Question for diesel owners

[tmw188]

That’s exactly right redbarron73 same with my Monaco.

[Classic6200]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

I ride bikes, but not loud bikes. I often run with my high beam on in the daytime. We need all the help we can get to be seen. Too many people I know have had cars make a left turn in front of them and the driver often says "I didn't see him"

Being blinded by a high beam from a motorcycle headlight in broad daylight is not going to happen. JMHO. If it does blind you, maybe a trip to an optometrist would be a good idea. You may have something going on with your eyes that hopefully can be caught early and treated. Have a look at this article about photophobia.https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=32662...cGhvYmlh&ntb=1

I believe he is talking about at night time. I know guys that do.

[TUCSONRAIL]

The only reason to idle a diesel is to air up. 5 or 6 minutes. A diesel does not warm up by idling, but only under load.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by TUCSONRAIL

The only reason to idle a diesel is to air up. 5 or 6 minutes. A diesel does not warm up by idling, but only under load.

Read my post above, as it does make an attempt to explain why it may take 10 minutes.

You may be faster at the connections than I am, but what I have noticed is sometimes the coach takes 5 minutes just to reach ride height when I am departing. That is why I have a broader range of up to 10 minutes.

[tmandoug1]

So....departure is as follows for my crew of two.
- Clean floor.
- Turn on TPMs
- Stow jacks
- Fire up and after oil pressure reaches satisfactory level go to cruise control mode....idle up to 1100ish. Reduces idle time to get bags to satisfactory level. 4 minutes max.
- Secure engine.
- Retract slides
- Stow all exterior amenities.
- Walk dogs
- Fire it up and proceed to appropriate toad hook up site if not available at current site.

Max run time 5 minutes.

Lots of sniveling going on about departures and arrivals. Its part of the life OP. May need to find an RV park with HOA rules and regulations.

Engine run time 5 minutes max.

[Frankieswi]

My manual recommends a warm AND cool down period 10-15 minutes. Also, as others have said, when I set up, the hydraulic jacks say to keep the engine running while the vehicle dumps its air bladders and lowers the jacks. It also states that I should run the engine while deploying or storing the slides. Yes, it takes 10-15 minutes to set up. So, for those of you thinking I’m being rude, you are asking me to jeopardize my vehicle to soothe your sensitive ears. It’s all part of camping and RV’ing my friends. If you can’t stand it, maybe you should go back to tents? I paid a lot for my rig and I’m a rule follower. I won’t sacrifice my rig for bad reasons.

[Max Headroom]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

Being blinded by a high beam from a motorcycle headlight in broad daylight is not going to happen. JMHO. If it does blind you, maybe a trip to an optometrist would be a good idea. You may have something going on with your eyes that hopefully can be caught early and treated.

Nothing wrong with my eyes. And it's not limited to scooters. Lots of morons with always on headlights are running them on high beam.
But yes, your high beam is blinding me in daylight when you are behind me. In slow traffic, at stoplights, in the drive thru, etc.
You may not consider your light 'that bright', but in these close proximity situations, it is. My solution is usually some rude driving, such as not moving when the light turns green, driving sloooow, etc., so hopefully you, and your obnoxious high beams will go around me and go annoy someone else. If this happens to you, now you know why.

I got an MC endorsement as soon as I got my license as a teenager. For me that's over four decades of riding so far. Lots of it was daily commuting to and from the burbs into a major metro city. I don't even run with my light on if it's switchable, and certainly not on the brights if it's not. Still here, still riding, and still don't see it as necessary.

[Max Headroom]

Originally Posted by Old Top Kick

Comparing the 6 to 9 liter peashooter in your DP to the 140 - 180 liter howitzers in a typical railroad locomotive is an exercise in the absurd. Those beasts can take an hour or longer to start in warm weather and often cannot be started at all below about 45°. They are left running as a matter of absolute operational necessity.

I'm not comparing the engines, I'm comparing the operations of them.
All these posts about how extended idling 'hurts' diesels.
Is that 16 cyl ALCO not a diesel? Is idling for days, weeks, even months hurting that large and expensive engine...

[mrcollins]

It usually takes me 10-15 minutes especially if the coach has sat for a couple of weeks to air up, get the slides in, do my walk around and go. This is the one time you do not want to rush.

The part that makes me chuckle is what do you City Folks Call early? It's just a matter of where and how you were brought up and a matter of preference and what you are comfortable with.

[ArtJoyce]

I have enough batteries to put out and bring in my slide. But I don't like to. My slide run off house 12v. I normally run the slide when plugged in, but if I don't, I run the generator or run the engine for 3 minutes to give the bird a chance to kick in.

[n2zon]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

I ride bikes, but not loud bikes. I often run with my high beam on in the daytime. We need all the help we can get to be seen. Too many people I know have had cars make a left turn in front of them and the driver often says "I didn't see him"

Being blinded by a high beam from a motorcycle headlight in broad daylight is not going to happen. JMHO. If it does blind you, maybe a trip to an optometrist would be a good idea. You may have something going on with your eyes that hopefully can be caught early and treated. Have a look at this article about photophobia.https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=32662...cGhvYmlh&ntb=1

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it. Many, many eye exams later, I can affirm that none of those maladies apply in my case. However, whether I have my glasses on makes a *huge* difference in the level of discomfort. I am far less sensitive to light without them. I generally wear them when driving, though (interestingly) my nearsightedness has improved with age and I no longer need to wear them so far as DMV is concerned.

If you ride with your brights on, I will look away from you if you're in front of me and use my day/night mirror in "night" mode if you're behind, even in daylight. At night, sometimes I'll adjust the rear view mirror to get your lights out of it unless I move my head to bright them back into view. These are, perhaps, not the outcomes many bikers would wish for, but many (perhaps most) in this area persist in running with their brights on all the time.

I once got out of my car at a red light to ask a following bus driver to turn off his brights. He hadn't realized they were on. He had the grace to look very embarrassed.

Essentially none of this applies in the coach. The driving position is high enough to eliminate the worst of the glare.

Don't get me started on poorly-aimed headlights and DRLs...

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by SoCal3

Nobody wants to hear a loud engine running, but consider this: Many DP's have air suspension and more importantly air brakes. I have to idle about 5 minutes to build the pressure enough to operate the brakes safely and get the suspension off the bottom of the air bags. Also, my unit has hydraulic slideouts so the engine has to be running to pull the slides in. So to all those saying it is totally old skool thinking just don't know what they are talking about.

My MH is listed below, both leveling jacks and slideout are hydraulic. I start the engine and while air pressure is building I store the jacks and retract the slideout. That takes that 5 minutes you also take.
What we are discussing is idling for 15-20 minutes or longer when it is not necessary.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Frankieswi

My manual recommends a warm AND cool down period 10-15 minutes. Also, as others have said, when I set up, the hydraulic jacks say to keep the engine running while the vehicle dumps its air bladders and lowers the jacks. It also states that I should run the engine while deploying or storing the slides. Yes, it takes 10-15 minutes to set up. So, for those of you thinking I’m being rude, you are asking me to jeopardize my vehicle to soothe your sensitive ears. It’s all part of camping and RV’ing my friends. If you can’t stand it, maybe you should go back to tents? I paid a lot for my rig and I’m a rule follower. I won’t sacrifice my rig for bad reasons.

Please post a snapshot of that section of your owners manual that says to idle for 10-15 minutes -for any reason.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

What we are discussing is idling for 15-20 minutes or longer when it is not necessary.

Hopefully this thread will educate those that don't have diesel as to why some are idling for a little while before departure. It might even explain why the engine is idling while the owner is storing shore cords and sewer hose.

It will also make it very clear that no coach needs to run for 30+ minutes. I have seen that plenty of times, and wondered if they forgot the engine.