Community Forums

ShapeShifter · 01-02-2014, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nana25K

have looked everywhere on the chair and in the paper work...no info to be found.

Did you get down on the floor and look up under the seat? Mine had the original paperwork including model number and fabric name/color on a piece of paper folded up and stuck between the springs and foam. It wasn't at all obvious: I noticed it when I had removed the seat to replace the foot rest motor. You may have to really search for it. (Assuming it's there...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chawkins99

My coach does not lower the suspension if the air is depleted by repeatedly pressing the brakes. I used to think otherwise and saw several posts on IRV2 saying it did not dump the airbags that way.
Being a sceptic, I tested and confirmed the only way to dump the airbags on my coach is with the dump switch.

Holding the parking brake plunger half way, or pumping the brakes won't lower the suspension in and of themselves. But what either method will do is speed up the process of dumping air using the dump switch.

The dump switch activates valves that let air out of the air bags. The coach starts to lower, and when that happens the leveling valves start to let in more air from the compressed air tanks. This will keep happening until the air tanks get down to about 60 psi (there are special safety valves that won't let the air bags use any more air than that, so that they leave some air for the brakes.) Once the tanks get below 60 psi, then the dump switch can finally make some progress and lower the rig.

Draining the air tanks through the dump switch valve takes a long time. However, if you use the parking brake plunger, or fan the service brakes to get the air tanks down to 60 psi, and then use the dump switch, that will got much faster since the the dump switch only needs to actually drain the air bags at that point, not the entire air system.

What would be really nice is if there were a valve between the air tanks and the air bags that would allow draining the air bags without draining the whole air system. Kind of like the "level/travel" switch on the air leveling systems. That would make dumping air go faster, and would make airing up for departure much faster.

Nana25K · 01-02-2014, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Did you get down on the floor and look up under the seat? Mine had the original paperwork including model number and fabric name/color on a piece of paper folded up and stuck between the springs and foam. It wasn't at all obvious: I noticed it when I had removed the seat to replace the foot rest motor. You may have to really search for it

Thanks for the tip..figured out they are flexsteel but found a piece of paper with model number exactly where you indicated it would be under the passenger seat.

nodine · 01-03-2014, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chawkins99

My coach does not lower the suspension if the air is depleted by repeatedly pressing the brakes. I used to think otherwise and saw several posts on IRV2 saying it did not dump the airbags that way.
Being a sceptic, I tested and confirmed the only way to dump the airbags on my coach is with the dump switch.

That makes me think again about the OP's post. Maybe the 'whoosh' from others they describe is actually them applying the parking brake?

I have to extend the slides before dumping the air so the air dump usually occurs several minutes after parking up.

I am sorry but I never intended to imply that it did. I guess I forgot to state that you must hold down the air dump switch at the same time you push down on the parking brake to dump the tanks. On our coach you must also have the ignition on or the air dump valve will not work. I usually put the switch in ACC while dumping air so we don't have to listen to the alarm. When ready to level I must go to ignition on or the leveling system does not come on. Not everybody lowers their coach down to the stops before leveling but we live in the mountains and experience has taught us that unless you have a very level site your steps will be way high above the ground after the coach is level.

Bob

JHowell · 01-03-2014, 05:27 AM

Nana, I cant help with that. I have not had this problem yet. Best bet is to call an RV shop and question this. Propane is not something you want to mess with.
Glad you found name of seats. Check E-Bay for some parts. Many of them are for sale there.

Jim

tricotec · 01-24-2014, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodine

Some higher end coaches have air bag leveling and you do not dump any of the air.

You don't dump the air until after you level, which I do with the engine running on high idle. After the coach is leveled I turn off the leveling control (and the engine) then I dump the air. The remaining air does not do anything once the coach is level, and if you leave the air in and the plunger for the parking brake accidently gets pushed down the brakes will disengage with the potential for a disaster. All air brake coaches should be parked with air bled off when you're not on the road.

ShapeShifter · 01-25-2014, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tricotec

You don't dump the air until after you level

This doesn't make any sense to me.

If you have only hydraulic leveling, by waiting until after you level, you're missing one of the more significant benefits of dumping the air: lowering the overall height of the rig, thereby increasing the jack's range of motion and increasing stability.

And for air leveling systems, if you dump the air after leveling, didn't you just defeat the purpose of leveling by taking away it's air supply? (I've never used air leveling, so I don't know if this is a stupid question.)

But it is a good point about the parking brake: it is a good idea to bleed off the pressure once parked for a while, especially if you have children or pets around that could accidentally push in the button.

nodine · 01-26-2014, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShapeShifter

.......

But it is a good point about the parking brake: it is a good idea to bleed off the pressure once parked for a while, especially if you have children or pets around that could accidentally push in the button.

If we decide to park anywhere without bleeding down the air we always use a parking brake stop under the parking brake release. This includes rest stops, truck stops, or any where we might leave the coach with the dogs inside. We have a 53 pound Wheaton that loves to survey his surroundings from the driver seat when we leave the coach. We get comments all the time on the dog driving the motorhome.

If you look at the photo below you can see how I fabricated a park brake stop from a piece of PVC pipe by sawing a slice out of it a making a slot to allow it to slide under the parking brake plunger. We tried using a clothes pin but the dog likes to chew wood and would remove the clothes pin and chew it up.

Bob

Gary.Jones · 01-26-2014, 05:44 AM

Nana

My 2001 Dynasty chairs were made by Villa International. The only place that the chair was marked was on the leather flap that hangs down from the chair to cover the metal mounting brackets. If I lifted that flap up all around, then the manufacturer name was stenciled on the back of the leather. I needed to replace the seatbelts, and frankly, the fellow that I needed to talk to up in Indiana (their locations are california and Indiana) was not overly helpful, but I eventually got replacements and then got an auto upholstery place to make the repairs. If you can find matching leather / vinyl at an auto upholstery shop or an RV remodel shop, you can probably do as well as talking to the factory. You will have a hard time matching colors, I predict.

Gary Jones