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NealC · 01-30-2019, 08:24 PM

Many of you old timers know this stuff, for me there were some new experiences, maybe others can learn from what I experienced this week.

I took a 1 week trip to Harpers Ferry, WV mainly to get a few tinker projects on the RV done such as the Sani-con setup so I need a full hookup and of course I don't like my coach sitting in storage, I want to keep everything in motion.

Per my other thread with the near OASIS electrical fire per a short that seems to be common with Newmars per ITR (OASIS manufacturer) I learned even more about the OASIS. The main thing is that for heating you should always use the diesel burner but have AC 1 & 2 on as well. The diesel burn rate is low at .44 gal per continuous hour of run but the burner does not run continually. Some have discussed and I thought you could use AC 1 while driving. But in the process of fixing my fried wiring I believe this information is wrong. Both AC 1 and 2 are on the main bus just like your roof air conditioners. While you may see a green light with AC 1 on as there is a 12V circuit for OASIS, AC 1 and 2 will not run without shore power or gen, so use the burner when you're heating.

Today (Wed) was planned departure. Yesterday it was supposed to rain but we got snow, a few inches. I knew the snow needed to come off the slide toppers or I wouldn't be able to close them so I got out the ladder and tried to clean them off. Wasn't easy. I got on the roof (not smart) and got them mostly cleaned off. What the right answer is here is to close your slides while it's snowing.

This morning it was 8 degrees, I asked for a delayed checkout as I knew no one else was crazy enough to camp in this cold weather and I wanted the roads to clear up as the day progressed. Office said no problem. So I spent the morning cleaning the inside and then around noon I started putting things away outside (should have done this before it snowed). My welcome matt for wiping my feet off was welded to the concrete. I tried closing the bedroom slide and the slide topper just bunched up instead of reeling in. So now what to do...

As I knew I was not camping any more I didn't care if my slides froze shut so I figured I'd go for the gen compartment hose bibb that is hot water. Well, it was frozen solid, I couldn't get the hose bigg to turn at all! Lesson learned here, even if you're storing on shore power as I do and therefore don't winterize, the gen compartment water line, if you optioned for one, needs to be turned off. I'll have to find the cutoff valve tomorrow and shut that line off. I recently modified my wet bay worthless shower wand to a hot and cold hose bibb. Saved the day! So much better water pressure if you do that so I connected my hose to the hot water connection and melted the ice and got the slides closed. I had to use a ladder and it was so cold that the steps of the ladder were freezing up almost instantly. So I had to hose them down each time I climbed the ladder with the hot water. What a mess...but it worked.

I saw on Newmar's Facebook page they shut down today as it was -17F. So some interesting lessons learned for me over the past week but mainly for cold weather ops.

The ultimate lesson, head south!!!

walkerhound · 01-30-2019, 09:19 PM

Being in Southern Colorado during the winter require constant weather monitoring and preparation.

I am stationary these days, so I can wait for the thaw in a day or two. I bring my full wall slide in early when I suspect high winds included in the snow/cold temps.

Once I was not paying attention and at 2 am my rv (aka land yacht since the FWS topper acts like a sail in the wind) is making a ton of scary noises and the RV is rolling around as if I was on the ocean. So, I move the slide in, but whatever mechanism keeps tension on the topper is frozen. Leaving the topper bellowing in the wind. I make a decision to put the slides back out and hope for the best.

The next day I notice the force of the wind was strong enough to pull the roller out of its position and is now resting wedged out of joint. Thankfully, I was able to push it back into position (as you would with a dislocated shoulder), but my initial thought was this is bent and I need a mobile tech and a lot of money to fix it.

Now, anything over 20MPH with + gusts, I bring it in ahead of a storm (snow or not); which means on snow days I have to wait 1,2 or 3 days for the next warm spell. I figure that if the tensioner can freeze with the slide out, it could when closed too and I wouldn't want it ripping the topper away from the RV when I go to open the slide.

tnedator · 01-30-2019, 09:48 PM

Neil, what is involved in replacing shower wth hose bib? I drained my generator hot water line (cutoff in compartment next to oasis on 4369 if i remember correctly), so might Need hot water for same reason as you. I'm taking a short trip around valentines day and it could be anywhere from 60 degrees to snowing.

TJ · 01-30-2019, 10:26 PM

I plan to install one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/Pfister-69-02...l+mount+faucet

...in place of the existing shower hardware, With the adjustable center spacing, it should be pretty much plug and play.

TJ

96kpmjmm · 01-31-2019, 04:37 AM

Neil
The Generator hose Bibb shut off on my DS, is in the second basement door up and against the chassis rail.

ptw · 01-31-2019, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NealC

Per my other thread with the near OASIS electrical fire per a short that seems to be common with Newmars per ITR (OASIS manufacturer) I learned even more about the OASIS. The main thing is that for heating you should always use the diesel burner but have AC 1 & 2 on as well. The diesel burn rate is low at .44 gal per continuous hour of run but the burner does not run continually. Some have discussed and I thought you could use AC 1 while driving. But in the process of fixing my fried wiring I believe this information is wrong. Both AC 1 and 2 are on the main bus just like your roof air conditioners. While you may see a green light with AC 1 on as there is a 12V circuit for OASIS, AC 1 and 2 will not run without shore power or gen, so use the burner when you're heating.

The ultimate lesson, head south!!!

Neil, Oasis says to drive with the diesel burner on to heat the fluid so the circulating pumps will run, enabling the use of the engine heat loop to run your coach furnace. So your diesel burner will heat the fluid initially and then the engine will supply all the heat for your coach furnace while you are driving. AC1/AC2 does not supply heat while not plugged in as you mention, but some of us found that if your fluid is hot when you start the coach and AC1/AC2 is on, the coach furnace works while you are driving with the oil burner off. Some people have also mentioned that leaving both AC1/AC2 and the oil burner off, that you still can get heat from the engine loop.

I leave the oil burner off when I drive so that I know I am using free engine heat and not burning oil for the coach furnace. It probably doesn't matter but if you want to use the engine heat with the oil burner off, it may work best if you started out with the fluid hot in the Oasis and then the engine loop will maintain the heat in the Oasis.

Although if I was driving in sub zero weather (hopefully never) I would have the oil burner on, just to be sure everything had enough heat and wouldn't freeze.

NealC · 01-31-2019, 05:23 AM

When I got home it was slightly above freezing and the night was going to be around 9 degrees. I had to decide whether to extend the slides to get the toppers right or wait as one slide was making some movement noise during the drive as I think it thawed and knew the topper wasn’t retracted right. My fear was a frozen topper and tear. I opened the drivers door and listened for something odd on the kitchen slide and didn’t hear anything bad so hopefully it’s fine. Kitchen and bedroom will remain out until it heats up. FWS I cycled out then in and seemed fine.

Thanks for the location of the water cutoff. Again the lesson is shut this off in pre cold ops season or when not in use.

The wet bay conversion to hose bibbs is easy. The pex line connection behind the shower wand is a twist on connector. So just find two connectors as you like with 1/2 inch fittings. These are typically called boiler drains. As it’s plastic twist on to brass no pipe tape is needed but always good to have on hand.

bruceisla · 01-31-2019, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NealC

As it’s plastic twist on to brass no pipe tape is needed but always good to have on hand.

There's always some controversy but , with plastic, I prefer Oatey Great White Pipe Dope .... works on nearly everything.

" -For use with water, steam, caustics or dilute acid lines of PVC, CPVC, ABS, cycolac, polypropylene, iron, steel or copper"

tnedator · 01-31-2019, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

I plan to install one of these...

https://www.amazon.com/Pfister-69-02...l+mount+faucet

...in place of the existing shower hardware, With the adjustable center spacing, it should be pretty much plug and play.

TJ

Any thought on how you would actually mount it? When the shower mixer is removed, are there threaded nipples (not sure technical plumbing term) that this would simply screw into, squeezing the plastic panel between the two, the nipple coming in from behind and the laundry faucet in front of the plastic panel?

If so, that does seem easy and plug and play.

NCRog · 01-31-2019, 08:24 AM

Some good info here on the Oasis system operations with and without power - thanks!

Our previous coach (Tiffin Allegro Bus) used the engine to provide hot water, without any control/switch inputs ... great to have a tank of hot water when you arrived at the next destination. The Essex doesn't do that, now I understand why! Next time we travel in freezing temps I will put on the diesel burner. I also need find the generator bay water supply shut off.

JMH · 01-31-2019, 08:59 AM

Neal, to keep you off the roof/ladder, buy a gutter cleaning wand. They sell them at most home improvement stores. The tip is curved so you can stand on the ground and spray down into a gutter. Works great to clean or deice toppers while standing on the ground. Works good on leaf accumulations too.

NealC · 01-31-2019, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMH

Neal, to keep you off the roof/ladder, buy a gutter cleaning wand. They sell them at most home improvement stores. The tip is curved so you can stand on the ground and spray down into a gutter. Works great to clean or deice toppers while standing on the ground. Works good on leaf accumulations too.

Thanks. Will look for one.

TJ · 01-31-2019, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnedator

Any thought on how you would actually mount it? When the shower mixer is removed, are there threaded nipples (not sure technical plumbing term) that this would simply screw into, squeezing the plastic panel between the two, the nipple coming in from behind and the laundry faucet in front of the plastic panel?

If so, that does seem easy and plug and play.

There are threaded nipples coming out the back of the faucet unit. The spacing is adjustable, so should go right into the holes where the shower valve unit was. Using a large flat washer and nut, I should be able to sandwich the wet bay panel between them and the faucet body to mount. I may make an aluminum plate backer to add some stiffness.

The water connectons are standard 1/2" IPS; same as the existing shower valve unit.

TJ

NealC · 01-31-2019, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

There are threaded nipples coming out the back of the faucet unit. The spacing is adjustable, so should go right into the holes where the shower valve unit was. Using a large flat washer and nut, I should be able to sandwich the wet bay panel between them and the faucet body to mount. I may make an aluminum plate backer to add some stiffness.

The water connectons are standard 1/2" IPS; same as the existing shower valve unit.

TJ

It's just a matter if it has pressure reducers like what Newmar installed. The concept is fine right up until someone affects the flow of water with some type of reducer. It looks like there is no aerator which is good, just hope nothing like a ball with small hole is in the connection point like Newmar's trash. The hose bibb hoonyackers do not restrict hence why it's great. Some add a washing machine y-cord thing to be able to blend hot/cold if needed. I'll probably never need that but I have one and I am cutting it down shorter as they come too long. Washing machine mixing valve or whatever it's called.