-
Chassis vs. Converter
As my bus sits with shore power, I’ve heard some electrical relays/fuses noises from the dash.
How does one tell if this would be a Prevost or Marathon issue, since both have a lot of hardware/circuitry behind the dash? Everything seems to work, just trying to isolate the sounds & possible causes.
-
20 Replies
-
Every conversion makes noises. If it isn’t the chassis it is part of the conversion. Noises are normal. But as a new owner don’t be afraid to open panels, or somehow get your head where you can see stuff, and if you are lucky maybe even pinpoint the source of the noise.
But until you see or smell smoke don’t let noises scare you. (Kind of just kidding there).
In my coach I can hear things such as the satellite dish trying to re-orient itself if I haven’t locked it. Occasionally I might hear something cycle especially the aux compressor. But other than things obvious to me I can’t say my bus makes noises that puzzle me. What comes to mind on some coaches is if the suspension system is adjusting itself to stay level when the coach is parked and the key is off. Temperature changes up or down create a lot of noises as the coach grows or shrinks.
-
Tim,
On my Marathon, I hear a lot of stuff coming from the back closet. Anytime I hit something on the creston I can hear and see lights do stuff on the various tech link modules back there. I can’t say I have heard things from the front Dash area but there is a massive amount of stuff up there..Bill
-
Of course my fear would be as Jon stated that some wire connection would cause a fire in the dash and poof, a fire. Speaking of which, I just read a good article about fire suppression in FMCA. Reminded me to re-check all our fire extinguisher’s readiness (although I did this in my walk-thru).
Since everything is working, I don’t know if Marathon put their Tech Link on the bus whether it would see something or not.
And there’s a ton of electrical stuff in the back of my clost too … but no sounds to date.
-
Tim, sometimes relays will buzz a little when they are slugish in operating.
I have had them buzz like a bumble bee especialy when someone put a 12 volt really where a 24 volt was supposed to be or vice versa, can’t remember.
On the fire extinguishers I have four.
One behind each front seat and one in the first bay curb side. Also have a kitchen type under the sink in the galley.
The two up front and the one in the bay are the big ones that are class ABC rated.
-
Tim I have two big ones in the bedroom two in galley and two up front and one in every bay I can put one in
-
Guess I’ll be buying more “big” fire extinguishers. And yes Buddy, sounds like a buzzing bee …
-
Tim, if it is indeed buzzing that is easier to pin point than noises that are just a single click. As long as it is continuous you can either look for it, using a cheap stethoscope to narrow in on its location, or by turning things on-off until you get it to start or stop.
Buzzing does indeed sound like a relay, possibly a 120V relay. Are your A/C units (heat pumps) controlled by low voltage switches that close the 120V circuit to power them?
-
His A/C relays are in the bedroom behind the 120v breaker panels. The A/C buttons up front send a signal via the Node Relay, possibly in the overhead cabinets above the dash.
-
That could be it … it does not click then buzz all the time. Just some of the time. Next time I’ll try to narrow where in the dash, but I still think it’s something “Marathon” related rather than Prevost.
May have to invest in a cheap stethoscope.
-
Tim,
Now that we suckered you into buying a Prevost, I guess we can tell you the rest of the story.
You are going to need that stethoscope. In fact you will get to use it a lot, along with soapy water because you have air leaks. At some point you will become obsessed with air leaks. They will drive you crazy. They drive all of us crazy, but we are all very silent about them when we are around someone looking to buy a coach because we want people to buy a Prevost. Misery loves company.
Now that you know the dirty little secret don’t tell those looking to buy a coach until after they own the coach.
-
Good one Jon!
I knew air leaks were going to be an on-going maintenance and I still bought one … go figure!
But I love to drive her!
-
I want to thank you, Tim, for giving us soon-to-be owners a great view into what the first weeks and months with a first bus can feel like. Please keep the posts coming on all of your experiences. It has been enlightening.
-
Thom,
In case it is not real clear let me compare the early days of owning a Prevost to drinking from a fire hose.
The learning never quits, and most of the time we don’t know about something until we are forced into it. But to a great extent a new owner can mitigate the shock and awe by recording as much as possible, either by writing stuff down when going through the learning process, or videoing the training provided by the salesman or previous owner.
It doesn’t take long to get comfortable with the new coach, its wants and needs, the secret handshake required to turn on heat or A/C, or where the button is to do a particular job. But as you can see from the posts when we don’t know what we don’t know the only way to get past that point is experience. I have seen it before and will continue to see new owners like Tim get a grasp of all he needs to know, and within a short period of time he will be the one providing answers and advice.
-
Like Jon suggested,
I’m now in the stages of opening panels you wouldn’t think of during your walk thru. These are panels that are usually screwed in and hide something behind them.
I am amazed at the electrical components in these buses … it puts to shame any car or house I’ve ever owned.
-
Ah Tim, if any of us had told you about all this…you’d have kept your house instead of driving down the road with it and that big grin. Geo.
Log in to reply.