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Posted by: Joe Galowitch
02-26-2018, 07:49 PM
Forum: Air Operated Systems and Leaks
- Replies (3)

Trying to figure out where the compressors are located on the coach 469 that we are trying to take possession of Air door is not working nor the fridge locks

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1996 Newell Coach #428, 38' NON-SLIDE, Wide Body, no tag axle, the shortest Newell made with a Series 60 Engine!

Series 60 Detroit Diesel w/chrome upgrade. 187,000 miles with fresh service, Newly installed Allison re-manufactured transmission, new front disc brakes & rotors, K & N air filter, Flow thru exhaust, sounds great, runs exceptional!

Mostly original interior, new 42" flat screen TV w/Bose surround sound, HD satellite antenna (not in-motion) receives much better, newer inverter

ALL ELECTRIC no propane coach, Recaro leather drivers seat, Lazy Boy recliner, couch reupholstered in leather, larger queen mattress

New patio awning, original Zip Dee window awnings.

Silver Base with Emerald accent paint in very good condition

This is a quality used coach that has been loved and cared for by all!

Change in lifestyle causes sale of this beautiful coach.

2015 Jeep Wrangler 4-door toad also available at additional cost.

Coach is in Ohio.   Priced at $65,000 

Contact: Russ & Debbie Davis 
Seven40 6Zero7 71FourZero
[email protected]

       

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Posted by: Richard
02-23-2018, 02:41 PM
Forum: Interior Things
- Replies (4)

I have a 99 model coach with two of the Villa fold out sofas that Newell used for about ten years. 

This is a pic of one of the cushions. Owners of this era will immediately recognize it.     

Several years ago I reupholstered the couches in leather to match some of the other trim in the coach. They were uncomfortable before the work, and even more uncomfortable afterwards. The biggest issue was that the seatback was too upright to the seat base, therefore no back support. Also the couches were much softer in the middle than at the ends. 

Before you invest any more time in this tome, be advised I am a recovering engineer ( no puns intended on the reupholstery), which means if it's worth doing then it's worth overdoing. And my main purpose is that coaches of this era probably will need some freshening on the couches, here are some things I learned that may help you avoid some issues. 

So, why the cramped angle between the seat back and the seat bottom. It has two major causes and one minor one. One of the causes is the design of the cushion. If you look at the pleats, they are at the bottom of the seat back and the back of the seat cushion. The way the pleats are held in place is with an internal flap sewn to the inside of the pleat. The flap is attached to the back of the cushion. So the pleats kind of depress the foam around them. 
       
As you can see the cushion is thinner by almost an inch at the pleat end. This closes up the angle.
The other cause is kind of interesting. I could never figure out why the very same couches in my 95 weren't upright like the ones in the 99, and upright like the ones I have seen in other coaches. It seems the rear of the cushion actually hits the valence at the window. A Ha! I didn't really discover this until I had recovered the couches and installed them for a third time. The fix was to move the entire couch frame including the drawer mounts forward a couple of inches. 

All of this head scratching pointed out several items that may come in handy for you or your upholstery guy. One, don't reuse the foam. I did the first time, and although it fluffed up when steamed, it didn't have the resiliency of new foam. Two, and most importantly, don't overtighten the pleats. This was a rookie mistake on my part the first time I did the cushions. Because after all, if tight is good, then real tight is better, right? 

I decided to go with new foam and a differently designed cushion to avoid the pleats. 
Here is a pic of the finished product.
   
I'll show you some pics of the rest of the story in the next post.

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Posted by: bikestuff
02-23-2018, 01:41 PM
Forum: Electrical
- Replies (32)

Gurus,

I arrived at my coach after a two week absence and found the start battery dead...as in doornail.  When I got the coach five years ago, I went through three sets of engine batteries in the first year. After I switched to AGM batteries, the problems seemed to smooth out....until this week!  (frown face). I thought...oh no the gremlin is back.

I merged the start batteries with the house batteries, but did not have luck starting the coach.  (After waiting a while with the batteries merged, I finally was able to start the engine).  There is a possibility that my inverter had the charging function set to OFF.  I have an Xantrex echo charger and when I looked at it while charging the batteries, I saw that it had a green light which means it is charging the engine batteries.  (Green blinking means that it does not sense enough voltage in house batteries to charge engine bats)

I went through a charge cycle with the inverter.  The Magnum cycle is  Bulk Charge->Absorb Charge->Float Charge->Full Charge.  This takes several hours.

So Starting from Full Charge I took a few measurements.  With the batteries not merged.

House Battery = 13.4 volts.  Engine Batteries = 12.5 volts.   It kept these measurement overnight.  I did notice that the light on the echo charger was blinking this morning.  Hmmmm.

Puzzler....Why did my engine battery go dead in the first place?  With Richard's help we developed three possible theories.  1). The echo charger is bad and not charging the bats.  2). The batteries are toast and cannot take a charge and 3) There is a ground problem.

Tick Tock, what's the answer?  (Turns out this is a trick question, because it turned out to be none of the above)

Before we get to the answer, here is some theory on the echo charger....

From Xantrex manual:

Quote:When the input voltage is 13.0/25.5 volts DC or higher, echo-charge automatically switches ON. The LED glows a steady green. When the input voltage is lower than 13.0/25.5 volts, the echo-charge automatically switches OFF, and the LED blinks green. The output voltage of echo- charge is limited to 14.4/28.8 volts. When it reaches 14.4/28.8 volts, the charge current will decrease, maintaining a float condition. The starter battery will be fully charged without overcharging. 

This means that the Echo Charger essentially follows the charge cycle of the house batteries.  When they are charging they will be typically higher than 13 volts and the echo charger will come on.   When you are using them, they will fall below 13V and the echo charger will turn off.

In order to understand my situation, I disconnected shore power and ran the microwave for a while.  When I reconnected to shore power, the inverter sensed voltage less than 12.8 volts and started a charge cycle.  During a charge cycle you will see close to 14V going to the house batteries.  I went back to the Echo Charger and expected to see a green light.  Nope....still blinking.

So at this point (with a charge cycle going) I measured 12.5 Volts at the engine batteries and 13.4 at the house batteries.  Hmmm... Why wasn't the echo charger coming on?  

Answer:  I followed the wires from the fuse block labeled "Echo Charger" up to the echo charger.  The wire labeled Start Battery measured 13.4 volts and the wire labeled "House Battery" measured 12.5 volts.  Wait!!!! that is backwards.  I unbundled the wires and found two splices in the wires.  Someone / somewhere along the way replaced the echo charger and got the orange and red wires reversed.    This echo charger has never worked because it was wired wrong.  When I saw the solid green light it was because the batteries where merged and it sensed >13Volts.   I rewired by swapping the house and start wires and then re-tested.  The green light came on during the charge cycle.

Lessons learned:  1) If the house batteries are less than 13V, the echo charger will blink and will not charge your start batteries.  2) Just because you see a green light on the echo charger, do not assume everything is ok.  If the batteries are merged and charging, the green light would come on with incorrect wiring. 3) It helps to not merge your batteries when troubleshooting.  4). Don't be a doofus like me and randomly turn off your charger unless you really mean to.  5). You don't need to merge your batteries to keep the engine batteries charged if you have a properly wired and operational echo charger.

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Posted by: encantotom
02-19-2018, 12:38 PM
Forum: Members who have hookups and want visitors!
- Replies (6)

we just spent a delightful 4 days with paul and kelly here in the desert in wittmann.  we enjoyed having them and wish they could have stayed longer.

tom and darlene

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Posted by: MPerry
02-18-2018, 12:48 PM
Forum: Drivetrain
- Replies (3)

I have been looking for insight to the Jake Brakes on a 903. I have seen an offhanded comment on a trucking forum about them being hard on the valve train of a 903. I realize its all subjective but does anyone have experience with Jakes on a 903 causing problems, excessive wear etc.... provided they are maintained and set to spec? Jacobs Engineering does not support the product on the 903, even though they support their other Jakes of that era. Should I take that as a sign I should remove them, or just keep them in spec realizing they will never be worked as hard as in a truck, and prob be problem free?

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Posted by: MPerry
02-18-2018, 11:36 AM
Forum: Fuel System
- Replies (4)

I am starting to think about replacing the fuel hoses on my coach and looking for opinions. I believe my current hoses are original (36yrs) and probably braided Startlite (?). The supply is a -12 till it hits the water seperater, then is goes to -10 and stays -10 to the injector pump. I think the return line is -8, but havent confirmed it.

I have found 3 options.
1) Stay with Startlite
2) Eaton Synflex
3) Trident Barrier Lined

I am leaning toward the Synflex but the downsides are I need new hose ends, it seems only available through a dealer, concerned about abrasion and largest size is -10.  At 320hp I really dont see the -10 as a problems.

Opinions or other suggestions appreciated.

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Posted by: Fulltiming
02-18-2018, 10:19 AM
Forum: Coaches for Sale (Please read the info in the Category description)
- No Replies

#763, a quad slide 2006 registered in Canada is listed on RVOnline at $240,000. This is one of the last 11 2000i models built.  C-15 625 HP. Listed about 3 months ago was having 65,000 miles. Murphy bed with couch in bedroom/media room. ZF transmission. Mid entry.

https://www.rvonline.com/single-ad.asp?Recnumber=69270

[Image: R69270.2.jpg]

[Image: R69270.3.jpg]

[Image: R69270.7.jpg]

[Image: R69270.6.jpg]

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