the value of simplicity

[Dudley do-right]

Don' get me wrong, I love my Apex, and I will eventually prevail over the
goblins that keep cropping up, but it's like beating a fire ant nest with a stick. They just seem to keep coming.
While we were at Perry, I noticed that my aft street-side smart bed was opening slowly. Now, it won't open at all. I've changed both solenoids,(although one was last summer because of a leak) and that didn't solve the problem. There are no leaks in the hoses. The problem has to be in that back manifold somewhere.
Next, I decided to install an accumulator tank in the water system to stop the pulsation, and hopefully, to correct the problem we have with the extremely sensitive temperature control at the single lever shower handle.
While looking at a location for the tank, I noticed that the back U channel trapeze for the water tank is very badly bowed. Obviously should have been heavier stock. So, drain the tank, brace it up, remove the piece, and straighten it. Maybe re-install something stronger, or just not fill the tank all the way up anymore. Now I know why the back of the forward street-
side smart bed snapped off. It got stuck under the sagging belly of the water tank. The back piece is taller than the actual tray, to tell you how high you can stack stuff without hitting the overhead. These repairs are all moot, until I can get the aft streetside smartbed open...can't do it manually because I can't get to the manifold to open the valves; so now what?

Dudley Do-Right, 06AlpineApex40MDTS

[Skip426]

If we couldn't have fun , it wouldn't be worth getting out of bed in the morning.

At least you're looking at your RV , mines stuck two days drive from home , while a repair shop looks for parts that may no longer exist.

DW, says that because the coach isn't here for me to work on .....maybe I should spend my time redecorating the sticks and bricks.

[Mr_D]

Frustrating, isn't it!
Seems like there's always something to fix.
Took mine to a well regarded shop, now I have to finish what they didn't and have the body damage fixed.

[RVPioneer]

I agree Dudley. When we were shopping for ours we targeted 2003-5. 2003 to be free of the VMM issues and 04-05 to keep Aqua Hot, Silver leaf, Smart Beds or anything else that might try to prevent me from doing what I wanted to do out of the equation. There are many who love those convenience features, for us it just seemed like added complexity and increased potential for problems. We settled on a 2005 that came pretty close to everything we were looking for.

I'm fine with pulling a latch to slide out a storage bed, turning a valve to fill a tank, warming the coach with a propane furnace, heat pumps or space heaters. And knowing my engine temp to the degree, voltage to the tenth, or water to the gallon isn't anywhere near the top of my priority list.

I've also been known to ride a bicycle 15 miles up hill just so I could ride back down, so I may not be completely right in the head.

There are plenty of Alpine owners here to help you sort it all out. You'll get there soon enough.

[EngineerMike]

I believe you can open the SmartBed manually by removing the nylock jamb nut at the base & pulling. The nut is on the end of the hydraulic ram shaft. Just uncouple and you should, w/some back strain, be able to slide it out & slide it back in to recouple to the ram shaft & reinstall the nut.

Could be the slow operation was due to a failing slide bushing that has worn to the metal & needs replacing; you won't know till you get it out. Could be it is a failing solenoid valve not opening the needle valve correctly or has garbage in the needle valve hole. Could be a faulty switch that was losing & now has lost contact to the solenoid (nothing gets more bullet proof as it gets older, especially me). These valve issues assume the pump is running like normal when the switch is pressed; if no pump then I'd start w/the switch and see if it is putting 12V out to the pump.

[AKOne]

Currently driving a rental car with many high-tech whistles and bells. I wonder how many will be working in 10 or 15 years. Some don't even work correctly now. Recently exchanged a rental car because it slammed on the brakes, my foot never touched the break peddle. As far as my 99 Alpine, it seems simpler and does not apparently have some of the issues later models do. Someday I may eat those words

[Dudley do-right]

E. Mike: Re: "the Value of Simplicity"
Smart bed problem showed up while at Perry. Az.Pete was next door working on Dr. Dave's coach, so I demonstrated the problem, and he offered a number of possible solutions.Long & short is,after we got home, I got the bed open by having someone push the open switch, while I pushed from the inside opposite side. After I moved it some, it reluctantly finished opening on its' own. The problem turned out to be a bad solenoid valve. It was new, having been replaced last summer, due to a leak in the original one. So being almost new, I didn't suspect it. So I chased ghosts for a while, to no avail, and finally, in desperation, checked it, and bingo! So now all is well on the smartbed ifront. Lesson: check the obvious things first. If I knew how to post pictures, I'd show the incredibly smart, ingenious way I repaired my sagging trapeze angle iron at the back of the water tank. Did I mention that it was what an
engineer would describe as an "elegant solution"? Ow! Ow! I think I just threw my
shoulder out.
Dudley Do-Right '06Alpine Apex 40MDTS