High idle feature

[JHSJMS]

I own a 04 Safari Cheetah (Monaco) 40SRT. I currently have it in cold storage and run the engine every 3 weeks. The owners manual says to use the high idle feature to get the temperature up. It does not explain the high idle feature, does anyone know if it exists? For now I just use the fuel pedal and run RPM at about 1100. The engine is a Cat 330

[Jeff753]

Originally Posted by JHSJMS

I own a 04 Safari Cheetah (Monaco) 40SRT. I currently have it in cold storage and run the engine every 3 weeks. The owners manual says to use the high idle feature to get the temperature up. It does not explain the high idle feature, does anyone know if it exists? For now I just use the fuel pedal and run RPM at about 1100. The engine is a Cat 330

Turn on cruise and hit set

[336muffin]

Originally Posted by Jeff753

Turn on cruise and hit set

Ditto.

[CJScepter]

There are many who say running a diesel without taking it out on the road and warming it up for 40-50 miles does more harm than good. Talked to a man from Canada who asked his diesel shop the question about warming up his coach when parked, they told him, shut it off in the fall when your done using it and don't start it again till you are going to use it again. He said that would be 4-5 months. There are times we have to start them, but I can't get mine warmed up to operating temp sitting in my driveway.
But it's your coach, do what you think is right. There is alot of info on the subject.
John G.

[Gorlininc]

I have a INC/DEC switch on my dash. It's a momentary switch. Each time you push INC (top of switch) it increases the engine RPM by 50 RPM. So I set it to 900 RPM. Then the bottom side of the switch DEC brings it back down by 50 RPM per push.
That's on my 2001 Diplomat.

[Barlow46]

If you have the "smart wheel" setup, go to their website and it is explained there depending on your model.Technical Support | Vehicle Improvement Products

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by CJScepter

There are many who say running a diesel without taking it out on the road and warming it up for 40-50 miles does more harm than good. Talked to a man from Canada who asked his diesel shop the question about warming up his coach when parked, they told him, shut it off in the fall when your done using it and don't start it again till you are going to use it again. He said that would be 4-5 months. There are times we have to start them, but I can't get mine warmed up to operating temp sitting in my driveway.
But it's your coach, do what you think is right. There is alot of info on the subject.
John G.

That's exactly what Cummins says. If you can't drive it 30 miles or more than don't bother starting it.

[Papa_Jim]

Originally Posted by CJScepter

There are many who say running a diesel without taking it out on the road and warming it up for 40-50 miles does more harm than good. Talked to a man from Canada who asked his diesel shop the question about warming up his coach when parked, they told him, shut it off in the fall when your done using it and don't start it again till you are going to use it again. He said that would be 4-5 months. There are times we have to start them, but I can't get mine warmed up to operating temp sitting in my driveway.
But it's your coach, do what you think is right. There is a lot of info on the subject.
John G.

We must remember that when we're talking about cold storage in Canada, we mean COLD STORAGE !

Farmers in Canada put their machines away after harvest and never start them again until spring, a period of several months. It wouldn't make any sense to start the engines up in the middle of the winter. It would do them more harm than good.

Possibly in other climates, maybe hot and humid?, it might make sense to periodically start the engine and warm it up to prevent rusting. Possibly ?

Jim

[sdennislee]

Agree that letting it sit is far better than starting and running it in high idle. As already said it's your coach.

My Safari Cheetah uses the cruise control to set it for high idle (1200 to 1500 RPM), simply turn on the cruise, get it up to desired idle and hit the set button. I do use this feature when I need lie to build air pressure or similar.

[Dutch Star Don]

Seems they work differently on different coaches. "sdennislee"....have you tried just turning on the cruise control and then pressing "SET". Mine doesn't require pressing on the throttle to bring it to "high idle". Merely, hitting "Set" does.

Using your SmartWheel also lets you set your engine idle speed for daily driving. With the engine running and the cruise control "OFF", use the increase speed or decrease speed buttons to set your engine idle speed (my ISL is 700 rpm). Each time you press one of the buttons it will raise or decrease your idle by about 25 rpm. Once you have the idle set where you want it, turn the cruise control "ON" and this will set the engine idle. Make sure your engine is warmed up before you do this.

[Algoma]

I agree with the majority that you should not be doing this. I never run my engine nor my generator while in storage. You may want to put the batteries on a trickle charger though.

[toolster]

On the subject of starting the engine during a lay up period I have a question, I have a back up generator for my house and office and it is programmed to exercise every week, so why is it good for a generator and not for a MH engine ?

[Land Barge]

Originally Posted by toolster

On the subject of starting the engine during a lay up period I have a question, I have a back up generator for my house and office and it is programmed to exercise every week, so why is it good for a generator and not for a MH engine ?

Very good question, generators are generally of a more critical nature and I've seen them left for years and forgotten about then won't start when necessary.
The difference, if programmed properly, will start, warm up a bit then transfer the house load to "exercise" not only the engine/genset but also the switch gear that does the actual "transfer" I've seen these get grumpy and not transfer and is another point of lack of power to the house.

Usually under an utility outage the genset will fire, go to WFO and transfer in under 30 sec's. Industrial units will have oil heaters to help with this "full throttle" start up and load. Hospitals are something under 20 sec. I've been standing by big 16 cylinder cat gensets that had fired up and pour the coals to it and carry a full building and cringe.

They have a more eloquent shut down, once they sense that utility has been restored they will cycle phase and transfer pretty seamlessly to utility, cool down and shut themselves down.


Running under load is much preferred, as stated above. My preference is to cycle a day when you are at home so you know that it does in fact start, run, transfer and carry the house load on a regular basis.

And don't be afraid of the running it up to an hour a week, 52 hrs/year x 10 years is 520 hours at even 20 years, 1000 hours is nothing to a quality unit.

[OLYLEN]

The motor on the Gen does not need the run time but the generating part does. Sitting lets moisture in and by running for 30 minutes under loadwarms to a point that keeps the winding nice and dry.

LEN