RE: New Crate Engine 454 up and running
Years ago, I had a 'i83 Southwind with a 454 in it. As I recall, the shop manual stressed the routing of the ignition wires because of possible cross firing between cylinders when an wire for a firieing cylinder was routed next to a cylinder on a intake stroke.
Mine used to "sneeze" wnen under full throttle oe heavy load. As the pressure in a cylinder goes up, the voltage required to spark across the plug gap goes up, making the likelihood of a sneak path firing occur, when that sneak path goes to a cylinder in the intake cycle, you have a combustible mix, an open intake valve and you get a backfire through the intake manifold.
RE: Slides won't close
Besides the ignition interlocks for the slides, you probably have interlocks on the basement doors to prevent damage. Those doors have to be closed on my coach for the slides to operate.
For limited power, get a 50 amp to 110 volt adapter. That gives you 15 amps that will operate the charger. It will also operate the refrigerator or the water heater for getting ready for a trip, or for cleanup. 110 volt extension cords are cheap and available in 100 foot lengths.
Dick Lucas, '04 HR Imperial
RE: wind noise
On my '97 holiday rambler endeavor I was able to track down the source if my wind noise by moving a small pillow around the window until the noise stopped. It turned out that the weep hole cover closest to the front was missing. Black tape was my fix.
This may not be your problem, but it might help you to locate your noise source.
RE: Household 220v water heater heat with 110volts?
Your water heater is most likely hard wired to the power lines. A 220 volt system has 3 lines to it. There are 2 hot wires, and one neutral. The two hot lines are connected through a ganged, double breaker in the house electrical panel. There may also be a ground line. You need to apply your 110 volts across the two hot lines. First, you would have to disconnect both lines from the breaker, as you will need to connect one side of the available 110 volt output to one line to the water heater, and the other side of the 110 volt generator output to the other hot line.
The best way to do this would be to have a 220 volt recepticle wired to your panel and a 220 volt plug wired to your water heater. You would then have to make a special adaptor which you could connect your 110 volt generator to that plug on the water heater. Of course, you should make sure that you don't violate any building codes by makeing the water heater into a plug-in appliance.
After doing all this, you still have the problem pointed out by others that you will only deliver 1/4th the power that the heater can deliver to the water.
Cold showers might not be such a bad idea, considering the amount of work required to set up the water heater to run off your generator.
RE: Steering problem. Does not go straight on highway
Years ago, I had a Southwind with the Chevy chassis. It was a "white knuckle" ride until I replaced the steering knuckle on the driver's side. In the chevy chassis, the first steering link was from the steering box to that steering knuckle which was mounted on the frame. From that steering knuckle the link connected to a relay arm that linked to each of the front wheel assembly. Since that first knuckle bore the brunt of the steering forces, it got loose and had a lot of slop. I found it by going under the front, while my wife wiggled the steering wheel with the engine runnint. With small steering wheel movement, you could see that the first steering knuckle wasn't transmitting any movement to the subsequent linkeage. Of course, you you and your wife have to be on good terms...
The big trucks wear ruts in the roads which you can sometimes see. The track of the big trucks are usually wider than your motor home. Because of that, one or the other of your front tires will be trying to climb out of that rut, which will cause the motorhome to pull to that side. With a loose steering knuckle, the motorhome will oblige.
OOPS... For "steering knuckle" read "relay arm"
