New to me 2004 Seabreeze lots of ?'s

[trode]

Recently purchased 2004 Seabreeze, looked at about 20 MH's before this, did not rush in. Impressed with fit and finish and quality of build, and Mama liked floor plan (1341). Happy so far, no real dissapointments found, some issues dealt with, sway bar bushings, oil changes, restring shades, cleaning in and out. But have many questions I hope you owners will help with.

Always had TT so some sytems here are new. Water - there is a valve handle to fill the fresh water holding tank, but I have no idea how to know when it is full, is there an overflow line to watch? Generator - is 500 hours a lot? When I am ready to disconnect from land power do I have to shut down a/c's and start generator after disconnect from power then restart a/c. When I do this I always wait about 15 mins - hate to start compressors again if under load. Power system - I hear talk of inverter, converter, etc... under step there are 3 batteries, one 12v and 2 6v, the 6's are in series to get 12v, is there typically an inverter, i.e. run 125v tv from 12v system? if so how activated. Assume that house and engine batts charge from the alternator when running? Assume further that house and engine batts charge when on land power or generator? Slides are squeaky, where and with what should I lube these. Is it safe to put slides out without jacks down? Jacks - I have a control panel on arm rest for jacks, I understand that fronts go down simultaneously and then rear have independent control, looks like if I am too high with fronts I have to retract all to start over, can't lower front? When retracting jacks the jacks down light will not go off unless I retract all jacks, turn off power switch, then turn back on. Have waited up to 5 minutes after retracted with power on steady, visual check on jacks but light stays red indicating jacks down, but power off and power back on and OK.

Glad to find this manufacturers forum, I will have many more questions about the rig I am sure, hope you all won't mind helping.

Thanks for now

[Richard S.]

Welcome,

The link below should help with how your leveling jacks work.
http://support.powergearus.com/techdocs/82-L0356.pdf

[Grandpadave]

Originally Posted by trode

Recently purchased 2004 Seabreeze, looked at about 20 MH's before this, did not rush in. Impressed with fit and finish and quality of build, and Mama liked floor plan (1341). Happy so far, no real dissapointments found, some issues dealt with, sway bar bushings, oil changes, restring shades, cleaning in and out. But have many questions I hope you owners will help with.

Always had TT so some sytems here are new. Water - there is a valve handle to fill the fresh water holding tank, but I have no idea how to know when it is full, is there an overflow line to watch? Generator - is 500 hours a lot? When I am ready to disconnect from land power do I have to shut down a/c's and start generator after disconnect from power then restart a/c. When I do this I always wait about 15 mins - hate to start compressors again if under load. Power system - I hear talk of inverter, converter, etc... under step there are 3 batteries, one 12v and 2 6v, the 6's are in series to get 12v, is there typically an inverter, i.e. run 125v tv from 12v system? if so how activated. Assume that house and engine batts charge from the alternator when running? Assume further that house and engine batts charge when on land power or generator? Slides are squeaky, where and with what should I lube these. Is it safe to put slides out without jacks down? Jacks - I have a control panel on arm rest for jacks, I understand that fronts go down simultaneously and then rear have independent control, looks like if I am too high with fronts I have to retract all to start over, can't lower front? When retracting jacks the jacks down light will not go off unless I retract all jacks, turn off power switch, then turn back on. Have waited up to 5 minutes after retracted with power on steady, visual check on jacks but light stays red indicating jacks down, but power off and power back on and OK.

Glad to find this manufacturers forum, I will have many more questions about the rig I am sure, hope you all won't mind helping.

Thanks for now

On my 2004 seabreeze 1311 if your filling the fresh water tanks, and they get full there are 2 overflow tubes that drain out in the rear, behind bumper.

[Fred and Bonnie]

I'll try and get you started:

Water - there is a valve handle to fill the fresh water holding tank, but I have no idea how to know when it is full, is there an overflow line to watch? Yes, if I want the tank full, I wait for the over flow, otherwise check the inside monitor panel from time to time.

Generator - is 500 hours a lot? No, it should be run for 30 minutes each month, our; '05 has over 800 hrs.

When I am ready to disconnect from land power do I have to shut down a/c's and start generator after disconnect from power then restart a/c. I turn off any "heavy" electrical loads when switching power sources.

When I do this I always wait about 15 ma/ins - hate to start compressors again if under load. I don't wait that long, I believe the A/C units have a time delay to prevent overloading the compressors.

Power system - I hear talk of inverter, converter, etc... under step there are 3 batteries, one 12v and 2 6v, the 6's are in series to get 12v, is there typically an inverter, i.e. run 125v tv from 12v system? if so how activated. You may or may not have an inverter, I believe it was an option. The 12V system relays and fuses are located in the compartment just forward of the entry door. If you have an inverter, it will located there, also a control switch would be located inside at the central control panel.

Assume that house and engine batts charge from the alternator when running? Yes

Assume further that house and engine batts charge when on land power or generator? Yes, the house batteries will have to close to a full charge prior to allowing the chassis battery to be charged.

Slides are squeaky, where and with what should I lube these. Lots of possibilities here, I use a dry lube on the mechanical mechanisms and white lithium on the Teflon blocks under the bedroom slide. The front slide has rollers, I haven't lubed them.

Is it safe to put slides out without jacks down? I do it all the time, I have found that when the "out of level" is over a certain amount, leveling will actually twist the chassis.

Jacks - I have a control panel on arm rest for jacks, I understand that fronts go down simultaneously and then rear have independent control, looks like if I am too high with fronts I have to retract all to start over, can't lower front? Yep, can be hassle, however lower the front jacks until they make solid contact, then check for level, adjust with the rear.

When retracting jacks the jacks down light will not go off unless I retract all jacks, turn off power switch, then turn back on. Have waited up to 5 minutes after retracted with power on steady, visual check on jacks but light stays red indicating jacks down, but power off and power back on and OK. Yes, the controls can be a little querky. Check the fluid level, with the jacks retracted. Fluid level can cause various weird happenings.


Hopefully this will get you started enjoying your new unit. We have owned several National units, still think they are amoung the best built units, even years after going out of business.

fred

[Dunner]

This may help explain a few things.

[trode]

thanks for the input, answers a lot of my questions. latest problem now is chassis battery was too low to crank engine after sitting for only about a week, used the booster switch to start. Battery is new, well 6 mos, not sure what source of drain on it would be when parked, I know former owners disconnected the CO detector cause they thought that ran it down. Radio switch is off so not clock, do I need a knife blade type switch when MH is parked?

[Dunner]

My CO2 detector was also wired on all the time. I found some switched 12v leads behind the panel that were taped off and used them. Wouldn't hurt to put in a blade switch or get a BatterMinder®. 12248 if you have access to 120 volts where you park it. You still have radio memory and who know what else draining the battery.

Most stock converters/chargers are single stage chargers and will cook a battery over time. If you don't know the history of the chassis battery, it could have been mis-treated. Letting it go dead several time takes life out of it and if the water ever went below the top of the plates, it's history.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by trode

latest problem now is chassis battery was too low to crank engine after sitting for only about a week, used the booster switch to start. Battery is new, well 6 mos, not sure what source of drain on it would be when parked, I know former owners disconnected the CO detector cause they thought that ran it down. Radio switch is off so not clock, do I need a knife blade type switch when MH is parked?

It is rare to find a coach that the chassis battery doesn't run down in two weeks or less. It's also not unusual to see a coach that does not maintain the chassis battery while camped on shore or running the genny.

My '99 fits both catagories. I did replace my old single stage charger to a smart one. I also added one of these:

http://www.lslproducts.com/TLSPage.html

Now I keep my coach plugged in 24/7. Now both banks are properly maintained to give the longest life with no fear of boiling the batteries.

If you can't store with shore power, then a knife switch on both banks would be a good idea. However, you would still want to charge them no less than two days a month. It would be best to pull them, keep on a bench with a trickle charger.

The reason I mentioned a knife switch on the coach batts is most systems do not disconnect the C02 and propane detector when operating the Batt Disconnect Switch.