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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Accumulator Tank
When I fill for a trip, I turn on der pump and crack the faucets to purge the lines and fill the acc tank and leave it with pressure - that's another gallon of water capacity. The easiest way to charge the air bladder is to start out with way too much psi for the pump to push any water into it. Then, slowly bleed off the air bladder until the pump starts - at that point the pump cutin press. and bladder are equal. Then let out one tiny psssst of air and you're there. No need to quantify the cutin pressure or to use a gauge. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/13/08 09:03pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Rear end gears
I would think 4.10s would be great with the higher rpm v8. You'll wish you didn't go any higher if you ever get a heavier rv. 4.10 is a bit low for me and my 5er weight but it tows like a locomotive. I'm guessing you have a little taller tires than my 31"ers, too. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/12/08 10:49pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Rear stabilizer suggestions
Mine aren't sissor jacks, they are the other kind - don't know what they're called. They only hang down about 4". Some of the stabilizers like mine are better than others. Some have side braces that are spread far apart to form a stronger triangle. You can also buy a wheel kit for the back end of yours so it rolls up/down the inclines but you might still need lower profile stabilizer, too. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/12/08 08:25pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: King pin stabilizers
I put most of the front weight on the tripod and let the legs and rear stabilizers do the rest. My window blinds don't even move. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/12/08 09:12am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 5th Wheel Wannbe Advice
Thanks again for serving! I started buying used and saved mega bucks but I've had several rvs and know what to look for. Our current 5er cost less than the depreciation on a new one after 1 year. I'd get a bunkhouse if I were going to have kids, camping. Turning the furniture into beds and back is a royal PITA. Avoid entry level junk - that's the cheapest, lightweight units and avoid the 15" exploding tires. Get more truck than you think you need. Good luck! Craig
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C Schomer
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10/11/08 11:37am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Dometic Royal RM-3862 replacement - frig leaked out ammonia
The problem was too high wattage elec element and it cracked the heater well/boiler tube weld area. Mine was one of them in the 97-03 bunch that leaked but the leak was on a plugweld before the recall. I got a rebuilt from Trailer Refrig. in Tucson and Dometic reimbursed me. The rebuilt works great and saved a bunch of $$. The yellow comes from the sodium chromate corrosion inhibitor. I used to work on large R717 absorption chillers and I never saw anything green come out or go in! Craig
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C Schomer
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10/06/08 05:59pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Propane leak ???
I've never timed mine but it turns red at some point. Every time I've had a leak, it's been at the regulator or connector hoses and I've been able to smell it and there's always been a slightly oily or dirty spot where the leak is. I use my nose to get close, then a soap spray bottle to pinpoint the leaks. BTW, Marshall regs have had a lot of leak problems in the past and they still might - just something to keep in mind. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/06/08 05:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Changing Gears
Cost effectiveness is only a small part of it. Driveability and making the engine/trans work easier means a LOT more to me! My bro loves the 4.10s in his 3/4T Chev auto trans p/u. I love my 4.10s but I'd love 3.9 even better cuz of the slower turning diesel. A good trans shop will be able to help you out. You have to consider which gear is safe for towing (it might not be OD, depending on the trans) to get to the best final ratio and be in a good engine power range. I use a sliding gear calculator I got from a race shop. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/05/08 09:53pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Big 3 rear axle #'s
Let me guess... the info in DP came from GM!
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C Schomer
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10/05/08 09:26pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: 5th Wheel Spirit Level
I had one with the ball and it didn't move so good either - I think it wore a dead spot in the plastic tube. I took it off and tried it manually and I could move it several degrees before it reacted so I got the individual Hoppy spirit levels and mounted them by the landing gear switch. For me, that was the handiest place for when I fine tune the side to side leveling with shims under the front legs and also the front to rear leveling. Yeh, I'm fussy - I put the bubble, dead centered. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/05/08 09:09pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Purchased a fifth wheel. Need help selecting tow vehicle.
My 5er is 9600 gw and I didn't like the feel with a 3/4T. The dually is like night and day but I'd get at least a SRW 1T. You can find great deals on big P/Us now, new and used. If you like towing power, you'd love a diesel! Craig
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C Schomer
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10/05/08 08:48pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: do you tow with dodge 1500.
Sounds good to me. I used to tow a 5k gw 5er with a 96 360 auto 3.90 and it did great and got good mpg - 9-9.5. Your hemi probably has a heavier trans and diff than my 96 did. Your weight will probably be close with truck cargo and passengers. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/05/08 03:46pm |
Towing
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RE: Converting a Window A/C to Rooftop RV unit
Quabillion, I almost asked if you added a reciever. So, did you measure the cond. DT and how many degrees over ambient is the saturation temp.? Craig
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C Schomer
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10/04/08 06:22pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dually vs. Single Rear Wheel
Get it loaded up and find a CAT scale. You might be over on the rear axle and maybe even towing cap. if you load it heavy. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/04/08 05:52pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Converting a Window A/C to Rooftop RV unit
Thanks, I thought there were two guys that used TXVs. The reason for asking those ?? is because I'm wondering how the cond coil size works out. The advantage of a TXV is to fill the coil faster and pull the load down faster but a captube does fine on the superheat after the unit runs for awhile and stabilizes. A captube system doesn't always have 100% liguid at the cond outlet but a TXV HAS to for it to work it's best. So I'm just thinking that if you can't get the subcooling necessary for proper TXV operation at a reasonable head pressure and DT, the results might be really minimal - what you gain in evap efficiency will be lost in cond efficiency. I think I'd add an extra loop of soft copper at the inlet and outlet of the cond coil. I used to do mostly lo-temp refrigeration but I've been stuck mostly in an R22 world (up to 120T RTUs) for the last 30 yrs so I don't get much experience with the new refrigerants except for some small 404a, 134a and now a few 410a package units. We still even have some 11, 12, 500 and 502 around the power plant. From what I've seen, the new refrigerant compression ratios are similar to the old ones but the coils are much bigger. The thing that is really interesting is that they can't get the simple eer up anymore so they are improving the controls big time to get higher seer's. The ECM motors are fabulous and I see Maytag has a variable speed compressor now - 24 seer! I wonder if they use an ECM comp motor. Craig
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C Schomer
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10/04/08 11:06am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Converting a Window A/C to Rooftop RV unit
Your conversion came out looking really good! I like doing that stuff, too. I replaced a 13.5 Briskair on a fire dept. vehicle at work this week and the plastic cover was still in great shape cuz it's parked under a cover all the time. My old 15k Dometic cover on my 5er is like an eggshell but it has a shallow pan and I'm going have to change to the deep pan from the old 13.5 that I changed out in order to use the good 13.5 cover. Somebody suggested putting the 6k btu compressor in the 13.5 unit but that would be too much of a mismatch. A little bigger coils would be good but 13.5 is too much. Something like a 13.5 compressor in a 15k unit would probably make a really efficient unit with some captube tweeking.
For you guys that changed to a TXV... Did you add a sightglass or did you go by liquidline temp and charge by subcooling? What is the temp rise across the condensor after you charge the system enough to get some subcooling? Craig
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C Schomer
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10/03/08 11:17pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Fenders
I blew a tread and wiped out a fender. I like the treadbrite idea - it would match my treadbrite hauler bed! Craig
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C Schomer
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10/03/08 09:58pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: 1/2 ton towable 5er....why???
I used to have a shadow cruiser (7' wide and a pointed frontend) 24' 5er - 5k lbs loaded and pulled it with a sb 1/2T Dodge 360ci gasser and my bro had a jayco 23' TT 5k lb loaded and a 350ci full size Chevy van. We went a lot of places together and I always got 2mpg better and could go thru STRONG winds with ease when he was nearly ready to get off the road. Our first rv was a tiny TT and after being an O/O of semi tractors, I realized I "fell down" when I bought that TT. I don't know why I thought I could tolerate a TT! Craig
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C Schomer
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09/29/08 08:58pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: AWG Wire Sizes
When in doubt... go up a wire size! I like welding or automotive wire and I solder all the crimp connectors. Craig
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C Schomer
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09/28/08 09:04pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Air bags , whose are the best
That's it! I'd get whatever is on sale but just to point out what I see in those pictures... I like the looks of the firestone rolled cap the best, to provide a smooth radius for the rubber bag to bare against rather than the narrow edge of a band clamp. Also with the FS bag, the rubber is not only clamped tight but the rolled edge works like a wheel bead - the more air pressure, the tighter the seal. You don't see tires bandclamped to a rim! Craig
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C Schomer
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09/28/08 08:42pm |
Tow Vehicles
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