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2019 model, quad slide, Blade Indio Show Coach, currently in production. http://www.newellcoach.com/newell-coaches/coach-1643/

Mid entry. bath and a half, marble tile throughout. White LED undercoach lighting. In production as of 1/17/2018. 

I received this email today. The picture is attached. I wonder if this is an upgrade or you have to buy a new coach to get it? :-)

Newell is excited to announce the launch of our new and improved coach management
system, Intrepid 2.0. This is a complete redesign of our coach management system, with
new software, new hardware, new network wiring, and new features. Intrepid 2.0 offers all
the features and functionality of our first Intrepid system, but also includes:

o Wireless Connectivity through our proprietary Newell Intrepid app (available for
iOS and Android devices)
o Increased wireless functionality to control mechanical features such as Slides,
Dump Valves, Awnings, HVAC, Generator and more from your smart phone or
tablet
o Remote Coach Monitoring and Management with climate control, power
management, and customizable alerts and notifications

o More options for customization including: Personalized screen savers, individual
“Sleep-Time” settings and Scenes to adjust Lighting and Shades with 1-touch
preset buttons
o Automatic, cloud-based software updates with wireless connection will allow for
easy upgrades and feature enhancements
o Integrated internet connectivity with optional cellular card

Call Newell to explore the Intrepid Coach Management System today!

Gurus,

This post is a continuation of my airbag woes.  We have made progress, but there is no victory dance yet.  Thanks to Richard Entrekin we are much, much closer to finding a solution.  

Problem:  The coach will sometimes keep air in its airbags with the key off, and sometimes it will just leak out suddenly, or it may leak dow more gradually.  Normally it is the right rear where this happens.  I have fairly new six pack solenoids and brand new Height Control Valves (HCVs).  The problem has been with me since I bought the coach (from Newell) six years ago.  The airbag has been replaced multiple times.  I can reproduce the problem at will by airing up the coach and then letting air out of the bags.  Fully inflated, it stays inflated.  Partially inflated, it leaks down to nothing.

Investigation:  When I pulled into Richard's driveway, and shut down the engine....The right rear airbag started venting like crazy.  I went from normal ride height to being on the skids in a matter of 10-20 seconds.  Remember that the air in the bag is augmented by a fairly large auxiliary air tank mounted in the frame.   This was by far the most dramatic manifestation of the problem to date.  And the coach did it RIGHT IN FRONT of RICHARD!  Wow!  I thought that I had somehow ruptured the airbag.  

The first step was to chock and block the coach.  Richard pulled out a pair of the biggest jack stands I have ever seen.  We raised the coach and placed the stands.  In addition we put cribbing under the trailer hitch.  We did my process of being aired all the way up and then letting air out of the bags.  Richard was able to pinpoint the leak as coming from under the airbag.  (Where the metal is)....NOT THE RUBBER PART!

We decided to remove the offending airbag (aft drive axle - passenger side).  After a few vocabulary expanding minutes, Richard had the bag out.  

   

Inspection of the bag yielded an surprising observation...The support ring is not attached to the bag by anything other than friction.

   

We decided to test the bag out of the coach.  Richard rigged up a series of air fittings that allowed us to air up the bag to 20lbs (with proper safety procedures).  The bag did not leak - at all!

Along the way we realized that the "piston" part of the airbag was also not glued but rather worked like the bead on a tire.  Air pressure from inside the bag keeps the piston air tight against a bead that is built into the rubber "bladder".

       

At this point we turned our attention to the coach and noticed that the platform that the airbag sits on was slightly warped around the edges and is not absolutely flat.  Hmmmm.

           

Here is the theory that we came up with.  The bag works like a tire...it seals against the piston.  To guide the bag and to keep pressure when it is deflated, the "ring" is used.  In my case we think that the ring is shorter than the piston (caused by the pancake shape of the platform) which means that the piston bottoms out on the platform.  This allows air to escape around the piston.

Lets look at some pictures....

   

This is the normal configuration of the airbag.

   

The air inside the bag presses the the piston down and the ring essentially presses up.  The edge of the bladder is pinched between the ring and the piston edge.

If you are still reading....hang on...it gets interesting from here on out.  

Richard installed the airbag back into the coach along with the air fitting that allowed us to fill the bag WITHOUT THE RING.  He put the bolts back into the bag and let the weight of the coach down.  Richard got out from under the coach.  We then gradually added air to the bag.  Around 20-30 lbs.....the bag went "POP" and coach dropped.  The piston had pulled away from the "bead" and had let all the air out of the bag.  

   

This makes sense.  While the bag will hold air just fine, the platform is exerting pressure to push the piston into the bag.  As the top of the bag is lifting the coach the bottom is applying pressure to the piston.  At around 25lbs or so, the pressure was too much.

From this we figure out that the ring is designed to apply pressure around the edge of the bag and to keep the pressure off of the piston.

Our theory is shown in the figure below...

   

The piston is just about the same size as the ring.  But, since the platform has a curvature, the ring is bottoming out and not allowing the ring to do its job.  Under some circumstances like the bag being partially inflated, air can get around the piston as in the previous picture.

So, Richard welded on a couple of pieces of sheet metal to raise the ring and keep the piston from bottoming out.

   

After the installation of the spacing rings, the coach held up with no loss of air for five days.  (No leaks at all!!!)

But....here is the sad part.  When I returned home and parked the coach, it leaked down overnight.

At this point, I am not sure is our theory is wrong or the rings were not tall enough.  We now know much more about how the airbag works, and will collect and present more data as it becomes available.

This was a super-fun learning experience.  Stay tuned for more information.

Bill

I've been reading a little bit about this engines and I know they are old and not many users here have them but was wondering if there is such a thing as an emergency shutdown for this engines also should I be concerned about "runaway's"? Just by reading about it made me scare, I don't want to know how does it feel to stop such a beast that not even brakes will stop it.

There is a button with a red cap in the center of my dashboard, should that be the emergency shutdown engine? It cuts fuel to the engine?

Thanks

I’m a little concerned at what temperature the generator is good down too before it would freeze. I have had to add water and I have added antifreeze over the last fall but not sure how protected I am. It’s suppose to get down to 2 below.. it got down to 4 earlier and had no problems.. I am considering just running the generator through the night to make sure.. opinions..

Gang,

My No 1. slide has given me ample reasons to expand my vocabulary.  Problems have been multiple bearing failures, rotted ceiling, and one "waterfall event" where water actually poured into the coach.  After some serious troubleshooting it became clear what the problem was.

My slide is really long, and "sags" in the middle.  This sag means that the bladder seal cannot reach down to the middle of the slide and water can just run in.  These pics are of the top of the slide with the slide extended (valance removed).
             

Richard Entrekin helped me study the leak and we were able to determine that the hook that is designed to lift the middle of the slide ceiling when the room is extended was not engaging in the slot in the coach frame.  (Newell had previously beefed up the metal bar that holds the hook, but now the hook was hitting the wall instead of the slot).

Note:  if you have not looked closely at the top of your slide this description will not make sense.  If you are wondering about your slide PM me and I will explain more.

We decided to build a structure like a suspension bridge...specifically a Bowstring Truss Arch to help support the middle of the slide.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truss_bridge.   Our first experiment was to modify the steel bar that Newell had previously beefed up and add a long bar to the top and some supports.  It was ugly, it was heavy...but it worked. It removed about 3/4" of a bow with a 50 lb weight suspended in the middle.  

The first prototype is the one on the right.  The final version is on the left
   

For the final version, we scrapped the idea of using the heavy steel 1x1" tube that was previously used.  Instead we used 1x1 thin-walled steel tube along with a suspension system using rod steel.  This took a lot of weight from the structure but added strength.  We ended up with about the same strength but removed about 20lbs of weight.  We also investigated rebuilding the valence structure to remove weight but decided that it was time to test the beer Richard had been brewing.  

Once we put the room back together, we found that the "hook" that pulls up the middle of the room was now hitting the slot in the frame about 1/2" higher.  This allowed it to to its job properly.  (Before it was hitting the wall and just bending the room inward)

I have now moved the coach and tested the room and it seals well.  In fact the entire room structure seems far more rigid!

DO YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM?  The easiest way to diagnose this problem is to darken the inside of the coach on a bright day.  If you can see light coming in on the top side of the slide....you could have this problem.  


Ps.  Squire Wipple was the inventor of the bow-arch truss.

wish I had bought this sooner

Gang,

I just returned from one of my favorite RV trips ever.  I stopped in at Richard and Rhonda Entrekin's southern command center.  My plan was to ask him to help diagnose a problem in my No. 1 slide that has troubled me since I have owned the coach.  Newell has worked on the slide many times without improving it ....so it was time to tear into it and see what was causing recurring water leaks which in turned caused a bunch of other issues.

What I did not know is that Richard in addition to being a full-fledged guru legend is also a renaissance man.  Between working on what ended up being three big coach projects he also put me through his Art of Manliness bootcamp.  I will post separately about the things we fixed on my coach but I wanted to share a little bit of the curriculum for the week.  My grade is posted for each class.

String Theory 101.  While we were working on the slide problem Richard brought out his trusty nylon string.  With the string were were able to figure out exactly what the sag in the roof of my slide.  (Both before and after the fix).  I learned that you can do all sorts of measurements with nothing more than a string.  In Richard's words...."The string doesn't lie"   B-

Hiking and Navigating in the Florida wilderness.  Long hikes into the Florida wilderness gave us a chance to see wildlife and enjoy the clean air.  Rhonda kept track of our direction on her phone - "Precious".  My grade for knowing which way we were going and which way was "home".  C- / D+

Cooking Seminar.  Richard gave cooking demonstrations each evening.  This was a pass fail course and if you liked the food you get a pass.  My grade - Pass.

Beer Brewing 102.  Richard brewed two different varieties of beer during the week stay.  He converted an old fridge to a microprocessor temperature controlled fermenting chamber.  Grade B+ was awarded based on my enthusiasm for drinking beer.

Coffee Roasting 103.  Richard also demonstrated the long lost Gas BBQ technique for roasting coffee beans.  I really enjoyed this seminar and will try to rig up a similar rig.

Welding 201.  The basic level welding course was not available so I took the 201 level course.  Richard put the MIG stinger in my hand, a welding mask on my head and told me to go for it.  I enjoyed a several minutes of un-bridled joy until I realized that I had welded my coach to his wrought iron fence.  (Actually I did not have any mishaps and really enjoyed this course).  C+

I left Richards southern command center feeling very accomplished (and tired)....But its a good kind of tired.  I have a renewed sense of purpose and will continue to hone my "man skills".

Hello - what an excellent site! Access to this community has helped to solidify my choice of Newell.

I'm currently having 1999 #515 inspected prior to purchase. Looks very good, but the tires are 2005/2006. No 365 modification has been done. What brand of tires would I prefer to put on this coach, assuming I don't do the front tire upgrade right away?
Thanks!
Chuck

Quad slide, bath and a half. Couch plus recliner. Hardwood floors throughout except travertine in baths. Custom paint with 4 colors with drop shadow and stencil.
http://www.newellcoach.com/newell-coaches/coach-1637/