You are not logged in or registered. Please login or register to use the full functionality of this board...


Skinner valves in air 6 pack area
#1

What is the purpose of the cylindrical Skinner valves that are attached to some of the MAC air valves in the front and rear six packs on my 1984 Newell? When should they show to be magnetized? Specifically should they be magnetized when the engine is not running and we are not attempting to level or raise the coach?

Glenn & Laureen Parker
Austin, Texas
1984 Newell 35'  (Coach #58? - not confirmed)
6v92 TA Detroit Diesel, MT654 Allison 5 speed trans
2005 Honda Element toad
2007 Honda S2000 fun car
Reply
#2

a picture might help

i have helped clarke rebuild his six packs but dont recall the other valves your are referring too.

tom

2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608  Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH

Reply
#3

Will post a photo of the rear six pack with the Skinner valves a little later. Going to work on an ignition switch wiring issue for awhile. Then have to figure out why the right rear won't come up all of a sudden...

Glenn & Laureen Parker
Austin, Texas
1984 Newell 35'  (Coach #58? - not confirmed)
6v92 TA Detroit Diesel, MT654 Allison 5 speed trans
2005 Honda Element toad
2007 Honda S2000 fun car
Reply
#4

The ignition switches in our old coaches are out of 1980 general motors products. If your steering column has tilt and telescoping feature, it most likely was also used in a Cadillac, Newell runs all the wires down the column in the standard General Motors harness, and then terminates the GM plug, and only uses some of the wires to run your coach.

Guy & Sue
1984 Classic 40' #59
Reply
#5

Thanks, Guy, for the tip on the mfg for the ignition switch and wiring. Our 1984 does have tilt steering for sure but does not telescope (I think). I'm looking to find the right ignition switch where the accessories position is accessed by turning the key forward, not backward (if that makes sense). Bought a Standard Motor Products switch US105 from O'Reilly's Sunday afternoon. It has the flange on the correct side for the tilt column mount but the internal settings on the switch don't match up with the sequence our key goes through (i.e., locked, acc, on, start) [EDIT: Wrong.]. The switch I bought is set up to go from acc to lock to on to start so we will head back to O'Reilly's Monday afternoon to see if they have the one I need. [EDIT: The ignition switch I bought (Standard Motor Products US105) is the correct one. Our key sequence is ACC, Lock, On, Start.]

Laureen and I learned a lot on Sunday about the ignition switch and also the headlight bright/dimmer switch which is also mounted on the steering column. It has been giving me trouble too and I think I figured out today how to fix that as well. Prior to today I had no idea that there are metal rods associated with the ignition switch and the headlights dimmer switch in our coach. Laureen is a retired electrical engineer (microelectronics) and it was educational working with her to figure out which switch terminals are related and which wires goes where. Neither of us knows much about house or coach electrical hookups but we are learning pretty quickly.

Glenn & Laureen Parker
Austin, Texas
1984 Newell 35'  (Coach #58? - not confirmed)
6v92 TA Detroit Diesel, MT654 Allison 5 speed trans
2005 Honda Element toad
2007 Honda S2000 fun car
Reply
#6

We did not know we had a telescoping column for two years. Look for a hidden black lever right under the steering wheel, on the front ( dashboard side). Of course as the gurus say, " your coach may be different."

Guy & Sue
1984 Classic 40' #59
Reply
#7

I found this PDF to be very helpful when repairing my steering column. GM tilt steering column rebuild.

Jon & Chris Everton
1986 40' Dog House #86
450 hp ISM 5 spd ZF Ecomat 2
2004 Range Rover L322 Toad
Reply
#8

Youtube has some good videos on it also.
Reply
#9

Attached is a photo of the small, canister-like Skinner valves in the rear air 6 pack I referred to in this thread several days ago. I call them Skinner valves because the Skinner company made them per the name on the front (now owned by Honeywell, apparently). I don't know what other people call them or what they are for. They seem to be directly related to an air leak in my supply system. There is one of the these valves attached to each of two MAC valves in both my six packs. I am guessing those two MAC valves are my travel valves [EDIT: Wrong. The MAC valves the Skinners are attached to are the down valves.] The third Skinner valve in this photo is attached to the air pressure regulator/dryer unit with the polycarbonate bowl that collects water and oil.

Anyway, with the engine off but the ignition switch in the on position, each of those Skinner valves is magnetized and the two associated MAC valves are venting air out of the #1 port (lower right side as you look at the front of the MAC valve) and the air bags start to deflate. The air loss out of the bags stops when I put the ignition switch in the off position and the Skinner valves lose their magnetized state and the MAC valves stop venting. When I start the engine (and ignition switch reverts to the on position) the Skinner valves become magnetized and the air continues to vent out of the same port on the two MAC (travel? [EDIT: down]) valves but the engine mounted compressor is able to overcome the air loss and the bags stay inflated. The compressor has to cycle frequently to keep up with the air loss. Supply PSI goes from 120 to 90 to 120 with the engine running. Once the engine and compressor are off, the supply pressure gauge on the dash drops to zero PSI in a few minutes but the air bags stay inflated.

What is going on here? Are those two MAC valves faulty for venting air when the ignition switch is on? What is the function of the Skinner valves? Do I probably have a significant air loss somewhere else? (I think that is likely.)

   

Glenn & Laureen Parker
Austin, Texas
1984 Newell 35'  (Coach #58? - not confirmed)
6v92 TA Detroit Diesel, MT654 Allison 5 speed trans
2005 Honda Element toad
2007 Honda S2000 fun car
Reply
#10

ok, i have rebuilt two sets of these mac valves (with clarke) and i am trying to remember how they are set up and dont. i just copied the way they were hooked up previously. good news, at least a few years ago these were readily available valves and cheap compared to the newer hwh ones.

now back to your questions..

though i cant totally tell from the plumbing, i believe you are right that the top two are the left and right rear travel valves.

you only mentioned that with the key on, that they skinner valves would be activated. if they are some kind of pre-valve for some reason, they would need to be on. i dont quite understand the way the air is flowing from the regulator i admit.

what you didnt mention is if the mac valves are energized with the key on and in travel mode. i suspect they are.

if you turn the key off, and the airbags hold steady, then the air circuit for the airbags is working. if you have the key on, and the switch in leveling mode (which turns off the travel mode and travel solenoids) does the coach air up?
if the engine is on and running, and in travel mode, do the airbags inflate to ride height?

there are two things that i think of. since you have been playing with the ignition switch and that if i remember right controls the leveling panel (all toggle switches like my 90 was) i am wondering about that circuit. if you can turn travel mode on and off using the switch and the coach goes to travel height and or stays where it is when in level mode. then i suspect it is not related to the switch.

the second is the simplest of all. if the coach works in all modes, but is just venting the rear (front is at ride height in travel ok) in travel mode, i would check to see if some how the ride height valves on the rear have gotten knocked out of adjustment. if they think the coach is too high, they will be venting air as they should to lower to ride height. and the valves would be venting. do they vent all the way flat or just low?

anyway, a few things to think about. clarke has more experience with his and hopefully he will weigh in

i found the leveling/rideheight setup using the mac valves to be very very responsive compared to the hwh setup. almost like a low rider car adjustment

tom

2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608  Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH

Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)