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  1. Newell Gurus
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  • Latest member:Skip Harter

  Passenger Armrests

Posted by: 360
08-29-2021, 11:55 AM
Forum: Interior Things
- Replies (2)

Is there a way to adjust the passenger armrest down?

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  clearance

Posted by: Danj
08-29-2021, 06:33 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (4)

I do some camping in parks where I put my rear wheels up to the curb stop at the back of the parking spot. I know Newells are low so when leveling will the 5" ish curb stop be a problem?

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  Taking #1261 Home

Posted by: Dhead
08-28-2021, 07:26 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (3)

Yesterday with finished paperwork and final inspections. It ended up as a full day. I learned a lot. The front TV could not get over the air after it worked the day before, and the rear had no sound. Rear took 15 minutes to figure that the Harmony remote had the sound bar on MUTE!. The front took over an hour of troubleshooting - just as they ran and ready to replace the antenna cable, they dropped the connection center over the front door and the TV came on. They found that the antenna connection had vibrated loose and just fell off.
Megan spotted the passenger side Hella low beam beam cover had a hole in it - we ordered a new one for next week. Just when we were ready for me to take my first drive a mini monsoon came through with 40 mph winds and we nearly lost the awnings. After the rain-out, we started bringing in the slides the Valid went crazy with all kinds of errors. They called the Valid guru in Canada who said - It has to be water in the ECUs. Into the electronics bay, and sure enough, the front curb slide had leaked into the the ECUs via the molex connectors above the ECUs. To be sure they replaced both. We silicon-ed up the molex connectors. I put paper towels above and in the wiring to suffice while I figure out a diverter cover.
First trip included my first fueling and I parked about 8 inches too close - the folding bay door could be open. Some jockeying and we had 30 gallons and were on our way back. Megan was in the king bed and reporting that the ride was good.
Connected the F150 and we were on our way home. The drive was a dream - my last coach was a 95 U320, and the Newell is just amazing. The 12 speed is great and my low speed worries were no problem. The driver had been leaving the jake in high, and the trans did NOT like that in low speeds. I switched it to low or off for low speeds and it really smoothed things out.
I go back next week for some final parts. The guys at the Motorcoach Store in Bradenton are top notch. If you need repairs they are amazing and know their stuff. Most of them are from the Parliament Coach store up on St. Pete so they have years of coach building and repairs...
I have tons to learn...

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  Anchoring Furniture to floor

Posted by: Wanderman
08-28-2021, 07:25 AM
Forum: Interior Things
- Replies (6)

What does everyone (including the factory) use to anchor furniture to the floor?

I have to anchor my dinette/sofo metal fram and my two new recliners to the floor. One is through the black tile/marble/granite in the galley and the other is through bamboo flooring.

Size of fasteners? Type of fasteners?

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  SCS A/C removal

Posted by: pairodice
08-28-2021, 05:10 AM
Forum: Air Conditioning
- Replies (13)

How do I remove the SCS basement air on our coach?  Which side (driver/passenger) is A/C 1&2 and which is 3&4 please?  I am having issues with 3&4 and it’s about time that I bone up on A/C repair… 
Issues so far:  A/C 3&4 will come on in the LOW thermostat setting and work for a while (I forgot to time it) and then blow the fuse.  
I was going to run to the electrical supplier in Lufkin and see if they had the capacitors and slow start thingy I need but I don’t want to just start buying parts (like I did on the generator).  Any help is appreciated!

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  Stupid Tiny Latches on Blower/Generator Slide Control

Posted by: Wanderman
08-27-2021, 06:20 PM
Forum: Exterior
- Replies (13)

I have a few compartments (okay maybe just 2) that use these tiny latches you access through the louvers. They are useless and flimsy. Anyone replace them with something else? Like maybe the rectangular push lateches or even a cicular bay door latch/lock?

I have two sheet metal screws in mine from a PO! Need a better solution and do not want to reinvent the wheel.

Suggestions?

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  Tag Air Bag Alternate for Ridewell Suspensions

Posted by: Richard
08-27-2021, 02:41 PM
Forum: Replacement part information
- Replies (1)

This is old info, but I am reposting, because the original posting has it buried and hard to find with a search engine. 

The original tag air bag supplied by Firestone for some tag suspensions is obsolete in their catalog. However, they still make the bag, except the bottom plate is rotated 90 degrees. It is a simple matter to loosen the center bolt on the bottom and turn the plate to match the hole alignment you have. 

This is the alternate bag number. W01-358-9448.

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  Failure of SilverLeaf Glass Dash

Posted by: NotSoFast
08-27-2021, 06:11 AM
Forum: Engine and Transmission Monitoring Systems
- Replies (16)

Dreaded glass dash failure... No Rant, just some thoughts

First, let me just say, I love my Newell and have lived everyday for the past 2+ years in it which I feel is no small accomplishment. Newell has supported me with repairs and emergency phone support sufficient to keep the systems up and running. Again, no small accomplishment.

A few days ago while preparing to leave an RV park in Kill Devil Hills NC the glass dash began flickering. At first it was only a slight wiggle in a small portion of screen but caught my eye as the screen had always been rock solid. Within a few minutes it degraded into a few colored vertical lines on one side of the screen and eventually all image was gone. Ugh... shades of the "Blue Screen of Death" to those old enough to remember the early days of DOS and Windows. 

It occurred to me that this might be temperature related as the sun had been coming through the windshield and the top of the dash was quite hot. Luckily I had installed a BlueFire iPad into the overhead and it gave me most of the important data I would want to see. After adding a speedometer app to a spare cellphone I had all but the TPMS info available and could begin my trip. Eventually, we turned away from the sun and the dash cooled and the screen came back on but rolled like an early black and white TV. Turning the Dash A/C on proved to be useful as the screen eventually settled down and became legible. 

After getting to my destination I called SilverLeaf to discuss the problem and see what they could do. Seems that the glass portion of the system is no longer available however they might be able to repair it, if the parts are still on the shelf. Otherwise I could buy the new screen and data collection components and expect a $5,000+ bill not including new bezel and mods to the dash itself.

Now I'm not complaining. My last bill at the factory was over $13,000 for the various repairs of similar importance, so I'm just happy a path is open where it either gets repaired or a new unit installed. I'm hoping its a power supply or other easily replaceable component. Time will tell.

When I purchased my 2008 coach about 3 years ago I went through the various systems and tried to analyze my future requirements regarding systems and parts failure. and how I would deal with replacement and/or refitting of a complex system. The 2 stand outs in the coach were the SilverLeaf system and the Spider electrical control system. The exercise proved to be valuable as the Spider system went through several control modules most of which were repaired at Newell but recently have been dealt with directly. I now carry 2 spare modules. The last 2 units returned to the factory were repaired as no new modules were available.

There was not much I could do regarding the SilverLeaf system. I did purchase a cheap windows laptop and the interface for downloading to and from the system but not much else to do but wait and hope all goes well. For now I will wait to hear back from the factory as to how to proceed. For the time being I will attempt to reroute one of the A/C ducts in the dash to cool the back of the SilverLeaf module and see how long it can delay its eventual demise. 

This brings me to a recent thought I had when reading about Newells new N1 system. Now I don't have a comment at this time regarding the N1 system specifically at this time. But I do have allot to say about the constant increase in complexity and lifetime costs related to technology that delivers only marginal increases in usability and functionality with massive hidden risks of failures that could put you on the side of the road thumbing a ride home. Think DEF pump failures which have killed many RV'rs summer plans this year. 

No manufacturer wanted to make the DEF system more complicated so perhaps it falls into another category more in line with the dictation of technical requirements by legislative bodies that have no ability to understand the costs, efforts or risks involved. But here's the gist of my thought. It is impossible to know the real reliability of a system until it has been proven over a long period of time in the field and that reliability can only be maintained so long as all components in the system remain unchanged once proven. Big upheavals in the worlds manufacturing base has had catastrophic results that most people are unaware of but cause many fine companies to be put out of business. The transfer of the production of almost all surface mount components to China was a disaster in almost all areas of electronics production. Who thought a small change in MTBF (mean time between failure) could mean so much. But when you have thousands of components in an electronic device you only need a small change in "component lifetime" to quickly take a device from 10 years MTBF to 10 weeks or possibly even 10 days. 

As an example, I had a brand new install of Raymarine navigation instruments put into a sailboat in 2014 which had so many failures that for 2 years we routed our port visits to only those harbors where a Raymarine repair facility was available. Turns out that time frame coincided with the move in surface mount manufacturing to China. Some of my instruments were replaced as many as 5 times. About 80% of all instruments were eventually replaced. The factory never admitted they had a problem but every repairman at every facility I visited told stories of every manufacturers struggles not just Raymarine. I would suggest that we are entering another phase of even greater upheaval in our manufacturing base and that we should be moving away from more complexity and towards simpler and more robust systems. I work hard keeping my Newell coach maintained and working at every level, but recognize that at some point systems will need replacing because the original systems are no longer supported. Owners of more basic coaches will have an easier time of it. With all of the focus in Washington on the elimination of gasoline and diesel power and the shear lunacy of our political leaders, complex systems will be the first to degrade to an unmanageable point. 

I'm happy I was able to find a Newell with a 2006 Cat C15 and so avoided another of the pitfalls in this industry relating to DEF and regeneration. Perhaps it's time for Newell to be thinking about building 5th wheels with commercial sized king pins so we can have them moved around by whatever commercial tractor is available in the coming years? I'm not feeling good about my long term prospects living the RV life.

Ok, maybe a little rant....

Best regards to all.

Mike

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  Free Shop Soap

Posted by: 360
08-26-2021, 04:28 PM
Forum: General
- No Replies

I'm going to pick up 5 gallons of this and there are 10 more gallons available.  Here is a description from the owner of the soap shop.  Would never make sense to ship it, but if anyone would like me to grab 5 gallons for you and keep it in St. Louis until you're driving through I'd be happy to.

"The soap available is a perpetual bi-product from our company:  Waterfall Glen Soap Co.  This soap is most likely a little lye heavy since it is the result of cleaning all our tools and buckets.  I'd recommend using the soap as a dishwashing soap (with gloves), floors soap, car wash, etc.,  It's a great soap to soak greasy tools in if you are a mechanic.
How do we create this:  after we are finished making soap (200 bars a day), we soak our equipment in a bucket of water.  The soap liquifies and falls off the equipment.  Heads up: We also soak our lye buckets, etc.,  After a while, the water becomes so saturated with soap that we pour it off into used oil buckets.  We do this to help balance the lye out if any is left over.  The result is this luxurious, silky and rather chunky liquid soap.  It had a universal aroma from whatever we have been making.  
I've come to learn that I wouldn't use 'this liquid soap' as a body soap or hand soap - simply because it is not ph tested.  Use it on your floors, garages, car, etc.,
I do have 15 gallons of the most decadent peach aroma liquid soap that has been kept a part from all off the rest."


I don't think I'd use it to wash the coach but I'm thinking about floors, greasy shop rags, etc.   I should have told the guy if it would make good bubbles when mixed we could take all he could make of it  Wink!

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  winter stay

Posted by: truman
08-26-2021, 03:11 PM
Forum: Full Timing Experiences
- Replies (14)

we are all set for the winter months
bonnie and i are getting married in a month then off to flagler beach in fla,
for a two week trip..just booked four months in yuma at sun vista dec..april 1st
it,s going to so nice not to shovel in the winter for only the second time in my life
cannt wait to go !!1

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