Itasca Meridian 42E - Page 3

dsbike · 12-15-2013, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerichorick

You have had a great beginning with your coach. That is wonderful.

I have participated in a few discussions about the service intervals and what truly needs to be serviced. I think, as many others do, that the extent of the services is a bit excessive for the type of service time our motorhomes get on the road. Greasing the chassis and proper filter changes is important, true, but changing the oil because it is a year old seems a bit excessive to me. I am using Royal Purple (or will be on this coach when I do my first oil change) and have for years. Having a lab test the oil is a good way to schedule oil changes and will not affect the warranty. A record is established as to what is happening to the engine over time. And you can save big bucks and have it is better for the engine. I a great article I read about this very subject the author presented evidence the indicated that the detergent packages were not being allowed to work correctly with the recommended oil change schedule and more wear was being produced.

You will work it all out. Happy snow birding!

Rick

I agree there are some service intervals I don't agree with either. Some I have not done for a lot longer than the manufacturer recommends on all of my vehicles and have put several hundred thousand miles on most of them with no break downs contributed to the delayed service. I think some of this is the manufacturer CYA . I am however concerned with moisture in the oil forming over time & for that reason I do yearly oil changes. However when only changing out 5 qts & a $10 filter it is much easier on the wallet than 25qts. An oil analysis is on my plan for the diesel. I also think the oil companies have us changing oil here in the US much sooner than is necessary. I use Amsoil in all my vehicles except the MH at this time.

jerichorick · 12-16-2013, 05:02 AM

Good morning Dan. I see you are using Amsoil. I suggest doing your own research on Royal Purple. I think you may be surprised about how much protection you are truly getting now.

Happy trails,
Rick

dsbike · 12-16-2013, 02:06 PM

Rick, I have had first hand knowledge of how well Amsoil does. I have a 1999 Jeep GC that lost a water pump at 207K in turn the block cracked & destroyed #3 piston & rod. Long story . However I tore the engine down that had Amsoil from 10K and there was virtually no wear on any of the bearings or cylinder walls other than #3. I bought a used engine with 110K, I tore it down prior to installing in the vehicle, the wear on it was unbelievable & I had to rebuild that engine before I installed. Now I do not know how that engine was maintained prior to me getting , but I would assume it had dino oil in it. Most of all though I was very impressed with the results from Amsoil's oil.

Now back to the original post subject.

I Installed the 3 new controllers on the heat pumps today. Not a hard job took me about 2 hours. The heat pumps seem to be working normal now. No more searching & rapid off & on with the fan. I have 2 cautions if any one does this them self rather than taking to your repair station. First is a safety issue, be sure to turn off all power going to the coach including the coach house battery. The other is in the controller there is a small black jumper that must be plugged in to the proper zone. It is located on the circuit board inside the controller. I forgot to do this & had to remove the covers & gain access to the board to set for the correct zone. If you don't get this correct the heat pumps will all work off on zone 1 as that is where the jumper is set from the factory.

Rick, Thank You so much for filling us in on what was needed & who to contact to get this corrected. If we ever are in the same cg I owe you a steak & a beer. I have had several conversations with my dealers service manager & the tech. Telling them that I did not believe this was correct operation. I also contacted Winnebago & they were not familiar with this.

dsbike · 12-16-2013, 02:21 PM

I forgot to mention, I do have electric heat from zone 3 no gas heat.

cliffm · 12-22-2013, 03:10 PM

Went to pick up my coach from Camping World today (the new controller was supposed to be installed). Turns out, it wasn't ready. The new controller apparently has one fewer plug in terminals for the sensors than the existing unit. Tech was unclear if he needed to just take the two separate sensor wires and put them on the single terminal, or if he had the wrong controller. So, Monday they will get back on the phone with RVP to sort it out.

dsbike · 12-23-2013, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffm

Went to pick up my coach from Camping World today (the new controller was supposed to be installed). Turns out, it wasn't ready. The new controller apparently has one fewer plug in terminals for the sensors than the existing unit. Tech was unclear if he needed to just take the two separate sensor wires and put them on the single terminal, or if he had the wrong controller. So, Monday they will get back on the phone with RVP to sort it out.

Here is how my new controllers were set up; I could not see any difference in the new from the old. Same part number, but there must have been a change on the circuit board. Here is the part Number that is on my controllers 9630-752 Hook up was identical, just had to change the small black jumper on the circuit board for which zone I was feeding. Also my old controllers are dated July 2012 & the new were some where in the spring of 2013.

There are 13 terminal connections with 4 of them being doubles. There is a jumper on the "timer" connection, nothing connects here just leave the jumper wire, the "shed" connection came with a jumper, however there are wires that connect here if you have Auto start on your Genny. Then there is a white 9 pin connector with only 7 pins in use. Then inside the box is the Pos/Neg/Com power supply. Hope this helps.

dengraham · 12-23-2013, 08:49 PM

Hey Dan, I crushed. See #7 on this thread.

dsbike · 12-24-2013, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dengraham

Hey Dan, I crushed. See #7 on this thread.

???? Sorry I don't understand.

dsbike · 12-24-2013, 06:52 AM

Dennis , I just realized I was giving the wrong person credit for the info on RVP & Eric Botts, (post #43 & #7) My apologies. If we ever meet up in a campground some where dinner is on us. Thank You so much for this info.

cliffm · 12-26-2013, 09:22 AM

Camping World called this morning. Got the new controller, put it in and NOTHING WORKS at all now. RVP is gone till after the 1st, so this is not a good situation. :(

Cliff

dsbike · 12-26-2013, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffm

Camping World called this morning. Got the new controller, put it in and NOTHING WORKS at all now. RVP is gone till after the 1st, so this is not a good situation. :(

Cliff

Do you know if they checked for the jumper inside the controller? That board has 4 zones and only 1 jumper the jumper must be in the correct position for the zone you are controlling. I would ask them if they would open it back up and check that jumper.
When I installed mine, I forgot to move the jumper to the correct zone. When I powered up my coach the only zone I had on my t-stat was zone 1. Thats when I figured out the jumper was incorrect. With them all being on zone 1, zone 1 controlled all 3 heat pumps. If by chance yours are on zone 4 nothing is going to work.

cliffm · 12-27-2013, 08:30 AM

I had asked them if they had set the jumpers, and they indicated they had. This is going into zone 1, so the default should have been fine, but it was double checked.

dsbike · 12-28-2013, 10:42 AM

Well, it was just a suggestion. Hope they get you fixed up asap.

jerichorick · 12-29-2013, 08:23 AM

I hope that ALL of the connectors have been reconnected. Happy trails do not include sitting frustrated because of repairs.

cliffm · 12-29-2013, 11:07 AM

They have the old controller connected, and it's back to at least working like it was. Nothing they can do till the RVP folks get back from the holiday closing. Hopefully, they will be in on Monday.

We shall see....

dengraham · 01-09-2014, 04:34 PM

Hey Cliff, We have not heard from you in awhile. Did you get your system fixed?
I had two failures in one day (what's the chance?). First, my propane regulator starting leaking. My theory is I had it filled before I left Tennessee to head to Florida to do some Habitat for Humanity Builds. We left in freezing weather but arrived in the mid 60's. I figure they over filled the propane (just a little) and the liguid managed to get on the propane regulator diaphragm. The cold propane would (and I think did) crack the diaphragm, so the propane starting leaking out the small "over flow" hole at the bottom of the regulator. It sounded like a fan running (you know, like the heating/cooling fan under the chassis). Anyway, I started to smell propane and hunted for the noise until I realized it was the regulator. I just turned off the propane at the tank and removed the regulator. Then I went to a local propane shop and they had the identical regulator. Easy replacement and only cost $37.
About a hour later my transfer switch starting chattering (on and off, on and off, on and off) and would not stop. I connected to three other posts but they all did the same thing. I called Technology Research Corporation (TRC) the makers of the SurgeGuard Auto Transfer Switch and after confirming all my inputs and outputs, they agreed I had a bad switch. They sent me a new one (even though I am three months out of my warranty) and it arrived today. So, tomorrow I have the thrill of installing it. Just 12 wires and a few screws holding the box to the compartment wall. (Four wires for shore power cord, four for generator cord, and four wires on the output that go to the circuit panel.) No cost to me accept I have to ship back the old unit so they can see what caused the problem. Oh, I forgot to mention, I switched from 50 Amp to 30 Amp and it worked for several hours. When it did start chattering, I just turned it off and back on and then it stopped for several hours. Been a pain but at least I have 30 Amp during the drop in the temperature days. (Actually, it was fund to figure out what was running on which line and how many Amps were needed. We used the fireplace, the washer and dryer, the microwave, one heat pump, the crock pot, grill, etc. Just not all at once.)
The most amazing thing I realized was that when I had it on 50 Amp, I had the inverter on (in stand by). When I lost the 50 Amp connection my TV and satellite, refrigerator, and lights just kept working. That was cool and gave me the chance to figure out what was happening. It was a pain to reset the switch at 3 in the morning but tomorrow I shall be celebrating my new transfer switch installation.
I just thought you all would be interested. I was extremely impressed with the staff at Technology Research Corp (TRC).

cliffm · 01-09-2014, 10:29 PM

The latest update is that the controller they sent the dealer was the wrong one. I was out of time and headed out, so it will just have to wait till I get back.

We left out during the polar vortex, and even though the coach was winterized, there were some systems that I had trouble getting to work right. There was some ice in the line between the water connection and the fresh water tank, and a few other fun things to solve. Nothing damaged, just time wasters. Next time I winterize, I'll know to set it to the fill setting and blow that line out as well. Just never occurred to me.

While we haven't had any part failures, we did get "stuck" this evening. Pulled into an RV park in Missouri (a highly rated GS park), and the park is NOT plowed, lots of snow, etc. In trying to guess where the road was, ended up getting stuck but good and could not get free. Tried digging, using boards, etc. Fortunately I had a heavy tow chain, and there was a guy there with a truck who was willing to give me a tug. Only needed to move back about a foot and was able to get traction again.

Been carrying that chain for 5 years and never used it. Boy was I glad I had it tonight.

dsbike · 01-10-2014, 09:35 AM

Dennis & Cliff, sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad you were able to get them taken care of.
We arrived in Tucson AZ last Saturday left Gaffney SC on New Years Day. Just in time to miss all the cold weather. Had a very uneventful trip across I-20 & I-10. Other than about $1000 in fuel. I averaged 7.3mpg which included maybe 4-5 hours of genny use the entire trip. 1963 miles. I was towing a Uhaul auto transporter with my DW's Miata & our bikes on the back of the Miata. I think the bikes were a large drag.
The inverter worked great. Never had a issue with the house batteries & we used several appliances during the trip just on the inverter. The heat pumps are now working as I always thought they were suppose to, Thanks again for the info & contact at RVP.

dengraham · 01-10-2014, 10:54 AM

Good news Dan. Glad all is well. I am still at the 6.9 mileage mark and I wonder why? I did install the new transfer switch and life is normal again. Did I tell you I installed new mirrors? I had a lot of wind noise and vibration on the old mirrors, so I purchased new ones and love them. The only two items I have remaining is the steps are "floppy" when they are extended and I have a loud pounding noise when from the center a/c. Oh, does your water make a small "buzz" when it is running?? One of the lines is vibrating but I cannot find it. Seems like a small silly item but is noticeable but life is good. Sun shining, 82 degrees today.

dsbike · 01-10-2014, 04:31 PM

Dennis, no noise from the water. I do have the wind noise from the drivers mirror, I thought it was an air leak at the windshield, took it back to the dealer twice & they could not find any leaks , even had the windshield people come & leak test & were going to remove & reseal it.
The mirrors had originally kept coming loose & vibrating, but I removed the set screws & put lock tight on them & reinstalled, no more vibration,