Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

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Topic: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/05/11 08:53pm

^^^^ Well that doesn't sound good. ^^^^^

Probably much worse than my issues.

Generator stopped running this weekend, my initial diagnoses is the choke diaphragm. I 'think' it's easily replaceable, Onan 4000 Emerald Genset... any suggestions?

Ahhh.... adding to the list. I need a never ending scroll. Scratch one off, add one to the bottom.

Tried repairing a small leak in the connector for the shower head. Turned out it was leaking past the threads as I thought, but old cracked plastic on the faucet, and I only made it worse...

Other than that... we did get all the wiring issues resolved, and having the AC on its own circuit certainly made it happier.

For those following, the gas valve on the Fridge wasn't opening, so they replaced the board. Got it down to 27 deg in the shop, in the camper however, 50 is the best it would do on gas... electric can still freeze our food. [emoticon]

Now we're REALLY Not sure.

Smelled a little LP over the weekend as well... found the nut holding the line to the water heater was cracked. Should be simple to repair, just a bummer.

T

Posted By: Leeann on 07/05/11 09:02pm

Check again after you repair the LP leak, just in case that's affecting it. But check the 12v connections to the fridge - that's what powers the board.

'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/05/11 09:37pm

There is no 12v. It's an old fridge. Also, if the little leak we found is affecting it we still have a problem. I wouldn't be able to run anything else lp related and not effect the fridge. It was very small, and the slightest air movement was enough to carry away what lp we were able to smell. It had to be very still to get any smell, and it took almost 30 seconds for even a small single bubble to form and pop.

Posted By: oldtrucker63 on 07/05/11 09:52pm

I would say you already now that the fridge has to be really level to work right, Just a thought. [emoticon]

Without Trucks,....America Stop's

Posted By: Dan86300zxt on 07/06/11 04:38am

I have absolutely no regrets from switching out our original 3way fridge to a brand new compact 120volt only unit.
*It's so simple. No leveling concerns. Quick initial cool down time. More room!!

Last weekend, we loaded the fridge with food about an hour before leaving with the MH plugged in to shore power and the fridge running.
(Also had the roof top ac running too to get the MH all cooled down before the drive)

The fridge and food was nice and cold before leaving and remained cold until we arrived at our campground a couple hours away.

Our new Fridge was purchased at a signifigant discount off ebay and works perfect.
* [emoticon]

$19.99+$20.00 shipping for a NEW 4.3cuft Danby model#DCR412BLLH

(We also use one of the fridge fans..the deal with the two D size batteries...to assist in getting cold.)

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/06/11 09:25am

Old Trucker - yea... I'm good about keeping her level. That's not a big issue.

Dan, The problem with that, is we race/Boondock. We'll spend anywhere from a day to three days in the pits without any type of hook up. Running the genset that long isn't cost effective. I need a fridge to function off LP.

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/06/11 10:02am

Little troubleshooting today. Appears the diaphragm is fine, misdiagnoses on my part... I don't know what I'm doing anyway. Discovered something new though, it will start, but only runs until I release the starter switch. I've read about this before... somewhere... time to research.

Posted By: TreeSeeker on 07/06/11 10:15am

Eyeteeth,

This old post may help.
-------------------------
Posted 9/9/2007

Trish - the ballast resistor is a white ceramic object, about 4 inches long and 1/2 to 1 inch wide. It usually has a mounting bolt through the center and wires attached to each end.

(I hope I'm not repeating anything.) The ballast resistor decreases the voltage to the coil, which increases the life of the coil and sparkplugs. Generally, the ballast either works or it doesn't ... no inbetween. If it breaks, the coil and sparkplugs don't get any juice.

Most Mopars have a bypass circuit when the ignition switch is in the start position. This bypass provides higher voltage to the coil, and hotter spark, when you're starting the engine. Once you release the key and the switch returns to the run position, the circuit reverts to the ballast resistor.

A bad ballast resistor can be frustrating to diagnose because the engine will run when you hold the key in the start position but dies as soon as you release the key to the run position. To the best of my knowledge, a bad ballast resistor is the only thing that causes this scenario ... engine runs in start position, immediately dies in run position.

A ballast resistor can last a few thousand miles or hundreds of thousands of miles and there's know way of testing or telling how long a particular resistor is gonna last. The first (original) one on my '77 B200 lasted 1-1/2 or 2 years, the replacement lasted 5-1/2 years and was still going strong when I sold the van.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/14219250/srt/pa/pging/1/page/145.cfm

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/06/11 12:00pm

Thanks Tree... but I was referring to the Onan Generator problem I mentioned a few posts up. lol. I found a trouble shooting guide, and I essentially have three options... 1) Low Oil/Bad switch. Tested OK 2) No AC Output. Next step to test... but I broke the fuse. (opps) I'm about to head to the store. 3) LOP is working properly, and it's putting out AC, then the control board is bad.

Posted By: eyeteeth on 07/06/11 01:14pm

Well, I'm confused. It's still putting out 120+ when running, has plenty of oil, and the switch test properly. So, according to the guide, it's the board. ONLY... while I was testing the AC, it ran for probably 30+ seconds before shutting off? So... why?

More trouble shooting ahead.

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