American Coach: 1997 American Dream remodel

[NHRA225]

Perfect ! Great job on the install !
It'll work just fine , mine's been on since 02 as I remember.


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[stkt]

Thanks Glenn for those kind words. It means a lot coming from someone with your experience. I'm not alone when I say you are an excellent teacher!

Chuck, appreciate the info and your belief that my setup will work. 92 Eagle I see. Beautiful coach. Jean and Jerry Eaton from Montana brought their 95 Eagle to the 25th anniversary rally in Indiana this year and it looked almost new. Great coaches, great people.

Now, what's next......

[stkt]

The same insulation that was used in the engine compartment is also used in a few other places under the coach, one of them being the steering column. The adhesive was failing and I had some material left over from the engine compartment project so it was a good time to renew this insulation.

Area around the steering column after insulation was removed



Old insulation used as a template to cut the new material



New insulation curing with pressure - I used 3M Super 90 for the adhesive and Eastwood undercoating to seal the foam sides. Kept the supports in place for 5 hours.



Final install. Note the use of Soundown Mylar tape to seal the seams around the steering column.

[stkt]

The middle light on my black water tank (1/2 Full) stopped working this Spring. I cleaned the black water tank 4 or 5 times, but never could get the light to illuminate. It was frustrating not knowing where the tank was, having to settle for somewhere between a 1/4 and 3/4 full. I figured the system has served me well all these years and it was time to replace it with a new one.

Today I removed the left and right panels to begin assessing any issues with installing a new system. Here's a pic of the panels removed:



An then I saw it - a connection wire to the middle sensor on the black water tank was disconnected. The screw was laying in the wash bay!



Now it was a simple task of reconnecting the wire to the sensor. No wonder it didn't work. Now here was the surprise. There are 12 sensor connections, 6 each on the black and gray water tanks. 7 of the 12 connections were loose enough to turn with your fingers! It's a miracle it worked at all. Here's a pic of the wire reconnected.



So, don't do as I did and assume your sensors are bad in these vintage coaches. Panel removal is easy, and your problem may be a loose screw to the sensor.

FYI - Pic of the water pumps. I have a spare just in case.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by stkt

The middle light on my black water tank (1/2 Full) stopped working this Spring. I cleaned the black water tank 4 or 5 times, but never could get the light to illuminate. It was frustrating not knowing where the tank was, having to settle for somewhere between a 1/4 and 3/4 full. I figured the system has served me well all these years and it was time to replace it with a new one.

Today I removed the left and right panels to begin assessing any issues with installing a new system. Here's a pic of the panels removed:

Attachment 105703

An then I saw it - a connection wire to the middle sensor on the black water tank was disconnected. The screw was laying in the wash bay!

Attachment 105704

Now it was a simple task of reconnecting the wire to the sensor. No wonder it didn't work. Now here was the surprise. There are 12 sensor connections, 6 each on the black and gray water tanks. 7 of the 12 connections were loose enough to turn with your fingers! It's a miracle it worked at all. Here's a pic of the wire reconnected.

Attachment 105705

So, don't do as I did and assume your sensors are bad in these vintage coaches. Panel removal is easy, and your problem may be a loose screw to the sensor.

FYI - Pic of the water pumps. I have a spare just in case.

Attachment 105706

I'm having the same issue, never though about checking to see if the wires were connected, Had been doing research on replacement sensors. Thanks for posting I have had the covers off once already to replace the dump valves. I will certain check the connections the next time I have some time.

My tanks look different than yours and my water pump is in a different compartment

[stkt]

Glenn, looking at your compartment I don't see the flex ducting that is used to keep the compartment from freezing (see the flex hose in my pic above). This ducting (1.5 or 2") runs the length of the compartment front to back. Just mentioned it because of where you live.

Also, appreciate the explanation on bracket racing earlier. Sounds like very technical racing, but it must be loads of fun. I would suspect one could become addicted!

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by stkt

Glenn, looking at your compartment I don't see the flex ducting that is used to keep the compartment from freezing (see the flex hose in my pic above). This ducting (1.5 or 2") runs the length of the compartment front to back. Just mentioned it because of where you live.

Also, appreciate the explanation on bracket racing earlier. Sounds like very technical racing, but it must be loads of fun. I would suspect one could become addicted!

I'm told the basement is heated, I have seen registers on the bottom of the heat run from the furnaces to the rear of the bus. I am very unconformable about cold weather and the water in the plumbing. I will winterize if the weather is going to get below freezing until I have convinced myself that the basement truly is heated.

[stkt]

The gray, flex hose you see running front to back in my compartment below is where the heat comes from to warm the compartment. No ducting or other sources on my setup. If you don't have this in your compartment I don't see how it could be heated unless the factory punched a hole in the rigid duct run that travels the length of the coach, but that would be in the middle of the MH.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by stkt

The gray, flex hose you see running front to back in my compartment below is where the heat comes from to warm the compartment. No ducting or other sources on my setup. If you don't have this in your compartment I don't see how it could be heated unless the factory punched a hole in the rigid duct run that travels the length of the coach, but that would be in the middle of the MH.

Attachment 105768

I have register grates in that duct in basement in the compartments forward of this compartment. When I had the wall down I did not look carefully to see if there was one in this compartment.

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by stkt

Now it was a simple task of reconnecting the wire to the sensor. No wonder it didn't work. Now here was the surprise. There are 12 sensor connections, 6 each on the black and gray water tanks. 7 of the 12 connections were loose enough to turn with your fingers! It's a miracle it worked at all. Here's a pic of the wire reconnected.

Attachment 105705

Nice job on the repair and finding the disconnected fastener.

If I could make one suggestion when fastening items.

If you look at the placement of the wire in relation to the screw in the above picture you will notice that it is on the left side of the screw (thinking clockwise 7:00-11:00 side). I always try to place my wiring (or anything I am mounting for that matter) on the right side (clockwise thinking 1:00 to 5:00 position) of the fastener. The reasoning is that these wires are generally part of a heavier bundle of wires that when bouncing down the road can pull downward on the wiring and connections. If the wire is on the right side (1:00 to 5:00 positions) as the wire is pulling downward the fastener will actually be trying to tighten rather than loosen. This is the same principle used when safety wire tying fasteners.

I understand that the particular connection in the photo has a pin to keep the electrical ring connector from pulling the wire down, however, if the screw was lying in the bottom of the cabinet it obviously didn't work in this situation and I don't like relying on them so I always place my wires or brackets or whatever I am fastening on the side that will actually tighten the fastener if the fastener moves at all.

Again, just a suggestion.

Mike.

[RVingDutchman]

Originally Posted by zmotorsports

Nice job on the repair and finding the disconnected fastener.

If I could make one suggestion when fastening items.

If you look at the placement of the wire in relation to the screw in the above picture you will notice that it is on the left side of the screw (thinking clockwise 7:00-11:00 side). I always try to place my wiring (or anything I am mounting for that matter) on the right side (clockwise thinking 1:00 to 5:00 position) of the fastener. The reasoning is that these wires are generally part of a heavier bundle of wires that when bouncing down the road can pull downward on the wiring and connections. If the wire is on the right side (1:00 to 5:00 positions) as the wire is pulling downward the fastener will actually be trying to tighten rather than loosen. This is the same principle used when safety wire tying fasteners.

I understand that the particular connection in the photo has a pin to keep the electrical ring connector from pulling the wire down, however, if the screw was lying in the bottom of the cabinet it obviously didn't work in this situation and I don't like relying on them so I always place my wires or brackets or whatever I am fastening on the side that will actually tighten the fastener if the fastener moves at all.

Again, just a suggestion.

Mike.

This is funny (or maybe really stupid, depending on your point of view ) ) I was taught to do this and always remembered to do so but could never remember why it was I was told to do so, you just reminded me or explained it if I ever did know !!! Does this make sense

Regards,

Ed

[zmotorsports]

Originally Posted by RVingDutchman

This is funny (or maybe really stupid, depending on your point of view ) ) I was taught to do this and always remembered to do so but could never remember why it was I was told to do so, you just reminded me or explained it if I ever did know !!! Does this make sense

Regards,

Ed

Glad that helped Ed. I hoped I had explained it in a manner than made sense. It made sense in my head but you know sometimes how that goes when trying to explain something over the internet.

Mike.

[stkt]

Z,

Appreciate that suggestion. Still learning how to do things around this mechanical beast and will definitely keep that in mind going forward.

On another note the generator exhaust pipe has two hanger/clamps, one at the end of the exhaust pipe and another under the coach. The one under the coach had deteriorated. Replaced it today - 5 minute repair. I ordered the part from Amazon, arrived in a Cummins box.

[RVingDutchman]

Originally Posted by zmotorsports

Glad that helped Ed. I hoped I had explained it in a manner than made sense. It made sense in my head but you know sometimes how that goes when trying to explain something over the internet.

Mike.

Clear as a Bell Mike ! Thanks.

Regards

Ed