[Jerry]

You are right Jon I did not put mine in a manifold block so I could use comp fittings that was one of the reasons I did it the way I did it , yours looks way cleaner , mine are on each line not all on one block , I put one on every acc line and one big one , on line coming from acc air tank just before norgren filter ……

[Jerry]

Can Liberty get it for you? If they don’t have it, maybe they can point you in the right direction.

[Jerry]

When you find it== will be like a light bulb coming on.. been there on that one.. I have rebuilt Mine on the 98 XLE from scratch.. Bob

[Jerry]

I have stayed at just about every big truck stop in the USA and Canada , rest areas , fair grounds , most are pretty good , only had trouble one time at a cabela’s in Sydney NE put horses in pen then across the road to campground on there ground both horse pens and camp ground , came out in morning somebody tied horses back legs together with rope and tied there head to fence and raped the one mare with a PVC pipe blood every where the mare lived thought she was going to loose her feet because rope was so tight it cut the circulation off but she did not that was in the year 2000 that has been the only trouble in 28 years of travel about 50,000 miles a year I do … You have to use your head when staying some where if it looks bad dont stay , if I stay at truck stop I always try to get up front by pumps if you park at back that’s where things can go wrong most of us don’t want to be up front but at back not many people around more monkey business goes on just my thoughts…

[Jerry]

My 98 XLE does not. Didn’t know about H or converter mod to system. Almost seems like something back feeding from both sides of air bags in rear only two things in common are tag lift and air supply to bags. ck valves in leveling (manual) valves should take care of that. The R-14 that disables tag brakes also is tied in to tag lift norgren valve for signal. That about all that is in common that I can think of.

[Jerry]

At this point, it is stored outdoors and without power (working on indoor/powered storage). Since we are on again/off again in terms of temps (some nights is fine, other nights are right at freezing, and then some other nights drops down just below freezing) I am watching it every day/other day. So the lenght of storage time is one/two (at most three) days. On the nights it gets below freezing (27 or so is the lowest we are seeing) I run out to the coach and run the generator, wabasto and bay heaters (I drain the tanks/lines/pump/filters) later in the evning to get some overall heat into the coach to help it out over the night. Warmer nights I just let it go with no heating it up. This is for short periods of time (one/two weeks).

So it’s not a complete power down for long term storage, but it can be for 2/3 days of it sitting by itself. Want to make sure the inverters dont drain and then put a drain on the batteries is really my concern.

Right now I am shutting down the inverters at the main panel (as well as shutting all switches to the off position), then going to the inverter bay, powering off the two inverter switches, unplugging the watch dog and then the main house battery switch. I leave the 12/24 volt chassis switches on for now.

Should I be doing something different? or is this sounding like a good plan till I have it indoors and powered (hopefully will have a place lined up in the next couple weeks).

Thanks

[Jerry]

How high is up? Just like that question your question cannot be answered without having a lot of information to help put it in context.

Do you have the coach plugged in when not in use? Do you need to keep it warm, or just parked? Is it stored indoors?

The apparent best way to store a coach, regardless of how long is to keep it powered up. If nothing else keep power to the inverters because they are the best way to maintain the batteries.

But if there is no power available, then the answer goes in a completely different direction, because even if you turn all the power switches off all of our coaches have phantom loads that are going to deplete the batteries. In that case you have to go through a full shut down procedure. I think the newer the coach the greater current draws, so the age of the coach and the length of storage time might determine how you store it if there is no power.

If you need heat to protect from freezing or some type of environmental protection such as something to keep mold or mildew from the coach then the answer goes in a completely different direction depending on avalable power, indoor or outdoor storage and temperatures.

Specific to your coach if you have power available, as George or Corey said, just plug it in and leave the inverters on (battery charger switches one and two). If power is not available and the temps are not an issue, turn off the inverters at the remote panel, turn off the circuit breakers for the battery charger switches one and two, verify your generator watchdog does not have a specific procedure for power interruption, (follow that if it does) and then turn off all the house battery switches. You can also turn off the chassis 12 and 24 volt switches.

One thing to be aware of. If you have house battery issues the lack of inverter power could result in dead batteries. If you are sure they are OK kill all power if you choose, but if you are not certain leave the inverters on if power is available.

[Jerry]

Jerry,

Your loss of air on both sides in the rear is not related to the solenoid valve manifold, but I am still puzzled as to why it is happening.

The purpose of the solenoid valve manifold is to convert the electrical signal of the level low (and HWH) controls into a pneumatic signal. The drive position on the level low control (called the “road” position on a Liberty) energizes the center solenoid valve coil when the key is on. That opens the center solenoid valve and it send air pressure to all three 5 port Norgren valves on your coach. That air pressure pushes the Norgren valve spool to open the passageway between supply auxiliary air pressure and the ride height valves.

The ride height valves will then either exhaust air to lower the coach or add air to raise the coach to their respective air bags. As soon as you turn the key off the solenoid valve closes, air within that circuit is exhausted and the 5 port Norgren valve spools return to the neutral position and shut off any air flow to or from the air bags.

Let’s analyze what happens if the center solenoid valve leaks. The answer is …..nothing.

That is not quite correct. But close. If the solenoid valve leaks (center valve only) the pilot pneumatic air lines are pressurized and the path through the ride height valves opens and the coach goes to the driving or ride height. After that the ride height valve closes and the coach should sit without dropping. So I think your problem with the rear settling down has nothing to do with the manifold. For both sides to drop at the same time you need simultaneous failures of the left and right rear solenoid valves as well as some means of creating an open path for air bag air to exhaust.

I cannot remember all the hoops you have jumped through on this issue, but I keep coming back to the point where to get this type of leak down the cause has to be something common to both sides and the only thing I can envision doing it is related to the tag lift and the 3 port valves between the drive and tag axles. Have you verified that if you lift the tag and get the drive axle air bag pressure as high as possible that the problem still exists, or does that make it go away?

[Jerry]

It was easy to make it , would never leave home without it!!!!

[Jerry]

Prevost has been using a 6-led grote lamp for years, first on the H’s and then the XLII’s. The version they used was equipped with reflector and had 2 led’s facing out at center, 2 angled toward rear and 2 angled toward front. This is the type I’ve installed on my XLV. Bolt holes are a direct replacement for the old type lamps. I ordered the plug in wiring pigtails from Grote and used crimp on connectors to wire. I don’t have part #’s handy but I could look up if desired, but the newer style 6 led may be just as good or better and appear to be a direct (more or less) replacement also.

[Jerry]

Glad to hear it.

I found this site for belts,,, I bought a spare last time.

http://www.vbeltsupply.com/ecommerce/a92-03-banded-classic-belt.html

[Jerry]

Keep the ideas coming. This is your rally and we want to make sure we cover as many of your topics as possible.

[Jerry]

A big difference between my previous motorhomes and the XL is the extensive use of compressed air. I read each posting and Jon’s article but still feel ill-equipped to tackle a leak safari myself.

Please consider a seminar where the air systems are described with common issues and resolutions. We need to understand the solenoids and coils and Norgrens and ALSO the simple stuff (i.e. how to replace a fitting on the end of an existing line in a cramped workspace).

Thanks

[Jerry]

With the number of Liberty owners here do you know if Liberty is going to send anyone ?

[Jerry]

David,

We’ll see what we can do.