Patricia Ferrara

Hello fellow Monacoers! My husband, Mike (in his early 70’s) & I (early 60’s) have been FT RVing since 2020: first traveling in a 24’ Class C for 19 months, took a break for a year, then bought our current Monaco Diplomat in March of 2022. Mike is retired military & also a retired IT specialist; I have been disabled by a MVA since 1993. We have a house in Mississippi that we rent out (to family, so just enough to cover mortgage & taxes). With the price of diesel these days, Mike didn’t want to stretch the budget with traveling, so he landed a sweet work camper deal doing security and maintenance at a resort in northern Texas, which covers our full hookup site, (including electricity and WIFI), and makes extra $$$ besides. We have no plans to go back to “sticks & bricks”, as we are quite comfortable & enjoy resort living. Down the road, we *may* travel again, if the cost of diesel goes down (& we get itchy feet). But staying put does keep down the wear & tear costs from the road. Yes, things DO break (still have to finish figuring out the EMS board, as step 1 didn’t work), and there will always be maintenance issues - but now that the resort’s busy season is finally starting to wind down, we will be able to address these things prior to winter setting in (hopefully). The WSJ article was interesting, and the various scenarios of the people profiled may or may not be “typical” in terms of financial and economic conditions (most of them seem much better off than the average RVers we’ve met in our travels), but whether RVers or boaters, we seem to share the same “wanderlust”, or at least are “free spirited”. And we must add: It’s so very nice to belong to this group of like minded folks who are so willing to share their experiences and knowledge, and we’re very appreciative of Tom & everyone who donate their time and effort to make Bill D’s Monacoers such a great source of information and support! Happy Halloween everyone!🦇🎃🧙‍♀️

And thanks Myron! So very nice of you to share the wiring diagram… hopefully, our sister ships are wired similarly (but I have read that every Monaco is “unique”, sort of like fingerprints; also, there’s no telling what upgrades/aftermarket items were installed by the previous owners lol). Yes, Myron, the bedroom AC circuit breaker does trip on occasion, which is why we do not turn on the water heater unless we are doing showers. We also leave the closet door ajar to facilitate airflow, resulting in less frequent tripping issues. IMHO, placing the breaker box in this location is a “design flaw”, but what do I know lol!

Thanks Tom! We will attempt your instructions to reboot the EMS after the holiday weekend, as we are work campers & the resort will be crazy until next week. I will update you with the results. Oh, and we DID find a slight drain on the house batteries: somehow, the storage light switch by the front door got flipped on (usually, it’s the salesman switch that gets bumped, but it’s pretty obvious when that happens). Thanks Jim! I have located the wiring diagrams and plan to study them after the holiday weekend here at the resort is over. Hopefully, I won’t have to go through the rear wall to get to a junction box or anything.

Hello Monaco family! We might be having some electrical issues with our 2008 Monaco Diplomat 41 SKQ. Our Intellitec 50 amp Smart EMS display no longer lights up. The 120 volt line & outlet to the water heater is dead (so we use LP only when needed for showers). And it doesn’t seem that our house batteries are getting charged enough for my husband’s peace of mind. Our float charge readings are between 12.9 - 13.1. We are stationary, full-timers with full hookups, so we have rarely interrupted 50 amp service. We have been enduring north Texas 100F temps all summer, but our house batteries are fluid checked, and hydrometer readings look ok. Cleaned all battery terminals and connections. DH had an RV tech come yesterday that verified dead water heater 120 V line & outlet, but the yellow cable runs into the back wall and goes who knows where 🤷🏼‍♀️. So… I am wondering if these issues could be related to the blank EMS, are separate random issues, or what else might be involved. Also, links to help a beginner like me understand charging systems, inverters, etc. would be most appreciated! Thanks!

Awesome job on the replacement! I just had to replace the macerator motor on our Tecma, so keeping our fingers crossed that it works for awhile. But good to know that Dometic has a similar model that can replace it in the event that it eventually fails.

Our TV antenna (for local stations) unexpectedly deployed (& was removed) shortly after we purchased our ‘08 Diplomat. We don’t watch much TV anyway, so we never replaced it. I suggested to my husband that we put a small golden unicorn horn there, but his military mind wanted something representative of “flipping someone the bird”… Needless to say, the situation hasn’t been resolved lol! Perhaps we need an alternative idea that we might agree upon (and also save our idyllic marriage)? Open to any & all suggestions! (My apologies if this borders on absurdly inane or offensive).

Big thanks to Frank & Tom, for explaining DPF and Regen issues I terms that even I (brand new to Diesel Pushers) could understand! I am saving this information for easy access, should we need it in the future. Bravo!!!

Thanks Luther! Good to know! Happy trails!

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe & warm holiday season! Hope that you & your family/friends have a wonderful Christmas, filled with happiness, peace, joy & love! Best wishes to you all!!!

My thanks to Tom & Fasthobie for the solutions! We did end up getting a short heavy duty extension cord to plug in both the refrigerator & the ice maker, then plug the cord into the refrigerator outlet (yes, the ice maker WAS on the GCFI circuit). No further issues with anything tripping since. Also, we replaced the 50 amp plug & sealed, so that the wires are no longer exposed. So, thanks again for all your help! Next time we post, it’ll probably be some winterizing questions, if we can’t find the answers in previous posts. Safe travels y’all!

Thanks Tom! And you do NOT sound “dictatorial”! Now that we know that we’ll be stationary, we can get on top of these (and other) issues, prior to winter setting in. Thanks for the detailed instructions in your replies to the issues that I have posted (so far lol!). I can pretty much guarantee that we’ll have more questions in the near future, so your help is very much appreciated!

Update: Cancelled previous Pass & Seymour GFCI order & reordered Eaton, to be delivered sometime Thursday. Also: when we bought this motor home in March, the 50 amp power cord had to be Gorilla taped, as there was some exposed wires where the plug connected to the rubber insulated conduit (here’s a pic). I thought that it should be replaced, but we taped it up good (and of course, then we forgot about it, as other issues, like the air bag suspension pressure & hub oil leaks, seemed of higher priority). So, regarding this power cord/plug, I’m thinking that it might be a good idea to have it taken care of also, yes?

Wow! Thanks Tom! That’s a lot of information! When Mike gets home, I’ll let him read everything, as he has more experience with Class A DP’s than I do. I WAS able to verify that we do NOT have an IOTA transfer switch (thank God!) but what I think we have is a Power Max PMTS-50 (box located in 50 amp power cord bay). Also, we are full timers, work camping in northern Texas, and it looks like Mike’s seasonal position will now be year round, so we are stationary. We use a Southwire surge protector at the 50 amp pedestal, (in addition to the onboard one, that I think I remember was in the same bay as the Power Max transfer box) and all the lights are green - so that means that there are no issues with the power pedestal, correct? That’s about all that I can check on my own, lol! I will run all this by Mike when he gets home from work… Thanks! Patti

Thanks Fasthobie16! None of the breakers in the panel are tripping - only the GFCI receptacle in the wall (which is located in the hallway near the floor, going to the rear of the rig. We thought it was a rather strange place for a GCFI, given that most are located either near the kitchen sink or in bathrooms, both of which have ZERO GFCI’s!). If the new Pass & Seymour GCFI doesn’t solve the problem, I guess we’ll have to try to track it down with the voltmeter. And (oops!) our fridge does have it’s own breaker in the panel, but it’s never tripped. But the ice maker & ice dispenser light ARE on the circuit with the front AC receptacles, including the troublesome GFCI (as the refrigerator still works on shore power, but the ice maker/dispenser doesn’t when GFCI receptacle trips). Thanks for all the information & suggestions! Safe travels!

Hello Everyone! New Monaco owners here. (2008 Monaco Diplomat 41 SKQ). Been having issues with GCFI popping, so replaced it. Everything seemed ok for awhile, but then started tripping again. Looked up electrical schematic in manual to see what all is on that circuit: all front AC outlets on coach, plus the ice maker in Dometic side by side fridge/freezer. After flipping up the bar on ice maker to turn it off, issue SEEMED solved for a couple weeks. However, GCFI tripped again last evening, and immediately “retrips” when rest. Upon reading other threads on this forum, we found several possibilities that could be the issue: 1) One person said that when replacing a GCFI, to only use a Pass & Seymour 20 amp/120 volt GCFI (it’s on it’s way); 2) Our inverter, a Magnum ME2012, is a MSW inverter/charger, (MSW’s do not “play nice” with GCFI’s, as per the post) so advice was to not use GCFI’s - period. Short of replacing the inverter with a pure sine wave model, can anyone shed some light on this topic? (And WHY would Monaco not have the refrigerator on it’s own circuit!?!) Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Patti & Mike