Community Forums

Alpine06 · 02-12-2019, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

The number of batteries was determined by the type of refrigerator, a residential refer has six 6v batteries, if you have an RV refer you would only need four batteries. Which refer is in the coach?

The RV has the original evaporator style elec/propane fridge.
But I think the amount of batteries depends on how you plan to use your rig. I know it has no solar so you are depending on batteries and genny during dry camping.

bcbowers · 02-12-2019, 07:36 AM

I'm pretty sure DrDave was referencing the battery configuration differences originally available from WRV. Yes, if you want to avoid using the generator for longer periods of time then you would need more "house" batteries. More house batteries equates to more AH (Amp Hours) so their charge lasts longer. You can also keep the same number of batteries but use larger ones that provide greater AH.

RVPioneer · 02-12-2019, 09:19 AM

Ours has a propane refrigerator and 6, 6v house batteries. I’d have to look at the original build sheet to confirm that it came with 6 from the factory. I do know that all the battery cables have the labels on them from WRV.

The WRV Law of Standard Variations may apply here.

c_oneil · 02-12-2019, 10:15 AM

With your technical background and apparent willingness to do some research I think you could be a perfect Alpine owner. I inspected and purchased my coach on a mid 20 degree day in February 2 years ago and now know I could have prepared better for the cold. It will be hard to crawl under the coach and walk on an icy roof without cutting your time short just to get inside and warm. Don't rush yourself and dress warmly.

Some things you can't inspect very well when its freezing. Its hard to tell if your dash and roof AC are getting cold or not. The heat pumps will not produce warm air when its that cold. The true test of a propane refer working well is on a hot day. My hydraulics work a bit slower in freezing weather (leveling jacks sometimes don't completely retract). The unit will be winterized so you won't check the freshwater pump or maybe see any possible leaks. The engine though should not have any problems starting and running well in the cold.
Some things that haven't already been covered here:
a)Try to determine what type coolant is in it. If it is the original green coolant you need to have test strips with you to check the SCA content. The cylinder liners could be destroyed already if the coolant was neglected.
b)This model with the north-south bed have known problems with failing/leaking hydraulic lines under the bedroom street side slide. It leaks onto the top of the radiator stack and makes a mess. It could mask a failing and leaking radiator if it is wet with hydraulic oil. The repair of lines is not too bad $$ but the radiator is way more.
c)The top radiator rubber isolation mounts were commonly installed upside down and I think that is a contributor to early radiator failure.
d)Take a look and front and rear Vansco units with coach in all states (key on, key off, engine running, lights on/off, etc...). Should never have any flashing output LED's (with the sole exception that running the heater blower fan will flash LED's and this is normal). This would indicate a fault condition on that circuit (short, open ..) and should be investigated. It does not mean the Vansco is bad it means it is doing its job.
e)Pay attention to how often the air dryer purges at idle with the air brake on and with the air brake off(foot on brake pedal or wheels chocked). If it cycles faster than 3-4 min at idle it could be an air system issue. If you have minor leaks it will always be worse in cold weather when the o-rings are frozen. Not likely too much $$ to fix.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

Alpine06 · 02-12-2019, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom and Patty

I believe the previous owner is the owner of the RV business. I called on this one, not sure why I didn’t follow through. It looked good in pictures.
I’m up there next week and might have time to look at it. But you really need to lay eyes on it.

Thank you for that offer, if the weather plays well I will look at the RV Friday. It is prepped and ready to go.

Alpine06 · 02-12-2019, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by c_oneil

With your technical background and apparent willingness to do some research I think you could be a perfect Alpine owner. I inspected and purchased my coach on a mid 20 degree day in February 2 years ago and now know I could have prepared better for the cold. It will be hard to crawl under the coach and walk on an icy roof without cutting your time short just to get inside and warm. Don't rush yourself and dress warmly.

Some things you can't inspect very well when its freezing. Its hard to tell if your dash and roof AC are getting cold or not. The heat pumps will not produce warm air when its that cold. The true test of a propane refer working well is on a hot day. My hydraulics work a bit slower in freezing weather (leveling jacks sometimes don't completely retract). The unit will be winterized so you won't check the freshwater pump or maybe see any possible leaks. The engine though should not have any problems starting and running well in the cold.
Some things that haven't already been covered here:
a)Try to determine what type coolant is in it. If it is the original green coolant you need to have test strips with you to check the SCA content. The cylinder liners could be destroyed already if the coolant was neglected.
b)This model with the north-south bed have known problems with failing/leaking hydraulic lines under the bedroom street side slide. It leaks onto the top of the radiator stack and makes a mess. It could mask a failing and leaking radiator if it is wet with hydraulic oil. The repair of lines is not too bad $$ but the radiator is way more.
c)The top radiator rubber isolation mounts were commonly installed upside down and I think that is a contributor to early radiator failure.
d)Take a look and front and rear Vansco units with coach in all states (key on, key off, engine running, lights on/off, etc...). Should never have any flashing output LED's (with the sole exception that running the heater blower fan will flash LED's and this is normal). This would indicate a fault condition on that circuit (short, open ..) and should be investigated. It does not mean the Vansco is bad it means it is doing its job.
e)Pay attention to how often the air dryer purges at idle with the air brake on and with the air brake off(foot on brake pedal or wheels chocked). If it cycles faster than 3-4 min at idle it could be an air system issue. If you have minor leaks it will always be worse in cold weather when the o-rings are frozen. Not likely too much $$ to fix.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thank you for taking time writing this - I have added the hydrolic leak and the air system purge to my list.
The RV will be inside it was brought into the shop Monday and the service team from the dealership is going through everything. Nice is they are keeping me informed of the findings or status. One jack had a problem and that is fixed but I think the older one way cylinders (hydraulic down spring up) are notorious for issues.
Yes the unit is winterized so I will not be able to check everything. However I can already tell with the support from the team here I should be able to troubleshoot anything.
I am afraid of things I cannot fix myself. I usually do not bring my RV to a dealership but do most of the necessary service and repairs myself.

Now I also understand the Vansco controller. It Handels the multiplex system and in industrial equipment it is like a PLC. I am familiar with Omron, AB and Siemens troubleshooting. This does not mean I know or can diagnose any issues with this unit but for sure should be able to upload a program.
I found a pdf file here in the owners forum that I printed with the input/output status for the various stages of the ignition switch I will take that with me.

The coolant is the green stuff, or normal antifreeze the dealership is looking for a test kit that they should have on hand ... I know tomorrow if not there is a Freightliner service station up the road and i will see if I can get some there.

Thank you so much everyone I am feeling really confident going into this now.
And sorry for all the typos and grammatical errors I make but hey wait until you hear me talk ...

Mike & Mike · 02-14-2019, 11:33 AM

Hi Joerg,

One other thing you could do is have a tech with a laptop computer and the proper Cummins and Allison software installed hook up to your data port and get you a data dump. This is similar to the report you'd get in your car on the OBDII Port. There's one data port in the battery compartment and one under the velcro-ed panel in front of the passengers feet and below the dash). The tech will be able to explain the findings to you. It'll give you info on many parameters, some of which might translate into suggestions of abuse. Or, as our tech told me, just a hard pull up a steep mountain pass and within normal parameters.

Any Freightliner/Mack/Volvo/Peterbilt or Kenworth dealer service dept should be able to send a mobile tech to you. Just insure they'll bring the laptop with proper cables and software installed. Make sure you get the printout too.

We bought a 2004 34 FDDS over the internet from an owner in Vermont (we're in CA) and we still have it. It's been a wonderful coach for us.

Cheers!

RDM3525 · 02-14-2019, 04:21 PM

Not to add fuel to the fire but one thing came to mind when looking at the pics. The pic that showed the coach history and last trip information. I noticed about a 2 GPM difference between the over all history and the last trip. May not mean anything other than the type of driving that was done, but there are several years of Cummins that had exhaust manifold leak issues. One indicator of a leak is reduced mileage.

When I was looking for mine I found everyone saying their's were always in excellent condition but everyone has a little different definition of excellent. I found that when I saw an engine compartment, battery compartment and generator area clean I kind of knew they took pride in their coach. The dealer may be able to get any service issues done to it while under warranty through Cummins.

I made a few trips before finding mine. Trust your instincts.

Good luck certainly looks nice from the pics.

Alpine06 · 02-21-2019, 07:11 PM

Hello Everyone,
So you might wonder what happend ... well I bought it.
Cathrin and I drove it back home so we mastered the first 820 miles.
It’s a bit of a story but in short there are several items that I will need to do but everything is functional and in good or average condition.
I might start a new post and write about our purchasing and home trip experience. The last couple of days I had my head in all the manuals and I still try to understand and figure out what all the components do.
Today I repaired a hydraulic leak of the HWH leveling system. It left a big mess in my driveway, but it was just a loose connection and easily fixed and I got familiar with all the valves, reservoir and the leveling sequence.
Again thank you for your help and input.
Joerg

RVPioneer · 02-21-2019, 09:23 PM

Welcome to the family.

Tom and Patty · 02-21-2019, 10:22 PM

Fantastic.

I was sitting up here in MN with 10” of new snow wondering if you made it up Saturday.

Congratulations and enjoy. Don’t forget to join Alpine Coach Association.

Alpine06 · 02-22-2019, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom and Patty

Fantastic.

I was sitting up here in MN with 10” of new snow wondering if you made it up Saturday.

Congratulations and enjoy. Don’t forget to join Alpine Coach Association.

Thank you,
I left already Friday afternoon and got 4h of driving in before the snow hit up there. So I got lucky and hit a window of 2days with a bit better weather. However it was very cold. But the next morning the engine turned over 3 times and started right up ... that made me smile.

Rich and Cork · 02-22-2019, 08:24 AM

Congrats

c_oneil · 02-22-2019, 09:26 AM

Welcome to the group. You should put the year and model of your new coach in a signature line for your future posts on the forum to get the most accurate responses. Many differences in models and years can send you in the wrong direction when you are troubleshooting. Google search is the best tool for research on the forum. There are answers for just about everything about your coach already posted here on the forum by many talented Alpine owners if you use google search. Enjoy the ride.