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Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Fulltime 5er to MH - Help?

As Ivy stated, Diesel motorhomes are geared towards 2 people. Sounds crazy, but even 45 tag axles also. So, when looking at Diesels remember that sleeping will be for you and the wife. The kids will have to use the couches that fold out. Most Diesels, the couches(usually 2 full size beds) that fold out have air mattresses, so it will be comfortable for the kids. Downside is, once the couches are folded out, moving around is not that easy. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/23/21 05:27pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 170VAC coming from my Onan generator

I never had brushes or rings cause an EXCESS of voltage. Usually low or no voltage. I HAVE had Voltage regulators fail on those older Onan's. Doug
PS. the ONLY thing that ever caused excess voltage was the Running speed of the genset. Never had the Voltage regulator cause extreme high voltage. Also, if your model Onan fails to produce 120, the genset shuts down.
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dougrainer
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02/23/21 12:30pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Fulltime 5er to MH - Help?

MAX tow capacity on most Diesel pushers is 10,000 lbs. With your requirements for what you intend to put in that stacker, I will bet you be way over 10,000 lbs. The capacity is determined in part to the HITCH capacity on the Rear of the Motorhome. You CAN beef up the motorhome hitch capacity, but make sure you get a certified welder and somebody that knows how to do it. Also, you will probably be way over the complete cargo carrying capacity since you have a full family and will probably fill up the lower storage bins and inside. You really need to measure your existing 5th wheel FULL and then remove the personal items and see how much your total payload is. Diesel Motorhomes do NOT have unlimited cargo capacity, tho some think they do. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/23/21 12:25pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Electrical Wire Identification

I can gurantee that the Norcold 12 volt supply line is NOT 10 gauge. Since the 12 volt for your year Model Norcold is just for operating the refer electronic controls, odds are the supply gauge is 16/14 gauge. But, it will NOT be larger than 14 gauge. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/23/21 07:04am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dometic Fridge stopped working in cold weather? Ideas?

Battery is not an issue as long as the Power Converter is operating and producing 12.9 volts and higher. A DEFECTIVE battery should be replaced as come Converters do not operate well with a BAD LOAD(Load is the battery). A defective battery should NOT be installed in a Trailer while towing. The Emergency Brake Away will not work with a bad battery. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/21/21 01:37pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Rv a/c. Help

The upper unit whether Coleman(RVP) or Dometic, the type inside tstat has NO bearing on the replacement. As long as you replace with the same brand as the upper unit. The ONLY exception is the new style Dometic Penguin AC/HP. The upper unit has the 120 multiplug that connects to the upper control board. The upper control board will stay with the new unit. The upper control board is just 1 of 3 components.
1. Top AC unit
2. Upper control Tstat box
3. The wall tstat
Last, there is no remote "bing" type RV tstat. There have been threads on making a tstat work on RV's but the cost was Hundreds of dollars and electronic knowledge to do. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/21/21 08:36am |
Tech Issues
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RE: 170VAC coming from my Onan generator

https://onan.xmsi.net/965-0530%20Onan%20BGE%20BGEL%20(spec%20A-C)%20RV%20Genset%20Service%20manual%20(05-1986).pdf
Page 87. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/20/21 09:10am |
Tech Issues
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RE: 170VAC coming from my Onan generator

transformer is incorrectly
connected or defective.
This is the "regulator". Doug
Voltage Regula ti ng Transformer
The voltage regulating transformer helps to provide
stable generator output voltage under varying load
conditions. Voltage transformers are constructed
with two primary windings and a single secondary
winding. Each primarywinding (Hl-H2and H3-H4) is
connected in series with one of the generator AC
output windings. The transformer secondary winding
is connected in series with the field current circuit.
Taps on the secondary allow for field current
adjustments.
The voltage regulating transformer mounts on the outside of the generator housing and is enclosed with a
special cover. The cover must be in place during operation for transformer cooling.
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dougrainer
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02/20/21 09:09am |
Tech Issues
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RE: 170VAC coming from my Onan generator

AC Output
Voltage Too Low
Or Too High
Noisy Generator
Possible Cause
1. Open circuit breaker
2. Open circuit between brush
block an CR4 rectifier
3. Brushes stuck in holder or
not making good contact with
slip rings
4. Defective CR4 bridge
rectifier
5. Open, grounded, or short
circuit in rotor, stator, or
transformer
1. Engine governor incorrectly
adjusted
'2. Open diode in CR4 bridge
rectifier
*3. Brushes worn or not making
good contact with slip
rings
4. If generator frequency is
within specified limits but
voltage is incorrect,
transformer is incorrectly
connected or defective.
'5. Open, grounded, or short
circuit in rotor, stator,
or transformer
'causes low AC output voltage
1. Loose brush holder
2. Worn generator end bearing
3. Rotor and stator rubbing
together due to: a) varnish
lumps, orb) rotor
misaligned with crankshaft
Corrective Action
1. Locate cause of overload
and correct as required.
Reset breaker
2. Check for continuity and
correct if circuit is open
3. Release brushes if jammed
in holder. Clean slip
rings if dirty.
4. Test rectifier and replace
if defective
5. Test each component for
open, grounded, or shorted
windings and replace if
defective.
1.
2.
3.
$.
5.
Refer to Governor
section
Test CR4 rectifier and
replace if defective
Check length of brushes
and replace if worn
excessively. Clean or
replace slip rings.
Adjust tap connections on
transformer secondary
windings to obtain correct
voltage. Replace
transformer if voltage cannot
be corrected with adjustments.
Test each component for
open, grounded, or shorted
windings and replace if
defective.
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dougrainer
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02/19/21 12:29pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Generator breaker keeps shutting off immediately

Would a bad Automatic Transfer Switch cause the genset breaker to trip off?
Yes, Shorted contac points or BURNT Transfer relay/wires at the Transfer box. BUT, THERE SHOULD NOT BE 170 VOLTS, PERIOD! THIS is what you need to look at. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/18/21 03:05pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Generator breaker keeps shutting off immediately

The MAX genset voltage is 132 volts. The Voltage range on a Onan is 126 to 132 volts. IF you read 170, why would you think that is OK? THAT either means your Onan voltage regulator is toast or the Genset SPEED is NOT 1800 RPM's at 60 htz. Increase in speed will cause an increase in output voltage. Most common cause of this is novices that increase the idle speed to stop a surge/hunt genset run. This does NOT fix the problem but does stop the Hunt/surge. But does increase the output voltage. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/18/21 10:15am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Thor taking Tiffin ???

Thor purchased Tiff about 3 months ago. So far, NOTHING has changed at Tiffin in how Tiffin and dealers operate. Bob Tiffin still has authority to give Authorizations for any repairs that his customers request, out of warranty or in warranty. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/18/21 10:10am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Thor taking Tiffin ???

You would think that at some point Thor will reduce the number of brands and models they have to deal with considering all the associated costs. I suspect some long term contracts with their dealers are preventing the consolidation. Makes no sense for Winnebago for example to produce seemingly identical products such as Vista/Sunstar.
I would guess Entegra, Jayco, etc are all produced on the same line with different stickers - maybe different Caps and things to "separate" them aesthetically.
WRONG:B Jayco builds motorized and Towables and Entegra builds their various models in separate plants, but ON the same campus in Middlebury. The only "same" production line is for the higher line Entegra Class C's that as of 2 years ago were built on the same line and Plant as the Jayco class C's. They may still build on the same production line as Entegra/Jayco were in the process of building new production plants. They did not have a building for Entegra to build their Class C models at that time. Last, Entegra IS a Jayco line. They purchased the out of business Travel Supreme business records and incorporated that line into the "new" Entegra. Doug
I just found out that Entegra did get their Class C plant built and they now produce their Class C's in that plant. In Middlebury. We used to as a Jayco dealer do warranty work on the Class C Entegra's because the Entegra Local dealer that sold them refused to do the work. BUT, about 4 months ago Entegra told us to NOT do any warranty work as Entegra would not pay us. The customers have to go thru an Entegra dealer for warranty work now
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dougrainer
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02/18/21 10:06am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: No power

Bay Heater Instructions. This heater may have a Temp switch located ON the Heater, instead of the hidden behind the water Bay panel auto Tstat. Doug
The heater is controlled using two switches, one on the heater itself and a
remote “SYSTEMS HEAT’ switch located in an inside overhead compartment
next to entrance door. Both switches must be in ON position for the heater to
operate. Either switch in the OFF position will turn the heater off.
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dougrainer
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02/17/21 07:56am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: No power

Why would a 2,000 watt inverter be wired into a heat pump circuit?
Its not. He just has 2 problems. Doug
Doug, That's what I was wondering. I couldn't imagine them being fed from the inverter but I didn't know. Does the a/c/heat-pump wire straight into the 120-volt circuit panel and it is not controlled by the inverter. I don't have aqua-hot. I have ran extension cords and am using small space heaters to keep water from freezing.
Sunday morning, I had about 15 power outages that were only out for about 3 to 5 seconds which may have caused the problems. Have you ever seen "welded contacts" as a fault?
NO Aqua Hot? VERY unusual. I cannot remember when any of the hi line Monacos from 20 years ago did NOT have the optional Aqua hot. So same scenario, when the Ambient temp drops below 36/38 degrees the furnaces will automatically start and run, as long as the LP is turned ON. Your model should also have the 12 volt water bay heater that is turned on by a tstat switch mounted in the water bay inner wall, when the temp in the bay goes below 34 degrees. BUT, you MUST have that Heater switch turned ON. the switch is on the inside by the monitor panel display board. Now, to your question. NO OEM will ever run a roof AC or HP thru the Inverter/charger. Monaco did not. So, any loss of 120 power to the roof HP's is not caused by the Inverter/Charger. You DO have a Intellitec Energy Management System(EMS) that the roof HP's 120 power does go thru. THIS system can kill 120 power to the roof HP's if it is malfunctioning, but the Inverter will not cause such a problem. Your EMS wall display will show the status of the Power to the roof HP's. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/17/21 07:34am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: No power

You did not state IF you have the Aqua Hot system activated and ON. Heat Pumps are completely separate from the furnace/water heater system(Aqua Hot). IF you did not have the Aqua Hot activated and you are NOT inside storage, you may have a burst Aqua Hot reservoir if the Propylene is not at the correct antifreeze concentration. On your HP system, IF the Aqua Hot was activated, then the Aqua Hot furnace system would have come on once the ambient temp dropped below 36/38 degrees. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/16/21 05:10pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: No power

Why would a 2,000 watt inverter be wired into a heat pump circuit?
Its not. He just has 2 problems. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/16/21 05:06pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Towing

Since MOST states require the towed vehicle to have supplemental brake systems, I would be interested to see HOW and IF those triple tows have such a system. While it "may" be legal, it is not a good safe practice. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/15/21 10:25am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: PROPANE LEAK??????

I have a ticker, works great. A bit much $$$ to really recommend unless you have a business need for it.
Does this one look like what I need????
gas detector
Gas sniffers are OK, but in 42 years as an RV Tech, Soapy Water is all I ever needed. Doug
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dougrainer
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02/15/21 06:59am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Aqua 400D hot water heater problem

I am finding that I need the gas heat on to operate fans for the floor vents on the Aqua system. Does this sound right? Inam not getting as much heat otherwise!
Yes, that is true. Later(newer) model Tiffins the Spyder states Aqua Hot Furnace Heat. But for older the Gas listing is for the Aqua Hot floor furnace. Did you not get the large Blue owners manual packet that Tiffin supplies with all their motorhomes? It has ALL the appliance operations in it. NOT the generic TIFFIN manual. It will have about 30 appliance manuals in it also.
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dougrainer
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02/14/21 06:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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