Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 10, 2025 ...

More newbie questions

April 09, 2023, 10:15:59 am

Heading home to the bus barn for the first time tomorrow after a week long shakedown. When I arrive the tanks will be empty so no worries there.

1.  Water heater switch on end of bed - obviously it controls the 120v, why is there a switch in the bathroom labeled water heater electric, and one propane? 

2.  We won't use the coach for a month.  Plug it in to 50 amp to keep the batteries charged.  Leave it in auto level mode or dump the bags and keep the system from "working to keep the coach level for a month"?

3.  Residential fridge - on or off?

4.  Anything else to consider?

Thank you,
Don

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Re: More newbie questions

Reply #1 – April 09, 2023, 10:30:33 am

The one on the end of the bed is an engine heater in my coach.

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Re: More newbie questions

Reply #2 – April 09, 2023, 10:36:43 am

Don, my choices for the 1995 I had equipped like yours are as follows:

Residential Fridge - ON - Put something in both zones, one gallon water in freezer, two gallons in fridge, something besides just air.

Propane/Elictric water heater - OFF - both heat sources/switches

My air springs/bags do not leak down so I leveled the coach manually and just leave it that way.  If you use auto level then turn level system off.

If your coach will leak down out of level, dump the bags and turn off.  Rebuilding your six-packs has a good chance of stopping the leak down.  Use rebuild kits from Tom McCloud on this forum.

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Re: More newbie questions

Reply #3 – April 09, 2023, 10:49:46 am

Question #1 One switch is for turning you heater on electrically on and the other switch is
for turning the heater on with propane. I would go with Chuck and say that the switch at the
end of your bed is for the block heater.

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Re: More newbie questions

Reply #4 – April 09, 2023, 11:40:15 am

1 bed room switch is engine heater as chuck said and hot water heater at power or propane as old guy said
2. Is there a battery charging system for the start batteries?
            If your hwh system is tight i would dump and level then shut off
            If it bleeds down I would dump on level ground and shut off.
 3 your call on the fridge,
4. Do you have any mice or rat issues?
    Is it going to freeze? If so need to drain all the water and put antifreeze in the traps. Ice maker? Need to drain it also and remove water from ice cube tray, we have so much calcium in our water it leaves deposits. I also drain the toilet bowl to prevent the same. And blow out water filter till its dry.
Indoors is easier than being an outdoor cat like my coach is.
Scott

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Re: More newbie questions

Reply #5 – April 09, 2023, 02:08:01 pm

On my coach, I have two OEM 120V switches at the end of the bed--one for the engine block heater and another one for the electric water heater. 

When I replaced the original water heater, the new one required a 12V switch to a 120V relay to turn on the electric water heater function.  So I now need to turn on two switches (in series--120V supply at the foot of the bed and 12V switch installed next to the 12V water heater propane switch--both mounted in the bathroom vanity) to turn on the electric water heater.  I usually just leave the 120V switch on and control the heater from the 12V switch.  It is easier to access.

I also installed switch covers on the two 120V switches at the foot of the bed.  I accidentally turn on the water heater while the tank was empty and burned up the heater element.  Not a hard R&R except for taking the water heater out and putting it back in to replace the element.

Rich

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Reply #6 – April 09, 2023, 04:58:01 pm

The switch in the bathroom labeled hot water heater may be for the optional heating rod. Our U300 has one. Look at the water heater to see if it has any electrical connections.

Pierce

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Reply #7 – April 09, 2023, 07:07:30 pm

I'd disconnect the power to the Thomas air pump. Any leaks in air springs, slide bladders, pump purge valve malfunction would result in the pump running and in some cases the pump would run until it destroys itself.

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Reply #8 – April 09, 2023, 11:49:29 pm

Our 2004 U270 has the switch for the electric water heater element at the end of the bed. Our switch in the bathroom only controls the propane.

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Reply #9 – April 13, 2023, 11:43:26 am

We will use a dehumidifier in ours when we are not going out for a while, rather than try to run the A/C.
If you have 50amp it may not matter to you.
I prefer to do a defrost on the fridge a week or so before leaving, but I will leave it turned on with bottles of water inside the rest of the time. It's very handy for when I'm doing jobs on the coach. (which is just about always)
As for the water heater, I also have the 120v switch on the bed base but not in the bathroom, and I have the propane heater switch in the kitchen. I usually leave these off when not in use.
For storage, I level the coach, then turn the system off. But I'm in and out of the coach every few days to a week so I run the engine and air-up the system again every week. Slow leaks seem to be a never-ending job on my coach, every time I find and fix one, a week or two later I find another!
It takes surprisingly little time for P-traps to dry out, so I will go around and add a little water or diluted bleach mix to them all, this helps avoid that vague "black tank' smell you sometimes find when things have been closed up a while. It works in houses too.

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