RoadTripper2084

Thanks.  The bypass is for when the check valve sticks closed, preventing air from moving from the wet side to the dry side of the tank.  In my case, the dry side fills fine, but it appears that the check valve doesn't close when the wet side loses pressure.  So in this case, the bypass technique would not solve my problem, unfortunately.

Okay, I've got all my parts I think. Not sure when I'll start this but I plan on proceeding with the upper DS beltline, as it is in the worse condition. I'm going to try to do 1/3 segments at a time if I can (front 1/3, middle 1/3, rear 1/3). It'll just be me working on a ladder so will be slower going for sure.

I ended up with a full box of 500 rivets, paid for a box of 250 so not sure where they went wrong, perhaps the fellow who took my order said screw it and sent to 500 anyway. I'm sure my order is next to nothing compared to their commercial/industrial customers anyway.

23 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

The problem with trying to clear the valve is that it's in the middle between two tanks, that both will change pressure slowly.  And you need volume, not pressure to clear it, the pressure difference makes the volume.  You don't want to remove a plug under pressure, but you could add a ball valve, charge it up, and open the ball valve to get good flow. 

Thanks for the suggestion, I like the ball valve idea.

12 hours ago, Frank McElroy said:

This document should explain what you need to do.

 

Thanks for this! 

Quote

Take care not to drop the check valve into the reservoir when removing or installing it. The res. ervoir can not be used if the check valve is lost in it. A loose check valve could scratch the tefion coating of the interior of the reservoir, causing it to corrode. If the check valve is not recoverable, replace the reservoir.

Ugh.  

Somebody was having a bad day at the tank design office when they decided an internal check valve was a good idea.

It does say that some units use an external connection. Hopefully mine is one of those, as I give my chance of success of getting the old valve out, without dropping it in the tank, and another in, without dropping it in the tank, at about 20% on a good day.  I'm in software, UNDO is my speciality. 😉

11 hours ago, Benjamin said:

If you have an "external check valve", this is what I expect it to look like: https://www.monacoers.org/topic/8604-air-leak-and-unknown-bolt/#comment-90665
It's not external at all, just mounted so it's more easily accessible.

 

...I just checked some photos I have of mine, I don't appear to have that large bolt in top of the center of the tank as you have, unfortunately.

13 hours ago, Frank McElroy said:

But, have you first tried airing up and quickly just dump the wet tank a few times to possibly unstick the internal check valve?

This is a good idea. Maybe if I remove end plug from the wet end of the tank I can use my air compressor to blast the valve with higher pressure air to try clear any debris. Also, removing the side plug when it is pressurized would trigger a much larger pressure drop over a short period of time, which might loosen it up.

In the document you posted they mentioned that it can fail closed (so no or low air from wet to secondary side), in which case it is acceptable to install a bypass. I assume that means using available ports to add a line between the tanks with the valve connected between them (externally). Not that this would solve my problem anyway.

Thanks, you are absolutely correct re: primary vs secondary, I was just reviewing some air brake documentation and saw that I had them confused.

So the connection between the wet and dry side of the tank is *inside the tank*?  How exactly does one access the internal check valve (with the tank removed)?

Okay folks, I was under the coach lubing things up and contemplating replacing my air dryer filter so as a test I performed the following (Spring/parking brakes were applied during all steps below):

Front/Primary Tank

1. Aired up the coach, both primary and secondary (front and rear in this case) tanks were steady at 125 PSI after the dryer purged. Engine was shut off.

2. Opened the drain petcock on the dry-side of the front tank (primary tank) fully and waited for all air to expel out (note expelled air was very dry, maybe two drops of condensation on my hand).

3. Checked the air pressure gauge on the dash, which showed the front/primary tank was now completely empty, and the rear/secondary tank was still sitting nicely at 125 PSI.

Observation: This seems normal/expected as the wet/supply tank would have tried to fill the quickly emptying primary tank as it drained, eventually draining itself in the process(since the engine wasn't running and hence, no air compressor to supplement the wet tank's air supply).

Wet/Supply Tank

1. Aired up the coach, both primary and secondary (front and rear in this case) tanks were steady at 125 PSI after the dryer purged.  Engine was shut off.

2. Opened the drain petcock on the wet-side of the front tank (Supply tank) fully and waited for all air to expel out (note expelled air was completely dry).

3. Checked the air pressure gauge on the dash, which showed the front/primary tank was now completely empty, and the rear/secondary tank was still sitting nicely at 125 PSI.

Observation: I would have expected that draining the wet/supply tank only should NOT have also caused the Front/primary tank to drain. Shouldn't there be a one way check valve or pressure protection valve between the wet/supply tank and the front/primary tank to prevent a leak in the supply circuit from also draining the primary circuit? Confusingly, looking at pg. 5 of the attached air system diagram pdf, I don't even see the connection between the wet/supply side and the dry primary side of the tank shown?

Rear/Secondary Tank

1. Aired up the coach, both primary and secondary (front and rear in this case) tanks were steady at 125 PSI after the dryer purged.  Engine was shut off.

2. Opened the drain petcock on the rear tank (secondary tank) fully and waited for all air to expel out (note expelled air was completely dry).

3. Checked the air pressure gauge on the dash, which showed that BOTH the front/primary tank and rear/secondary tanks were now completely empty.

Observation: I would have expected that draining the rear secondary tank only should NOT have also caused the front primary tank to drain. There is supposed to be a "5/8" RED FROM ONE WAY CHECK (REAR) TO WET TANK" as per the diagram on pg. 3 of the attached PDF.

So, logically, it would seem that a failing one way check valve between the primary side of the front tank and the wet/supply side would cause the failure pattern that I am observing:  open rear tank drain causes supply tank to drain into rear tank (correctly), but failed check valve also allows the primary tank to backfill into the wet/supply tank, resulting in it also draining (incorrectly).

Just wondering if anyone can confirm this (or provide additional insights)?

I haven't looked at my physical front tank connections yet to see if I can figure out how the wet/dry sides actually connect, but I assume it should be pretty obvious once I'm staring at it.

roadmasterAir20090611135315489.pdf

Well, if nothing else it sounds like you've gotten ahold of skilled mechanic who should be able to properly resolve your issue. And this is an excellent life-lesson for your daughter, that sometimes things don't go as planned and it's important to face adversity head-on, etc. etc.  😁

21 hours ago, BradHend said:

Another question I had is on the belt line.  Where should I be sealing the trim cover piece back up? 
Obviously the actual belt line piece gets sealed back to the coach side walls, but should the trim cover piece be sealed on the top and bottom, or just top? 

So the consensus seems to be to seal both the top and bottom of the beltline trim.  However, wouldn't this trap water in the beltline if/WHEN it finds its way under the trim piece?  I thought the general advice when sealing windows was to leave the bottom center edge unsealed to allow moisture to drain out if it finds it's way in?  Why is the trim different?   Pardon my confusion on this matter.

Ironically, your rigs are too new, the Downloads section on this site has a document listing ride heights from 1991-2008 models (635157635_1991-2008RideHeightChart.pdf).

The problem with filter purchases is that you have no way of knowing the actual quality of the media without destroying the filter. So you are required to buy trusted brand names to the best of your ability and hope they haven't "cost-controlled" out their quality recently in a way that negates their historical track record.

Any random knock-off might be just fine, but you have no way to know if the one you buy today is as good as the one you bought yesterday. 

30 minutes ago, Russ R said:

This link tells you how and what to use. This is a post from Chris Talin of Talin RV. Who most consider to be the expert.  The rivets should be 304 Stainless 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1377453912350209/permalink/5292789360816625

Thanks, but I'm not on Facebook.  Would you be able to re-post the contents here?

17 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Aluminum in aluminum should be fine, but not as strong as Stainless Steel.  Aluminum in a steel frame would be fine most of the time, but if there's condensation on the inside, then the aluminum will protect the steel, galvanically speaking, and you don't want the smaller piece protecting the bigger piece.  A SS rivet in aluminum will work best because the SS is more noble than the Al, so the larger Al surface will protect the SS, and they should both be a passive surface so the corrosion will be minimal, if you don't get salt or pollution on it. 

Thank you for the detailed explanation, makes sense.  

47 minutes ago, timaz996 said:

"Isn't there a concern of mixing stainless steel rivets with aluminum materials, couldn't that result in galvanic corrosion between the rivet and the frame+channel?" I would say yes. And the quality of the "stainless" will matter. There is a difference in the quality of stainless material these days. Make sure it's not just an American company, but manufactured in the US. I've seen so called "stainless" that a magnet reacted to.

I'm sourcing these from these guys (Canadian) https://www.accufastinc.com since they are a bit more local to me here. 

So I'm preparing to fix my loose beltline problems once and for all.  I've studied the youtube videos but am seeing a few differences on the types and even lengths of rivets used.  So before I place my order I wanted to get confirmation:

In this video:

...which is from a 2001 model (mine is 1997), he used aluminum rivets, .626" - .750" material length:

On this video:

...which is from a newer 2006 model, they uses 18-8 Stainless Steel Blind Rivets, Domed Head, 3/16" Diameter, for 0.751"-0.875" Material Thickness. So slightly longer rivets (and stainless).

I *believe* both of these newer coaches use aluminum frames, and that the beltline channel material is also aluminum. Isn't there a concern of mixing stainless steel rivets with aluminum materials, couldn't that result in galvanic corrosion between the rivet and the frame+channel?

My '97 coach has a steel frame, and aluminum beltline.  Should I go with the 18-8 stainless rivets, or I could get aluminum rivets with steel pins for 1/3 the price.

Thoughts?

39 minutes ago, Dr4Film said:

Yes, I tuck the small end into the slot where the back meets the seat and drape the balance over the seat and down the front somewhat.

I am always in shorts so my legs no longer stick to the seat.

This was also our solution for the sticky fake leather seat covering. I also found the seat material would grab the back of my shirt and pull it up, very annoying. Not sure what they were thinking with this material in a high end coach.

We also use some adjustable elastic straps with metal clips on each end to attach the skins to the seat back.  

Had these now for a couple of years and they are nice.  Maybe a bit of an eye-grabber in appearance but they do the job.

3 hours ago, Preston W said:

Thanks Don, U just put up a note on thr forum that I checked the JD power's value of our coach and I was shocked.I don't know if I'm reading it correctly.It said $4500.I know it's old.Has 142,000 miles and no slides but my satellite dish cost almost that much!

Whatever formula JD Powers is using for older coach values it's essentially useless. It certainly doesn't reflect the real market value of these coaches based on actual resale prices.   I think we'd know if our coaches were commonly available at $4500.

In an insurance claim, you would have a very good argument against the insurance company if they tried to value your loss on the JD Powers valuation alone.  

I just so happen to have it right beside me.  😀 

Here you go.

1997MonacoDynastyFlyer.pdf

On 5/17/2024 at 8:13 AM, Roadkillz said:

Anyone know where I could find the 1999 Dynasty brochure? I think the model being sold is actually a 34' Baron II FD based on a few thinks such as the hanging tv in bedroom and smallest kitchen. Want to confirm a few things and cannot locate any brochures from 1999 at all, let alone the dynasty one.

I have the 1997 Dynasty brochure, what would you like, the floorplans?

28 minutes ago, windsorbill06 said:

"should the metal beltline underneath be waterproof"

It should, but they leak.  The fasteners monaco used (at least on mine), were steel and rusted.  Some completely failed.  And my coach is kept indoors.     Enough fasteners rust off, and the entire belt line starts to pull away from wall.

IMO, just running sealant above the vinyl portion is only a bandaid.  The vinyl cover needs to be pulled back and fasteners inspected and replaced, as needed.

Yeah, I have 3 corners coming off that I've secured with copious amounts of proflex but my beltlines are going to need to be re-secured. 

3 hours ago, jacwjames said:

Check your belt molding all the way around the coach.  If the caulk seam fails and water gets in there is a potential for it to flow a long ways. 

I had a bad leak passenger side rear, ended up causing an area of delamination that I was able somewhat repair with epoxy but not the best option.  The leak was in the belt molding.  I ended up redoing all of the caulk, first scraping out the old, cleaning, taping off the area to be caulk and seal with Geocel.

I have a question about the beltline.  Everyone says to make sure the vinyl capping strip is water-tight but shouldn't the metal beltline underneath already be waterproof?  Doesn't it have a strip of butyl tape or something under it?  It would seem to me that the molding should be cosmetic and not be the functional water seal??

I have no idea regarding what is required for a repair like this, but it does seem to me that if you could find a donor coach at an RV scrapyard you could simply swap in the good parts with the exception of the rear cap/corner. Even there, they could probably cut out the bottom corner and fiberglass in the replacement.  Then it's just a matter of paint.

2 hours ago, lake49068 said:

This is a real reach but here goes.  We had a noise in the same general area but it was more of a bang that I initially thought was  something loose on the roof but found nothing.  Moved onto loose wiring in and over cabinets, loose cabinet panels or electronics.   Resecured everything, added bracing in the cabinets but the noise continued.  FINALLY noticed during a washing that the front door awning support arm had left a mark on the coach body...it was flopping/banging against the coach wall.  The velcro "dot" that holds the support arm in the awning arm channel had aged out allowing the arm to bang against the side wall.   Secured both support arms with short velcro straps and no more noise.  That "repair" took a year+...

Similar scenario here, though it only took me a few months to determine what was causing the issue. 🙂 

I could actually see the awning arm moving against the coach in my side mirror as well.

6 hours ago, RoadTripper2084 said:

40-60% for long term storage is ideal. 

You don't want to leave them completely drained for very long ("I usually turn inverter and charger off when stored and they drop down about 1% every 24-36 hours.  Just minor parasitic DC loads.").  I remove mine for the winter and leave it in the garage to protect it from extreme cold temps as well (Canada, eh).  They can sit disconnected for 6 months and lose about 1% of their state of charge. Amazing.

...and the project's not done until you remove that fugly plastic over the screen!  🙂

 

In fact I just re-installed the battery into the coach this morning.  Here is the before/after view of the battery state from when I removed it in October and today:

Interestingly the battery "gained" 0.03v in storage. 😎  

Perhaps the long rest did it good?  😉

40-60% for long term storage is ideal. 

You don't want to leave them completely drained for very long ("I usually turn inverter and charger off when stored and they drop down about 1% every 24-36 hours.  Just minor parasitic DC loads.").  I remove mine for the winter and leave it in the garage to protect it from extreme cold temps as well (Canada, eh).  They can sit disconnected for 6 months and lose about 1% of their state of charge. Amazing.

...and the project's not done until you remove that fugly plastic over the screen!  🙂

Now I am curious and want to read the bad and dangerous advice.  😉

12 hours ago, Bill C said:

Hi Bob, thanks for the info. I am considering "easter egging" the parts on this control board.

In which order would you try replacing the components?

I'm attaching a pic of the board for reference.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

I'd start with the capacitors, diode, and transistors. Resistors don't usually fail and when they do they tend to be burned up in appearance. 

On 4/19/2024 at 3:52 PM, Martinvz said:

We covered the rupture with a piece of paper towel and then wrapped it with magic tape (duck tape) to minimize fluid leaks. 

I'm assuming you meant to slow leaks while there was zero pressure in the lines?  I don't see how duct tape is going to keep a pressurized hydraulic line from losing all its fluid immediately?