Just want to give a huge shout out and kudos to Mr. Frank McElroy !

[Davekep]

This man helped me over the phone and texts with a electrical problem in our 2009 Monaco Dynasty ,  we have lived in it for 3- years , and have been full time for 8’ years .

 

I had lost intermittent dc power in the whole coach , and had an RV tech who was completely stumped, and did not have any clue where to look ( as I did as well ). 
I reached out on this website, who a friend told me about the website ,  and Mr. McElroy responded to my ask for help and diagnosed the issue in under 5 minutes !  He selflessly schooled me on how to rectify the problem,  we did not know each other , and are thousands of miles apart , and put up with my Newbie  questions and concerns , and I was able to cure the problem myself with his help !!

THANK YOU MR. McElroy !   You were a god send to me !!

[Daryl Ammons]

39 minutes ago, Davekep said:

This man helped me over the phone and texts with a electrical problem in our 2009 Monaco Dynasty ,  we have lived in it for 3- years , and have been full time for 8’ years .

 

I had lost intermittent dc power in the whole coach , and had an RV tech who was completely stumped, and did not have any clue where to look ( as I did as well ). 
I reached out on this website, who a friend told me about the website ,  and Mr. McElroy responded to my ask for help and diagnosed the issue in under 5 minutes !  He selflessly schooled me on how to rectify the problem,  we did not know each other , and are thousands of miles apart , and put up with my Newbie  questions and concerns , and I was able to cure the problem myself with his help !!

THANK YOU MR. McElroy !   You were a god send to me !!

Frank also saved me from having a $12-15k replacement of all the injectors in my coach that a service center was recommending.  There is such a wealth of information in this group and the members are all so helpful.  So thankful to be a part of this group and hope someday I can pay it forward.

[Tom Cherry]

Frank told me about the “improvement” in the 2009 Dynasty that was driving you crazy.  He has been my teacher for many years and most of the knowledge I have and can pass on comes from him or him making me do some research.

I was an Electrical Engineering student for two years and did well in the “elementary DC Circuits” courses.  These MH and the “creativity” of Monaco as well as the “Hatfield - McCoy” relationship of the two “electrical team leaders” made it worse.  One was old school.  One wire and one switch and one circuit and one relay….was the layout of the Camelot and lower.  OK, THEN someone sneaked in a Spartan Intellitec Multiplex.  The Diplomats and lower were simple….

But the other guy was Mr. High Tech and everything had to haves a custom Intellitec board as well as, later on, a CCM SYSTEM.  I can hold my own on the conventional stuff and help with common things like HVAC as that was standard.  But trying to follow the “electronic” prints and understanding the Dynasty is perplexing.

Both of you guys thanked Frank for two different skills.  Daryl  is talking about the ECM and Frank puts most Senior Cummins techs to shame.

Yes, we are lucky to have him….as a member and as a friend

[Bill C]

👍👍

[Frank McElroy]

Thank you for the kind words. My reward is to hear about a happy coach owner that gets their problem fixed.

We have a number of folks on the forum with a wealth of information on how to keep our coaches running.  It's great that we all share our knowledge to help others.

[Frank McElroy]

4 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

Frank told me about the “improvement” in the 2009 Dynasty that was driving you crazy.  He has been my teacher for many years and most of the knowledge I have and can pass on comes from him or him making me do some research.

I was an Electrical Engineering student for two years and did well in the “elementary DC Circuits” courses.  These MH and the “creativity” of Monaco as well as the “Hatfield - McCoy” relationship of the two “electrical team leaders” made it worse.  One was old school.  One wire and one switch and one circuit and one relay….was the layout of the Camelot and lower.  OK, THEN someone sneaked in a Spartan Intellitec Multiplex.  The Diplomats and lower were simple….

But the other guy was Mr. High Tech and everything had to haves a custom Intellitec board as well as, later on, a CCM SYSTEM.  I can hold my own on the conventional stuff and help with common things like HVAC as that was standard.  But trying to follow the “electronic” prints and understanding the Dynasty is perplexing.

Both of you guys thanked Frank for two different skills.  Daryl  is talking about the ECM and Frank puts most Senior Cummins techs to shame.

Yes, we are lucky to have him….as a member and as a friend

Tom, thanks for the kind words.

I recall about ten years ago when I retired and became more active on the group you had a series of questions about the Cummins engine in terms of performance and how max RPM is controlled.  I then sent you offline a 50 page report on my engine generated via the Cummins Insite software that showed all the information you needed to know and much much more. 

I still recall your phone call that Sunday afternoon and how you were amazed on what that report contained.  At the time it sure was a learning experience for you and over time shared with all members of the group.  The power of having the data provided via the Cummins Insite software is amazing in terms of setting custom engine parameters for things like custom cruise control and engine brake settings, trouble codes, engine abuse history, and DPF regens on 2008 and newer ISL engines.  It is a great tool to use when buy a used coach to see the engine history report.

Over the past year I've been exploring even more details on how our engines really operate.  Cummins has software called Calterm.  This software controls what the engine ECM is really doing that Insite can't see or change.  To me, I'm about half way up the steep learning curve.  I have a printout on my ISL.  The Insite software gave me a 50 page report.  Calterm is over 500 page report!  It covers everything about how the engine is controlled by the ECM gate assay matrix of integrated circuits. 

So far I've learned one thing - almost everyone who claims they can do an ECM EGR or DPF delete has absolutely no idea what they are doing and in most cases cause way more long term problems than they solve in short term fixes.  More to come on that topic later.  For now, my advice to anyone thinking of doing an EGR or DPF delete, they should think twice.

[Dr4Film]

Frank has helped me more times than I can remember!

I have his number on speed dial. 👍

[birdshill123]

I echo all of the above comments. Frank ( and others as well) are way better than even the good old boys that used to be tech support at Monaco!!! If this forum and the great members did  not exist I might have sold my unit!!

[grizzly]

I echo the above sentiments. Frank was an amazing help to me in a couple of issues. A wealth of info in explaining how the leveling system works. Luck to have him as a resource and I would have to say friend. He took a lot of time to help me. And he has the same coach as me so that was even better. Thank you Frank and may you be blessed abundantly 

[Wildwood]

Frank IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Agpopp]

So what was the issue? Would be good to hear for someone who may the same in the future. Great forum so far. 

[Frank McElroy]

In summary, the problem solved was on a Kongsberg chassis multiplex coach with a failing salesman switch latching relay.  When bypassing this relay on a chassis multiplex coach, the 12 vdc sensing wire must also see 12 vdc.  Otherwise half the dash switches won't work.

[Yoaks5]

On 2/20/2023 at 11:12 PM, Frank McElroy said:

Tom, thanks for the kind words.

I recall about ten years ago when I retired and became more active on the group you had a series of questions about the Cummins engine in terms of performance and how max RPM is controlled.  I then sent you offline a 50 page report on my engine generated via the Cummins Insite software that showed all the information you needed to know and much much more. 

I still recall your phone call that Sunday afternoon and how you were amazed on what that report contained.  At the time it sure was a learning experience for you and over time shared with all members of the group.  The power of having the data provided via the Cummins Insite software is amazing in terms of setting custom engine parameters for things like custom cruise control and engine brake settings, trouble codes, engine abuse history, and DPF regens on 2008 and newer ISL engines.  It is a great tool to use when buy a used coach to see the engine history report.

Over the past year I've been exploring even more details on how our engines really operate.  Cummins has software called Calterm.  This software controls what the engine ECM is really doing that Insite can't see or change.  To me, I'm about half way up the steep learning curve.  I have a printout on my ISL.  The Insite software gave me a 50 page report.  Calterm is over 500 page report!  It covers everything about how the engine is controlled by the ECM gate assay matrix of integrated circuits. 

So far I've learned one thing - almost everyone who claims they can do an ECM EGR or DPF delete has absolutely no idea what they are doing and in most cases cause way more long term problems than they solve in short term fixes.  More to come on that topic later.  For now, my advice to anyone thinking of doing an EGR or DPF delete, they should think twice.

I'm curious of your and other members thoughts on the ugly fix. I've been thinking about getting one for my Detroit Diesel Series 60 but don't want to do any long term damage to the motor. I know this is not a Cummins but think it's doing the same thing to all engines so the results would be the same. 

[Paul J A]

On 3/30/2023 at 8:15 AM, Yoaks5 said:

I'm curious of your and other members thoughts on the ugly fix. I've been thinking about getting one for my Detroit Diesel Series 60 but don't want to do any long term damage to the motor. I know this is not a Cummins but think it's doing the same thing to all engines so the results would be the same. 

A build date of your specific engine may help with appropriate answers. The DD 60 and the Cummins ISM are 2 of the best engines for Coach use application.

A long history of positive use experiences i have seen posted on many forums, and in the 12 years i have been on this site as well.

IF i had a DD 60 or ISM i would enhance the intake and exhaust systems. Simple and effective.

[Ivylog]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:15 AM, Yoaks5 said:

I'm curious of your and other members thoughts on the ugly fix. I've been thinking about getting one for my Detroit Diesel 60

It’s probably just a $150 resistor that tricks the computer into thinking you’re at 10,000’ closing the EGR valve. I’ve read it sometimes turns the check engine light on but doesn’t derate the engine.

[Yoaks5]

4 hours ago, Paul A. said:

A build date of your specific engine may help with appropriate answers. The DD 60 and the Cummins ISM are 2 of the best engines for Coach use application.

A long history of positive use experiences i have seen posted on many forums, and in the 12 years i have been on this site as well.

IF i had a DD 60 or ISM i would enhance the intake and exhaust systems. Simple and effective.

Build date of the motor is 3-15-05.

Can you tell me more about how to enhance the intake and exhaust? 

4 hours ago, Ivylog said:

It’s probably just a $150 resistor that tricks the computer into thinking you’re at 10,000’ closing the EGR valve. I’ve read it sometimes turns the check engine light on but doesn’t derate the engine.

Yes from my understanding it makes the emc think it's above 7500 feet and shuts the erg valve off.

So that's my question will doing that cause  any damage to the motor? 

[Ivylog]

1 hour ago, Yoaks5 said:

So that's my question will doing that cause  any damage to the motor? 

Hasn’t in 39K miles that I can tell although I’ve been told there’s a cheaper way… metal freeze plug in the EGR tube where it bolts to the intake manifold.

With no EGR, the exhaust gas is going to be hotter so you do not want to lug your engine… manual keep the RPMs up if necessary.

[willbo777]

We've had one in for years, a marked improvement in drivability, a slight increase in mileage, and no damage or downside, but we only have 199,000 miles on it.

[Yoaks5]

Thanks Bill!

I did end up adding the ugly fix to my coach. I only have about 8k miles on it but can say it did increase my mpg from 6 to 6.5. It also fixed the bit of lag I had when starting from a stop. I do keep and eye on the tach and manually shift as needed to keep the RPMs up. 

[Bar SR Ranch]

Back to the main topic of this post.

Mr Frank McElroy has more knowledge on these Monaco's and Cummins engines than I can ever imagine and has the answerers to any question asked at the tip of his tongue I am still in awe all the time.

I was in the proses of purchasing a Dynasty with the Kongsberg CCM in the fall of 2023 then discovered their issues thanks to this forum and was going to back out of the deal.

I became a member and then PM Frank and within minutes got an email response back, then within a few minutes later Frank called me and what I learned in the next 5 to 10 minutes on the phone with Frank was more than I could have ever imagined.

I sat in my office chair for a few minutes after the call ended just processing the conversation but what I was mostly thinking about was what I had learned in such a short amount of time and that this man really knows his stuff.

Again, I am still in awe the knowledge that Mr. Frank McElroy has and shares Thank You Frank.

[Dr4Film]

@Bar SR Ranch I totally agree!!!!

Frank has helped with his intimate knowledge of our Monaco's for so many of us members. There are also a few other members that hold a tight second.

[Frank McElroy]

12 hours ago, Bar SR Ranch said:

Back to the main topic of this post.

Mr Frank McElroy has more knowledge on these Monaco's and Cummins engines than I can ever imagine and has the answerers to any question asked at the tip of his tongue I am still in awe all the time.

I was in the proses of purchasing a Dynasty with the Kongsberg CCM in the fall of 2023 then discovered their issues thanks to this forum and was going to back out of the deal.

I became a member and then PM Frank and within minutes got an email response back, then within a few minutes later Frank called me and what I learned in the next 5 to 10 minutes on the phone with Frank was more than I could have ever imagined.

I sat in my office chair for a few minutes after the call ended just processing the conversation but what I was mostly thinking about was what I had learned in such a short amount of time and that this man really knows his stuff.

Again, I am still in awe the knowledge that Mr. Frank McElroy has and shares Thank You Frank.

Thank you for the very kind words. 

On this site there are a number of technical experts.  My focus is on mid 2000 and newer Dynasty and above models with Cummins engines and house Intellitec and/or chassis Kongsberg multiplex systems.  There are a lot of other members far more experienced than I on other model year coaches and systems.  That's what makes this forum great - other expert members freely share their own technical expertise.

Often folks ask - did I work for Monaco or Cummins.  The answer is no.  My knowledge is based on owning a Monaco Dynasty (bought new) over 17 years ago and doing all my own service and repairs.  (I've owned class A RV's since 1986.)  With over 60,000 miles, my coach has never seen a repair shop.  All of what I know is based on reading manuals and using that information to maintain and repair my own coach.  By training, I'm actually a PhD chemist who spent a 35 year career at Exxon (later ExxonMobil) ending as an Executive Manger in Corporate Research.  Most of my electronics background comes as being a Ham Radio operator who built my own Heathkit station in the early 70's and the microcomputer system I built in and machine code programmed in the mid 70's to get my PhD degree in electrochemistry. 

Yes, Tom Cherry and I talk multiple times a week.  We are close friends and we do share and sometimes debate solutions to technical questions posted on the forum.  I thank Tom for posting our conclusions because I often just don't have the time.

I reply offline about as much as I post online to questions for forum members.  There are times where an offline discussion is far more beneficial in transferring technical information than the back and forth online postings.