Marine Boy

Awesome job to ALL!  Thank you for all of your efforts!

Sorry, but you won't find an off the shelf dash panel to match.  One option comes from the marine industry with a company called New Wire and they custom make dash panels with many options of configuration, prewired with switches or many other ways.  Here is there website  https://newwiremarine.com/  

Another option if you are handy with wood work is to get a product used in the marine industry called starboard.  It is a plastic that can be worked like wood and comes in many different colors, finishes and thicknesses.  When I made my own dash panel, I used starboard that was 7/16" thick, so it could carry the weight of the stereo and other items.  A good company to check out for this is: https://www.boatoutfitters.com/   They will sell you pieces cut to size and even put holes if it for you, for a charge of course.

See pictures of my dash.  The panel under the stereo is the panel I made out of Starboard.

Good Luck, John

Not sure what manufacturer you have but I would guess if you contact them with the info on yours, they will tell you how many wraps you need to put on the spring for a pre-load.  I have a CareFree and they have those specs available.  Everyone is different depending on the size.

2 hours ago, Lionel said:

Yes John is is the the plastic lever with a cable going to the release?

I have not been able to find my invoice from who I bought those from about 18 months ago.   I think it was rvfurnitureparts.com  There have been a number of other good recommendations, but if I remember correctly I only paid about $30 a pair back then.  Prices I am seeing seem much higher now.

Good luck.

31 minutes ago, Lionel said:

2003 Monaco Dynasty with 400 ISL trying to find a seat mechanical tilt lever.........checked forever but nothing I can see.  Emailed quite a few salvage companies and they never seem to reply.

Thx

Is the the plastic lever with a cable going to the release?  

FYI-MY Toyo M144s have been on my bus since Jan 2022 and were about 3 months old at installation.   I have not had any smell....  Been very happy with them.

FYI - Did the same repair about a year ago and at the time I was told by Villa that the parts for these vintage seats are all old stock and once they are all sold they will not be made again.  The person I talked to had been there a while and seemed very knowledgeable. 

Thanks for sharing!   Just want to let you know how JEALOUS I am seeing your shop pictures.  It took me a while to get my wife to understand, it is all about the tools and of course work environment.  Would love to hear back with your impression of the Toyo M144 after you put some miles on them.   I have been very happy with mine.

Just to share my recent insurance experience.  Was with National General which my December renewal went from $1400 to $1700.  Shopped and Progressive insured me are $1325.  You have to shop your insurance every year.  After 4 years having my cars with Progressive, in November they raised my rate by 25% with no claims or points on any driver.  Had to change to "The Hartford", which decreased my rate to a few dollars less than my previous year with Progressive.  Yes, I moved my RV to Progressive and took my car away from them.

If a powered on electric heating element in a hot water system, is not covered with water inside the take, it will only take a few hours to damage the heating element.  Once damaged, replacement is the only option.  There could be many reasons for no water on the element.  My recommendation is to always turn off power to your hot water system when water pressure is not supplied to the system.

Just to share a one time problem I had.  I do have what sounds like the same system/Dynasty you have.  When I had a problem with slides not working, through trouble shooting, I found out that the motor circuits and solenoids circuits were controlled by different relay boxes in multiplex system, so I jumped it at the multiplex box in the PS rear closet and got it to work.  So after thinking about it and reading some blogs, there were comments about sometime the multiplex needs to be reset, which is just powering down the complete electrical system by turning off the main battery switches in the PS rear battery compartment for minute or two.  This will reboot the multiplex system.  This fixed my problem that happened almost a year ago.

Easy thing to try.

7 minutes ago, Donflem said:

John it looks like you did a swap out with the Eaton c25fnf360a so I’m going to order that part from Amazon and do that swap. Thanks for the info. I’ll let everyone know how it went.

Don

Hi Don,  You may want do the test in my explanation, to make sure the control board is working properly and data is sent to Aladdin properly.   Best, John

27 minutes ago, Tom Cherry said:

Many posts...some comments are NOT applicable to the Surge Guard ATS that OP has. Here is the Background, as I THINK that I (MOI) understand it, but anyone that has more technical or correct information needs to chime in.

There was one (I think...maybe a few others) Surge Guard ATS used that had an output with an Interface that worked with the Aladdin System. NOT sure about the various versions of Aladdin, but on the later Dynasties (circa the 2007 or so), this is correct.

Surge Guard stopped making that particular model or maybe decided that it's technology was out of date. There were also some issues or maybe changes in the Aladdin and the need to mate up the Aladdin and the Surge Guard did NOT have that much demand.  Frank McElroy and chime in with the specifics...but in general, Don't ATS is broken. He ordered a NEW ONE and it will not interface with his Aladdin. 

John ( @Marine Boy ) did an great job of chasing down the repair parts so that the older Surge Guard could be salvaged. He "FIXED" it and then provided the following White Paper (an Old Yahoo Term) or HOW TO... Here it is.  

 NOW, specifically, for Don's dillema... 

YES, the Surge Guard, IF it is is "Broken" as in the Cutler Hammer Contactor, it CAN be FIXED.  Read the HOW TO and then decide "CAN I DO THIS?"

Next up is some information that many of us, offline, have discussed. There is a MOV (google that term) board in the ATS. That board or Printed Circuit 
Board is what provided the Protection for SURGES. There are also at least one or maybe TWO fuses. If the MOV's (Surge Protection Sacrificial devices) get ZAPPED OR if one of the fuses blows, then there will be error codes. Ordinarily, Surge Guard recommends that you return for examination....as in.. "We don't fix these turkeys....buy a new one".  That is a little harsh, but the Surge Guard ATS are NOT or were NOT designed for Field Repairs. TRC/Surge Guard's number one Field Rep tried to get them to redesign.  NOPE.  He left.  He and his EE Brother designed a Surge Suppressor.  He called his company "Progressive Industries" and Tommy Fannelli was the owner or the Ex TRC Employee and the rest is history.

OK....back to the Surge Guard.  The Contactor can be replaced. The MOV's and the Fuses can be replaced. However, the electronic skills to remove and replace the MOV's may not be in some folk's "Skill Set"

NOW, there supposedly is a "Remote Monitor" Panel that can be used to get the Aladdin INFO.  Don't know the cost or how hard it would be to install....

There are many folks, in the past...here, I think, but definitely on the old Yahoo Site that said...  I WANT SIMPLICITY. They installed a Progressive HW50C and have ALL the features of the Surge Guard, plus many more and a smidge more "Surge Capacity". The HW50C is FIELD serviceable. Two simple PCB boards and a Contactor. They also installed the ESCO (LYGHT) ATS. Again.  Simplicity and can be FIELD FIXED as ESCO supplies tech support and parts.

In Don's case... TOTALLY up to him. USUALLY, if an Electronic Component has NOT been installed and is in the original box and packaging, then most vendors will accept returns. SOME WILL NOT...  Some have a Restocking fee.  SO....the options.

Install the new switch.  Live without or add the supplemental monitor.  I would do the MATH on that.

Fix the Old Switch.  Read up and decide...can I DO THIS?  

Abandon the setup.  Return the new Switch.  Put in the HW50C and the LPT50BRD (LYGHT) ATS. Maybe $600 and I think that is HIGH. One phone cable will be run inside the MH and you mount the Remote for the HW50C.

Not my call....just the options as I see them...

Hope this clarifies and also provides the HOW TO to fix the broken Surge Guard....IF..BIG IF...It was the SAME issue as John has.

Good Luck.  Let us know what you do.  It helps everyone learn...

Thanks Tom, for clarifying all of the possibilities.  I know I am not the best at writing full details on issues as being ADHD type person, my brain isn't good at spelling out detail. LOL!

Happy Holidays to All!

I recently repaired my Surge Guard 40250 by replacing the relay.  First question is do you have a functioning Aladdin system that you want to keep using?  If you do and the relay in your SG is the problem, you can fix it by replacing the bad relay.  I recently wrote a paper on my repair for our blog.  Go to downloads at the top of our blog page and under "What's New" my paper is the first item explaining my repair.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.   You could probably give the repair process to your mechanic if you can't do it your self.  Good Luck.

If you don't have your units build sheet, I would first get it from REV.   On that build sheet you will find the model/serial numbers for most of the items that were installed on your bus when built new.  With the numbers of your awning, Carefree will be able to tell you what product you have.  From there, Carefree will be able get you what you need including awning fabric size needed.  Carefree also has video's on how to service their awnings.  

The battery in the picture has frozen and cracked.  Must be replaced and I would almost guarantee the other battery is not good.  Sorry, but you will need to replace the two engine batteries.   Don't know about the house batteries??

295/80 x 22.5 is a very common tire size.  If that is what is called for, I would get them.

On my 2006 Dynasty, the door seal air pressure won't release without the transmission in neutral.  I have to keep telling my wife to give me a few more seconds once I set the airbrake, so I can put the transmission into park, or the door won't open.

1 hour ago, hex_nut said:

John

My generator contactor starts chattering and drops connection with any load above about 15 amps.  The generator continues to run with no load as the ATS goes through its timed delay process and then reconnects to generator power.  This process just repeats itself as long as the load is present.  It will support the battery charger (12 to 13 amp load), but not the microwave or an air conditioner.  Does all that make sense?

Richard

Richard,

Yes, it sounds like the contactor coil going bad.  Have you opened up the 40250 yet and checked all of the connections inside?  You could also manually push in the contactor to engage it.  I always try to check every possibility before you spend money for parts.

John

2 hours ago, hex_nut said:

John

It is the generator side contactor that has failed on mine.  Are the two contactors (shore and generator) in the 40250 the same?  If so, I can order the single contactor you found on Amazon and replace the failed generator one on mine (or just order two and replace them both).  Thanks for your assistance.

Richard

Richard, 

I am in the process of writing a full description on why and how I fixed mine.  Hope to have it done in the next few days.  There was no marking on the generator contactor, but I see no reason they would be different.  You have to keep in mind that the contactor cluster was sold in one unit with two contactors and a make/break switch which you can see in my picture being the white part at the bottom of the cluster.  As I explained the cluster is NLA, which is why I replaced the bad contactor.

How did you test the contactor to verify it is bad?

Best, John

Do you have a Winegard amp panel for free to air reception and it also accepts the cable input.  I had a similar problem and I'd was a bad amp/switching unit.  FYI - the amp is powered by 12vdc, which also be picking up interference from other 12v sources in your bus.

On 10/14/2023 at 5:48 PM, Tom Cherry said:

John,

Thanks for the post.  This is a request from the STAFF.  Could you please write up a “paper” on how you did this and the source. Also,exactly, since pictures and narratives help, as to the step by step.  PM me the Word or whatever document and we will convert to a PDF and have it as a resource for others.

 Thanks 

 

Hi Tom,

Sorry for slow reply, trying to catch up after being gone for 3 months.   I will do my best to get a report done in the next week or so.

Best,

John

Hi All,

I was the one that started this thread a few weeks ago.  When on a long trip my Surge Guard 40250 transfer switch failed.  So everyone understands, this switch is NLA/old technology, but it talks to Aladdin.  To finish my trip, I bypassed the failed shore power contactor, which required disconnecting the generator inside the transfer switch box, for safety.   All has worked well on our trip and while traveling, I did some research, findding a possible contactor replacement, which I ordered, so it was at my house when we got home.    A few days ago, we returned Home and the contactor was waiting for us. 

To make it clear, the contactor pack in the 40250 is a Cutler-Hammer C65FNF360, which is a cluster of 3 contactors.  This part is no longer available.  I don't know the history, but Cutler-Hammer and Eaton are sister companies now.  The contactors in this cluster can be separated which is what has to be done for my repair.  The contactor I purchased for the shore power line is an Eaton C25FNF360A which can be purchased on Amazon for a little over a $100 or Granger has it for $260.  The part number is important, because one letter difference can change coil voltage among other things.  This contactor can be disassembled and serviced with parts, but I don't know what parts are available, if any, which is why I am replacing the complete contactor.   When removing and changing out the one bad contactor, you have to  be careful since there are mechanical connectors between the contactors, so the shore power and generator contactors can't be engaged at the same time.

The repair went as hoped and all is working as it should including data coming out of the transfer box for Aladdin.  FYI - I was lucky that there was no damage to the control board.

Hope this helps someone.  It was way cheaper than a new transfer switch and still talks to Aladdin.

F

Installed Toyo M144s in Jan 2022, replacing Michelins.  Very happy after 15,000 miles since.  Just to share another observation.  While tire shopping for both RV and Toad tires, I received multiple comments from companies that sell Michelins, they are seeing tire compound on aging michilens getting hard just a few years into service.  On my bus, I was replacing Michelins that were about 5 years old and noticed a big improvement in ride.  I just finished a 7500 mile trip and half way through noticed how harsh the ride on my Ford Edge(Toad) was getting.  Had new Perelli tires installed and was amazed at the difference/improvement in ride.  And at this tire store the tech there said how hard the old tire compound was.  I know car and truck tires are quite different, but just sharing my experience. 

Does your system have a accumulator tank?  If so, check the pressure in the bladder.  You need to do that with the water pressure released?   Also check the pre-pump filter.