[Ed]

Thank you, but I don’t want to, nor do I need to repaint my engine area. I simply want to do some touch up. I should have been clear in my application needs.

I don’t care if Prevost stocks a retail product for that. I just want the spec for the pigments which formulate the paint so I can match it. If I have the pigment codes and the formulation, I can have Sherwin Williams Automotive mix me a quart to match because nothing works like fresh paint. If I care to, I can have them mix it in their cermic engine or caliper paint, or they have their line of industrial coatings used by vehicle manufacturers as well.

And while we are on the subject, what is the code formualtion for Lt Gold Met. Prev #36? That would be the paint used for the trap lines for the graphics on my coach.

Thanks in advance.

[Ed]

Ed,

If you are going to repaint your engine area, consider what has been done to my coach, and I assume all late model coaches. Where I used to have gray metal panels such as the floor beneath the fan or near the batteries I now have a surface finish that looks like the spray in pickup bed liners. It doesn’t look as pretty as a shiny clean gray surface, but it is going to far outlast any painted surface. To do that on an older model coach I suspect the key is good surface prep, a lot of masking and then a spray application. Most companies that do spray in bed liners will do custom work such as our buses and they charge per click, which is apparently a way to track the volume of material that passes through the high pressure pump. That material can be colored, but it is black on my coach.

[Ed]

What do you mean by normal leaks ” window edges”? I have been fighting window leaks for years and still can’t time the source. They are really ruining the panels below the windows. Only on the awning windows? Any ideas on this? I have resealed all the rubber around the windows both glass and buss side with your silkaflex black tube.

[Ed]

Welcome aboard Bob, glad you found us. Someone may have the answer, but I assume you could use the Foam in Can stuff you get at Home Depot to make minor repairs. I’ve had to touch up the paint a little on every bus I’ve had as the road debris takes off the black paint. I just use flat black in a spray can for that touch up.

[Ed]

Lol! Call me an expert when I finally comprehend everything I had a chance to learn the last few weeks and I can conquer the thirst this beast has for batteries.

DKO

[Ed]

Now I know most of the folks on this forum, if not personally, certainly by their many posts.

So when I read Sam describing his washing and waxing program I am trying to figure out exactly who on here is going to be dragging the ladder out of storage to get up there and wax the bus. So far I can count all who might think about it on the fingers of one hand. Of those who would actually think about it, I am thinking there are one, maybe two who actually would wash and wax their own coach.

And one of those has been grumbling about polishing his wheels so he may drop out of contention.

At least Diane is honest and doesn’t even pretend she is going to do the work. I suspect her offer to have Sam wax her coach was not said in jest. I see some bartering going on here.

Be careful of this bunch Sam, given the opportunity they will have you doing waxing demonstrations on their coaches at future rallies.

[Ed]

My Coach will do the same. However if I open the cap on the other side I NEVER have an issue,TRY IT, It works for me every time.

[Ed]

I got home from FleetPride with all the stuff to start putting things back together. I even found the paint (O’Reileys) that Sawdust recomended, thanks!

I got all the bracket made and are ready for the paint. Will post a photo of the finished brackets when the muffler is in place.

Question, do I have to go through all the curing process that the paint calls for? Or can someone just tell me to paint it and forget it!

[Ed]

Hey Bill, by the way, did you get your free fuel card? We never heard from you…

[Ed]

Gil,

Owned and repaired a CC Affinity for 10 years I recall seeing posted something close to what you have.

The problem was a ign switch. I don’t remember if it was loose wires on the back or the control inside. CC used ign switches that were available thru NAPA and are very inexpensive.

1) Wiggle the crap out of the switch and see what happens.

2) Wiggle the wires on the back and see if anything changes.

AL

[Ed]

Rodger,

Not a pleasant experience for sure. Does you Country Coach have dash air and salon air. My CC has salon dash air and salon air. It took some work to get the salon air working, but it works great now. For your info, during hot times, I will place a small fan/blower in front of the salon/kitchen AC discharge and move the cool air forward to the drivers area. This help significantly. Also, I will lower the silhouette blinds such that they are down, but open so you can see through them. That seems to help keep the bus insulated from the hot glass.

I have roof airs. If it is headed towards triple digits, I will start the generator and run the roof airs also. So far, this process will keep it cool inside. But the best solution is to head north to cooler weather.

The comment on cruise airs is good info for me. Since I have roof airs, I have wondered about the performance of cruise airs. I guess I need to be happy with my roof airs during this hot weather.

Good Luck,

Hector

[Ed]

Well said Tom!!

It’s amazing how much information one can get from this site! And free fuel too!

[Ed]

Petar

I can tell you from experience, doing it without a lot of damage to the structure of the br is nearly, if not impossible. Use a sawzall, 41/2″ grinder, pry bars, hammers, screwgun, etc. It took me 5-6 hours to take mine out and repair the damage to the floor, walls, etc after removed. There are no instructions I know of, just start by taking things off, like the door, hinge then walls, etc.

Rob

91 LeMirage XL 40

Missouri

[Ed]

DKO some thoughts from another Vantare owner.

1. The nomenclature for the SW4024 inverter name is

40 = 4000 VA or 4 kVA continuous output inverter.

24 – = 24 V DC nominal voltage. (I.e., 24 volt house system)

These inverters only came as a SW 4024 and an SW 4048

An option which will make you wonder when you read the manuals is “Stacking” of two inverters. This is a feature to combine 2 inverters into a single functioning unit (a simplistic explanation at best). Vantare’ did not stack these inverters and that’s that.

Note, this does not mean that your house batteries do not supply 12V DC to some devices. Mine do. I am very certain that yours do as well.

2. Once you remove your batteries, you may still have power to many items, however, you will have almost no control of anything in your coach because you will have no power to any of the control panels. So, you need to make sure that you set things like window shades, pocket doors, fantastic fan vents, etc before you yank the batteries.

3. In all your documentation, do you have the package of house wiring diagrams? You might see something called a “bicolor board” which is the board on which all your control relays are located. [[If you don’t have the package, I will be happy to send them to you. The set applies to nearly all coaches which have the biclor board. ]] When you disconnect the batteries, there will be no power to this board, thus no controls what so ever.

4. Buy plenty of tape. I wrapped all my tools with electrical tape so not to weld anything. I use duct tape to insulate all the openings.

5. Looking at your pictures, 3 things jump out at me.

a. there are angle lips in front of your batteries. I suspect that these can be unbolted so you won’t have to lift over them. (I found this out ONLY AFTER I wrestled the batteries out.)

b. Best as my peepers will work, you appear to have a shock mat under your batteries, GOOD! If not, add it during the re-install. Vibration is a killer for AGM’s and almost all batteries.

c. Do you have any kind of battery hold down? I didn’t/don’t but will before I finish re-installing. Again, vibration is a battery killer. If you don’t have a hold down, you should probably add it.

6. It is my opinion that you can operate a Vantare’ on less than (in my case) 8 4D batteries. That is especially so the way you describe your use. Now having said that, some other thoughts:

a. You need to always have generator auto start activated. (This is now SOP for me).

b. You may want to up the low voltage condition threshold settings in the inverters by a couple of tenths of a volt.

c. You will probably want to stay in “search” mode on these inverters at least while on the road. You may have to fool with the settings on that in order to have a manageable environment as newer electronics seem to create challenges for these inverters.

d. I would probably go with no less than 4. And make sure that you balance them, i.e., place 2 on each string.

e. Tape off any unused terminal connectors.

7. In the inverter manual, there are pages which illustrate the menu system. It is a total of about three or four pages. I found it very helpful to copy these and keep them updated with notes as to changes I make on my settings, AND NEAR THE INVERTERS. It is a lot easier than having to go dig out the entire manual. One additional data type which you can add there are the phone numbers of your inverter support network, as I have found that almost no one has internet access when an inverter problem occurs. (I suspect it is a derrivative of Murphy’s Law).

8. In case you didn’t know, if you ever powered down the inverters (like tripped the breaker on the front of the inverter), you need to reprogram them or the tripped inverter as they will always return to factory default.

9. Send me an email and I will get you a phone number. You have an open offer for help, wish I were closer.

10. Back to batteries for a second, check all the terminal clamps. Replace anything that does not look “right”. ( “Right” = no one can tell you exactly what “right” is, but most know it when they don’t see it!).

– Terminal connector and post brush, get one, use it.

– A terminal prreservative, e.g., dielectric grease battery terminal spray, something that does not cure/harden.

– Lumbar belt, get one, use it.

– Hard shell knee pads and good gloves, get some use them.

– A gambrel and rope hoist might be of value to you as well. I use one of these to hoist my 4D’s in and out of the coach and in and out of my truck and garage. It might save your back…… just saying.

Gammbrel and rope pulley hoist

[Ed]

FWIW, i switched from DTV to Dish because I wanted HD and take advantage of their “pay as you go” monthly service plan. I converted (reprogrammed) the existing RL5 in-motion antenna and it works great. Single receiver. Cost is about $35 per month. Converting the dish cost me $300 – we watch very little TV. I get my news off of the Internet. When we watch TV, we typically buy a movie. That may happen once or sometimes twice a week. In fact, having a “smart” TV, I can stream movies from the Internet. So DTV and Direct would not be required at all.

Cheers,

Ronald