[Bill]

[Bill]

Bernie have you drove 58 since the mud slides???

[Bill]

I usually turn my Jake off too. As long as it’s on (at least on mine) every time I take pressure off of the accelerator the Jake kicks in. I turn it on every time I’m coming up to a stop and any time I feel there may be a need to stop quickly. If you leave the Jake on and you’ve got the cruise set, the Jake kicks in every time your speed exceeds where you have it set and your brake lights come on every time the Jake kicks in. We had a retarder on the last bus and I do prefer it over the Jake although the Jake does preform well.

[Bill]

We are now going through our ninth winter in northern Illinois, and trusted my intuition to do the following routine. We park on concrete in an unheated enclosed shelter plugged into 50 amps.

I set one pelonis cube heater at the top of the steps on an aluminum plate because we have carpet, and they don’t do well together.

I set a second pelonis cube heater on an aluminum plate in the kitchen (carpet again).

I set a third pelonis cube heater on the bathroom floor tile.

Since heat rises, all the heat sources are at the floor. There are thermometers on the kitchen counter and bathroom vanity to monitor. The vanity cabinet door is open and the cabinet light is switched off by a very high end clothes pin (stained and varnished with a powder coated stainless steel spring – not!). Same for the under sink cabinet. Drain the water system. Use the OEM water bay heater set at 45F.

My concerns were the intolerance of vitricor to expand and contract, and wearing out the electric heater in the bathroom.

The number of pelonis heaters that run simultaneously depends on temperature with a target of 50 degrees. So far, I have yet to throw one of those heaters to the land fill. I wonder if mouse trap volume indicates anything?

[Bill]

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day

[Bill]

Hi

I worked on one with a similiar issue last summer. When it was all said and done, the unit was over charged. You really need to have a set of gauges on the unit and watch the pressures when it cuts off. If it is not slightly overcharged it could be a plugged drier or expansion valve.

Mikee

[Bill]

thanks Pete, but wondering what an SFA coach means? I’m unfamiliar

[Bill]

Jon,

You stole my thunder…. Bill called and left a message for me this afternoon with essentially the same information. Cudos really should go to you to raising this issue in the first place. I didn’t post anything as I sent an Email to the Director of North American Service Randy Castillo whom I spoke to a couple of times and requested that we get some type of email or memo that we can post here so we get everything right and all the correct part numbers etc and then a member could bring that in when a CAC repair was needed to eliminate any potential issues. I am a little suspect of the 531471 being a 500 degree hose as I have one of those that was failing at the seam on the hot side.

[Bill]

Thanks Tom & Peter! I’m impressed Peter is running in -35 below. My knee joints would lock up at those temps! I have my bus plugged in on the farm so no worry with running the 110v heaters in the bus and the water bay. I was just wondering if I happen to start up the bus and run it for a short trip whether I should pre-heat the engine if below freezing. Have used the Webasto already while traveling and no issues staying warm at night and now I know there is no issue pre-heating the engine. I guess I could also plug in my 110v engine block heater into the bus where my entertainment center is if no other 110v is available.

[Bill]

I hear you guys load and clear. I appreciate the experience you folks have with these coaches. I by no means think a 20 year old coach would be trouble free, but hoping I can find one that has been well cared for, and when problems arrise, I wont be stranded or pennyless. Lots of good reading material here, especially in the emergency forum, learned alot. Thanks again for the good advice…Alain

[Bill]

We have a Tec infrared propane grill. It is the Cherokee model. Love it! It is built in on a sliding tray. This makes it very easy to use.

[Bill]

Tim, judging by all the replies to your query I would guess that you are more confused than when you asked it. Obviously being all over the board it comes down to what and how you cook and how often. You now have numerous choices and options. Good luck. Geo.

[Bill]

Yikes! Talk about needing more space ….

[Bill]

Does Bill “The Chrome Man” have the gaskets that go behind the clamshell fixtures?

I have heard of two kinds of “foam” over the years. “Closed cell” and “open cell”. I’ve pulled a couple of my marker lights off and what I presume is the original foam was somewhat water logged. “Open cell” foam?????

Does the kind of foam make a difference?

[Bill]

Tom wrote: “They won’t see it Karl unless they’re logged in and I doubt that will happen.”

Ouch. As the cliche goes … the truth can hurt.

I’ve watched this thread and thought I didn’t have a dog in this hunt until I read the George (who I believe has a non-EGR coach which should not be impacted by this painfully length debate over blue vs red hoses) is going to have his hoses changed!

I find anything beyond what should have been the first five or six posts to this thread to be completely unnecessary. Unnecessary NOT because of who posted or what they posted, but UNNECESSARY because it has become apparent Prevost owners have been completely failed by their presumably elite chassis builder.

Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective Prevost owner regardless of chassis type, regardless of new vs old, regardless of converter, regardless of 8V92 vs Series 60, regardless of length.

That prospective Prevost owner has read all the laudatory posts about the superiority of the Prevost chassis and has read how proud Prevost owners refer to other motorhomes and coaches as S&S (“sticks & staples”) and “plastic coaches” … but then read the Mother Ship in Quebec and Elgin can’t get its act together when spec’ing critical hoses that are subject to extreme heat and pressure and their failure results in the mighty Prevost coach dead on the side of the road.

Prospective Prevost owners aren’t thinking WTH … they’re thinking WTF!

This issue makes the shimmy and shake, peeling chrome mirror vendor look like a potentional component vender of the year award winner.

Maybe I don’t understand the technical issues behind the blue vs red hose problem. Maybe I’m taking a simplistic approach to this issue and its solution.

But to me, this is pretty simple:

1. There is a really hot side, and a not so hot side.

2. There are two types of hoses, different based on their ability to withstand temperature.

3. Logic tells me to the higher temp hose goes on the really hot side and the lower temp hose goes on the not so hot side.

4. Someone decided the hoses should be different colors because they have different max operating temp ranges. This concept is not new. Aviation fuel is different colors based on octane rating, thread-lock is a different color based on its holding strength, Romex wire sheathing is different based on gauge (size) of the wires. Since “red” is usually associated with “hot” and “blue” with “cold”, the “red” hose should have higher temp specs than the “blue” hose.

5. Red on the hotter side, blue on the no so hot side.

What is SO difficult about this? What is SO hard about this?

It’s time for Prevost to step up, back peddle if appropriate and get this right. The longer this goes on and persists, the more foolish Prevost looks. The more likely prospective Prevost owners will lose respect for the chassis; when that happens we will all lose. Current Prevost owners, the converters, the vendors, and Prevost.

PS: If I’ve incorrectly characterized anything about this issue or mispoke, please alert me and I’ll edit my rant or delete it as appropriate.

edited 11/20/2015 @ 5:00pm CST to strikeout “and Elgin” at Jon’s suggestion.