[Ace]

Jon,

You are right with short sections of hose used in cooling system.

What I did notice was the year of the bus. With appox. 22 years of service there could be any number of fix-it repairs done over time to keep this bus on the road.

Getting his mind to think about the odd stuff that might of happen over time.

Just saying,

[Ace]

That is exactly what i was looking for. That is well thought out and looks like his “aviator” was showing well!!

You mentioned about going to a state DMV for the CDL stuff…would you recommend one state over another…maybe one that is a little bit more strict with it CDL traffic etc…or are they pretty much all the same??

Thank you so much. This Forum rocks. I am learning so much before I even board the coach!!!

Paul

CaptVelocity

[Ace]

I don’t think an awareness of noises is a bad thing. The problem is learning what noises are normal and tuning them out so you hear the ones that are an indication something needs attention.

Gill made an excellent point that is worth keeping in mind. The bushings in the front suspension may look bad, but as Bill and the folks in Ft Worth point out the appearance is not how a bad bushing is determined. If the pin going through the bushing is loose then the bushing has failed. Not until.

[Ace]

Rocky,

You very likely have an Amana refrigerator that sits on a 3″ high platform.

For anyone to work on it you need to pull it out and the easiest way is to build a platform the height of the existing platform, the width and depth of the refrigerator and which will slide easy on the floor. You then have to pull it into the kitchen area so you can access the rear. That likely involves removal of the table. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but with practice you can have the refrigerator in the kitchen accessible for work in about an hour. Ask me how I know.

I struggled with my Amana for far too long. I replaced the evaporator coil, the evaporator fan, the condenser fan and then gave up and replaced it with a new Bosch. Give serious consideration to if you want to keep messing with an old refrigerator. If the refrigerators are stripped they go in and out via the windshield easily. You will have to pull the passenger seat out and protect the dash and furniture on the curb side to do that but it is worth it. If you choose to go this route Russell Coach here in Knoxville did the grunt work and the mods to the existing opening for me and I strongly recommend you give consideration to that.

I assume the voltage does not increase, but the amperage. If the voltage goes up that makes no sense. If the amperage goes up it sounds like a locked compressor and the cost of that repair may make the decision for you.

[Ace]

I have nothing to offer, other than a welcome. Glad you are here!

[Ace]

Big thanks John. You are absolutely correct to note since we have multiple heating options in our coaches it makes sense to optimize the AC units for cooling.

[Ace]

Longer dry
camping without a generator running using solar power sounds like fun. The
peace and quiet in a secluded camping location without noise would be great.

However, I don’t
think solar panels and wind generators could ever come close to a reasonable
payback.

I believe the
best solution would be to reduce the electrical energy consumption in the coach
itself. Simply replacing your interior lights with LED lights will reduce your
light power load by approximately 90% Replace your television with an LED flat
screen. Replace your refrigerator with a propane/electric model.

What do you
still need 110 VAC power for? Not much, just the television assuming you will
not try to run the AC units and possibly an auxiliary air compressor.

Now that the
coach electrical load is minimized, why are you running two 3000 watt inverters?
They each have an overhead even when they are not making 110 volt AC power.
Turn one of them off or better yet replace it with a 1500 watt inverter.
Obviously your loads need to be wired to the operational inverter.

[Ace]

Is this aux compressor something you added and plumbed to the rear or front air access point? For what it’s worth, when I hooked shop air to the front access going direct to the aux tank, it didn’t get the moaning noise. Then when shop air was hooked to the rear access point, the moaning and honking would happen. All went away after I rebuilt the dryer.

[Ace]

Rob there is a larger bolt and nut in the lower right corner of your drivers side electrical box and that should be the 12v source from the engine batteries. I would say from a recent experience with depleted batteries that if it is going to be in uses while parked attach it to house batteries and if it is only going to function while driving attach it to the coach batteries. So step slide would be used while going down the road therefore coach batteries, steps while parked house batteries.

[Ace]

Micheal, where’s the beer cooler on the cart ?

[Ace]

Ace,

It will help if you put your bus year and conversion as a signature in your profile so people know the vintage of your coach.

Is this a front, rear or tag bag? My steer and tag take the 630259 and my drive are 630104 and my shell is a 1996.

[Ace]

We motorhome owners are going to have our generators rust out before they wear out.

I know from entertainer coach operators that our generators are good for 30,000 plus hours of operation if they are run hard and often. Maybe some of the entertainer drivers or operators will chime in here. The differences in usage are likely the fact we who run motorhomes go from shore power to shore power so generator use is minimal. We need to run ours more and we need to load them up when we do run them.

I am only running about 100 hours a year, with the longest continuous stretch 170 hours.

[Ace]

Prob just as well: wasn’t my best side. Simple nice to look at -good ideas- but sort of a put down to a home builder topic. I promise not to park next to one of your new High dollar coaches and embarase owner with my 25 grand home made tripple slide 45 ft prevost. Thought this site was going to be differant than POG.

[Ace]

DKO,

Sometimes you can cut off a piece of the hose, maybe1/2 inch and then re-connect and it may seal. If not, I would just go to a brass fitting and throw away that push/pull fitting. Those fittings are bad to leak, I had them on my air bags and replaced them with DOT fittings.

[Ace]

April – may weekends are normaly un predictable 50 -50 showers . Also have found KOA = anti bus. in many experiences myself. I no longer even consider them. My 2 cents Bob