LED Bulb Conversions

So theres plenty of blown bulbs...

the plan is to switch these out to LED as we go...

the first ones are 8W fluorescent replacements, they are $17.91ea with free shipping from Amazon.

We picked the Natural Whites.

Green LongLife 3528102 LED 12" Replacement Light Tube with T5 base 300 Lumens 12v Natural White

Note this bulb needs you to remove the ballast and plug the bulb directly into 12V

You can see the flying lead for 12v in black.

This bulb fits neatly in the housing. However you have to basically disconnect the ballast entirely (easy enough, just cut all the cables (make sure its switched off before you cut the leads)) THEN you have to also cut the wires going to the socket ends (especially the one that joins the bulb on one side to the other (basically cut all the socket end leads (otherwise you'll blow a fuse))

Verdict: nice and bright.. I want to replace them all.. but the price is high.. so I'll wait for the bulbs to fail and go one pair at a time...

The coach has plenty of "1141" 12v bulbs...

looking at google apparently this is 19watts.. the 1156 bulb is a acceptable size also.. 

Amazon has:

These bulbs are really great.. one was bad out of the box, Amazon gave me a refund (I had to call them, as the only online option was to return the box of 12)

Online reviews indicate there maybe some attrition at 2-3 months, we will see...

50amp Power cord issues

So I wanted to plug the coach into a 120v 20amp circuit so I removed the 50-30amp pigtail.

here is what I found:

The heavy blackened terminal is the neutral return.

So I planned to cut that end off and install a new one from Camping World

Cutting that cord is not easy.. I used this tool from sears and even with that it was hard going.

Here are a few photos of the wire prep, slit off the insulation (about 3.5inches)

Remove the fabric/nylong filler materials.

Trim the wires to length. I started with the white one and then trimmed the red and black ones and then lastly the green one. The color code is in the plug leaflet.

Surprise when I removed the stub of insulation on the white wire I found heavy corrosion...

compare that to the green wire.. nice and shiny copper...

at first I thought this was localized to the end of the wire, near the plug, so I cut off another foot of wire. no difference... in fact I found that the black and white wires were corroded.

I hypothesize that the black and white wires are the phase energized when running single phase and that this coach may not have its phase loads properly matched or maybe the previous owner didn't use the 20amp switch to put the load management into the low power mode.

So.. I'm resigned to install a new power cord, but for right now I need to rehab the cordset I have and get going...

So here is my last few wiring photos. I sealed the terminals with GE Silicone II clear product, this is a non acetic acid cure silicone.

tighten up all the screws.. and good luck...

Missing Gas Fill Line

So the RV is missing a gas fill line.

Took it to the fill station and blew a gallon of gas out into thin air.

The fill connection has no line connected to the back of the fitting.

What I took to be a propane gas grill hook up in that compartment is actually the disconnected fill line.

So.. hook it up and then put in a few gallons and see if it holds..???
 lets see what internet research yields...

Firstly the tanks in RVs are permanent installations and do not need periodic inspection, they are ASME rated.  (the small portable tanks are DOT rated and need to be recertified after 12 years and then every 5 years)

Ok.. so I hooked it up as is and it worked kind of.. yes fluid was transfered BUT.. also fluid was "lost"..

On inspection this hose was some sort of "non crimped" compression fitting ends to flare ends.

so basically you cut the braided steel reinforced hose to the correct length and then screwed on the "collar" and the "tapered compression" insert and then assembled those tightly together. That made your hose which is then used on the 1/2in flare gas fittings.

When I cut off the ends and reassembled and cranked everything down "tight" was able to fill with no leaks...

and low and behold.. no leaks or smell

I still need to buy a manometer and do the proper tests but for the moment this is OK.

Pictures to follow...

Exhaust Brackets

So the nice previous owner guy had noticed that the exhaust hangers were breaking..

so rather than replace them properly he decided to use some baling wire... nice... not..

Napa sells the hangers.. the one at the very end was easy enough. I also replaced the one on the lower coolant hardpipe.

However the other 3 locations had a slight twist.. the clamps were welded to the hangers.. and they are corroded.. so I'll get new clamps and hangers.. the hangers were only $6..

Coolant Surge Tank Replacement

So we bought a replacement tank from Veurinks RV Center

Sue there sent me this informative diagram:

I figured that $227.41 and $25 shipping was a deal.. 

                     wow it comes with "all these extra parts" (2-8)... NOT...  

First thing was remove the old tank.. Some creative soul at HR had decided to do two things to make my life less easy: 

1) They decided that after they installed the tank to foam it into place.

2) they decided to leave no access for the two screws that are the lower mounts. You can see in the above lower right photo there are two lower tabs. 

I ended up tugging and straining and grunting mine out with some pry bars.. a little plastic on the hole in the coach is cracked where I partially forced the lower screws... anyway.. we'll figure out how to reinstall later..

Next: The big coolant line (7) (its either 1.25in ID or 1.375in ID in the pic was pretty much rotten.. ripped apart as I removed the bottle.

          Now I'm looking for a source of a replacement hose.. 

The Hose is basically unobtainium, Veurinks has it I'm sure, but nowhere local has anything beyond 1inch. I only foudn two good solutions: A) goodyear has a 4 foot flexible hose THAT NO ONE WILL STOCK.. at least you can order it..  www.veyance.com and part number 58020 is for 1.25in

The other vendor is McMaster Carr I ordered up 1.25in ID and 1.375in ID and will return the unused one. www.mcmaster.com SKU 5727K47 and 5727K48  One other thing.. www.amazon.com has the Goodyear products, search "goodyear 58020" but McMaster was a little cheaper.. all depends on where you are with freight etc...

I ended up using the 1.375in ID hose, in theory the 1.25in could be made to work, but after wrestling for 45mins to get the old hose off underneath the coach, coupled with the fact that the 1.25in ID new hose didn't "easily" want to go over the barbs (with a lot of elbow grease sure..) I made the decision to allow the hose clamps to do their job, after all its only 10-15psi. I used exactly 37inches for a comfortable fit so if you end up with the 4ft goodyear one or even a 3 foot hose you'll be fine..

(Veurinks got back to me, they dont stock the hose so I'll let them know that McMaster is their friend.

Next: My OE tank didn't use (3) and (4) as they are shown, instead some funky compression rubber washer was used.. the fittings were corroded and the new tank would need to be drilled out. 

          So I went to Home depot and Napa and cobbled together some odd parts to work. my biggest issue right now is that everything is in pieces until its fixed and I don't want to wait for another week for a delivery from Veurinks... so I'm looking for local stock on the various extra pieces.

I also purchased a 1/4 and 1/8 NPT tap and am gently opening out the holes in the tank to allow a little more engagement.

Next: On my coach there is no real room to have a level sensor where (5) is.. my pocket in the coach is "flush" on that face.. 

         Because I was "trying" to make things "work" I found a sensor FLS612 from Napa $25. plus $3 for a 1/4 to 1/8 npt adapter (sensor is 1/8, hole is 1/4). If you are trying to cheap out.. (and to be honest.. it seems like it would work better).. From what I can see the "sensor" is just a wire into the coolant.. not sure why a brass "1/4npt plug" wouldn't work.. and then just solder a wire onto that...

FYI Veurinks wanted $47 for that "sensor" so I'm definitely goignt o try my solution first (the napa FLS612 with a npt size step up bushing)

Next we need to find a replacement coolant drain plug the one we have isn't doing so well. time to replace..

         Pep Boys has SKU 2119869 $3   Dorman - AutoGrade - Brass-Tite! AutoGrade - Brass-Tite! Drain Cock-Brass-1/4 In. NPT

Kragen or O'Reilly has several, search "Drain Cock"

Drain plug worked fine.

Looking ahead.. 

Coolant fill: I'm planning on filling with Zerex ZXEDRU1 which is heavy truck extended life coolant.. Napa has this for $12.50-$13/gallon... we'll need 12...  thats premix.. I suppose 1 extra for the road would be good.

We also need to find the SCA additive coolant filter part number

The coolant filter is on the same side as the oil filter and near the engine to tranny interface.

Our plan in switching to long life:

A) do a flush ourselves (apparently Cummins charges $600.. (I'm sure a huge chunk of that is materials)

The plot thickens.. there is Cummins Compleat OAT.. that apparently never needs to be changed again...

Just going to have to call them...

apparently IF we switch to the long long life (of the engine) coolant.. then there are no further additives required... (actually every three years you remove a quart and add "a quart of additives"

Comments: While the coolant that I removed was all nice and bright green and clean.. the old level sensor was extremely corroded and the drain valve didnt work really well, plus the 2 fittings (3) and (4) that I removed were also corroded so.. I'm planing on having all the rubber hoses replaced and having a good look at the insides of the hard pipes at that time. Probably going to let that be done at a proper shop in 2 years. Probably let Cummins do this.

Called Cummins, the service manager said "not too worried about corrsion on the level sensor, the drain valve or the two hose fittings (3) (4), definitely do not do the Restore process.

Definitely switch to the Compleat OAT, (I ordered 6 jugs of concentrate, 1 jug of pre mixed 50:50 and a coolant filter with expedited shipping for $320 inc tax.) Its not as in expensive as the Zerex but the ability to work with Cummins and get essentially life of the motor with a 3 year additive is worth it in my opinion. If I had more time on my hands we could have saved about $60-80, but lesser priced sources were over a week out. (www.amazon 6 jugs concentrate for $200). (Note the guy I got at the local cummins was a noob.. and didnt understand that OAT was "different" sent me the old DCA based filter.. best to call the fleetguard hotline and get the correct part numbers, don't trust the cummins guys...

The plan is to fill the system with distilled wally world water, and flush and repeat until it runs "clear" $0.88/ gallon. Once that is the case we will remove 6 gallons of clear water and replace with 6 gallons of concentrate. That should give us what we are hoping.

While we flush and repeat I'll get an exact handle on the system capacity. do make that mix/ measurement a little more accurate.

From Cummins QuickServe:

Pressure Cap should be 15psi  (hmm... old cap was 10psi)

Ok.. its been a week.. finally its all done..

Summary:

Used the 1 3/8in Hose from McMaster.. ordered a new set of hoseclamps the antivibration ones from McMaster are best.

I had an absolute fight with the old water filter.. finally got it off. Prefilled the new filter with water. took about 0.4gallons

Ended up flushing with Distilled Water 4 times.

each time it was taking 8.5-9 gallons

So after the 5th fill I went to the drain port (1/4npt pointing downwards) and just emptied out 5 gallons of water. I measured approximately by using 5 of my gallon jugs, at this point it really was just water.. so I let it spill a little and in general that was a little over 5 gallons.. 

I then replenished with concentrate until it was at the max level on the bottle, 5 gallons..

in theory that gives me at best 5/9.5 gallons and at worst 5/12 gallons.  (the book spec says 12 gallons is the capacity..

I ordered up the Fleetguard test strips for the OAT coolant and will see.. 

Parts ordered:

CC36073  OAT 1 gallon Concentrate qty 6 @ $36.73ea

CC36077  OAT 1 gallon 50:50 premix qty 1 @ $19.12ea

WF2123 Non Chemical Coolant Filter qty 1 $90.. (go figure.. the DCA one is $26)

CC8997 Test strips pack of 50 about $60

Add tax and shipping...

buttoned everything back up... and now it all is running great...

will update once I get the test strips and adjust the concentration...

https://www.cumminsfiltration.com/pdfs/product_lit/americas_brochures/LT15108.pdf

So we purchased a fair or average condition Coach..

Now its time for the repairs:

Coolant Surge tank leak
Vanity Faucet drip
Vanity Faucet Drain Plastic tube broken
Roof Reseal
General Caulking