New TS Toy Hauler owner

[Rooki]

Hey Folks,

I just recently picked up a 2006 TS ME with the garage. I busted my arm up pretty good about a week before picking it up, so all I've done is gotten her home and in the garage. Will start spending time getting more familiar with all the systems in the fall. I drove it almost 1000 miles home and it drove well.

Looks like there were a few owners here a few years back. Anyone still have one?

[Bikerdds]

We also have an ME 2 toy hauler. I use it to haul motorcycles to antique bike events. Love the coach, had lots of irritating issues early on, most of which have been rectified over the years. Have a friend in Canada with one as well.
Biggest issue has been the generator. Hopefully fixed now. A minor kink will starve it for fuel and give you fits. Enjoy!

[Timd]

Congratulations on yours! We just bought a 05 Select 42DS04 but aren't picking it up for a month. The house is for sale and everything is going. We're going full time soon and really excited about it.

Tim

[Ron & Peri]

Tim, this is how I like to set up my Forums, I subscribe to the top ones I like to browse then use the "USER CP" link to bring up this screen...
Notice Entegra is in my list, some good references in there...

[Rooki]

Originally Posted by Bikerdds

We also have an ME 2 toy hauler. I use it to haul motorcycles to antique bike events. Love the coach, had lots of irritating issues early on, most of which have been rectified over the years. Have a friend in Canada with one as well.
Biggest issue has been the generator. Hopefully fixed now. A minor kink will starve it for fuel and give you fits. Enjoy!

Nice. I intend to use primarily for hauling motorcycles to the track. And maybe an actual vacation or trip here and there.

Interesting enough, after I got it home, the generator will not restart after running fine the entire 16 hours home. It just wants to click and I've got good batteries, so I am suspect I've got a ground issue to track down. What was the root cause of the fuel issue you mention? How did you fix it? I'd like to check and see if mine is at risk for the same.

[Ron & Peri]

Rooki, have you tried holding the Battery Boost while cranking the Generator?
Yes, it could be a ground issue, mine was grounded to a rusty bolt welded to the frame. Easy to get to and clean up. I also had fuel pump issues. I ended up wiring a toggle switch from 12v source up front directly to the fuel pump. No problems since.
I have read there are connector issues with corrosion that could be the problem, one connector is external, I cleaned it up and still didn't work consistently, also heard there is a plug connection to a circuit board controller for the fuel pump but didn't dig that deep. the "hot wire" switch works fine. Just need to remember to turn it off and it wouldn't be good for AGS, but I don't use that. If I were going to use AGS I would wire a continuous duty relay using the existing 12v from the circuit board to the pump as the "trigger" and the 12v main source for the pump power, this would be an ideal solution. Maybe next time I have to work some projects I'll do it right.
Take care...

[Bikerdds]

Rooki, I have some very strong opinions on electrical issues with the Travel Supremes.
First, overall, these are nice coaches. However, they were not built by people who OWN coaches. They cut every corner, in my opinion, on the most critical issues. Primarily, electrical.
They gang connected lots of wires instead of using terminal blocks. This is lazy, cheap, and leads to oxidation and poor connections over time.
Our main power panel in the bedroom was wired by a total incompetent.
Too much on one leg. As a result, we NEVER could keep both A/C units running for almost a year, until someone at Coach Care figured it out. We balanced the power and never had the issue again.
We suffered generator problems from day one. WE believe it was a kinked line that never quite could be seen until an Onan specialist figure it out.
Corrosion and poor connections is the number one thing to look at.
I will diverge for a moment since you have an ME2. I do not know if the other coaches had this problem or not. The first time we had an incident and needed a rear wheel dealt with, there was no way to remove the wheel! Travel Supreme made the bodies to go over the Spartan chassis. Did they ever think to make sure you could remove the rear wheel? HELL NO. I fought them tooth and nail to modify the rear panels, which were NOT intended to be removed easily. They finally gave in and modified my rear panels at a local body shop. Sure felt good last week when needing tires changed and they just needed to jack it up! After seeing a letter in I believe Family Coach around that time touting TS and their quality of workmanship, I sent a letter to Glenn Troyer, president of the company. He never had the decency to answer. I let them know in no uncertain terms they had serious quality issues that needed to be resolved. I spent a lot of time an money fixing their errors.
We love our coach now, but took damn near three years to get the bugs out. So, the fact you may have a generator issue just reinforces that you need to really learn about these things. Electrical is the number one problem. ALL the manufacturers do the same crap. You have to clean up their mess.

[f15epilot]

Congrats on being one of the 12 ME Owners (assuming all 12 are still on the road). I have the original demo version painted in the Harley Orange/Silver/Black/Grey scheme and have had the pleasure of deciphering multiple systems from the generator to the leveling jack system.

As for the Generator... Mine did the same thing when I first picked it up. Most annoyingly, it would die when I accelerated onto the highway from the on-ramp. I had a Gen 1 Outlaw first, and I learned on that one that when the generator runs a short while, dies, can be restarted only to run a little shorter, repeat...until it doesn't start => a bad fuel pump. The QD8000 diesel clearly is a different beast but it seems that intermittent 'stopping' with spurious and varied fault codes is, at least in my case, related to the fuel pump. I started by replacing the oil and filter, the fuel filter and even changing the coolant (had a hi-temp fault on one of the stoppage events). That didn't fix it. Replaced the fuel pump...now only get occasional faults. Why? Usually they happen when maneuvering or hitting bumps, so I'm guessing it is the oil-level sensing system that trips the kill switch. Anyway...fuel pumps are NOT that expensive (so long as you get them from someone besides direct from Onan) and are good insurance/easy to swap out.

Oh...the other issue we had was the circuit breaker. Mine kept tripping when I ran both A/C's. I replaced the Onan C/B and still it tripped. Then I noticed the wiring in the A/C panel in the bedroom. You see, the Genset has two 30amp legs, but trips whenever either exceeds 30 even though that total load might be just 32amps. The circuit breakers in the main panel powered by the generator are wired in alternating legs: the Odd #'s on one; and the Even on the other. My A/C circuit breakers were installed in slots 2 and 4...putting them both on one leg. On shore power, that's not a problem, but to the Genset, it presented over 30amps to that side. Simply swapping one C/B so the two were not on the same leg fixed the issue,

Happy trails. Enjoy the ME. I'm in mine in Orlando & Tampa as I type.

[Ron & Peri]

f15epilot, I have three AC's in my 2007 45SS24. They each have a double pole 20 amp breaker. They pop one side or the other of the breaker every now and then (when it's over 100, but always seems to be the same side for each unit. AC1 right, AC2 right, AC3 left. I thought about switching poles but am not sure why they have two poles? Maybe one to the compressor and one to the fan? Thanks for the info, it gives me some guidance on balancing the two 110v feeds.

[f15epilot]

Without seeing them, I'm not sure what you mean by 'double-pole' circuit breakers. I believe you are referring to a single-space breaker with two 20amp switches. I have those, actually one of each for each unit; but only ONE of the switches on the C/B is to the A/C unit itself. The other switch is to another circuit (outlets, lights, etc.). So that is why it always pops that side of the breaker. For me, what was popping was the actual C/B on the Generator, which is a wider, 240V (two, 120v legs) C/B with 30amps per leg. Since both of the units were on the same side/leg of that generator C/B, it put as much as 38amps on a single side when both compressors started at/about the same time. Note, on shore power, this was not a problem (shore power was off a 70amp breaker).

I do, occasionally, trip one of the C/B's inside the power panel, usually when there is a power interruption with the units on (i.e., the power a the pole goes out). With three units, two of them have to be on one leg; but there is a single 120v feed to each unit unless they are WAY out of the norm.

[texasrs]

F15ePilot,


Years ago, I used to workout at 24 Hour Fitness. I met a former F15e pilot who said that his call-sign was: Chewbacca.
I saw your post and am wondering what your "handle" was.
He said that his helmet and G-suit was custom-made and was his to take when he mustered out. F15e silhouette was tattooed on his shoulder. Nice guy.


Ray

[f15epilot]

Small world. I knew Chewbacca; flew with him at Seymour and deployed to Desert Storm 1. Mine was Chuckles. And I taught classes for 24hr Fitness in Vegas from '93 thru 2002. Still have good friends on staff there.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Congrats on the new toy hauler! Just noticed you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello! Have fun and keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[texasrs]

Wow. Is a small world, for sure. 6th degree type of thing. We worked out at the 24 hour facility here in Richardson, Texas. It has been awhile. He was stout!
That Strike Eagle is one helluva plane.


Ray