Georgia Mike

Here is a picture of the wires I’m talking about. The small gauge black and white wires piggybacked on the larger gauge wires.

I installed a Amish unit on Monday and need some advice. First, my old cooling unit worked fine except the cooling fans never came on both times we went on a trip. It was cool weather and it seems to keep the temps in range. When installing the new coil I put in a new thermal switch and fans. Just before installing it back in the wall I tested the fans by heating the switch with a lighter and the fans didn't work. I traced the wires down to the control board and found I didn't have 12 volts on the one prong for the fans. Tell me if i am wrong but shouldn't there be a constant 12 volts on that circuit and the thermal switch just opens and closes to run the fans? I figured the fan part of the board was bad so i ended up wiring the fans to the Frig Defender. I installed it back into the wall and hooked everything back up and it went down hill from there. After about two hours of running on gas the frig defender shut it down. I then tried it on AC and it started to cool a little bit but after a few hours the Frig Defend shut it down again. I disconnected the Frig Defend and ran the factory Norcold Electronics. The boiler temperature kept going from 350 to 450 range back and forth but i figured it needed to do this. I left and came back a few hours later and it was shut down again and had the No Co error. I then wired the AC heating elements direct bypassing the control board and hard wired the fans and after about 7 hours i was below 0 in the freezer and 28 in the frig so I guess I have a problem with the wiring or control board. Even though it worked before the change out i was wondering if the thermistor is bad. I have the Snip it to install so I am going to install that tomorrow and see if it does anything. I noticed on the two heavy gauge fan wires (black and white) that connect on the bottom of the control board there are two thin gauge wires piggy backed to those same two prongs that go in a plug harness on the bottom of the board. I am not sure what they control but since there is no 12 volts on that fan circuit what ever those thin wires control isn't working. I looked at a Norcold schematic but it really didn't show what they connect to. The control board worked fine before the change out so those two small wires on the fan circuit didn't have power then. My plan is to hook everything back up with the new snip it thermistor and hope it works. Just a few Points.....the frig is level and both of the fuses on the board are good. I have been working on this all week and im tired of looking at it. If anyone has an idea what those wires go to that would help.

In the 3 months of ownership I have done a lot on it. When I purchased it the batteries and tires were all brand new so that was a plus for sure. The batteries were Trogan as well. I replaced the skylight because it had cracks in it. I changed all fluids and filters for a baseline even though the previous owner had them changed recently. I installed a wax valve from Source engineering because the fan was running full speed and I replaced my Norcold coil with an Amish unit and installed the Frig defend. I have a new Thomas compressor sitting on my work bench so that’s the next project I’m going to tackle and I have some air leaks I have to find even though I have replaced a lot of push fittings. Some surprises I found was I have the Safety Steer on it and I’m pretty sure it has the Watts link installed on the front. When I was under looking for leaks I saw this thing on a pivot with two arms going from it and later saw someone commenting about the Watts link so I looked it up and I’m almost positive that’s what I have. Anyways as everyone knows there’s always something to do on these rigs but I enjoy doing it. So far I have been on two long trips and I sure does drive super smooth on the road.

When I was young my family camped in a 1978 Apache Roamer. Later on my ex-wife and I bought a 22 foot Sunline travel trailer and camped every year in the Smokey’s. Later in life in my 30’s when I got remarried we got a Coachman travel trailer but sold it after a few years because our new house wouldn’t allow parking it outside and storage lots where to expensive. I wanted my two young boys to experience camping so I tried to find something I could fit in our garage. I ended up finding a 1977 Apache Ramada that I gutted and rebuilt with a tub and shower and repainted the outside. It took me a year on weekends but when it was done it was nice. People in the campgrounds thought it was new. We went all over the eastern part of the United States in that thing. We finally out grew it after about 6 years and bought a new Keystone Passport with bunk beds and had that for about 5 years when my wife one night found a 2000 Fleetwood Discovery on Craigs list. I was a little hesitant being since I liked our setup so I reluctantly went and looked at it. Well we went the next day and man this thing was like brand new, I was hooked. After driving and camping in this I thought this is the way to travel. Well, after about about 9 years we wanted something nicer and I wanted a tag axle. That’s when we found our current Dynasty this last December and so far we are very happy.

Richard, I found this video that shows you how to get into the system and calibrate it. Oops didn’t see someone already posted it

Thanks, I am going to crawl under and see how exposed it looks and wrap it in some water proof material.

Where is this connector for the TCM located that gets wet? I looked on line and some people say it’s in the front run bay on other Monaco’s. I haven’t had any problems with the transmission but if I do I want to know where to look first.

Richard, mine was inside that stainless service door near the hose reel. I would think it would be out in open and accessible but maybe they hid it in an odd place you never know.

Richard, reading your story sounded like you telling my first drive home in my countess. I have the same problem of the small compressor not working and I had the driver side wiper go all the way past the windshield and get stuck there in pouring rain. Stoped at Walmart as you did and got rain x. I purchased a small ladder and was in the parking lot putting it on in the rain. I also have water coming out of my hose reel hose end. I put a cap on it for the time being. I think it’s a bad check valve but I’m not sure where it’s located. Anyways glad you made it back ok and I’m sure you will get everything to your liking in time.

I would like to get a locking fuel cap as well for my Dynasty. Only one of the bay doors on both sides of the fuel tank lock. Has anyone found a locking cap for these tanks?

Thanks Dan for the information. I will know where to look when my power reel stops working. I looked in the Monaco owners manual but couldn’t find any information about it.

You have to open the stainless door and its right in front of the hose reel. I pressed it and nothing happened from what i can tell. Thanks Mike but its not that. I have switches in front of this area like a false wall that has the power cord reel for electric, water, sani flush, water pump and something else i forget. This switch is by itself and I traced the wires into a bundle. Anyways, just thought someone might know its bugging me.

Had to go over and winterize my bus again and while I was in the water bay area I found this switch and was wondering what it’s for.

We just purchased our 06 Dynasty and I plan on getting a Hughes Autoformer. In my opinion it is a must have to protect your ac motors, microwave or anything that low voltage will effect. My previous Motorhome was a older Fleetwood Discovery that believe it or not was 30 amp service. The first two years of ownership I had to replace my shore power plug 4 times, almost after any long trip because it was melting from getting so hot. It had a shedding system that would regulate the power and I thought something was wrong with it. Someone on one of the forums I was posting on said to get one and after installing it I still have the same plug end 7 years later. If you have a voltage meter in your bus you would be surprised how often the voltage drops below 105 or even lower at RV parks especially when it’s crowded. When it drops that low your ac units or anything else draw more amps and has to work harder and the motors run hotter ( ohms law lower voltage=higher amps) so you end up shortening the life of your ac units. The autoformer boosts the voltage I think 10-15 percent only when it determines that it is low and keeps it in the correct range of 115-120. I know there are some that don’t like them but from my experience ever since I installed mine on my Discovery around 2014-15 I haven’t had one electrical problem or replaced any appliances.

I did the same as Doug and just took off the regulator at the grill and installed a quick connect fitting. I purchased a quick connect LP hose from Amazon and got some of the fittings from Home Depot to convert it. I only have the stove top and the refrigerator that use propane for the 38 gallon tank so It will be nice not to use those disposable bottles. It works great!

Yes we were the second ones to look at it that day. We have the same year and model but yours has 5 bay doors on the passenger side between the wheels and we have 4 doors. Ours has Aqua hot or is it something else that would make it different just curious.

Bought it Melbourne Fla. This is a few pictures of it when i picked it up from the seller. It had a motorcycle lift on the back which i removed and sold. And also to Paul yes I will find some time soon to come to Woodstock to get my system backed up. I will get in touch with you soon.

Richard, I see you are getting the same coach that I just purchased. Bought it in Florida from a private seller just before Christmas. We really love this layout and love the way this thing drives and handles. My previous motorhome I thought drove ok but when I drove this for the first time it was like night and day. My older Freightliner chassis felt top heavy when going around long bends in the road or turning corners but not the this thing it handles so much better. I don’t know if it’s the tag or the air bags being out further from the middle but it’s fantastic on the road.

Mike, thanks for all of the information. I don’t understand fully how this air system works on this Motorhome I am still learning. My previous Motorhome was a Fleetwood Discovery with just 4 air bags and not as complex. I just came back from a trip and fortunately our site was level so I didn’t have any problems. I ordered some heavy duty jack stands and plan on going under soon to start looking for leaks. I have replaced two dump valves that were hissing bad and can’t hear any other audible leaks. The rear seams to stay up fine but the driver side starts to drop with in 30 min then the the entire front goes down in a few hours. My Thomas compressor isn’t working either so I plan on pulling that out as well. I have another one I ordered to replace. I will check all the areas you mentioned and hope I find something obvious.

Paul, I just purchased my 06 Monaco in December and would like to get my system backed up. I would be interested in buying your system or driving somewhere to get it done. I live in Georgia so I’m not sure where you are or where I could get the backup done. My system is working fine but I don’t want to put it off until something goes wrong.

I cleaned the contacts and still didn’t work. I went out to front run bay and found both of those actuator fuses and pulled them both and they were good. Tried the door and everything works perfect. I guess pulling those two fuses reset it. Now i know what to check for if it happens again. Thanks for the help guys

We are on our Maiden voyage and so far no major problems fingers crossed. Only issue is our keyless entry has been working fine but as we left to go out yesterday I hit 555 on the key pad and the doors locked just fine. When we arrived back an hour later it wouldn’t work. It lights up and beeps when you press the buttons but nothing happens. Also the key fobs don’t work either and they always worked fine. I looked for fuses in the front run bay and nothing was marked keyless or door entry and the fact that it lights up seems that it’s getting power. The Essex manual was no help.

Thanks Granville for the information about removing the unit that’s what I am going to do when I return from this trip. While I was under checking the unit it was extremely dirty, it’s a wonder it works at all. I think I will make a box or something to that affect as others have done to help protect it from the elements. Main issue is figuring out why the front bleeds down so fast…..going to have go under and spray a lot of soapy water on everything. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

I shorted out the two terminals you said and I heard a click which I assume was the solenoid working but the motor didn’t turn so I assume it’s shot Unless it’s the brushes as you mentioned

So I went under looking for an in-line fuse for this compressor and I can’t seem to find one Well regardless of the fuse I just went under and Pulled apart the connector at the compressor and I had 12 V so I guess the pump is bad.