New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

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New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

Hello everyone! Got my 2002 295 about 3 weeks ago...took it to Ozark Ark. this past weekend. LOTS of twisties up there...couldn't make it easy on myself...had to jump into 180 degree 15mph switchbacks for my first drive...but hey the coach was awesome!
Reading the owners manual in addition to just trying to figure out how stuff works has left several questions rolling around in my head.
1. Is the hot water heater always on (propane)? There is an electric heater switch at the foot of the bed also...which to use? Should I turn something off when the coach is stored? Took a hot shower this weekend but I never turned on the "hot water heater"...Manual mentions lighting the heater, remote switches etc., then goes on to say the system is basically automatic.
Totally confused on this one.
2. Where is the "furnace"?
3. When you drive your coach does it road walk a little...especially if the road is severely crowned?
4. Freezer frosted up a bit this past weekend...probably from so many times in and out of it....my buddy tells me he turns his off and lets it thaw out and dry....keep door open to prevent mildew etc.. Is this best practice? Does the fridge have a drain hole in the bottom for defrosting or do I need to get a tub of towels and be ready for the melting ice water?
MOT said techs recommend leaving fridge running...they tend to last longer that way....opinions?
5. I have the coach plugged in and the booster switch on to charge coach and engine batteries....do I have to do anything to the inverter or will it automatically charge the batteries....again it appeared to be charging batteries when I was plugged in this past weekend.
6. Manual states...AIR TANKS drain tanks daily in cold weather and weekly in warm weather.....HOW DO YOU DRAIN THE AIR TANKS? Hit the dump button?

The manual is great and I have learned a lot more than I knew 3 or 4 days ago but the things the manual does NOT say have created more questions for me than the manual has answered....like #6 above....drain the tanks....ok I'm happy to do that but how the @#$%^& do ya do it!?!

Thanks for listening!
Take Care.
Dave E.
2002 295 36'

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #1 – May 26, 2016, 02:41:29 pm

Quote from: dke1955 – May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

4. Freezer frosted up a bit this past weekend...probably from so many times in and out of it....my buddy tells me he turns his off and lets it thaw out and dry....keep door open to prevent mildew etc.. Is this best practice? Does the fridge have a drain hole in the bottom for defrosting or do I need to get a tub of towels and be ready for the melting ice water?
MOT said techs recommend leaving fridge running...they tend to last longer that way....opinions?

Congratulations, on your new-to-you coach! What an exciting first trip you took!

I am going to try and answer your #4 question. (*my hope is that by trying to answer this one, it will bump your thread up and more people can chime in and answer the others*)

It might depend on the model fridge you have, but when our freezer or fridge starts to accumulate too much frost, we will line the bottom of the fridge/freezer with a towel, and defrost it with a hair dryer. In the fridge, there is a drain gully underneath the metal cooling element, and generally, as the frost melts, the drain gully will keep up with the dripping. The towel is mainly there in case any large chunks of frost/ice fall off. In the freezer, there is a small drain at the bottom, but it is easily overwhelmed, so it's best to use a towel.

We have found that by installing a small fridge fan, it really helps keep the frost down, and keeps the whole fridge uniformly cool. Here is a link to the fridge fan we use. They don't last forever, but they are well worth having.

RV Fridge Fan

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #2 – May 26, 2016, 03:13:30 pm

Dave E, OK, I'll try # 6. The drain valves for the air tanks are inside the driver's side from and rear fenders, just inside the leading edge. There are two inside the rear and three inside the front. Simply rotate the handle 90 degrees and let it blow till air escapes, water will come first then close valve and go to next tank. Be sure to build up pressure again before driving off.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #3 – May 26, 2016, 03:20:34 pm

I'll help you with number 5 There is a set up on the display that lets you have the invertor charge anytime there is 120 vac present. If you have the manual for the inverter read it there are many options on some inverters such as battery bank size and battery type. If you have no manual download one.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #4 – May 26, 2016, 03:26:48 pm

Welcome and enjoy the new coach. Some of this got posted as I was typing and covering the phone calls.

#1, your water heater if like mine, is 3 way, with the engine warming the water as you drive. Then when on pole power or generator, flip the switch on the bed platform and use the electric element. When on limited electric power like only 30 amps, hit the switch by the galley, and have the propane do the heating. You can also use the propane to help recovery rates when on electric only.

Your should have 2 furnaces on a 295, one maybe under the closet, and one under the galley. Look for the large, 12"x12" return grills. And you might have a 1 and 2 zone on your wall controller. #1 is the front, furnace and AC, #2 is the rear furnace and AC. One of them will also blow air into the bays, try a fan position on one of them, and see if you feel the air in the wet bay outlet vent. The fan noise will help you find them as well.

#3, check tire air pressures after you weigh and get the right amount of air suggested, loads.

#5, Boost works of course. But check with a meter to see or look and see if by chance a trickle charger system has been added to the engine batteries. You might have two power plugs in the dash, they are from different sources of batteries on my coach. One is showing the house, and being charged by the inverter/charger. The other by my optional trickle charger. My charger has a "charger" and "inverter" on/off switches.

#6, there should be a label, near the left rear wheel, and you should find a drain petcock, open it to see if you get any moisture, or worst white powder. The "dump" is for dropping the coach onto the stops by releasing the air from the airbags, using the HWH system.

All the best, and enjoy those roads of Arkansas!

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #5 – May 26, 2016, 03:44:58 pm

Quote from: dke1955 – May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

4. Freezer frosted up a bit this past weekend...probably from so many times in and out of it....my buddy tells me he turns his off and lets it thaw out and dry....keep door open to prevent mildew etc.. Is this best practice? Does the fridge have a drain hole in the bottom for defrosting or do I need to get a tub of towels and be ready for the melting ice water?

I will try and add to this discussion and guessing this is an RV fridge, either a 1292 or a 1492 Dometic - empty, dry, off, and leave doors open if you aren't using the coach for a while ("a while" depends on your typical usage - basically how often do you use the coach? Once a week? Leave it on. Once a month? Maybe start considering the empty/clean out). It takes 24-48 hours usually for the fridge to cool down, so leaving it on may work best again depending on your usage.

Now, a caveat, only do this if you can monitor the coach, especially if the coach is stored indoors. If there is a power loss, the fridge ill switch to propane. Great, except - if you lose power for an extended period of time you'll run down your batteries. There is also the risk of fire in the event of a refrigerant leak when the fridge switched to propane. Have seen the result of the latter in an enclosed building. There are some safety devices including but not limited to fire suppressant systems you might want to research for improved RV fridge safety.

For frost, if this is an RV fridge, you can add fans to the fins (search the forum for fridge fans, lots of photos of installations). Make sure the door gaskets seal well, make sure you have the environmental switches set for high humidity area. Defrost as Amanda suggests but be careful - not too hot with the hair dryer or you will damage the plastics. It will defrost faster than the overflow can handle (yes, there should be a drain tube at the bottom) so use towels to catch the ice that comes off/water than collects. Also verify you drain is working correctly - have someone watch for the dripping outside; should be a tube exiting below the coach.

Quote from: dke1955 – May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

5. I have the coach plugged in and the booster switch on to charge coach and engine batteries....do I have to do anything to the inverter or will it automatically charge the batteries....again it appeared to be charging batteries when I was plugged in this past weekend.

A comment on this, similar to above. Only use the Boost switch when you can monitor the coach for shoreline power loss. You are linking both battery banks together. If power goes out you will have both house and engine batteries drain. Much better to get one of the various devices (Trik-l-start, voltage sensitive relay, dedicated battery charger, etc.) to keep the engine batteries charged. Deeply discharged engine batteries can cause secondary issues. We have seen it take out every single bay door actuator due to low voltage causing them to "flutter".

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #6 – May 26, 2016, 04:01:48 pm

U-295's did have Aquahot as an option, but if equipped would not have a propane water heater

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #7 – May 26, 2016, 04:19:34 pm

Quote from: Tim Fiedler – May 26, 2016, 04:01:48 pm

U-295's did have Aquahot as an option, but if equipped would not have a propane water heater

Easy to see, if you don't have any outside floor level access doors, and then a grill in a bay door, and all might be labeled with a "hot" warning. These can be see in photos of the coach, or found in a simple walk around. The AquaHot will have a exhaust pipe like the generator, somewhere sticking out. Again can be seen in photos.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #8 – May 26, 2016, 04:30:23 pm

HI Dave,

Welcome! It is at the same time exciting to get a new to you coach and terrifying. It seems overwhelming at first because it is and it will be for a while so ask away. Very nice to see all the comments so far.

3. When you drive your coach does it road walk a little...especially if the road is severely crowned?

Get your coach weighed as Dave Cobb suggest and adjust tire pressures to the recommended pressure for the highest load one side to the other plus five pounds without exceeding the max.

If road walk means a small drift to the downhill side of the crown then that is somewhat normal. If you mean it is wandering back and forth then that too is somewhat normal for a new driver as you learn to find your place in the lane. A little bit too much correction by the driver leads to more work and some back and forth stuff. It takes some time and miles to let that steady up.

It is hard to find a straight chunk of smooth road with very little crown in it and no wind. If you do your coach should track straight with very little correction. Even if it set up well and alignment and tire pressures are good most roads with a crown will need some driver adjustment to compensate for the crown. The wind will also require some active participation.

It is always possible that there maybe a tire issue or an alignment issue. If you think so get it checked out.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #9 – May 26, 2016, 10:32:17 pm

Congratulations and welcome! We have had our M/H for only a year, so I am no expert. I have learned many things the hard way, but you have come to the right place for information and support. Many on this forum have forgotten more than I will ever know. Some things I do know:

Curb side compartment forward of the drive axle is a valve with a placard "Close valve for max dash heat". This valve shuts off engine coolant from the 3-way water heater. If this valve is open and you have driven a few hours or more the hot water will be H O T!! Hotter than normal. So if you are showering soon after engine shut down - proceed with caution - you might blanch your beans.

I prefer to keep my coach plugged in always. Someone had a theory...a body at rest tends to stay at rest...I find this to be true of mechanical things also. Since I am a full timer (at work) we don't have the opportunity to use our coach as much as we would like, so once every 2-4 weeks, I unplug, fire up the gen and engine and let things get up to temp. Turn your cruise control on then push "set" button until engine RPM are 11-1200. "Off" returns engine to idle and "resume" slows engine down.

If you are not plugged in and the gen is in auto...if the coach batts get low enough to fire up the gen you may pop the circuit breaker on the front of the inverter (batts won't charge). On inverter control panel, select incoming amps to "10", reset CB (behind cover in storage bay), breath sigh of relief that a $1200 inverter did not fail.

If you are driving down the road and suddenly it smells like a state fair out house has just been dumped between the seats and your wife is gagging (and nagging)... Replace the vacuum breakers under the galley, lav and washer/dryer. They are cheap and easy to replace.

Sorry for the long post...I ramble sometimes. Happy trails!

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #10 – May 27, 2016, 12:24:19 am

Quote from: dke1955 – May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

6. Manual states...AIR TANKS drain tanks daily in cold weather and weekly in warm weather.....HOW DO YOU DRAIN THE AIR TANKS? Hit the dump button?

Check out this video at the 6:35 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdxXDAGnXss

I hope this helps

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #11 – May 27, 2016, 02:08:13 am

Thankyou All who asked these questions and responded with the answers..They were things I wondered about as well

We are very near to jumping in with both feet on a 42' 320... It does have a few issues (needs slide bladder replaced,chassis & house batteries are DOA,,won't go into indicated travel mode & so on) but has under 22k on the odometer so has set for most of it's life & a few glitches are to be expected.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #12 – May 27, 2016, 06:59:50 am

Re: Mike, we don't recommend running the coach periodically without driving it. Instead drive it at least 20 miles once a month, or just leave it parked. When driving it, operate everything you can-fridges, generator, A/C, furnaces, etc.
Re: Saddesore, please be careful to get a high quality PDI before purchase. It is much safer to buy a coach that has been driven regularly(10K miles per year) than an extremely low mileage one.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #13 – May 27, 2016, 09:32:59 am

Quote from: dke1955 – May 26, 2016, 12:23:26 am

MOT said techs recommend leaving fridge running...they tend to last longer that way....opinions?

While moving the absorption refrigerator will work efficiently, but if you run it while the coach is parked make sure it's level. If you have it on while parked and it's not level the ammonia solution won't flow as designed, creating blockages that will eventually make the cooling unit unusable as well as hot spots that can rupture and possibly cause a fire.

When we're using the coach and park somewhere like a rest area that it can't be level I shut the reefer off. When it's parked here at the house it's level, but shut off.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #14 – May 27, 2016, 09:42:23 am

If you are running the refrigerator on gas you should shut it off while fueling. The hard part is remembering to turn it back on.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #15 – May 27, 2016, 09:48:07 am

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – May 27, 2016, 09:42:23 am

If you are running the refrigerator on gas you should shut it off while fueling. The hard part is remembering to turn it back on.

Same with getting propane, we saw a coach on fire (totaled) because of a leaking main propane shut-off and the fridge left on.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #16 – May 27, 2016, 10:15:30 am

Quote from: amos.harrison – May 27, 2016, 06:59:50 am

Re: Mike, we don't recommend running the coach periodically without driving it. Instead drive it at least 20 miles once a month, or just leave it parked. When driving it, operate everything you can-fridges, generator, A/C, furnaces, etc.
Re: Saddesore, please be careful to get a high quality PDI before purchase. It is much safer to buy a coach that has been driven regularly(10K miles per year) than an extremely low mileage one.

Great advice!! It amazes me how many owners (of all types of motorhomes) do the idle on a cold start and do not drive it and think they are helping their engines. Drives me crazy. According to Cummins, moisture accumulates in the cylinders and driving it (under power and normal operating temp) is the only way to expel. It states very clearly in the Cummins owners manual not to idle. You are absolutely correct, it is better to not start it than to just let it idle.

Also correct to run gen under load, same pricinpal, along with furnace etc.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #17 – May 27, 2016, 10:27:58 am

I have said this before and I will no doubt say in many many times in the future....WOW...THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for all the replies. All my concerns/questions addressed, I can't tell you how comforting it is to know no matter what my concern may be someone (usually many folks) has/have the answer. The knowledge here is tremendous. Thank you again, awesome!
Thank you,
Dave E.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #18 – May 27, 2016, 01:12:05 pm

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – May 27, 2016, 09:42:23 am

If you are running the refrigerator on gas you should shut it off while fueling. The hard part is remembering to turn it back on.

I think they call that "sometimers"?

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #19 – May 27, 2016, 09:22:14 pm

I agree driving for 20 miles would be best, but snowy/salty roads keep my coach parked for the winter. I let my engine idle for 5 minutes then speed it up to 11-1200 rpm until up to temperature. I fully understand moisture in the cylinders, (hence "up to temp") but there are also many other components that can benefit from regular exercise...hydraulic pump, cooling system, alternator, electrical systems. Perhaps my good intentions are misguided, but I cannot believe not starting the engine for 4 or 5 months is better than running it every few weeks.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #20 – May 27, 2016, 09:57:22 pm

Mike,

On the question of whether or not to start the big engine during long-term parking...

Google the subject - you'll get lots of opinions. The majority will say, for diesel engine RVs, don't start them unless you can drive them long enough to get all fluids up to full operating temp. Lots of anecdotal evidence backing up this view from the trucking industry, where equipment can sit for months or years without being started. It's your coach - do what makes you happy.

How often do you run your Diesel engine when long term camping - Technical...

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22974421/print/true.cfm

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #21 – May 27, 2016, 10:05:50 pm

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – May 27, 2016, 09:57:22 pm

Mike,

On the question of whether or not to start the big engine during long-term parking...

Google the subject - you'll get lots of opinions. The majority will say, for diesel engine RVs, don't start them unless you can drive them long enough to get all fluids up to full operating temp. Lots of anecdotal evidence backing up this view from the trucking industry, where equipment can sit for months or years without being started. It's your coach - do what makes you happy.

How often do you run your Diesel engine when long term camping - Technical...

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22974421/print/true.cfm

I have a Perkins diesel engine in my Lincoln welder that I didn't start for 4 years, put a battery in it and it fired right up and welded even on the old fuel no problem.

Re: New owner reading owners manual....now have more questions than ever!

Reply #22 – May 27, 2016, 10:52:36 pm

Thank you both for the education. I am hard-headed but logical. Those links do make me reconsider my previous position on intermittent starting...

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