jayemright
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Posts posted by jayemright
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The low glow on the water pump LED sounds like you might have lost the grounds some where.
Your previous post said that with the engine off there was no power on one of the isolators main posts (1 or 2). So if the chassis ground is bad there is no return path for that battery and when the engine is running the chassis acts as the return path for the alternator, so you see voltage. Assuming you are using the chassis or body for the negative side of the voltmeter. Hook up a wire to the negative of the coach battery, long enough to run up to the front so that you can take a voltage reading between the batteries negative (long wire) and the isolator post, that will give you some more answers. No voltage, the wire from the isolator to the battery is bad. If you do have voltage then that points to a bad chassis ground. You also need the chassis ground for charging from the alternator to complete the circuit.
Ya!
GETTING CLOSER
First of all, had the battery charged, and it was indeed bad. A casualty of the New Brunswick Winter. I'll take it out and bring it in next winter. Second of all, in searching for loose grounds in the converter area I found a bare copper wire that ran from the bar where the power comes in that has all the green or copper wires going to it. I think the copper wire from the 110 goes to that too. Anyway, I hooked up a temporary battery, and touched this wire to where it looked it was supposed to go: the white terminal going to the converter and bingo-let there be light. So it looks like the converter wasn't properly grounded. I'm just a bit paranoid about hooking it up because the 110V circuit is grounded in the same place on that bar. Where I had the 110 V running through the tail lights before, I am worried I could do this again. Is it OK for the 12 V and the 110V to share grounds? I was under the impression that the 110 would be grounded through the shore power source and sharing copper wires between the 12 and 110 was asking for more trouble. I don't really have a lot of experience with electricity other than wiring my house, and that's pretty simple compared to this. Thanks again for your help, guys.
James
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Yet Another Update: Pulled the battery out, looked at the connections, and followed the leads from isolator lug #2 to the battery. Looked fairly recent, and with no breakers or fuses or anything. Also, while I had it out, I used my car booster battery which was fully charged, and once again, no power to the coach-just that strange little glow from the water pump LED which was switched off..
The battery looked in good shape, and was only 2 yrs old, but was only reading 11 volts. I will get it checked and charged (if possible) tomorrow. It is a car battery anyway, and aren't they supposed to be a deep cycle battery. If the battery's OK, I will re examine the wires running to the isolator from the battery and the converter. The factory schematic shows two fuses in that circuit, but that would have been the original wiring. The other thing I I'ill do is check all the grounds. Does it sound like I'm on the right track? As always your opinions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
James
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Looks like the problem is between the isolator and the coach battery. Assuming the power from the isolator goes directly to the coach battery (its supposed to) from the isolator. There might be a automatic reset circuit breaker that did not reset. Look for a small square box with the wires attached, check voltage on both sides of that. Might also be fuse somewhere. You should have voltage on the 1,2 and A pole of the isolator when the engine is off if the coach battery was actually connected to the wire. I think your isolator is fine.
Thanks Greg,
I am going to replace the coach battery as well, and then if I can't find where the circuit breaker or fuse is just run a new line from the isolator to the coach battery. Which lug would that go to?
Thanks,
James
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<br><br><br>Hello,<br>Thanks so much for your help. I would be totally lost without you folks. <br>I have a volt meter, but it had one scale that went to 10V and then the next one went to 250, so an accurate measurement was not to be had. I borrowed my father in law's and here's what I came up with.<br><br>Engine Off<br>Engine Battery-12.65 Volts<br>Coach Battery10.5 Volts<br>1st lug of Isolator 12.65 Volts (same as Engine Battery)<br>Lug of Isolator going to Alternator 1.05 Volts<br>3rd lug of Isolator 0 volts<br>4th lug of isolator 10.5 Volts (same as coach battery)<br><br>Engine On: <br>Engine Battery-14.5 Volts<br><br>The converter/charger should charge the coach battery even if the isolator is toes up. It may take awhile but it should. Can you disconnect the coach battery from the isolator? Does it charge the truck battery with the new fuse installed? If an isolator diode fails it usual fails open so yes it's possible it would not charge the coach battery but your charger still should. Is there a circuit breaker inline to the coach battery? Do you own a volt meter? Sorry about all the questions but every thing is related.<br>Coach Battery14.5 Volts<br>
1st lug of Isolator 14.5 Volts (same as Engine Battery)<br>
Lug of Isolator going to Alternator 15.65 Volts<br>
3rd lug of Isolator 14.5 volts<br>
4th lug of isolator 14.5 Volts (same as coach battery)<br><br>Also-No change in voltage of coach battery when plugged into shore power, but 13.6 volts going out to panel. No voltage at the panel when just on coach battery-Will it just shut down if it is not up to a minimum level of voltage?<br><br>Could this be as simple as a bad coach battery? It's only two years old, but maybe it didn't like the New Brunswick Winter. Is the charger from the converter (which I installed last summer) such that it wouldn't be putting a lot of voltage into the coach battery the way the alternator does because it makes no difference in the voltage level at the battery. The other weird thing is that when there is no power to coach, the water pump light glows like I have switched it on. Probably just the low voltage playing tricks? <br><br>Replacing the Engine fuse with the 20 A seems to have worked as it is charging although I drove over 100 miles before the last one blew. It seemed to do it just as I was starting it, as the mechanic told me it did for him. Some little surge from somewhere. I will look for a circuit breaker inline to the coach battery is well. I am 6"5" so looking around in this thing gets a bit interesting at times!!<br><br>Once I get this licked I am going to re-install the 110. I am not using any of the existing wiring-That is what started all this (I think it was a short in the 110 part of the fridge) I am starting right at the circuit breaker and putting in two outlets. The copper ground on those shouldn't go to the coach ground-Correct? They are grounded through the shore power. <br><br>Thanks again for all your help.<br>James <br><br>
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UPDATE:
It might just be the isolator. Even though it is solid state (replaced about 6 years ago) it could have blown. Here's what's going on: Coach battery appears to be dead. The coach systems works when it is on shore power but die when it is unplugged, Up until the repairs I had done to get the running lights going, the engine and the converter would charge the coach battery, and my 12V system was fine. Then It blew the engine fuse. I didn't have a 15 amp fuse, so I replaced it with a 20 amp fuse so I could get home. Now, with the engine running, while the battery meter says there is power going to the coach battery,it doesn't charge, and I have no liight, pump or anything else 12 V. unless plugged into shore power which as I said, gives me 12 V but doesn't charge the battery. Any advice? Thanks for all of the advice you folks have given me so far.
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Hello,
Thanks to both of you for your replies. The fuse was a 15 amp. The isolator was replaced by the previous owner with a solid state one. Much of this problem started last year after I replaced the converter: THere had been a dead short in the 110 on the fridge, but after I replaced the converter it started working-but it also was putting 110V through the tail lights and that whole circuit. It burnt a lot of grounds, and every friggin' bulb in the tail lights, clearance lights, turn signals, etc. The mechanic I took it to got those working, but now this issue has arisen. I am trying to get all the bugs out of it before heading off to Newfoundland and PEI in a month's time. Again, thanks for your help.
James
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Hello,
I am the proud owner of an '85 Sunrader with a 22RE auto trans. Recently, my charge light came on, and at the same time the turn signals stopped working as did the gauges. The Mechanic finally found that the fuse labeled "engine" in the cab fuse box was blown. It happened again today, so it looks like there might be an underlying problem causing this. Anybody know what is on that circuit and what could be causing this?
Thanks,
James
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Thank you for sharing your story. My heart really goes out to you and your family. Our children are the most precious things in our lives, and stories like yours certainly reinforce that. If your kids are ok, everything else is gravy.
Home is where the heart is, and it sounds like Sadie became your home through that difficult period.
I am glad that things are going well and hope that your daughter becomes better and stronger with every passing day.
James
A quick pop in to paruse the new entries and to say hello to new members and toy owners.Hello!!!! By now you know you're on the right path.
Well, Sadie, (my little 81 Sundrader that I will have owned 1 year come next month....woo hoo!)
know holds an even more special place in my heart since January 31st. Early that morning,
my 18 year old daughter flipped her car after hitting a patch of ice, and had to be medi flighted to
the OU trauma center in OKC (about an hour drive from home). Her pelvis had been shattered and her leg almost torn off during
her partial ejection. The following hours of waiting while she underwent several surgeries to realign and stabilize her pelvis and reconnect
soft tissue were spent in much prayer and positive preparation for the upcoming ICU and Recovery weeks ahead. Gil was going to live.
There were no upper body, head, or spinal injuries. She was one blessed little girl, but she was also going to be in the hospital for
a while. All I knew is that we would need our little motorhome.
Garymac went home that night to pick up Sadie while I pulled an all nighter in the waiting room (a story in itself).
For 4 weeks Sadie stayed in the parking lot next to the emergency room entrance... Winterized and a tad chilly in the
evenings but still a place of sanctuary and solitude. Gary worked nights, so would come to the hospital in the morning, then used the motorhome to nap off and on during the day until I arrived after off work. Jen (our youngest) stayed at home with the animals and visited on weekends. Friends and family supplied plenty of food to stock Sadie's fridge and cupboards, and I slept in the motorhome at night until Gil was finally moved out of ICU and I was allowed to stay in her room in the evenings. During that time, friends and family who came to visit Gil were treated to coffee and sometimes meals in the motorhome. Several local friends requested that we use thier homes.... and "warm beds" during Gil's stay at OU, but we had Sadie. She was perfect... and even though I hadn't purchased a generator yet, and was no where near an electricity source, my little LED camp lights were adequate for lighting, and a quick run on the propane stove would warm the camper enough to get snuggled under my down and wool bedding. One night it got below freezing...middle 20F's.....a tip from a friend who used to live in his truck camper (which he'd learned from a homeless man)......heavy guage plastic!.....
I layed a sheet of it on the mattress, under a wool blanket and my down sleeping bag on top of that, then wrapped the blanket over the sleeping bag, and the plastic over that......It got hot!....... Well, to make a long story short. 4 weeks later, Sadie made the treck back home, and after a month and half of physical therapy here at our local facility, Gil is now walking...yeah....and talking of becoming a physical therapist herself . Every day is precious!
For Sadie's next tour of duty, I am joining our community rock hound club. Not only will she be taking me to upcoming fiddle gigs, but will also join me on the hunt for local agate and rose rocks.....or maybe just sand stone.
DeWinterization Begins!!!!!
Have the most wonderful and prosperous of Summers Toy Family.
shanda
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Hello,<br>I have an 85 Sunrader 22RE engine, auto trans. I need to do some work on the exhaust around the converter in the spring, but another noise has emerged. It sounds like exhaust, but sounds like it is coming from the engine and only from one cylinder. It used to go away once the engine was warmed up, but now it just gets fainter. I used to only hear it under load, but it is now faintly present at idle. I had a 71 Chev. truck that sounded somewhat similar when I had to do the head gasket, I am obviously hoping that this is not the case here. I have seen a lot of discussion of exhaust manifold or exhaust manifold gaskets. Any ideas?<br>Thanks very much.<br>James<br>
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The drain for the fresh water tank is on the outside of the vehicle. There should also be a plug to drain the hot water tank too.
Thanks for your reply, Paul
My next question was going to be about the hot water heater. I have not seen any apparent drains on the outside of the vehicle, would it be underneath? I have looked down there, but haven't seen anything really apparent. Any clues as to what I am looking for and where it might be?
Thanks again,
James
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Greetings,
I have an 85 Sunrader. The last owner did not properly drain it last winter and I had to replace the taps and some of the lines that were damaged by being frozen. I want to avoid this this year. and want to drain the tank etc. I am just wondering how I go about draining the main tank so I can minimize the amount of anti-freeze that I have to put in. Is there a main drain for that tank somewhere? Any other tips for winterizing the water system?
Thanks
James
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Hello,
I imported a 85 Sunrader into New Brunswick in May, and had no problem other than being extensively searched. I think the guy thought I was lying about the price I paid and was looking for a second reciept. I got a good price on it, and the guy I bought it from just did a hand-written reciept on a piece of stationary from a cement company-So make sure your reciept looks official.
Anyway, on a 93, I think it will come down to the date of manufacture , so anything built before August would be admissable. Once you get past the 15 year mark, there is no problem.
Make sure you get the title to the American side at ther port where you will be importing it, at least 72 hours before you bring it across. The US people have to "export" it, and that will be the first thing the Canadians ask for.
Good luck and happy travels
James
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Hello,
I have an 85 Sunrader with a 22RE, and it crawls up grades of more that 15%. We did a trip around the Gaspe' peninsula of Quebec and there were times we were down to 20MPH. The grades on the highways in the Smokies are probably less, but the back roads probably have some doozies. Having said that, I don't know that a 6 would be much better. You're still pulling 7000lbs up a hill with a fairly low horsepower motor. Good luck in your search-We sure love ours despite it's crawling up hills.
All the Best,
James
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UPDATE:
Thanks for all of the input-It is much appreciated. The converter I added was an "ugrade" that went inside the existing box. It came with it's own 12Volt fuse panel. I basically just swapped the wires over as per the mfg.'s instructions. I wasn't at a campground, but rather a friend's cottage. It did trip the GFI once, but I think that was due to the torrential rain that fell the first night, as it was OK after that. There is a grounding lug on the outside of the new converter that I didn't use as there had not been on on the old converter.
I may have some copper ground wires mixed with the white wires. I will check it out and move those.
Here's how I got home:
There are two AC circuit breakers on the Camper. One powers the roof AC, the other the fridge and some outlets and the converter. I had had problems with the fridge (or something on that circuit) tripping the circuit breaker before; but I went through that circuit, checked everything and it started working. Once I had the problem with the electrified taillights, I shut that circuit breaker off, and moved the converter over to the other circuit breaker, and the voltage was gone.
The bulbs were blown on both tail lights, except for the left turn signal. By replacing the bulbs in the parking lot of the local Canadian Tire, I got my brake lights back. The right turn signal blinks very quickly and faintly. It doesn's seem to have good ground. I ran an extra ground wire from the grounding strip on the taiilght assembly to ground on the converter box. Also, the green arrow light on the dash for that turn signal does not work. I am thinking that bulb also got fried, and that is why it is blinking quickly??
My other puzzle is that this also seems to have taken out the dash light/tailight and clearance light circuit, but I have checked the fuses and they seem fine. Is there a fusable link somewhere in that circuit that could have fried? Or could the ground have fried and that's why I have power but no lights? I'm puzzled.
Thank you again for all your suggestions. I have a basic knowledge of electricity and as the saying goes "I know enough to be dangerous". I truly appreciate all your advice, and hope to get more as I work my way through this puzzle. Again, thanks for your help
All the Best,
James
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Hello,
I just installed a new 45 amp converter/charger. It was very easy, but I did have some "Side Effects" On about a three hour trip we discovered that our right turn signal wasn't working. It seems to have lost ground. Turns out that the tail and brake lights are fried too. The filaments in the bulbs are gone, the the right turn signal appears to have lost it's ground. The biggest shock ( almost literally) was when after arriving and plugging in to shore power I tried checking the ground on the right tail light, I got a reading of 110 volts!! As soon as I took the fridge out of the circuit, the voltage disappeared, but still no ground. I had had difficulty in the past with the fridge tripping the circuit breaker, so I'm thinking that it is shorting against the frame somewhere and electrifying ground. So now I have to try to get this baby home with no lights. I'll go to the store and purchase a whack of 1157 bulbs and see if they work. I am getting power to the right turn signal, and when I jumper a ground wire to the frame, It works. Also the dash lights are gone, but none of the fuses appear to be blown. Does anyone have a fuse diagram for an 85 Sunrader? Any comments or suggestions would be welcome-especially a fast and nasty way to ground my turn signal. Thanks very much,
James
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Just got an 85 Sunrader with 43 K (has 45 K on it now) Blasted the cobwebs out of it by driving it from Michigan where we got it to New Brunswick Canada, where we live. 1200 miles in 30 hours. That was more that it went in an entire year for much of its existence. Not a single problem, aside from being tired and getting hassled at the Canadian Border.
Saw an 86 Sunrader on E-bay with only 18 K on it!! I have double that on my 06 Civic!
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Hello,
The inverter and breaker box on my 85 Sunrader are in the bottom of the sink cabinet, right near where the "shore power" plug comes out of the coach body. Are you having difficulties as well?
All the Best,
James
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Thanks very much. I looked on the site and will tear into mine a bit on the weekend and get the info off to them. Sounds like the way to go. The old one is a pretty nasty looking old beast. I may choose a solar input for our rig as we grow into it. Heading to a folk festival this weekend with the camper.
BTW where is Brownfield Maine? We are 3 miles from the Maine border near Bridgewater, Aroostook County
Have a good one,
James
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Hello,
Thanks for the reply. The existing converter was replaced in 95, so I am thinking it is probably due. I have seen them on e-bay for around $100. Would one of those be easy to replace-just make sure incoming lines go to the right places and the outgoing lines go to the right places? Any particular model or size better than the other?
THanks
James
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Hello,
We are the new owners of an '85 Sunrader currently working the bugs out of it before a summer of travels (we are teachers) The coach battery is not charging when I plug it in at home. It charges quite well when the engine is running. The battery is only a couple years old and the alternator is new. Also in what may be a related problem, the 3-way fridge was popping the circuit breaker in the house after about 10 seconds. Mind you, "shore power" in this case was a 15 amp line running from my garage on an extension cord, so that may explain that-perhaps these fridges draw a lot of current. It looks as though the previous owner did a lot of work on the electrical system, there is a new isolater etc. Although I haven't dug into it too much, it also appears that the 120 v lines in the camper do not work, but the roof AC does work when plugged in. Is there an obvious problem that I am overlooking, is this, as I suspect, a combination of difficulties. Also, how long can I expect the coach battery to last with just lights and the occasional use of water.
Thanks,
James
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Thanks again, Allen. It seems you were writing your reply at the same time as I was. I will get under there see what is available for space. It's not like I'll be driving it in the winter much, and if the floor is wood, if the space is there, it wouldn't be hard to fasten some long bolts to it to hold the spare, if it is not already equipped for it.
Have a good one,
James
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Hello,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I did get that on e-bay, but I checked first to make sure it had the six-lug full floating axle. It looks newer than everything else under there so it must have been recalled. Any creative suggestions re. where to stow the tire? I would prefer to put bikes on the back instead of the tire.
Thanks
James
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Hello,
We have recently acquired an 85 Sunrader, and are working the bugs out before a trip to Newfoundland next month. . We would like to haul a Kayak, and would also like to store the spare tire on the roof behind the AC unit, as it is currently just strapped on a box that is mounted on the rear bumper. The last thing I want to do is to cause leaks in the currently pristine shell, but I would like to haul our boats and have the spare in a place where it is not in my way all the time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, is the floor on a Sunrader fiberglass as well? Just curious. It's covered in carpet on one side and a plastic covering on the other.
Thanks very much,
James
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Thanks for the reply. I pressure washed it last night so I can get a better (and cleaner) look at what is going on. I think the tank is plastic as well. Perhaps re-do the black plastic cement with some fiberglass mesh to hold it in place? I wonder if some liquid epoxy poured down the toilet would seal that?
Thanks again for your input
James
Engine fuse blown
in Engines - Transmissions - Drive Train - Suspension - Chassis - Steering - Exhaust - Tires - Etc.
Posted
That's good news. I'll hook it up, slap a new Deep cycle battery in it and "hallelujah, let there be light!!"
And your explanation of the "fry up" caused by the 110 makes perfect sense-That fridge has only worked consistently on propane, and only intermittently on either 110 or 12 and most of the time it snapped the circuit breaker as fast as you pushed it in. Then it worked for a little while, but was cooking everything in it's path. Guess I won't meddle with the electrical part of the fridge anymore!!
Thanks very much for all of your assistance. I truly appreciate it.
I'll let you know how it all turns out.
All the best,
James