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  deep cycle battery charging trick

Posted by: encantotom
11-03-2012, 10:14 AM
Forum: Electrical
- Replies (1)

hi,

this isnt for the coach, but i guess could be.

i have an electric GEM car. it is a 4 seat glorified golf cart that is street legal. it is a 72v system. i am getting ready to sell it so in the spring i put new batteries in it. i basically then totally ignored it and some parasitic drain took the six 12v deep cycle batteries down to almost totally dead. below 4v.

yea, i know it was dumb, i should have charged them every few weeks...

that said, once i disconnected the batteries from being in series, i have to charge each one to get i think to 9v or so for the onboard charger to take over.

so i put my battery charger on one of them and walla....nothing. no charging or voltage.

scratching my head, i thought, maybe my charger is fried. so i hooked it up to darlenes honda (of course i didnt experiment with my f350) and the charger started humming and charging.

making a long story short, ends up that the charger will not turn itself on unless there is about 4v on the battery. so you have to trick it. so i hooked the charger up to the battery, then i used jumper cables between darlenes CRV and the deep cycle battery and then turned the charger on and it started charging. i let it hum for a minute or two, then disconnected the jumper cables and it is still charging.

could be each charger is different, but i would guess that is a common feature with the voltage to turn on varying a little bit.

thats my trick of the day.....

probably most of you knew it and i was the last kid on the block to figure it out....

tom

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  20 kw powertech genny radiator hose

Posted by: encantotom
11-02-2012, 07:08 PM
Forum: Generators
- Replies (2)

hi all,

when i was doing a complete service on the genny, i noticed the upper radiator hose had been rubbing on the engine and was nearly worn through. simple enough, i would just get another.....

ends up that the upper hose is one that has been cut from a bigger one.

it is out of a 1985 buick rivera 5.0L.

there were no markings on the hose that helped. i emailed chuck at newell parts and he went out and looked at one and found a napa part number on it. here are the part numbers that cross reference to it.

W0000218 Workhorse
26163X AC Delco
8441 NAPA
465-21750 Gates
E71085 Dayco

i bought the gates one from a local autoparts store. $26 bucks. even online the cheapest i could get it for was only 3 bucks cheaper. i went to a distribution center type autoparts shop and to try and save me money he tried to find another hose, but to no avail.

i trimmed it and used some of the rest of it to make rubber shields to protect it from the engine and the same for the turbo hose.

tom

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  LIKE Button

Posted by: RegaNewell
11-02-2012, 06:27 AM
Forum: Suggestions
- Replies (12)

Tom

Would it be possible to get a LIKE button? I like to LIKE post and hate to post a line each time saying I like or enjoy a post. Just a thought!

Thanks
PamSmile

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  Tag axle functions Dual 6 pack

Posted by: Gordon
11-01-2012, 03:55 PM
Forum: Suspension/Tires/Wheels
- Replies (4)

Richard & Steve did such a great job explaining the rear axles air suspension plumbing, I felt compelled to understand my older setup.
I've done a chart of all the different setting & switch positions to understand what activates what.

I can't seem to be able to paste or attach a copy but I'm sure I will figure it out.

Two conditions surprised me.
1. To dump the tag axle, the ignition switch on & leveling switch must be in the up position. If the leveling switch is in the off position, the travel valves are activated & the whole system will empty through the exhaust valves.

2. The individual rear L/R U/D switches will raise the drive & tag side when activated. When in the down position, only the drive is lowered & the tag gets a lot of weight!

To my knowledge my wiring is original.

My original plan was to change my plumbing to the later style, but Richard suggested differently. He is correct.

My question now is is there any reason for (2)travel solonoids on the tag 6 pack. Air to the 6 pack is controlled by a solonoid operated by the same circuit that operates the tag travel solonoids. If those 2 travel solonoids were blocked to a normally open condition, no functionally would change! To go one step further, I believe a single exhaust solonoid could handle the tag assy, as currently both solonoids are tied together electrically.

Basically I see the tag supply pressure regulator, a 3 way dump valve & then split into to 2 3way raise valves supplied by air from before the regulator, & then on to the air bags. 3 solonoids in total <$50; and have 6 spare solonoids!

Sure appreciate any and all input.

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  Slideroom seal not deflating

Posted by: tuga
10-31-2012, 06:10 PM
Forum: Slides
- Replies (8)

I tried to extend my bedroom slideroom the other day and after it traveled out about 1" I stopped it. It seemed that the air seal was sticking to the slideroom. I walked outside and noticed that the rubber seal was rolling out with the slideroom! Not good!

I retracted the slideroom back inside and called Newell. Cresile put me in touch with Mark.

Mark w/Newell told me that it was probably a bad solenoid. It was not staying open long enough for all of the air to exhaust out of the seal.

I found a replacement at Grainger's for $86.

Lesson learned: after you deflate the air seal on the slideroom, check to see if you can see daylight or get someone to visually check it outside BEFORE you extend the slideroom.

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  Halloween at Tom and Darlenes

Posted by: encantotom
10-31-2012, 01:22 PM
Forum: Other Stuff
- Replies (5)

Today is the big day, halloween. our neighborhood has had an annual party from 4-6pm that has gotten bigger and bigger each year. it is a block party directly in front of our house. i will post pictures later tonite of it.

we have a full menu of hot dogs, chili, chips, drinks, popcorn, cotton candy, snowcones, home made root beer (mine) and games and fun.

last year we had between 4-500 people.

i make homemade rootbeer for the party and then we serve rootbeer floats for trick or treaters. i made some cool root beer machines i will also post pictures of later.

to give you an indication of how big this has gotten, last year we made 42 gallons of home made root beer. we went through 580 plastic cups and we served approximately 200 root beer floats to trick or treaters. they sometimes are ten deep waiting for it.

the party is over at 6 and totally cleaned up by 630pm and then the trick or treaters come till after 9.

not too late for someone to trip on over....

tom

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  TCI Tire Centers

Posted by: rheavn
10-31-2012, 10:09 AM
Forum: Coach Related Service, Repair or Maintainence
- Replies (11)

I have been on the road & I needed a new LF tire. I called TCI in Oklahoma City which was about 200 miles away. The manager stated he had the "315" tire in stock. When I arrived they had an open bay & began the work immediately. The manager was familiar with the Michelin Advantage Program and accepted my certificate without any issues. He also stated he stocks all the tire sizes used on Newells, including 365s. Shop was very clean. Employees were dressed in clean uniforms and the job was done quickly and cleanly. I was back on the road in just over an hour after my arrival. This company has location(s) in most states and I would recommend them based on my experience.

If interested:

http://www.tirecenters.com/store_loc/sto...myword=all

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  Replaced both fresh water pumps

Posted by: Chester Stone
10-30-2012, 04:02 PM
Forum: Plumbing and fixtures
- Replies (6)

My Grundfos 115v pump failed due to water leaking caused by an old "O" ring. The 12v pump failed due to auto shutoff not working and seals old and leaking. I replaced both with Shurflo 2088 series, one 12v and one 115v. I also installed a Shurflo 2 gallon accumulator tank which makes everything work smooth and great.

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  Newell Stays in Step with Luxury Coach Market

Posted by: Fulltiming
10-29-2012, 02:02 PM
Forum: Newell History
- No Replies

http://www.rvbusiness.com/2012/10/newell...usiness%29

The following is paraphrased from that article.

Karl Blade indicates that Newell Coach Corp. experienced an increase in sale in August.

”We hope it continues,” Blade said. ”But we are not going to increase production until we see some solid evidence that the market is improving. We endured a market that plateaued on us after we got out of the depths of the Great Recession and we are now back on a regular production schedule.”

Newell will likely build 24 motorcoaches this year. 16 -18 will be special orders placed by customers and the remainder will be built for those who don’t want to wait six months which it takes to design and build a personally customized Newell.

Karl pointed out that the new coaches have a number of upgrades, including new styling front and back, as well as a lot more chrome trim.

Earlier this year Newell incorporated a new centralized control system that can be controlled with an iPad.

The luxury coach market changed over the 10 years. ”The use pattern has gravitated toward destination luxury resorts and less toward clubs and rallies that are sponsored by the manufacturers,” Blade said.

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  storm updates from the east coast

Posted by: encantotom
10-29-2012, 07:27 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (2)

for any of you that are closer to the storm than us westerners, any updates on what is going on with you would be great.

tom

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