less force. If it still leaks, take it back out, remove the Teflon tape, and put even more on. I have found it always takes more than I thought and I've done it so many times now that I just wrap it until you almost can't see the threads anymore.

Did you not have Teflon tape on the nylon plug? On my Atwood I need to use a lot of Teflon tape to get it to seal. Anyway, can you use a sharp pick to remove the pieces? I don't think I would be too concerned about using heat if you need to. Depending on how much of it is remaining you may be able to use a lot of heat and then pry the remainder up and grab it with needle nose pliers or some such. Btw, a picture is often worth a thousand words 😉

Just a thought, and maybe off-base, but can you replace the entire unit with a different brand/design that does the same thing? My guess is the lines are probably a standard size.

It's a common issue. Mine broke with the same kink as you had. That aluminum rail in your pic should be the trolley. You can redesign it so that it moves better without much hassle. I did a fair bit of rearranging when I did mine and when done the slide operated much better so it was binding in a number of areas. By the looks of it you have easy access...

I had to do mine on my 2000 Diplomat. I know it's different but I cut a large access hole in the bathroom wall to get at it and later covered it with a stainless plate. I also did a fair bit of re-engineering to ensure it doesn't happen again. At the time it was a terrible job as it was the first major work I had to do and it leaked a ton. Lots of whining on my part 🙂 When I look back on it, cutting the access port in the wall was the ticket. Once I did that it all more/less fell into place. I also had to do a bit of re-design to ensure the issue never crops up again. Part of the reward was much smoother slide-out operation. Night & Day as it was binding. I'm very happy that I cut that access port in the wall. I now have access to what used to be the inaccessible end of the slide out. I agree with your assessment on changing how the plumbing goes into the grey tank. When I first got the unit I re-engineered the black tank flushing system. This necessitated running new PEX across the unit and creating a new hole in the black tank on the passenger side. It was a fair bit of work because I had to take the wet bay apart but I can't tell you how glad I am that I re-engineered it.

Yours is identical to mine except mine 36. One day I'll probably do the interior but for now, it's stock. Most of my efforts have gone into infrastructure. Water, Internet, TV's etc. That and maintenance. The last thing I will do is the inside.

Sorry, I should have been more clear, when I was referring to the million mile chassis it was my old DP not Dad's new gasser 🙂