dandick66
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Posts posted by dandick66
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I wouldn’t think a low coolant level would throw an engine protection code. Does the code clear when you disconnect the sensor? Have you checked the wires for voltage and ground? I think some of these use 5 volts. Is it possible that it’s the coolant temperature sensor/circuit that is throwing the code?
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On 10/26/2023 at 1:02 PM, SUCHESTOM said:
Here is Michelin's white paper on RV tires. There are lots of factors going into the tire life. How long they sit without rolling, are they parked on concrete without a plywood or rubber buffer between them and the concrete, are they exposed to UV light, are they aired to maximum pressure for storage and aired down to correct pressure for travel?
Interesting read. Michelin recommends replacing at 10 years. First time I’ve ever seen a manufacturer make a recommendation.
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42 minutes ago, Trevor and Laura said:
Hi Dan, and cable is expensive, ours cost 25% more than the battery. I do not find it easy working under there, so for me not so good, but I also have concerns about ours being out there in front as 2 weeks ago we had a close call with a deer.. Life is full of compromises and choices it seems. Make sure there is room for the hanging cables when slide is retracted.
In First Landing SP VA today for a week, a 50ft site in the dunes..
Regards
So, I guess you drove down the Eastern Shore (Rt 13) when you left Delaware. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is an engineering marvel. I think it’s almost 26 miles long and expen$ive in an RV. I hope you enjoy your time in Virginia Beach.
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Trevor, thanks for the photos and the links.
I am thinking of mounting my battery on top of the exhaust heat shield. I ran the generator for 75 minutes the other day and the heat shield was barely warm to the touch. The advantage of this setup would be very short cable runs.
Any thoughts, questions or concerns would be appreciated before I proceed with this.
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On 11/18/2023 at 10:11 PM, 96 EVO said:
Wonder why the difference between a 50" and 60" 4KTV is a couple of hundred dollars these days, but a 10" GPS is worth double what a 7" costs 🤔?
I think it’s because the GPS manufacturer’s have figured out there is a niche market for the larger displays and they charge what the market will bear.
As far as accuracy of Garmin vs Android or Apple, I really don’t trust any of them 100 percent. I just drove from Virginia to Florida and back in my 2020 Ram pickup. It has the 12 inch display with built in navigation. Unfortunately, the maps are outdated and they want $150 for a new map. When I connect Apple Car Play or Android Auto, the display shrinks to a much smaller size. Anyhow, I’ve made this trip many times and know the route/roads. For some reason Car Play wanted to route me different ways, both going from Virginia and Florida.
For the reasons above, I always look at my route on a tablet or computer so I have a good idea of where I’m going and what roads to take. It’s not a big deal with a car, but as we all know the coaches are a different breed.
Trust, but verify is a good mantra for GPS navigation.
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8 hours ago, Trevor and Laura said:
Apologies for the slow response, have very poor cell service here..
That ACR was about $100 Cdn, black extruded Al hsg, low profile, plenty of clearance under the top cross bar for it. Voltmeters show the new group 26 volts and that of the chassis bank and is how I knew that the 5yr old Big Boy was not connecting, only reading 12.? with the generator running. The battery tray shipped from MI or WI, came in 2 lengths, short, still could be shorter, sharp and unpainted. Used the existing bolts to mount it, NO drilling.. Copied someone elses wiring layout but different component layout, did not want to drill and rivet to the generator front casing blindly. Thats 1/0 cable was the biggest cost, 100% copper from Napa, and now I have a big crimper.. not sure if I can do links..
I was first here in the 90s, loved the place, sites completely different, no museum, just BIG doors in the back of the dunes, easier to picture in some ways those earlier times, good to hear about them..
When you get a chance/good signal a picture of your setup would be very helpful. It will save me from having to reinvent the wheel.
Those big doors housed the rails for the 18 inch guns that protected the Delaware Bay. They would prevent ships from getting to Philadelphia and Wilmington. Those guns were long removed before I was stationed there.
1 hour ago, 96 EVO said:Jim, my intention when I switched from house bank to chassis bank was, I 'thought' I'd use AGS more often than I do.
Therefore, needed reliable CCA to the gen when I'm not around to press a boost switch.
That’s the reason (AGS) I changed mine from the house to chassis. Last year I had the coach parked for about a month, but had the res fridge running. I found out that I had to set the AGS at 12.2 volts in order for the generator to start. Needless to say, the generator ran a lot.
I wish Monaco/Navistar would have run the 4/0 to the FRB so I could tap off of it. -
4 hours ago, 96 EVO said:
Hopefully Dan D reads this before tearing his covers off in search.
Yea, I saw all of these posts before I started removing covers. I think the only solution for me is the auxiliary starting battery. The 2/0 cables just don’t cut it.
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1 hour ago, Trevor and Laura said:
Interesting stuff, as new owners of a 2006 42ft Dynasty, kept in remote outside storage, we had to learn quickly.. we now have a group 26 batt, 500+ cca in an amazon tray attached to the brackets holding the frt of the gennie slide, a chinese amazon acr is held by one of the 6mm screws onto the top of the gen cover, this relay is slick, has 2 volt meters and a combining function. The position was determined by the reach of the original +ve feed to the gen. New 1/0 cables go to the gen +ve and -ve terminals and another to the, new acr, which has a small ground wire to the new battery. Solar charging in storage(400w)keeps things happy with battery switches off, (Big Boy, that we have just had to clean, is not energised, v good) but voltage not high enough to charge the new battery, but driving from the alternator does fine.. early days, but so far we are happy with this.. gen start is immediate..
First post to share good things, in Cape Henlopen SP DE, starting a slow drive down the E Coast to winter in FL..
Regards
Laura and Trevor
Do you have the link for the ACR and battery tray?
I hope you enjoy your time at Cape Henlopen. I was stationed there when it was still a Navy Base. If you have a chance you should tour that part of the park. It originally was coastal defense during WWII and the in the 60’s it became an “oceanographic research “ base. A good portion of it is underground. I was only stationed there for a year and then it was closed down. It was one of the best duty stations. -
2 hours ago, 96 EVO said:
Got room to mount it in front of the generator?
Yes, there’s room for it up there, but I’d have to fabricate some type of mount for it. There’s a heat shield bracket above the exhaust pipe. It has a nice shelf that would hold a battery nicely. The positive and negative connectors are right next to it.
I might fire up the generator and see how hot that bracket gets. I bet it’s not any hotter than the engine compartment of a car.1 hour ago, Ray Davis said:Does your 10k have its own alternator?
I don't see why you couldn't incorporate a Blue seas ML ACR combiner, the same way many of us have used it to eleminate the complicated Bird & solenoid system to charge and combine our chassis & coach batteries.
I’m not sure if I have an alternator. I’ll look this week and check.
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On 10/31/2023 at 10:41 AM, 96 EVO said:
Give us an update if you do it!
Your 2012 Dip has the 10KW Onan?
Well, I finally checked out the cabling. I have a 2/0 that runs from the RRB directly to the generator. There was is another 2/0 from the RRB chassis battery to the FRB stud and a 2 gauge (Not 2/0) from the house batteries to the FRB. So, no 4/0 running from the rear to the front.
I looked at Walmart today and I can get a group 24 battery for $70. I think I’ll get one and a battery box and mount it near the generator. I need to figure out how to connect a combiner/isolator.
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Thanks for straightening me out. I could have sworn that I read that the burner would not work with at least 12 volts. Obviously, I was wrong. Now, I have to figure out why my AH cut out in the middle of the night. That was a couple of years ago and I’ve done the maintenance on it since then. If I recall correctly the gap was way off on the electrodes.
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21 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:
Just a heads up that if you have downloaded or used this file, there is now a revision or change in two parameters.
The logic for the AGS setup start and the Low Battery Cutoff got out of sync....as did the correct voltages. This was checked many times and also proofed by some experts as well. BUT, a member recently contacted me and in helping him in his emergency....the OMG, this needs to be reversed....hit me.
So, please replace the original with the new one. I highlighted the changes and also revised the explanation so it is correct now.
Thanks....happy charging and inverting...
You might want to add a note to set the starting volts at 12.1 if you have the Aquahot. The reason is that the Aquahot will cut off if the voltage is less than 12. To restart it, you can either flip the diesel switch on and or, or press the reset button in the Aquahot bay. I found this out the hard way at 0400 in January.
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41 minutes ago, vipeboy2000 said:
My 08 Dynasty squire is the same setup with the zones.
I'll add that playing around with it , to your question about the aqhot L M H button in the kitchen turns on the fans in the kitchen slide on mine, but it is connected to ZONE 1 , the button light /fans will cycle with zone 1.
Zone 4 , Bath furnace only, but the fan won't run on mine as i have another button labeled aquahot blower in my bathroom that needs to be on for the actual fan to cycle on/off with the thermostat.
I have tested my basement sensor and it works to turn on the blower in the wet bay.. but haven't verified which zone needs to be on for the basement to be activated since all zones were set to furnace when i tested the basement.If yours is like my 2012 Diplomat, then zone 4 is the bath and wet bay. The switch in the bathroom is to disable the fan in the bathroom if you only want the wet bay heat.
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1 hour ago, 96 EVO said:
Give us an update if you do it!
Your 2012 Dip has the 10KW Onan?
Yes, I have the 10kw Onan.
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I’m out of town this week, but will check my wiring when I get back home. I’m pretty sure my generator is connected by a long 2/0 cable from the RRB. I’m going to check the FRB and see if I have two 4/0 cables coming from the RRB chassis and house batteries. If so, I’ll make a 4/0 cable to run from the FRB stud to the generator. I’m curious about the ground, though. Wouldn’t be ok to just leave the current - no pun intended - ground cable? I know on car batteries the ground cable is much smaller gauge than the positive.
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You need to look at your manual and figure out where each zone is, and what modes are available. My 2012 Diplomat has 4 zones and 3 AC units. Zones 1,2 and 3 work on cool, heat pump and Aquahot. Zone 4 is aquahot only - it controls the wet bay heater. It took me a while to figure this out since I found 4 temp sensors inside the coach. The zone 4 sensor is in the rear bath , but I have not idea what its function is other than to provide a reading at the thermostat. Like I said, zone 4 heat is controlled by the rheostat in the wet bay.
As far as your central vacuum, it has nothing to do with your Aquahot problem. The contacts might need cleaning on the toe kick, or it could be the vacuum itself. I know when I first got my coach, the vacuum didn’t work. I took it apart and figured out a relay was bad. I hit it a few times with a screwdriver handle and it’s worked fine for 6 years now.
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GrI at job. Nice and clean. I know you’re happy now.
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The generator in my 2012 Diplomat was wired to the house batteries, but I changed it to the the chassis batteries. I noticed the generator was hard to start from the house batteries unless I was connected to shore power or the engine was running. I did not see any improvement in starting when I changed it to the chassis batteries. My next project is to install an auxiliary starting battery and isolator for the generator.
The main reason I wanted to change it to the chassis batteries is because of the Aquahot. If the Aquahot voltage drops below 12 volts it cuts off and has to be manually reset when the voltage is above 12 volts. Of course this happened at 0300. The AGS was set at 11.9 (default) and wouldn’t start the generator. That’s when I decided to change it to the chassis batteries. I changed the AGS to 12.1, but the generator struggles to start from the chassis batteries. The batteries are good as I have no problems starting the engine. I’ve checked cables and everything is good, clean and tight. Maybe the cable run is too long.
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10 minutes ago, dandick66 said:
A few years ago I decided to buy a spare impeller for my Sanicon. I felt Sanicon was charging way too much, so I did some research l. I found these Jabsco impellers that are the exact same dimensions as the Sanicon - they probably buy theirs from Jabsco. I don’t know if neoprene or nitrile is a better material l.
I don’t know why these photos always come out so blurry. I converted them from PNG to JPEG, but they’re still blurry. Anyway, here’s a link to the impellers on Amazon. The dimensions are the exact same as the Sanicon. No gasket, but you could either make a new one or re-use the old one.
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On 10/27/2023 at 12:11 PM, 96 EVO said:
When I heard this news I went checking.
The store I purchased my last impeller kit from, and a few others, showed... 'Out Of Stock'.
A few years ago I decided to buy a spare impeller for my Sanicon. I felt Sanicon was charging way too much, so I did some research l. I found these Jabsco impellers that are the exact same dimensions as the Sanicon - they probably buy theirs from Jabsco. I don’t know if neoprene or nitrile is a better material l.
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On 10/21/2023 at 9:35 PM, 1nolaguy said:
OK, I am stumped with this one. I was not sure where to post so if this should be moved I ask the moderator to please do so. So I did not have this issue before but just occurred when I took our MH (2005 Safari Cheetah 40' DP) out of storage. When I turn on the headlights the The marker lights and break lights are on bright as if the brakes are applied. As a result, when I apply the brakes there is no visible indication as the lights are already "bright". If however I turn off the headlights all the marker and tail lights work as they should. Normally I would say this is not a big issue as I hate driving at night but my DW wants me to run the light during the day for"safety" reasons, which of course would not be an issue if I also had brake lights.
Now in full disclosure about nothing in the lighting system is original. I replaced the headlights and marker lights with LEDs' but the wiring is the same as the original. I replaced the headlight switch in the dash about 3 years ago. I also have a 60" led brake light strip but that is plugged into the 4 pin connector in the rear. All of these mods were made with everything still working correctly. It has only after an 8 month storage period that the issue occurred. I am going to try to trouble shoot this tomorrow while we have a down day at an RV park. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The marker lights are single filament, so they only have one level of brightness and they should only illuminate when the parking lights or headlights are switched on.
Try this: Start the engine with the headlights off. Apply the brakes. Do the brake lights illuminate? If they don’t illuminate then you don’t need to look at your headlight switch.
If they do illuminate, then turn your headlights on. Is there any change in the brightness of the brake lights?
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2 hours ago, Gweedo said:
I would strongly encourage you to google "why you should change your oil" you will find numerous articles/reasons why and the damage that will happen to your engine. These engines are way too expensive. I change my oil and filter and both fuel filters every year regardless of the miles, 1k miles 10k miles doesn't matter. But that is a decision for you to make. I would read the manual and follow their recommendations.
If you decide to change your oil and filter, you may consider using a stiction cleaner. After reading a few articles on why you should change your oil you'll understand why IMO a stiction cleaner is necessary to use.
Safe travels!!
The lab tests a multitude of things - metals, contaminants, fuel dilution, etc, over 30 different tests. If they say to drive 2500 miles and submit another sample, then I figure they know what they’re doing. Like I said in the post, the last time I submitted a sample they said drive 1,000 miles. I decided to change it anyway.
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Bad math. It was actually 5 years. August 2018 - August 2023. Like I said, I kept submitting the samples and everything was testing good, well within specs. After the last sample when the lab said to submit another sample after 1,000 miles, I decided to change it.
I realize the time and mileage seem excessive, but the tests were all coming back good.-
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I realize this post is a little old, but I wanted to give my input.
I purchased my 2012 Diplomat with a Maxxforce 10 in December 2017. It had 21,000 miles on it. In August of 2018 I was in Camping World and they had an oil sample kit on the clearance rack. I did a sample and the result indicated that the aluminum was high and I should change the oil.
I changed the oil and put it Rotella T6 synthetic. The coach had 27,000 miles on it then. Since then, I’ve submitted samples and everything is good. They say to drive 2500 miles and submit another sample. After the last sample, they said to drive it 1,000 miles and submit a sample. I decided that was long enough on the oil and filter - 6 years and 16,000 miles, so I changed it even though it was still testing good. I used Rotella T6 again, since I had enough of it in the garage.
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Micro-Air products
in AC, Heating, and Cooling
Posted
I purchased my thermostat in the fall of 2021 - full price. On Black Friday there was a discount- I can’t remember what the percentage was, but it was enough to make me wish I’d have waited to place my order. No refunds/credits for prior purchases.