It's a SAD day

[Brett63]

With regret I have to say that yesterday was a sad day. We received the call from the insurance stating they had deemed our coach totaled. 

For those that know and don't know, this past April, actually April 1st coincidentally our coach was struck by lightening. We knew very early on that we had been hit as we lost two strings of LED ceiling lights. What we didn't know  was that we also lost both CCM's, the ECM and all of the dash switches.  We didn't realize that in full until July as I was under Dr orders and we could not travel and had no reason to even start the coach. 

The oddity is that last Feb I was having some intermittent issues but nothing close to shutting us down, so I started a venture to find a repair in the case that someone actually suffered a casulty, little did I know that someone was going to be me. That issue resolved and in March we made about a 2000 mile run and actually spent a lot of money have a Flex-Armor roof sprayed on. We returned back to FL the last week of March and in less than a week we were toast.

I searched high and low, thought I found some good news on more than one occassion only to find out every road was a dead end. I litterally talked to people and businesses from Canada to Mexico and MANY places in between. There simply is no current fix in the world short of a complete rewire should anyone with a Kongsberg Multiplex Chassie suffer a total loss. M&M Electronics is able to repair some things on the CCMs, but they DO NOT have any remedy for the switch pods. They are working diligently, but they have no idea when or if they will have a fix.

With all of this said, I have to give a huge shout out to Frank McElroy as he and I have spent litterally hours on the phone together, whether talking or texting working on this issue. And when I say hours I mean HOURS at all hours of the day and night. I think Frank actually learned some things about this system as we went and I know I did. During all of this I found two mobile techs that were both employed by Monaco in Coberg pre bankrupcy and were both sent to lazydays in FL when they were the east coast service center where they worked for several years. Even talking with those two we could not figure out a fix, but they did say I was one of the best Kongsberg techs they had seen....lol

Anyway, we will be leaving the Monaco family. Where we will land is anyone guess as we are still waiting ont he insurance company to make the $$$ offer. This has truely been interesting, and had it not been my coach would have been fun learning this system. It is crazy that a coach that looks brand new inside and out as ours does can be stopped dead in it's tracks by some electronic parts, but here we are.

Thanks Frank, we gave it a hell of a run

PS this is on a 2009 Signature Cambridge IV

[JDCrow]

9 minutes ago, Brett63 said:

With regret I have to say that yesterday was a sad day. We received the call from the insurance stating they had deemed our coach totaled. 

For those that know and don't know, this past April, actually April 1st coincidentally our coach was struck by lightening. We knew very early on that we had been hit as we lost two strings of LED ceiling lights. What we didn't know  was that we also lost both CCM's, the ECM and all of the dash switches.  We didn't realize that in full until July as I was under Dr orders and we could not travel and had no reason to even start the coach. 

The oddity is that last Feb I was having some intermittent issues but nothing close to shutting us down, so I started a venture to find a repair in the case that someone actually suffered a casulty, little did I know that someone was going to be me. That issue resolved and in March we made about a 2000 mile run and actually spent a lot of money have a Flex-Armor roof sprayed on. We returned back to FL the last week of March and in less than a week we were toast.

I searched high and low, thought I found some good news on more than one occassion only to find out every road was a dead end. I litterally talked to people and businesses from Canada to Mexico and MANY places in between. There simply is no current fix in the world short of a complete rewire should anyone with a Kongsberg Multiplex Chassie suffer a total loss. M&M Electronics is able to repair some things on the CCMs, but they DO NOT have any remedy for the switch pods. They are working diligently, but they have no idea when or if they will have a fix.

With all of this said, I have to give a huge shout out to Frank McElroy as he and I have spent litterally hours on the phone together, whether talking or texting working on this issue. And when I say hours I mean HOURS at all hours of the day and night. I think Frank actually learned some things about this system as we went and I know I did. During all of this I found two mobile techs that were both employed by Monaco in Coberg pre bankrupcy and were both sent to lazydays in FL when they were the east coast service center where they worked for several years. Even talking with those two we could not figure out a fix, but they did say I was one of the best Kongsberg techs they had seen....lol

Anyway, we will be leaving the Monaco family. Where we will land is anyone guess as we are still waiting ont he insurance company to make the $$$ offer. This has truely been interesting, and had it not been my coach would have been fun learning this system. It is crazy that a coach that looks brand new inside and out as ours does can be stopped dead in it's tracks by some electronic parts, but here we are.

Thanks Frank, we gave it a hell of a run

PS this is on a 2009 Signature Cambridge IV

Leaving Monaco, to get a newer coach? 

[tomevansfl]

A coach of the age of yours should be appraised at more than $100K to maybe $159K. A professional appraisal would be well worth it.  I would think a total re-wire should be less than $80K.  Most insurance companies that I have dealt with used the 80% retail value as the threshold for declaring a total...at least it used to be.  Just make sure they make a reasonable offer so you can replace it with the same or newer no matter what make you choose for a replacement.

[Brett63]

22 minutes ago, JDCrow said:

Leaving Monaco, to get a newer coach? 

probably, maybe. Will have to see how it all works out.

13 minutes ago, tomevansfl said:

A coach of the age of yours should be appraised at more than $100K to maybe $159K. A professional appraisal would be well worth it.  I would think a total re-wire should be less than $80K.  Most insurance companies that I have dealt with used the 80% retail value as the threshold for declaring a total...at least it used to be.  Just make sure they make a reasonable offer so you can replace it with the same or newer no matter what make you choose for a replacement.

Based on comps and KBB it better be well north of those numbers. We shall see.

[tomevansfl]

3 minutes ago, Brett63 said:

probably, maybe. Will have to see how it all works out.

Based on comps and KBB it better be well north of those numbers. We shall see.

I was just being conservative since prices supposedly are coming down for used motor homes.

[Brett63]

14 minutes ago, tomevansfl said:

I was just being conservative since prices supposedly are coming down for used motor homes.

Agreed, but I am going to try to get priced based off of April when it happened. Who knows, insurance aint in the business to hand out money easily...lol

[vito.a]

I'm sorry to see such a grand coach go.  Monaco Signatures are such great coaches.  

I hope your insurance company is better than most.  

[96 EVO]

Sorry to hear!

Owning a coach built by a Co that went belly up, isn't for the faint of heart 😟!

[LakeBob]

Can feel your pain, I have the same system and Frank is helping me with some “small” issues.  
 

Are you familiar with: https://rvpricingandappraisals.com/

these guys will work with you, and they will know the real market valve, and have the real market data to back it up.  
 

NADA is a joke, run by banks and dealers 

 

 

 

[Ivylog]

I would say you’ve lucked out.

[Brett63]

39 minutes ago, Ivylog said:

I would say you’ve lucked out.

how's that

[Hypoxia]

That would be a great project for a young guy with lots of energy and a tech background if the bones were sound.  Install a new updated multiplexing system or just hardwire it.  The Signature is a machine that would be worthy of the effort for the salvage value.

[96 EVO]

21 minutes ago, Hypoxia said:

That would be a great project for a young guy with lots of energy and a tech background if the bones were sound.  Install a new updated multiplexing system or just hardwire it.  The Signature is a machine that would be worthy of the effort for the salvage value.

Would be a nightmare to re-wire a built coach!

An acquaintance own's a much lower level Monaco DP that mice or rat's got at the wiring in a campground. He took it to the only local RV repair facility, who did their best! A couple of months rewiring, some things work, others don't.

This coach has none of the complicated electrical systems Brett has!

Edited January 5, 2023 by 96 EVO

[Ivylog]

12 hours ago, Brett63 said:

I’d say you’ve lucked out… how's that?

Don’t take me wrong, I am sorry about what’s happened to you… changing rigs is  a lot of work even if side by side. I lucked out and bought a early 08 rig… not knowing about the Konsberg issues.
Granted not everyone knows what a disaster a Konsberg coach can be… you’re not the only one with a boat anchor, but at least you’re going to get paid…lucked out.

You’d almost have to give me one for what the parts are worth. Guess you could buy a big wrecker and tow it everywhere instead of parting it out. It would make a nice home on a permanent site… sell the drivetrain and generator.

[Brett63]

30 minutes ago, Ivylog said:

Don’t take me wrong, I am sorry about what’s happened to you… changing rigs is  a lot of work even if side by side. I lucked out and bought a early 08 rig… not knowing about the Konsberg issues.
Granted not everyone knows what a disaster a Konsberg coach can be… you’re not the only one with a boat anchor, but at least you’re going to get paid…lucked out.

You’d almost have to give me one for what the parts are worth. Guess you could buy a big wrecker and tow it everywhere instead of parting it out. It would make a nice home on a permanent site… sell the drivetrain and generator.

Yea we own an RV lot in FL where we currently are. W laugh that we have the most expensive Park Model ever made....I guess on the good side at least we were on our lot when lightening hit us and not in some campground in Montana or Michigan. I truely hate seeing this coach go. It is absolutely flawless inside and out. But life happens and more bridges get built. Now fingers crossed for a smooth ending.  I always knew there was a chance the Kongsberg system could have an issue, I just never dreamed the entire system would go down at once. 

30 minutes ago, Ivylog said:

Don’t take me wrong, I am sorry about what’s happened to you… changing rigs is  a lot of work even if side by side. I lucked out and bought a early 08 rig… not knowing about the Konsberg issues.
Granted not everyone knows what a disaster a Konsberg coach can be… you’re not the only one with a boat anchor, but at least you’re going to get paid…lucked out.

You’d almost have to give me one for what the parts are worth. Guess you could buy a big wrecker and tow it everywhere instead of parting it out. It would make a nice home on a permanent site… sell the drivetrain and generator.

Yea we own an RV lot in FL where we currently are. W laugh that we have the most expensive Park Model ever made....I guess on the good side at least we were on our lot when lightening hit us and not in some campground in Montana or Michigan. I truely hate seeing this coach go. It is absolutely flawless inside and out. But life happens and more bridges get built. Now fingers crossed for a smooth ending.  I always knew there was a chance the Kongsberg system could have an issue, I just never dreamed the entire system would go down at once. 

[Dr4Film]

Brett, so sorry to hear about the total loss of your coach. I truly hope that you are compensated well and are able to find an equivalent coach of your liking.

When I started to look for an upgrade from the 02 Windsor, I specifically stayed away from any coach that had the chassis multiplex systems.  I chose a 06 Dynasty that has a house multiplex system which still needs to be backed up with the help from either Paul W or Frank M.

Over the years, I had read and heard about way too many coaches that had problems with the chassis multiplex system and knew right then that I didn't want to deal with the same headaches. There are way too many other things that can and do go wrong with our coaches to have to deal with major electrical issues.

Good luck in your search.

Safe travels!

[birdshill123]

Sorry to hear of your problem. RV'rs should be aware that many of today's DP's will have similar problems. Everything in the coach is controlled by either a touch screen or a tablet. Every mfr. is using a different system. Some mfrs. start out using multiplex A and then switch to multiplex B. You have no guaranty that the rv mfr. will be able to provide support.

[Brett63]

5 hours ago, birdshill123 said:

Sorry to hear of your problem. RV'rs should be aware that many of today's DP's will have similar problems. Everything in the coach is controlled by either a touch screen or a tablet. Every mfr. is using a different system. Some mfrs. start out using multiplex A and then switch to multiplex B. You have no guaranty that the rv mfr. will be able to provide support.

Agreed, but from all of my research and looking in many coaches it appears no one is multiplexing their chassis as Monaco did. It appears that most if not all using a multiplex system has moved many of the Monaco chassis multiplexed stuff to the house side. I talked to Silverleaf, Spyder (who makes the system for Allegro) and Vega (Entegra system) and none of them run a chassis multiplex system. It is all above floor. 

[Guardian74]

Have you tried Brian. He used to work for Country Coach. He used to wire up the coaches when Country Coach was still in business. He might be able to help you. He has his own business. He also has a youtube channel, 

Brian's RV Videos