Newell Gurus

We may have to store our Newell where electricity is on a timer, so i have a couple of questions:

1. Can i plug the 120V compressor in without going through the coach electrical system?
2. How long can it remain without electricity?
3. Can i open the door without air?  It is mid-entry.

Thanks,
Chris



Chris and Brandi
2002 Newell #636

congrats on the coach.

1. not without doing some rewiring. it would be much easier if you wanted air without having the coach plugged is to put air in with a small pancake compressor to the rear air port in the passenger side engine bay. i have mine plugged into shop air all the time in my shop.

2. with absolutely nothing on and batteries off, as long as the batteries can hold a charge and that depends on the batteries and their health. remember you have 8 8d batteries and replacing them sets you back from 200-600 dollars each depending on what kind they are.

3. when the coach has no air on it, eventually the air door system will leak down. when it does, and the two exterior keyed deadbolts are not in, then you can move the door by hand. ........if there is air in the system, there is an emergency air release handle in one of the bays next to the door. on mine it is on the left bay as you look at the door. turning that releases all the air and you can manually move the door open. there is another one of these in the doored cabinent just inside beneath all the switches so you could do the same from the inside if there was a malfunction.

caution. the deadbolts that are keyed on each side of the door.......if they are locked, and the bode door system has air in it and you try to open the door with the button, it is not smart enough to know those deadbolts are locked and will strain and try and open the door.

i never use those deadbolts. if you have it in storage for a long time, then maybe if you are not keeping air on it. and then you could lock them. (always do both sides, never just one).

also remember the 12v air compressor supplies enough air for the entry door, pocket doors and potties.

tom

Thanks Tom,
I don't have the coach in my possession until Thursday but I finally have an enclosed storage secured this afternoon. Will the rear air port be obvious in the compartment? Much more complicated than my old Marquis but looking forward to "digging" into all the workings.

Chris

yes it will be obvious. you will need a 1/4" brass ball valve like you buy at home depot that is female npt threaded. then put a male air fitting on each end of the valve.

then you plug it into the air port and put the hose on the other end.

tom

You'll have to figure out what fitting your coach has to use Tom's solution.

Thanks, I have two air connections in the rear passenger engine compartment.  One appears to connected to a regulator to control air pressure? The other is just a connection with the line  running back into the coach.  I assume it is the non-controlled connection.  Newell thinks I can charge the batteries off of 20 amps....not sure, but will try this afternoon.  More questions to come I am sure.




Chris and Brandi
Coach #636
Louisiana

Chris,

The air port in the lower left corner of this picture is called the “Shop Air input”.   It has a check valve that allows air to enter but not exit from coach.

If you can plumb a pancake air compressor into this, you can keep air on your coach.   I would suggest 100 lbs of pressure.

The other air port is an output port (probably with an air pressure doubler) that allows you to air up your tires from the engine compressor.  It probably has a 1/4 turn valve that should normally be “off” unless you are using the port.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Thank you Bill.  Yes, that is the one I suspected was the input so I will be hooking up a small pancake compressor this afternoon.

Chris

Your inverter/charger may have a setting to limit the A/C voltage amps it is using to charge your batteries.
Other than that setting if your batteries are fully charged when putting into storage your inverter/charger should just be float charging and drawing only a few amps to do so. Unless the power goes out for an extended period which sounds like may be what you're up against with the power being on a timer.