Got my glide-out working, WOOHOO!!! It turns out a wire that was laying on the floor of the front left compartment (where the HWH solenoids are located) had corroded and broke apart. My local mechanic (whom I couldn't live without) found it tonight after a couple hours of searching and testing. I'm a much happier camper tonight than last night.
Awesome! Newell's are great machines, but like anything well designed they do need maintenance. Thankfully the systems are mostly easily accessible.
BTW I'm sure you have some kind of reminder to lower the suspension before you pull out?
(04-08-2017, 05:28 AM)folivier Wrote: Awesome! Newell's are great machines, but like anything well designed they do need maintenance. Thankfully the systems are mostly easily accessible.
BTW I'm sure you have some kind of reminder to lower the suspension before you pull out?
Other than "steel trap" memory (NOT), there's the HWH keypad that will indicate whether or not travel mode is selected. But I think I will make a pre-flight cheat-sheet of sorts, for good measure. ?
Cheat sheets have kept me out of trouble many times.....
Clark (Whatsnewell) has a neat idea, he uses a small whiteboard and writes pertinent stuff on it as he's driving or when he stops. We stole that idea from him and it worked great. Just left it sitting on the steering wheel.
The small whiteboard works great.......I leave it on the steering wheel so I have to deal with it before I turn over the diesel...
Clarke and Elaine Hockwald
1982 Newell Classic, 36', 6V92 TA
2001 VW Beetle Turbo
Cannondale Tandem
Cannondale Bad Boy
Haibike SDURO MTB http://whatsnewell.blogspot.com
Having done my own share of "smack up side the head stupid stiff", I developed my own reminders. At Lowes I purchased a package of Velcro brand One Wrap Ties(registered trademark). I used a permanent marker to name the thing that I want to be reminded of prior to moving, such as water hose, electric cable, leveling to travel height (or in your case dropped), and etc. I put these on a steering wheel spoke and remove them when I know I've just taken care of that item. This has reduced my idiocy by half, not that sane people could tell.
On a side note, at the rate freed buoys are drifting by here just south of Memphis I'm guessing New Orleans will have far more than they could ever use.
(04-07-2017, 10:03 PM)bryguymi Wrote: afrench , 599 is your old coach? please tell me more of it's history!
afrench , 599 is your old coach? please tell me more of it's history!
No not my coach. Good friends with who you bought it from it's a solid coach and as nice as they get, congratulations!
Bryan and Jon,
I understand your frustration with the learning process. We bought 1242 at the end of February and the dealer took it to Newell for PDI and preventive maintenance. Took delivery in late March and was over whelmed with information. Went to Tulsa and thought we had found some additional items that needed attention. Went back to Newell and several items on the punch list was because of operator error. Because of our schedule we will not be able to pick up coach until late April. Steep learning curve. I think I burned up too many brain cells in my twenties drinking blended whiskey and vodka. Considering taking the Newell to Motorhomes of Texas and placing it on consignment.
You can figure it out Reese. 1242 is a beautiful coach. We have all gone through the 'operator error' phase. If you still have questions/concerns, ask to pay Newell to go through the operation with you while you video record the process. I agree, there are many systems and trying to write it down or remember it pushes a new owners ability to absorb. Having a video that you can go through several times will really help the learning process. After you use the systems a few times, most of the procedures will become second nature but developing a pre-flight checklist and even an arrival setup checklist can save you a lot of misery.
I'm thinking we need a "sticky" somewhere prominent regarding coping with the complexity of these coaches and how one comes to grips with it.
For instance, before I owned the 77 coach I owned a 1947 North American Navion airplane fully instrument rated with hydraulic gear and flaps and all sorts of doodads. As I was contemplating buying the Newell I imagined that there is no way it could be more complicated than the Navion. It was. I gradually learned all the systems and spent a lot of time and money getting it up to my obsessive snuff. Then my wife and I decided a newer coach would have some additional features we desired. I thought that going with a Newell made a lot of sense since it would be an evolution of the 77 coach, so we bought the 93 coach. I thought it can't be that much more complicated. It was. I thought of selling it. I didn't, mainly to keep my wife happy (and then she cheated on me by dying). Honestly, I was scared that I would be stuck along the road somewhere and not have a clue (a man's nightmare). I was also intimidated by all the stuff that needed attention when arriving and departing campgrounds. By sticking with it and playing around with it in my driveway I got comfortable enough to actually take trips in it, what a concept. Those trips created additional opportunities to figure things out. I needed a few short leisurely trips to provide myself the lack of urgency so that when I needed to learn something I could without feeling like my wife was going to kill me (another man's nightmare). I'm now don't understand everything, but I am confident that when something new makes itself known I will be able to deal with it. And that is the essential part of me getting past the "this is way too complex, I'm going to sell it" reaction.
If someone were to approach me now and say that their new Newell is freaking them out with its complexity I might ask questions in two categories; what is it that is currently freaking you out, and what was the process that you have successfully used in the past to learn something complex? We've all learned to handle new complex objects in our lives, think going from landline phones to smart phones. How did you handle that? Probably one step at a time with some technical support from a teenager (so you need a source of Newell tech support of some kind - and don't go to a teenager for that as the response will be: "WHA?".) With the smart phone you probably just focused on the current issue and sought solutions for that. Our tendency as guys is to want to understand it all RIGHT NOW. That is an impossible hill to climb. In my first sentence there is a requirement that the new owner is willing to ask for help and assumes that with some help he/she will achieve the needed understanding and all will be well with the world. It is the confidence that anyone can learn to manage a Newell that is critical and that I'm not some fundamentally flawed testosterone infused humanoid completely incapable of learning. It takes a village to raise a Newell owner, you have to stay in the village. It's not for everyone , but it is a great village.
I've probably said 10X what is helpful, but I hope at least some of it will sooth the Newell newbies.
