VinceB

In addition to all the other great suggestions I suggest that you check the foam rubber gaskets on the underside of the shroud. Over time they go flat.

On my Dometics there is foam that creates seperate chambers in the unit: one for each coil. Bouncing down the road along with heat makes the gaskets flatten out becoming ineffective. The foam keeps the air for each coil from mixing with the other - they also keep the air moving in the right directions.  If these 2 air masses are allowed to mix short cycling can result which takes a toll on the breaker as well as the compressor motor. 

I had a unit that was occasionaly tripping its breaker.  It wasn't blowing real cold either. I also noticed that the compressor was cycling - probably had too high of pressure in one side of the system. After some trouble shooting, I found nothing. Sitting there just staring at the unit, I saw flat gaskets in the shroud - an Ah Ha! moment. Installed new gaskets and breaker which solved the problems.

Back in the day new shrouds came with the gaskets pre-installed - no more. There are gasket kits available but are ridiculous in price.  I went to H Depot and bought some window AC foam on a roll - self adhesive on one side - just a few dollars - IIRC 3/4" thick. The material seems to last just as long as the OEM.

The challenge was lining the foam up on the underside of the shroud.  So I just figured out where they needed to go and stuck them on the coils and other sheet metal where needed. It was not rocket surgery.

I now pay attention to how often the compressors cycle and the output of each unit taking into consideration ambient temperatures - more art than science.  When I hear short cycling or I detect that a unit is under performing I know it is time to replace the gaskets.  I've had to do it 3x over the years. I replaced only the 1 breaker in 22 years because I didn't replace the gaskets in time.

Bottom line: this is the first thing I check when a breaker trips or a unit is not performing.

35 minutes ago, dl_racing427 said:

I'd use POR-15 to coat the bay.
It's designed to work over rusty metal.  Just wire brush any loose or scaly rust, clean thoroughly and paint with POR-15.
It sets rock hard, has great adhesion, and stands up well to abrasion and chemicals.

Thanks.

9 hours ago, Robert92867 said:

Batteries are expensive.  Those 2/0 fine stranded cables with hy-pressed lugs are even more expensive. T&B Copper shield has protected my battery terminals for 20 years.

Looks identical to my battery bay. Those caps on the Trojans are horrible imho. They let acid out before I had a chance to re-install the watering kit and now I have a huge clean up to do. OR my new batteries were over filled. 

Either way I need to recoat my bay. Does anyone have a good suggestion what to use for that?

I recently went with 4 T105's wet cell.  I've been getting 6-7 years out of them due to the watering kit on them.  My  coach is parked at home and it is not a problem to water them and top them off once a month.

We dry camp about 5x in the winter 4-5 days at a stretch and always have enough power. We can't run microwave on the inverter - it is only 1500 watts and that's about what the unit pulls.

Batteries Unlimited in Glendora, CA gets $180 ea. at this time for T 105's.

On 11/30/2022 at 5:22 PM, jacwjames said:

The three fuses are

F1  Control Circuit 10 amp

F2   Starter Solenoid Circuit 10 amp

F3  Glow Plugs  25 amp

 

Just had a similar problem. jacwjames got me going again.

I had trouble finding the fuses, though. It is not intuitive.

Remove the access panel on your genset that is by the start switch. 10mm IIRC. You have to jiggle the panle around just right to get it off. 

The underside of the panel has provision to hold the radiator cap along with 2 fuses. The hose that the radiator cap is on is folded down into the cavity. Yeah, I know, odd.

You will pull that radiator cap up through the hole - that will unfold the radiator hose and allow you to access the 2 fuses that are mounted by the cap - follow the wires. The 25 amp fuse was "floating" by itself underneath the access panel. 

A word of caution.  Make sure that you measure very accurately and position everything before securing the set up. You want to make certain that the door opens only so far.  I did not think about that. Now my door opens just a bit too far and hits the awning if the awning is down. Moving the strut mount on the frame aft a 1/2" would have made the diference

Otherwise this is one of the best mods I've done to my coach.

On 11/21/2022 at 6:12 AM, DavidL said:

You might spray some WD40 into the switch and on / off / dimmer a bit to clean the contacts.

If that doesn't work, then you will have the switch so you can take a picture or get a part number of of it for finding one.

I'd go with spray contact cleaner - it won't leave an oily residue nor gather dust & lint, etc.

Here is the fuse I replaced.  I also found a 15a inside the cover on the genset that was blown.  All working fine now.

6 hours ago, Steven P said:

Vince,  here's a pic of my chassis setup.  I was waiting on my new house batteries at this time.  I noticed your 2 chassis batteries don't look the same.  I've always heard replace both w same brand, amperage, etc... could one of yours be bad?  However, I'm pretty certain my genny cranks from my house batteries and not the chassis ones.  I had to replace my dash generator start switch the other day bc it was failing.  Have you tried the batt boost switch?   When I had a bad house battery my genny wouldn't start, hold the boost switch for a minute w the chassis engine running and got it to fire up. 

Both chassis batteries are brand new and identical - same brand and manufacturer. Just the cases are different because of supply line issues.

4 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

Comments….

FIRST….STOP.  Go to the Chassis Batteries.  Verify that the RED Jumper is on BOTH positive terminals.  I can’t tell from the Picture.  Same for the Black Negative Jumper.  These batteries are in Parallel…

Also verify BOTH are 12 VDC.  Don’t mean to talk down, but shops have installed 12 VDC house batteries in SERIES and fried the electrical system. This is imperative before you proceed.

Next.  If you did not use a Bussmann ANL 200 amp “Ignition” fuse, order one on Amazon and replace it.  I can tell you that garden variety ANL fuses, especially the NON IGNITION (MARINE) ones will not last,  I carry spares for all the high current ANL fuses and they are OEM Bussmann.

Finally, you don’t say, but your House Bank could be shot, assuming that the House Cranks the Genny.  The easiest and simplest way to test.  AFTER you verify the Starting or Chassis batteries are configured properly, run a Battery Jumper cable from the RED positive on the Chassis/start to the RED POSITIVE on the House.

That is the same as holding IN the Battery Boost Switch.  BUT if the House Bank is dead, then you may not have enough voltage to engage the solenoid.  So this is just a Jumper that does the same thing,

If it cranks, then you know the House “cranks” the Genny, for future reference, and the House needs to be recharged or tested or replaced.  It takes about 3 - 4 hours to recharge a 4 battery House Bank with your 7.5 KW Genny.  Recharge them.  BEFORE you do this, assuming they are “dead or depleted”, check the electrolyte level in all cells.  Use Distilled Water and bring the level half way up or just touching or almost touching the bottom of the fill well.  Different batteries have different configurations.  If you use a wooden dowel and sit it on the plates, then mark the side of the dowel where the top of the plastic case is.  THEN use a flashlight and look inside the cell (safety glasses required), move the dowel UP until it is level with the bottom “well or plastic pieces inside the cell”.  Now remark the dowel using the same reference or top of the case.  ODDS ARE, the marks will be about 1 - 1 1/4 (maybe 1 1/2) inclines apart.  Take HALF that dimension.  Say 1 1/4” or half is 5/8”.  Then scribe a line using a knife 5/8” from the tip of the dowel.  This is NOW a dipstick and you know where to fill to.  You can be maybe 1/16 or 1/8” higher…..but NO MORE.  This works….

THEN recharge and remove the jumper and see how things are.  When you start the Genny, make sure that your inverter charger is ON and the Charge portion is ON,  sometimes when you lose power, it does not automatically start up or power on.

House batteries are all new and I brought them all up before installing them. They are wired correctly as are the chassis batteries.

I replaced the 200a fuse with what was in it. Don't recall but I'll read the spare and post later.

I picked up my 2001 Diplomat from the paint shop but have a problem.

Problem:  Onan 7500 diesel Gen start switch on dash is dead – does nothing. Same with switch on the genset.

Coincidentally, the radio switch on the dash (right next to gen sw on dash) is also dead.

What I found at home: No 12v in the house: the 200 amp fuse for the house batteries was blown.  I replaced the fuse and all 12v and 110v in the coach appear to work.

What I think happened: while at the paint shop, they left the key on and killed the chassis batteries (6 years old so not surprised). I delivered 2 new batteries so they could stop jumping it to get the coach started. While jumping or swapping out batteries, they caused a short somewhere and blew the 200 amp fuse. The new 200 amp fuse is holding.

I installed new house batteries when I got her home – took a pic so I know I’m spot on. However, I am not sure that they have the chassis batteries wired correctly. I was not allowed in the shop to do it myself.

If someone has a similar or same coach and can send a pic of what the chassis batteries and wiring look like, it would be a big help in troubleshooting. Below is a pic of how things are and they look correct to me. 2 different angles so you can get the whole picture.

I realize that if they have a negative to positive or vice versa, they possibly killed the mother board in the generator. I found a shop that can diagnose that, but can’t verify that the batteries are connected properly. There’s no sense in removing the genset, installing a new board, only to blow it again if the batteries are not connected properly.

All that said, if the batteries are connected properly and the board tests OK or put a new one in, what else could be the problem?

This is a totally foreign problem to be and so I have zero knowledge here.

In case any here have the same color scheme, Industrial ran my vinyl sticker part numbers and came up with the following paint codes that were used on the same scheme in 2002.

Thanks to Sundance, I noticed that the sticker and paint codes were relative to each other.

Whether or not they are exact matches remains to be seen, however.

Just need to find 'Moncao Diplomat" emblems now.

10 hours ago, SundanceKid said:

Try this ...

COACHMEN RV P2984 LIGHT PEWTER METALLIC Gallon of Paint Single Stage | eBay

 

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Looks like the sticker numbers are taken off the paint codes.

7 hours ago, Notn2bars said:

Just wondering, did any of you do your own prep and paint? God Bless, Ed, Sylvia and Sage.

No. It looks like an incredible amount of work.  I'm too old for that. And I'd have to do it in my RV bay that is visible from the street - not sure the  neighbors would appreciate it. Plus it has been over 100° here for the last few days and will be high 90's for the next few weeks.

I have a paint shop near me with 2 spray booths for large vehicles. Right now they have around 6 busses from Orange County, CA in various stages of repair and several RV's waiting for parts or insurance claims. So they have a large crew with a lot of experience. I'm just biting the bullet and paying the labor.

The time has come to repaint and restore. Thanks to this site, I already have headlights and tailights ordered. The Accuride Wheels will get polished in the last step.

I was fortunate to find the original paint code and thus the formula for my Pacifica Blue - but only the painted part - see graphic below. Industrial Finishes (who supplied the original paint) is still in business and is very responsive and helpful. They supplied the formula in a heart beat.

Unfortunately, in 2001 not 100% of the exterior was paint. The rest was tape/vinyl stickers over the gel coat.

IIRC 2002 had the same color option but was by then full body paint. So there must be paint codes for the stickers. I've asked Industrial Finishes but, without a paint code, I'm afraid it is a shot in the dark.

My hope is that someone here can help with the paint codes for the colors of tape/stickers I have on the coach that were changed to paint in 2002. This will facilitate the body shop duplicating the color scheme. Call me old school, but I want to get as close to original as possible.

Here are the 2 TAPE COLORS needed:

Lt. Pewter Metallic   Vendor P/N P2984  
Lt. Swedish Blue Metallic   Vendor P/N P4723  

Blue Jewel Metallic   Vendor P/N PN5458  looks like matches the paint and so I'm not concerned about that one.

Failing all the above, I'll have to rely on technology to match the color of the stickers but would rather not.

Any input is appreciated.