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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Toilet seal leak.
I would use some caution using wax seals in a MH. The wax spreads out when you tighten down the toilet. Watch to see that the excess doesn't end up getting into the black tank.
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J Walker
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09/29/08 06:49am |
Tech Issues
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RE: The Forum
I don't know what you mean about the mouse over preview flashing. Mine will display a preview for a few seconds and then disappear. I sometimes can't quite finish reading it, but that seems to be the way it is designed.
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J Walker
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09/27/08 09:59am |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: Back to the dipstick V 10 question please
The only way to know for sure is to put the specified number of quarts in at the next oil change. Then check your dipstick to see if it agrees. If it doesn't agree then re-calibrate the dipstick. In the meantime your only concern is overfilling such that the crankshaft splashes the oil and causes it to foam. I can't say how you would determine if that is happening.
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J Walker
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09/26/08 11:35am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: XC Chassis 300 HP Cummins ISB - Operating Temp
I have a 260HP ISB and my VMSpc readout is my only way to know my coolant temp as well as many other parameters. My coolant temps vary from 180 where the thermostat seems to begin to open up to less than 190 degrees. The thermostat opening seems to be proportional to temperature and I see no cycling up and down due to the thermostat opening and closing. The Freightliner dash temp gauge is just about worthless in my opinion, no matter how great the rest of the chassis is.
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J Walker
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09/21/08 08:56am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Do I need an ISP with WIFI?
I've got at least 600 CDs to RIP, too
Tom: gotcha!
It would be prudent to buy several 2 gig thumb drives to copy all your data to rather than spending a fortune of "your valuable time" burning myriad CDs. One 2 gig thumb drive (about $12) would record the equivalent of 3.3 CDs, over and over and over again...
He isn't talking about transferring data for one computer to another when he refers to RIPing CDs. The latter is just transferring tracks from a CD onto a computer, usually it is music. If he has a DVD burner then some large amounts of data can be moved from computer to computer and it might be worth doing vice thumbdrive.
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J Walker
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09/18/08 07:41am |
Technology Corner
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RE: do chassis with rear rad ever overheat re M8R
I agree that side radiators are better if they have variable fan speed, but a thread recently had the complaint of the fan being only full on or off. In some cases the high temperature fan turn on was about 210 degrees. There were several rigs with the on/off feature for side radiators with varying high temp turn on levels. As I recall all were Freightliner. Be sure that your side radiator fan has a variable temp control, and if retrofitting your rear radiator fan do the same. The earlier post to have Cummins install the fan is a good one in that they could at least make sure you get variable control. Brett's suggestion to install the fan control on a rear radiator yourself to save money gets sort of iffy considering the control issue connected to the ECM. Maybe Horton can step you through it. The mechanical installation on a rear radiator is plenty tough in itself!
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J Walker
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09/17/08 07:49am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: do chassis with rear rad ever overheat re M8R
You may not believe it, but, spell check STILL not werking.
That is no problem. Get Firefox with built in spell check and it will spell check real time, not when you click it, on this forum and any other place on the internet.
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J Walker
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09/17/08 07:12am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Do you actually use the phone outlets in your coach?
I used my phone line in my MH one time in eight years. I was at a resort CG that had phone service included. When I plugged in and it worked I realized that I had never tested the phone line since I purchased my MH but it worked fine. I don't expect to fulltime so it is unlikely I will ever use my phone jack again, but it would be a selling point if I sold my MH I am sure. I will point it out to the buyer.
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J Walker
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09/17/08 07:08am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Oil bypass kits on DP
For nearly all motorhome applications where mileage is not that high, bypass filtering seems not to be economical. Also the key to bypass filter cost is extending the change interval and I don't read about a procedure for doing that which is accepted by engine manufacturers. There may be a way for testing by laboratories that is complete enough to allow extended change intervals but you will be on your own deciding whether to believe them. The cost for oil changes depends largely on whether you do your own or pay to have it done. A yearly DIY oil change in my case is little more than the cost of a laboratory analysis to see if the oil is still ok. Paying to have an oil change done is several times higher than a lab analysis. Extending the life of a diesel engine with a bypass filter is not a good match because the engine already will outlast the coach. Making sure that the fuel and air is filtered properly will probably be a better place to look for enhancing engine life. Just as an example, my ISB has one fuel filter instead of two. The second filter would be a fine filter, one micron as I recall. It has been recommended that I add the second filter to decrease fuel injector wear and I am sure it would help. I have not yet done this because re-plumbing and finding a space for the second filter is difficult.
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J Walker
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09/16/08 07:56am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Intermittent Refrigerator Issues
Gary already has ordered his board, but for anyone else a good source of parts is RV Mobile
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J Walker
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09/15/08 08:22am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Two infrared thermometers reviewed
A little difficulty in reading out the Harbor Freight infrared thermometer is not much problem but reading inaccuracies are. You can still use the Harbor Freight as a relative reading or to find hot spots in tires or radiator. Once you get used to the readings they might be useful. However, for the prices quoted there is no reason to buy a Harbor Freight unit. They do occasionally put them on sale and I don't remember the price but it is much less than $40. I have a ton of Harbor Freight stuff and have not been disappointed.
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J Walker
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09/15/08 08:03am |
Technology Corner
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RE: "CMOS Battery Low" Message
I assume we are talking about a desktop here. Is changing the battery in a laptop feasible? I know the question may be too general, so specifically ThinkPad batteries.
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J Walker
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09/08/08 10:11am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Maxx Air II Vents
The problem with MaxAirII is that the screen is too fine a mesh and it cuts airflow down 50-60%. I have MaxAirII covers and haven't bothered to upgrade since I seem to get enough flow with them.
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J Walker
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09/07/08 10:08am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Changed batteries and ended up with 24V instead of 12V.
There could be lots of things that saw the 24V. One way to find out is to exercise all of your 12V appliances you can possibly turn on. Your converter might have seen the voltage. God forbid your chassis might have seen it also if you have an automatic interconnect between house and chassis batteries. I would call Monaco for some guidance on this also.
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J Walker
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09/05/08 07:40am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Transmission fluild low
Minimum wage high-school drop-outs should not be permitted to be our primary caregivers, not even to our vehicles.
Man. I love that quote!! Of course there are the excellent techs but how do you know who you will get. You most often are not allowed into the shop to even watch or ask questions. When and where ever possible I do my own work. On this forum techs or even salesmen are often quoted and it is thrown up for discussion. I am always dubious about such quotes.
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J Walker
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09/05/08 07:02am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Our first 4000 miles in the 2001 Dynasty
Bill
You may have the same feature that I have on my Thetford Aqua Magic 4 toilet, year 2000. My toilet has an overflow which is either supposed to have a trap or a one way valve and I could never stop odors by any means. A call to Thetford produced the advice to plug the overflow tube. End of problem. Two on this forum have already put in the plug. Newer Thetford toilets don't have an overflow for just this reason. Looks like they could have managed to perfect the trap but no.
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J Walker
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09/04/08 12:49pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Weak Headlights
I greatly enhanced my headlights mainly by aiming them. It took two tries and the second time I used the method of observing where the light strikes the pavement and made it the same that I have for my car. I did upgrade to the new Silverstar Ultra bulbs which also helped some. The combined effect was quite an improvement. A voltage check might be in order but I haven't done that yet.
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J Walker
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09/03/08 09:59pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Where did all the analog VOMs go?
T-Bone Your story reminds me of a time in a grad school research lab one evening. I was alone taking data and it is a long story of all that was entailed. Let's just say that I had a string of amplifiers that gave me my final reading. Every few minutes the reading drifted wildly and then returned to normal. I checked everything I could check and no luck. Finally, I just watched and waited for it to happen again in the hope that I would see, hear, or sense something. When the problem happened again it dawned on me that I heard a click before it happened. I walked back to where it came from and I saw a hotplate. I am sure you see the problem now. The voltage change affected one amplifier which must not have had a good voltage regulator. It is amazing how troubleshooting can work. I have fixed circuits that I knew virtually nothing about by taking off the cover and finding a charred resistor. Lots of fun and I can pretend to be competent or at least persistent.
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J Walker
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08/31/08 03:37pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Where did all the analog VOMs go?
I cut my teeth using Simpson and Triplet multimeters. Later I bought cheapie analog meters for myself and they didn't last at all. A drop here and there and an overvoltage now and then ended their lives. I greatly prefer the digital for their reliability and long life. I have a Radio Shack digital that is about 30 years old. The LCD is getting a little flaky and the accuracy is not that good anymore but it works. I suppose a zener diode reference voltage drifts after a number of years due to age, heat, moisture, etc.
Having said all of that I really liked the analog needle. It produced a visual memory of what I was measuring unlike a digital reading. Note that nearly all digital watches have simulated analog readouts. There is a reason for that. Navy subs have digital instruments but readouts are simulated analog. Digital multimeters would probably offer analog readouts if it didn't take so much space.
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J Walker
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08/31/08 09:24am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Exhaust brake conundrum
Starburst, You are doing the right things now to begin troubleshoot the problem. You will quickly narrow down the problem and hopefully find it in an area that will be minimal cost and labor. Part of the art of troubleshooting is to look for the more likely things first. High on my list of such things is a bad connection. When you are looking at your relay and exhaust brake. Look at the connections and make sure they are tight and not corroded. A separate fuse for the exhaust brake is and excellent place to look. No doubt the installer added an in line fuse somewhere near the relay. Keep us informed and count on the problem being easy to fix.
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J Walker
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08/29/08 06:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
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