[Dan]

Per, I feel your pain. Report back because we await the first report ever of someone actually fixing all the air leaks.

To those who have not yet experienced the frustration of chasing leaks, in the overall scheme of things they range from merely a small annoyance to a very serious safety problem and everything in between. Leaks found during a pre-trip brake check are the ones we take seriously. Leaks that make our aux air compressor kick on every 24 hours are almost meaningless. When the compressor is kicking on every hour or less they become an issue.

For Per…………You are going to Prevost. I will assume you have determined the leaks are on the Prevost side and that you are not having Prevost look at the Marathon side leaks. If so, you might want to cancel your appointment.

[Dan]

Sounds like your missing some teeth on the belt drive.

Later

bv

[Dan]

The whole Teton region will have a huge influx of “Eclipse Gazers” , population numbers never seen before in the area. Every nook and cranny will be booked per Jackson Chamber. Anywhere along the path of this eclipse will be crowded with gazers. We all have more flexibility with owning busses, since we don’t have to rely on conventional accommodations.

I spoke with The Teton County School District #401, Superintendant Woolstenhulme today about renting a hard and improved parking lot for dry camping. I explained 50K pound vehicles can’t park on grassy/soft dirt surfaces They have hosted Harley groups, bicycles races and others. Don’t know how large an area will be provided. It may mean a trip up there this summer to check it out. One can approach this area without harrowing mountain driving. Driggs and Victor Idaho are quaint small kitschy towns.

Dont know more specifics, but we are “in” either in Driggs or Victor Idaho, which both communities sit on the west side of the Grand Tetons, with sweeping vistas to the west, and in line of totality. Its a 30-45 minute drive to Jackson, the town. Imagine the majesty of the Tetons, then cloaked in eerie twilight by the eclipse. Wow!!

Until I have more info, I’m figuring arrival August 18-19th, with Eclipse on the 21 st. Then we all leave morning of the 22nd, since school starts the 23rd.

Superintendant Monty W. will be contacting me with further details.

[Dan]

If your brother is Jay Darst, I do know him, and even on Facebook. I’m hanging around here, for sure.

[Dan]

Geo: The Carlyle event? Not sure. We have friends racing at NOLA and then COTA the following week and I’d like to take those in.

Steve: Those stories you’ve heard are nothing but stories with little foundation. I like things nice and done right, and I’m willing to pay to for it!

[Dan]

I am probably in the minority, but I have had two tanks on my first coach and single holding tanks on the following two, and I have yet to feel compelled to flush a tank. I know about all the gadgets to back flow water into a tank, about spray nozzles and the like but my practice is to allow the tank to get relatively full before dumping. Never an issue. So far, so good.

As to odors, if you have even the slightest odor of a holding tank inside the coach, the problem has nothing to do with whether the tank has been flushed or not, and everything to do with having an open path from your drains to the holding tank. All drains should have water filled traps.

Back flushing you living room and bed room carpeting is probably an experience most of us can do without.

[Dan]

Buddy wrote: “The screws on the inside are called thread cutting and I could not find them
in stainless.

First tried to use a 8 stainless but if will not thread trough the hole so I
just went back with the same screws knowing every year of so they need to be
checked.”

I bought my lights from Bill when we were at Jeff’s this summer for the seminar. Bill gave me one of those wellnuts used on the outside pair of stainless steel screws along with a “thread-cutting screw”. I struggled to grasp the significant of the a “thread-cutting screw”. Then I remember that the previous year I had removed the lens of a burned out marker light only to find the horrendous corrosion. I got one corroded screw out and ruined the head of the other corroded screw. I tried to replace the corroded screw with 8-32 stainless which appeared to match the threadcount of corroded screw I took out.

When putting the stainless 8-32 screw in, the further I went in, the the harder it turned. So I turned it harder. In short order the stainless screw broke right near the skin of the coach. Then I remembered from previous experience that apparently stainless steel screws are more brittle than regular steel and are prone to twisting off. So not knowing what to do next, I closed the light up using only the outside screws to hold it on.

I posted this problem to the Garage Journal Forum and a couple of posters suggested that I should have put some oil on the stainless screw before I put it in because an corrossion left on the the female threads of the skin caused the screw and the hole to “lock up”. I’m not sure that was the problem. I think its the shape of the threads as Bill was trying to explain to me and I couldn’t grasp at the time.

Apparently there is a differrence in the shape of the thread of a normal 8-32 and a “thread cutting” 8-32. I suspect this is a different animal than a self-taping screw which I think has a much more course thread.

Why did Prevost apparently drill a hole and tap the outside holes for normal 8-32 stainless screw and then drill a hole and use a non-stainless steel “thread cutting” screw? It absolutely defies logic to me.

This has been a helpful thread for me.

[Dan]

From a trucking parts company but I am sure Bill has them.

Ther were branded TruckLite parts.

I should have called Bill but didn’t think about it.

I will call him on another matter though.

25250R / 25250Y

[Dan]

Dick, Steve’s post says he did not replace gaskets.

I tried to minimize the wire between the fixture and the shell but still had to deal with the misalignment between where the wire came out of the fixture and the location of the hole in the shell. By using Menards SKU number 5672543 white rope caulk pushed into the channel built into the back of the fixture, I was able to get a seal away from the shell enough to allow space for the wire.

Yes, solder and shrink tubing small enough to push back through the small hole in the shell.

I installed all new stainless steel hardware and used bronze lock washers on the screws that make the ground.

[Dan]

I got turned away from Half Moon resort in CA becuz the wifey told them we have a Prevost Bus Conversion. So when I checked at the office I was told by the clerk the owner didn’t take conversions becuz of electriclal issue he had in the past. As I was driving thru the park to leave the owner came running out saying we could stay, supposity he saw our RIVA sticker on the side of the bus. Ha Ha

A 5 year old bumper pull trailer is under 10 years and qualifies for many parks that won’t take a greater than 10 y/o prevost.

You guys have to much fun in the SE USA.

[Dan]

If a couple of Escapee members who are going to be at the Fun and Sun event informed Escapee Management that there was going to be a rally and they might get a few new members, Escapees might bring their portable scales over from Bushnell and you could get individual weights at a reasonable cost.

If Escapees will not do it, someone could contact Florida DOT and ask them to come over and bring their portable scales. Looks like a good PR stunt for Florida to do. Invite the local TV media and PC could also get some free advertising. Anything to keep our dues afordable.

Bill, this sounds like a good job for Tim, just to keep him busy.

3-F

[Dan]

Guys

Update: we got coach into WW Williams in Hubbard today and they said that if all goes well they should have it by Wednesday .

Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice!

Chris

[Dan]

Mira Loma knows the drill, 2 years ago when they changed my CAC I told them I wanted the red hose.

I looked up my invoice from 9-3-13 and it didn’t say red or blue just CAC Hose but I know the higher price was red.

Part# 21448469 $135.50 Red

Part# 531471 $26.73 Blue

Later

bv

[Dan]

Yes Jon, I agree 100% there is no blue hose acceptable for the hot side that I can find. And like you suggested we should not accept a blue hose anywhere other than the cold side.

Bill S.

[Dan]

Thanks, Mark, that is exactly the backup I needed. Coupled with Diane’s comments, I continue to build confidence that I was told what I was told.

Frank emailed me about this just now. By no means do I intend to throw him under the bus. Hopefully, I have been absolutely fair in my assesment so far, but to be certain I will say that he is adamant that the service was never promised as “unlimited”. I see no difference other than semantics in unlimited vs. no caps vs. no overages. Also, I must say that my original post mentioned $800 because I did it from memory after I immediately threw out the bill. I was just reminded that it was $683 in overages plus the $80 monthly. To me that equals $763 which with standard rounding is $800, but I do not want to overly state my case and hopefully you can see where I went wrong in my figures, though I am not sure the difference is even germaine.